Our Aim

The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is a UK-based charity that supports and develops mutual understanding and co-operation between the UK and Japan, mainly through small grants to projects in both countries. Each year we provide in the region of £1m in funding to hundreds of projects in the arts, sport, education, science, social issues, medicine and other fields. The key characteristic that unites them all is the determination to build relationships and understanding between the two countries for the benefit of both.

Offices and application deadlines

Our main office is in London, with a second office in Tokyo.

The London office has three annual deadlines for grant applications, and the Tokyo office has two annual deadlines.

The next deadline for applications to our UK office is 31st March 2026 for consideration in May 2026.

The next deadline for applications to our Japan office is 28th February 2026 for consideration in April 2026.

What we do

The Foundation is an independent charity, thanks to the generosity in 1985 of Ryoichi Sasakawa and a subsequent further endowment from his son Yohei Sasakawa. In our first forty years we invested over £20m in UK-Japanese exchange and collaboration.

As well as our grant-giving programme, we have an annual December application for grants dedicated to medicine and health, support up to 30 postgraduate studentships in Japanese studies at UK universities, collaborate with the Society of Authors on an annual translation prize, fund an annual school trip to Japan, and support a dedicated programme of research into the vital issue of antimicrobial resistance.