Andrea Chapela, a writer and 2021–22 Sylff fellowship recipient at El Colegio de Mexico, visited the Sylff Association secretariat in Tokyo on December 14, 2022. She is currently enrolled in a master’s degree program in Japanese studies to explore the Zainichi experience in the novels of the Japanese-Korean writer, Lee Yangji.

Andrea Chapela (second from right), flanked by (from left) program officer Yue Zhang, director Keita Sugai, and program officer Maki Shimada.

Chapela has a unique background, having studied chemistry at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before earning an MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She is multilingual, being conversant in Spanish, English, German, and French, and is also an award-winning writer, having published several books in the categories of fantasy and science fiction.

She received the Gilberto Owen National Literature Prize in 2018, the National Juan José Arreola Literature Prize in 2019, and the National Joven José Luis Martínez Essay Prize in 2019.

She was in Tokyo in December 2022 to conduct research on the work of Lee Yangji, who won the 100th Akutagawa Prize for her novel, Yuhi (Sunset). Chapela is analyzing 4 of Lee’s 10 novels on the topic of conflict of identity as a second-generation Zainichi (literally, “foreign residents” but usually referring to ethnic Koreans remaining in Japan after World War II and their descendants). Her research looks not only at the history of the Zainichi but also their literary works and the inclusion of Korean linguistic elements into the Japanese language.

We thank Chapela for visiting the Foundation during her stay in Tokyo and sharing news of her research. We wish her continued success in her academic and literary endeavors.

Imran, center

The Sylff Association secretariat was pleased to welcome Sarojini Imran, a 1999–2001 fellowship recipient at the University of Indonesia, on January 13, 2023, as our first visitor of the new year. It has been over 10 years since we last met her at the BABA (Building A Better Asia) retreat in the city of Nara in 2011. This time, she was visiting Japan as a member of a research team on public-private partnerships in disaster management in tourist areas.

Imran is currently teaching in the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Pancasila in Indonesia and heads the faculty’s Research and Community Service Unit. An expert of urban planning, she has extensive knowledge that can be applied to tourism development and enjoys working in the field.

Rural areas in Indonesia have high tourism potential because of their cultural assets and natural beauty. But steps must also be taken, Imran says, to manage the natural disasters that often strike those areas. Her research team, comprising university colleagues and a government official, chose to study Japan because the country, like Indonesia, also experiences many earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Her team visited Nagoya, Sendai, and Fukushima to gain insights into disaster management through interviews with government officials, hotel managers, and transport operators.

In addition to describing her current research activities, Imran shared her views on how the Sylff community can enrich fellows’ career development. As longstanding chair of the University of Indonesia’s Fellows Association, her current challenge is to attract new Association members in the post-COVID era. She hopes to draw on her academic experience to strengthen cooperation among members of the global Sylff community.

We want to thank Imran deeply for choosing to visit us on her only free day during her Japan visit and for sharing her valuable observations on ways to make the Sylff network more useful for fellows. We wish her continued success in her future endeavors.

(Seated, from left) Keita Sugai (director), Mari Suzuki (executive director), Yoko Kaburagi, (standing, from left) Maki Shimada, Yumi Arai, and Sachiko Matsuoka (deputy director).

The pandemic continued to pose a challenge for many people around the world in 2022 and to restrict their daily activities. To work around such constraints, the Sylff Association secretariat introduced two new support programs－Sylff Research Abroad without Overseas Travel and the Sylff Research Grant—to help Sylff fellows pursue their research goals.

We were pleased to resume in-person meetings with Sylff fellows and SSC members who visited our office, as well as to participate in online Sylff orientation meetings.

We will continue to support Sylff fellows next year with the hope that 2023 will see a further easing of COVID restrictions so they will be able to conduct their activities more freely.

Follow the links to the Sylff News articles uploaded in 2022:

Support Programs

Jan 5, 2022　
Awardees of SRA without Overseas Travel for Fiscal 2021

Apr 18, 2022
New Support Program to Be Launched for Doctoral and Postdoc Fellows

Jun 1, 2022
Preliminary Registration for Sylff Research Grant (SRG) Now Open

Dec 19, 2022
Sylff Research Grant (SRG) Recipients for Fiscal 2022

Sylff@Tokyo

Jun 10, 2022
Sylff@Tokyo: Bulgarian Fellow Investigating Japanese Policy toward the Balkans

Oct 18, 2022
Belgrade Rector Visits Chairman Sasakawa and Sylff Association Secretariat

Dec 13, 2022
Sylff@Tokyo: Visit by Waseda Fellow Shino Hateruma

Sylff Fellows around the World

Apr 26, 2022
Two Jadavpur Fellows Working toward a More Just and Inclusive Society

Apr 27, 2022
Sylff Orientation FY2022 for the Institute of Political Education “Pedro Arrupe”

Voices from the Sylff Community

Apr 25, 2022
COVID Vlogs from 49 Fellows Offer a Snapshot of Pandemic-Affected Lives

Sylff Research Grant for FY2022

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce that 53 fellows have been named to receive a Sylff Research Grant (SRG) for fiscal 2022 (April 2022 to March 2023).

SRG was launched to enable a wider range of research activities during the pandemic, which had forced the suspension of all Sylff support programs (except SRA without Overseas Travel) since April 2020. It is designed to compensate for the resulting loss of funding opportunities and overcome the challenges posed by the lingering restrictions on international travel and large gatherings.

We were delighted to receive a great number of outstanding applications from fellows all over the world. The selection was highly competitive, and all applications were carefully reviewed from the perspectives of adherence to prescribed format, clarity of the statements, academic and/or social significance of the research, and feasibility of the proposals.

Congratulations to all the awardees! We hope the research conducted with this award will bear much fruit, both for the fellow and for society. The list of the 53 awardees and their research themes can be viewed at: List of SRG Awardees FY2022

You may find their Sylff profiles at: https://www.sylff.org/fellows/?p=SRG

Shino Hateruma, a 2016 Sylff fellowship recipient at Waseda University, visited the Sylff Association secretariat in Tokyo on November 30, 2022. She received a PhD in international studies earlier this year from the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, for her research on the US military’s overseas presence and Asia-Pacific security.

Hateruma, second from left.

Born in Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the largest number of US bases in Japan, Hateruma grew up amid a series of often tragic incidents and accidents committed by US military personnel. She has since developed a deep interest in the reasons for the US presence in her hometown, prompting her to undertake research on ways to resolve Japan’s Okinawa base problem through international comparison.

She is currently engaged in research at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Okinawa International University and actively shares her analyses and perspectives on America’s overseas military presence at seminars and events throughout Japan. She plans to publish a book and journal articles based on her doctoral dissertation in both English and Japanese and expresses a strong desire to contribute to the global Sylff community. 

Warm congratulations on completing her PhD while raising her now two-year-old child, and best wishes for a successful and rewarding career.   

Mr. Sasakawa welcoming Professor Djokic during the visit to The Nippon Foundation.

On October 6, Professor Vladan Djokic, rector of the University of Belgrade, visited Sylff Association Chairman Yohei Sasakawa at The Nippon Foundation.

Professor Djokic, who was appointed rector in 2021, was in Japan to attend the Science and Technology in Society Forum in Kyoto. He and his wife, Dr. Ana Miladinovic, visited Tokyo on their way back to Serbia.

Mr. Sasakawa and Prof. Djokic exchange views on a range of topics.

In their meeting, Prof. Djokic and Mr. Sasakawa shared their views on a broad range of topics, including recent international developments and issues in Japan’s educational system.

A traditional Serbian handicraft is presented as a gift.

Prof. Djokic also stopped by the Tokyo Foundation’s Roppongi office. As an expert on urban architecture and design, he expressed great interest in the view of Tokyo from the Foundation’s 34th floor office.

A group photo at the Tokyo Foundation.

Face-to-face visits had been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic but are now gradually resuming. We are looking forward to the day when we can once again have in-person meetings with Sylff fellows and SSC members on a regular basis.

The Sylff Association secretariat was pleased to receive a visit on May 17, 2022, from Evgeniy Kandilarov, a 2003 Sylff fellowship recipient at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Bulgaria and currently a member of the university’s Sylff steering committee.

Having a visitor from abroad was very special for us, given that COVID-related restrictions have yet to be completely lifted.

Kandilarov, second from left, during his visit to the Sylff Association secretariat.

Kandilarov is an associate professor in the Japanese Studies Department at his alma mater and is staying in Tokyo through March 2023 to conduct research on the Japanese government’s policy toward Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on the Balkans, from the Cold War to today. The research is being funded by the Japan Foundation.

He has published several books relating to his current research topic. During his stay, he hopes to analyze data from documentary sources and conduct interviews with specialists, policy makers, and practitioners to gain a better understanding of the driving factors and goals of Japan’s Balkan policy and the major outcomes of that policy.

During his visit to the secretariat, he also updated us on the recently renewed Sylff Program at Sofia University, which is being managed in an exemplary manner by Kandilarov and other members of the university’s steering committee.

We hope that his stay in Japan proves to be very productive.

Sylff Research Grant (SRG)

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to announce the launch of Sylff Research Grant (SRG), aimed at supporting high-quality academic research and career development among doctoral students and recent doctorates amid COVID-related restrictions. The program provides a grant of up to US$5,000 to each successful applicant.

All Sylff fellows who are currently enrolled in a doctoral program at any institution of higher learning or who received a doctorate on or after April 1, 2019, are eligible to apply. SRG may be used to support research conducted between October 15, 2022, and September 30, 2023.

Before submitting a formal application, fellows are required to complete online preliminary registration procedures before 11:59 p.m., June 30, 2022 (Japan Standard Time). Please carefully read the Call for Applications for details on eligibility, research activities for which the grant can be used, and application requirements and schedule.

We hope that eligible fellows will make most of this opportunity to advance their research activities. We look forward to receiving your application.

Participants:
—Sylff Steering Committee, Institute of Political Education “Pedro Arrupe”
• Giovanni Notari, SJ, Director (top row, third from left)
• Massimo Massaro, Sylff Chair (top row, left)
—Sylff Fellows, Institute of Political Education “Pedro Arrupe”
• Zeno Franchini (top row, right), (middle row, left to right) Francesco Montagnani, Danila Taccone, Federico Prestileo, Luca Carmelo Aiello
—Sylff Association Secretariat, Tokyo Foundation
• Mari Suzuki, Executive Director, Tokyo Foundation (top row, second from left)
• Yoko Kaburagi, Program Officer (bottom row, left)
• Maki Shimada, Program Officer (bottom row, right)

An online orientation for the Sylff Program 2022–23 was organized by the Institute of Political Education “Pedro Arrupe” on April 1, 2022, with members of the Sylff Association secretariat attending.

After an introduction to the Sylff Program by the Sylff Association secretariat, the new fellows made presentations of their action-oriented research topics designed to benefit the local community. The Institute’s Sylff program is called the “Idea-Action Research Program,” which provides a framework for fellows to apply scientific ideas to the resolution of real social issues through community engagement The following are their research topics:

Zeno Franchini: The status and effectiveness of inclusion practices in Palermo and how to create the foundations for new forms of activism and political and social struggle

Francesco Montagnani: The marginality in contexts undergoing redevelopment, with an emphasis on the decision-making practices that direct them through the construction of legitimate knowledge of the territory starting from the rearguard

Danila Taccone: Survey on the awareness regarding the rights, skills and vision of the future of girls in the age group 16-30 of a marginal neighborhood of the Palermo area in order to facilitate a process of self-narration based on the use of new technologies

Federico Prestileo: The effects of the change in public space that took place in the village of Sant'Erasmo in Palermo starting from some urban regeneration interventions that have changed its face

Luca Carmelo Aiello: Investment in the civil economy sector, with reference to the management and support of sustainable entrepreneurship paths from an economic and social point of view

The meeting ended with speeches by Mari Suzuki, Executive Director of the Tokyo Foundation, and Father Giovanni Notari, SJ, who both reaffirmed the goals of the Sylff program.

Despite the physical distance between Italy and Japan, the orientation session served as a great opportunity for the Sylff Association secretariat to learn more about the unique features of Institute’s program, notably the alignment of research and action at the grassroots level.

The island of Sicily, where the Institute is located, is one of the most marginalized areas in Italy with high unemployment and poverty rates but also with great potential not fully expressed. Located in the Mediterranean Sea, it is home to a large number of immigrants, contributing to its diversity while at the same time posing the question of their effective integration into local society. Fellows at the Institute are tackling such issues through multiple approaches, including not only academic research but also community action focusing on minority groups.

We hope that the new fellows will take full advantage of the Sylff program to advance their research and social activities and embody the Sylff mission in becoming leaders capable of transcending differences.

(from left: Payoshni Mitra and Rimple Mehta)

The Sylff Association secretariat is pleased to share wonderful news submitted by two fellows from Jadavpur University in India.

Payoshni Mitra (Photo: IWG Women & Sport)

Payoshni Mitra, a 2005–07 fellow, was appointed the first-ever Chief Executive Officer of the UNESCO-affiliated Global Observatory (GO) for Gender Equity & Sports, newly established in January 2022 in the Olympic capital of Lausanne, Switzerland, to promote gender equity in and through sports.

Mitra is a prominent athlete rights advocate and a gender and sports scholar. She has been fighting for nondiscrimination and inclusion of women athletes for over a decade, addressing human rights violations in sports, influencing important institutional changes, and helping athletes win legal cases.

Read the IWG Women & Sport press release on her appointment:

https://iwgwomenandsport.org/fr/athlete-rights-advocate-payoshni-mitra-announced-ceo-for-global-observatory/

Another Jadavpur fellow, Rimple Mehta, 2011–13, who is now Lecturer and Associate Dean, International (South and Southeast Asia) of the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, has published Women, Incarcerated: Narratives from India. The book, co-edited with social anthropologist Mahuya Bandyopadhyay, is based on a social action project Mehta undertook on “Carceral Logics and Social Justice: A Dialogue between Practitioners, Scholars and Activists,” supported with a Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) grant.

(photo: Oriental BlackSwan)

Mehta has been researching the issue of women’s imprisonment in India since 2008 when she met Bangladeshi women who had been incarcerated for illegally crossing the border to India. After a decade of research, her work has expanded to advocate against discrimination of women prisoners in the country, which was socially a neglected issue. She has been working to raise awareness of this issue by networking with activists, scholars, social work practitioners, and public administrators, as well as through her widely discussed first book, Women, Mobility and Incarceration.

Congratulations to both fellows for their important achievements, and we wish them even greater success henceforth in realizing their vision for a more just and inclusive society.