From left, a schoolteacher, Louis Benjamin, Keita Sugai of the Sylff Association secretariat, and a district education officer stand with grade R students during Keita’s site visit.

Louis Benjamin, Sylff fellow 2002–05 at the University of the Western Cape, has been selected to receive a Sylff Project Grant to facilitate improvements in education for grade R children (ages five to six) in Northern Cape Province, considered one of the poorest in South Africa.

He is the second to be awarded the grant since the program was launched in September 2017. Benjamin now runs an NGO called Basic Concepts Unlimited (BCU) in South Africa that provides specialized educational services to the early childhood development sector, schools, and educational practitioners who are working with young children, particularly in the foundation phase (grades R–3). (http://www.basicconcepts.co.za/about/about)

He has developed what he calls the BCP method—-cognition teaching with a noncognitive approach—that enables young children to acquire basic educational and life skills and prepare for the foundation phase (up to grade 3) of schooling.

He will introduce the BCP method to grade R teachers in the hope that its effect will continue for many more years. He has been implementing the method on a district/community basis for a number of years (see his project at www.basicconcepts.co.za/about/history) and will now expand the project throughout the Northern Cape in cooperation with the provincial Department of Education, organizing a number of workshops and follow-up activities for teachers.

During the project period from early 2019 to the end of 2021, his team will reach about half of the approximately 850 grade R teachers in the province. The project will thereafter be handed over to the Department of Education, which will carry on the initiative until all teachers have been exposed to the method, thus enabling the project to contribute to the education of young schoolchildren in the province over a long time period.

https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/sli/

The Sylff Association Secretariat is pleased to announce that two fellows have been selected for a Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) award in 2018. SLI supports Sylff fellows’ initiatives to change society for the better with awards of up to US$10,000.　

Chosen from among many applicants were Tayseer Abu Odeh, assistant professor at Arab Open University in Jordan, and Jennifer Moore, senior lecturer and law specialist at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Using his professional knowledge and network, Abu Odeh will organize a forum in Jordan, inviting many influential figures in his home country, to develop various measures to stop violence against women.

Moore will develop a questionnaire to evaluate how health organizations are meeting the needs of patients and their families after a medical injury. By use of the questionnaire, her project tries to promote non-litigation approaches to a medical injury, which, Moore feels, tend to lead to much happier forms of resolution.

The Sylff Association Secretariat lauds the time and effort that fellows have invested to turn good ideas into tangible projects. Congratulations to both recipients on winning the award. The two projects will be carried out over the next year, and reports will be posted on this website.

We are looking forward to supporting many more social initiatives that can lead to positive changes in society.

Mei Jianming, standing, third from left, and Jianming’s daughter, far left, with members of the Sylff Association secretariat.

Professor Mei Jianming, a 1998 Sylff fellowship recipient at Jilin University in China, visited the Sylff Association secretariat in Roppongi on July 30, 2018. The call, made during Jianming’s first visit to Japan, represented the fulfillment of a longstanding wish, as he had hoped to visit the organization responsible for the fellowship he received two decades ago.

After receiving his PhD from Jilin University, he spent many years abroad as a visiting researcher in Canada, the United States, and Australia. The experience prompted him to consider things from the standpoint of international cooperation.

Jianming is now based in Shanghai and teaches at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. As a specialist in public security and terrorism, he also serves as a chief adviser on counterterrorism at the China National Institute for Shanghai Cooperation Organization International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation.

Jianming also considered the visit to be a good opportunity to promote the personal growth of his teenage daughter, who is accompanying him on his journey. “It’s very important and meaningful for teenagers to broaden their horizons beyond school education,” said Jianming. After Tokyo, they were scheduled to travel to Kyoto and Osaka, as well as to the United States.

The Sylff Association secretariat is always happy to reconnect with graduated fellows and to receive updates on their academic and social engagement activities.

Tomas, standing center, with members of the Sylff Association secretariat.

On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, Mr. Tomas Michalek, a current Sylff fellow (2018) at Comenius University, visited the Sylff Association secretariat in Tokyo. He is currently a PhD student at Comenius University in Bratislava, as well as a senior research manager at the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Tomas was on his first visit to Japan to attend INGSA2018, a conference organized by the International Network for Government Science Advice on November 6–7, hosted by the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

The theme of his dissertation is the “Effectivity of Different Models of Scientific Advice Platforms,” focusing on how academic knowledge and scientific evidence can be translated into more effective policy-making. He also conducts workshops to bring Slovakian citizens, policy-makers, and academics together to discuss policy and to increase the involvement of citizens in future policy-making.

The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, which serves as the Sylff Association secretariat, is a public policy think tank that is also actively engaged in promoting the use of scientific evidence in informing policy. We look forward to learning more about his research and possibly collaborating on a joint research project in the future.

Opening session

An inaugural group of 20 Sylff fellows participated in the fall session of the newly launched Sylff Leaders Workshop from September 16 to 23, 2018. The fellows, who were selected from among 114 applicants, were a highly diverse group in terms of nationality, Sylff institution, field of specialization, and current occupation.

 The main objective of the workshop was to provide graduated Sylff fellows an opportunity to experience diverse cultures through intensive discussions with people from different backgrounds and with varying viewpoints. Fellows were also able to deepen their ties to the Sylff community and gain new insights into Japan—not just the well-known aspects of the host country but also traditional and local areas off the beaten track. Read the report of the workshop. 

https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/sra/

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce the 12 recipients of SRA awards in the first selection round for fiscal 2018. We received a large number of outstanding applications from fellows all over the world, which made the selection process very competitive.

We reviewed all applications carefully from the perspectives of eligibility, the feasibility of the proposals, and the relevance of the proposed research to the applicants’ academic pursuits. Some of the 12 applicants were making their second try and successfully won the award this time around.

Congratulations to all the awardees! We send them our best wishes and hope that the findings of their research abroad will further enrich their dissertations. The 12 awardees are as follows:

* Listed in alphabetical order.

Guo, standing center, and his wife, standing far left, with members of the Sylff Association secretariat.

On Monday, August 27, 2018, Mr. Guo Xuetang, Sylff fellow (1997) at Fudan University, visited the Sylff Association secretariat in Tokyo. He is currently director of the Institute of International Strategy and Policy Analysis and professor of international relations at the Law School of the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.

The Association had not been able to contact him for many years, but this past spring, Fudan University invited him to attend Sylff’s twenty-fifth anniversary ceremony and commemorative symposium on June 30 at Peking University. The date coincided with a business trip to India, but he was able to attend a separate anniversary event at Fudan University on July 5. His image of Sylff from his student days was completely transformed, he told members of the Sylff Association secretariat during the Fudan gathering, and he is now eager to renew his ties with Sylff.

Mr. and Mrs. Guo with Senior Fellow Ke Long.

This was Guo’s first visit to Japan. He was on a holiday and was accompanying his wife, a medical doctor who was making presentations at healthcare symposiums in Nagoya and Shizuoka. Although he had never been to Japan, his research frequently involved the country, as his master’s thesis was about Northeast Asian security and the Korean Peninsula in the early 1990s, focusing on China-US relations. At the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research (Sylff Association secretariat), he met with Ke Long, a senior fellow who is an expert on the Chinese economy. They had a lively exchange of views on Japan-China relations.

He also met with members of the secretariat and shared his experience and ideas on ways to connect with more Chinese Sylff fellows.

We wish him much success and hope that he will play a central role in reaching out to Chinese Sylff fellows.

Following the ceremony to commemorate Sylff’s twenty-fifth anniversary at Peking University on June 30, 2018, anniversary events were also held at four more universities—Lanzhou University, Jilin University, Nanjing University, and Fudan University—on July 2–5.

Sylff programs at these four prestigious schools, like Peking University, were established in 1992 based on the recommendations of China’s Ministry of Education. Sylff became a major source of financial assistance for graduate students at the time, when scholarships were not yet widely available, thus laying the foundations for the development of China’s higher education. The four universities administered their Sylff programs in distinctive ways, reflecting their respective regional and academic strengths, and developed many community and intellectual leaders over the past quarter century.

Lanzhou fellows for 2018 receive certificates during the award ceremony.

The commemorative ceremonies were attended by both current and graduated fellows, who enjoyed the opportunity to reminisce about Sylff’s early years and to discuss their intentions to participate in Sylff’s support programs, proposals for new programs, and approaches to energize the Sylff community in China.

During the anniversary event on July 2 at Lanzhou University, an award ceremony was held for fellows who were newly selected in fiscal 2018. Certificates were presented to the four fellows by Lanzhou University President Yan Chunhua and Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa.

Jilin University President Li Yuanyuan places a badge on Chairman Sasakawa’s lapel in conferring the title of advisory professor.

On July 3, during the ceremony at Jilin University, Chairman Sasakawa was conferred the title of advisory professor in honor of the long-term achievements and contributions that Sylff and other programs administered by the Nippon Foundation Group have made to leadership development at Jilin University.

A fellow, accompanied by her son, writes her name on a signboard during the Sylff twenty-fifth anniversary ceremony at Nanjing University.

The July 4 ceremony at Nanjing University was held at the International Conference Center of the university’s new Xianlin Campus. The building epitomizes the university’s efforts to fuse tradition and innovation over its nearly 120-year history and symbolizes China’s rapid economic growth in recent years. An award ceremony was held for the four fellows who were selected in 2018, and Hong Xiu, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy, made an acceptance speech on behalf of the other fellows.

A presentation of Sylff’s new website and support programs.

The anniversary event at Fudan University on July 5 also featured a donation ceremony for the Ryoichi Sasakawa Memorial Library. There will be an initial donation of 2,085 books to the Fudan University library this year.

Party Committee Secretary of Fudan University Jiao Yang, left, receives a certificate for the donation of the Ryoichi Sasakawa Memorial Library from Chairman Sasakawa.

Fudan fellow Li Chunkun (fellowship recipient in 1998) makes a speech during the Fudan University ceremony.

The twenty-fifth anniversary of Sylff in China was celebrated on June 30, 2018, at Qiulin Report Hall, School of International Studies, Peking University, attended by some 200 current and graduated fellows and Sylff administrators from all 10 Sylff institutions in the country. Gracing the commemorative event were government and education officials who played key roles in launching the Sylff program in China a quarter century ago.

Endowments were initially established in 1992 at Peking University, Fudan University, Lanzhou University, Jilin University, and Nanjing University. Five more schools received Sylff funds in 1994: Chongqing University, Inner Mongolia University, Xinjiang University, Yunnan University, and Sun Yat-sen University. The 10 universities have since produced over 8,000 fellows—more than half of all fellows worldwide.

At the commemorative ceremony, congratulatory remarks were delivered by Peking University President Lin Jianhua and Secretary General Zhao Lingshan of the China Education Association for International Exchange, who recounted the history of the Sylff program in China and shared their thoughts on program administration and leadership development in the years ahead.

This year also marks the fortieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People’s Republic of China. “There have been periods of stagnation in the relationship between China and Japan,” noted Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa, “but there are few examples in human history of neighboring countries maintaining ties for 2,000 years.” Emphasizing the importance of bilateral exchange in the nongovernmental sector, he continued, “I hope that Sylff can make a positive contribution to a peaceful future in Asia and the rest of the world.”

A group photo of participants in the ceremony to commemorate Sylff’s twenty-fifth anniversary in China, taken outside the School of International Studies, Peking University.

 At the commemorative symposium, approximately 200 fellows from the 10 Sylff institutes discussed the path taken by Sylff over the past 25 years and exchanged opinions on the kind of leader needed today in China, which has achieved rapid economic growth.

Fellows discuss the qualities a leader should have to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing China.

Sylff fellows (1)

Sylff fellows (2)

Sylff fellows (3)

Sylff fellows (4)

A presentation of the discussions conducted by a group representative.

The Sylff anniversary event in Beijing received wide coverage in the Chinese news media. Articles posted on the websites of media organizations include the following:

1. Zhongguo Jiaoyu Bao (China Education Daily)
   http://www.jyb.cn/zgjyb/201807/t20180720_1159245.html (in Chinese)

2. Xinhua News Agency
   http://www.cankaoxiaoxi.com/china/20180706/2288971.shtml (in Chinese)

3. Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily)
   http://world.people.com.cn/n1/2018/0701/c1002-30097820.html (in Chinese)
   http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2018/0702/c94473-9476836.html (in Japanese)
   http://j.people.com.cn/n3/2018/0723/c94473-9483825.html (exclusive interview in Japanese)

4. Zhongguo Qingnian Bao (China Youth Daily)
   http://m.cyol.com/yuanchuang/2018-07/01/content_17342007.htm (in Chinese)

5. People’s China
   https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qL0hYEKIfVDJQSsoUiWjYA (in Chinese)
   http://www.peoplechina.com.cn/zrjl/201808/t20180821_800138749.html (in Japanese and Chinese)
   http://www.peoplechina.com.cn/zrjl/201808/t20180821_800138750.html (exclusive interview in Japanese with Chinese subtitles)

6. China Radio International
   http://japanese.cri.cn/app/20180701/197e47bf-48ec-21a9-6d90-58195a29ff8e.html?japaneseType=app&menuId=app_ja_09_11_101&from=groupmessage (in Japanese)

7. Dunjiaodu.com
   http://www.dunjiaodu.com/top/2018-07-02/3092.html (in Chinese)

8. Renmin Huabao (China Pictorial)
   http://www.rmhb.com.cn/wh/201807/t20180702_800134188.html (in Chinese)

9. China Daily
   http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201807/04/WS5b3c64b2a3103349141e0a42.html (in English)

Sylff administrators from all 10 Sylff institutions in China (Peking University, Fudan University, Lanzhou University, Jilin University, Nanjing University, Chongqing University, Inner Mongolia University, Xinjiang University, Yunnan University, and Sun Yat-sen University) gathered at the Beijing Friendship Hotel on June 29, 2018, for a meeting that marked an important milestone for the program in China.

The meeting resulted in the signing of a historic agreement among the 10 schools on the criteria to be used in selecting Sylff fellows. The 10 institutions also agreed to hold an annual joint award ceremony for new fellows, to be hosted by a different university each year, and to schedule an administrators meeting on the sidelines of the ceremony.

The agreement was reached following presentations by the vice-presidents of the 10 universities on the kind of leader Sylff should support in the light of the Sylff mission and the ideals of each institution. The re-identification of the qualities sought in China’s fellows had been a priority in the light of the country’s rapid economic growth and changing social needs.

It has been a topic of ongoing discussions between the Sylff Association secretariat and the 10 institutions since 2016. Another key issue has been the concentration of Sylff funds on a more selective group of fellows.

The Sylff Association secretariat’s Sanae Oda, executive director of the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, addresses the meeting Sylff administrators in Beijing.

The past quarter century has been a very fruitful period for Sylff in China, as the country has produced more than half of all fellows worldwide. The achievements of the administrators meeting in Beijing represent a major step forward that will help steer Sylff’s next 25 years in China.