Dr. Richard G. Wamai, a SYLFF fellow of the University of Helsinki, published the following 2 articles:

1. An article on HIV/AIDS “Public Health: Reassessing HIV Prevention” was published in Science in May 2008. www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5877/749?ijkey=rJ1DgbxNEYbKQ&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

A response to a question on the above article in Science concerning HIV/AIDS resources and effectiveness of the different prevention approaches was published in Science in September 2008:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5896/1631b?ijkey=iDjjVTtti9NX.&keytype=ref&siteid=sci

2. Dr. Wamai is a lead author of a paper “Male circumcision is an efficacious, lasting and cost-effective strategy for combating HIV in high-prevalence AIDS epidemics” in Future HIV Therapy –written by 43 authors who are among the leading AIDS experts in the world, and published by Future Medicine.
http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/17469600.2.5.399

SYLFF fellow from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in India, Dr. Bikramaditya Choudhary, has published a book, Tuberculosis in India: A Political Ecology Approach (Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2008). Dr. Choudhary received a SYLFF fellowship in 2003 for his Ph.D. study at JNU. Abstract of the book is as follows: Continue reading →

The Japan Science Society, a sister organization of the Tokyo Foundation, together with Zhongguo Qingnianbao newspaper and Renmin Zhongguo magazine, is sponsoring the Sasakawa Essay Competition 2008 to promote better understanding of Japan among young Chinese people. The submission deadline is October 31, 2008. The prize winners will receive attractive awards including an invitation trip to Japan and RMB2,000.　

The winning essays will be published in a Chinese newspaper. For details, please visit the website: http://zqb.cyol.com/content/2008-04/24/content_2156976.htm

Mr. Augustin Hadelich, a SYLFF fellow from The Juilliard School, will hold violin recitals with pianist Ikuyo Nakamichi in Tokyo and Osaka. He will also join the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra early this month to play Paganini’s Concerto No.1 under Maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama. (see details below) Continue reading →

The Tokyo Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of this special website for a global network of scholarship activities over 68 institutions in 44 countries. This website is designed to promote activities of the SYLFF Program and the more than 10,000 SYLFF fellows who have the potentials of becoming our future global leaders. As you can see from the institutional profiles on the website, fellows are students or graduates of acclaimed institutions of higher learning located all over the world. The site is richly infused with articles by these fellows and institutional administrators with global viewpoints, which are periodically updated.

Additionally, many of the fellows are involved in social actions for their respective communities around the globe. You can learn about those activities through their photos, reports, and downloadable research papers.

Accumulated SYLFF information such as past forum reports, fellow musicians’ performance reports, and fellows’ speeches are also organized in an orderly and easy-to-read fashion.

On May 12, 2008 an extremely strong earthquake struck China, centering on Wenchuan county, Sichuan province. News of this major disaster and the extensive damages it wrought—over 80,000 people confirmed dead or listed as missing, and more than 370,000 people injured—were widely reported throughout the world.

The Tokyo Foundation has been providing scholarships to graduate students in 10 universities in China through the SYLFF Program since 1992 with the aim of nurturing leaders in a diversity of fields. In view of the gravity of the situation, the foundation called out to SYLFF fellows in China for proposals concerning aid activities for the victims.

Twelve proposals were submitted, and among them, the Tokyo Foundation selected two volunteer activities led by SYLFF fellows in Lanzhou University and Chongqing University, respectively. These groups were given financial support by the foundation, and activities were conducted in August. I flew to China to observe the operations of these two groups, and the following is my report from the field.

• SYLFF Fellows in China Support Great Sichuan Earthquake Victims (Isamu Maruyama)

Chairman, The Tokyo Foundation

The Tokyo Foundation donated ¥500,000 to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China to Japan on June 4. The donation was delivered with the hope that those injured in the massive Sichuan earthquake in May would recover as quickly as possible and that the damaged infrastructure would promptly be rebuilt.

The money was donated by Tokyo Foundation staff as well as by participants in the symposium on Human Rights in China, featuring Luo Haocai (president, China Society for Human Rights Studies) and held on May 16 at the Foundation as the seventh in a series of symposiums on Reconstructing Values for the Global Age in commemoration of its Tenth Anniversary.

The donation was delivered by Executive Director Haruo Shibazaki of the General Affairs Division, who expressed his wish for the earliest possible recovery of the quake-affected areas.

Wei Deng, Counselor at the Chinese Embassy, commented, "We're very grateful for this kind gift, and I would like to convey our deep gratitude to each and everyone who made a donation."

The Tokyo Foundation would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who kindly made a donation at the symposium.

The full text of the letter presented to the embassy is as follows:

We, the Tokyo Foundation, hereby offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to the people of China on the tragic news of a massive earthquake in Sichuan Province. We hereby present a donation from the Tokyo Foundation staff and participants in the symposium on Human Rights in China, featuring Luo Haocai (president, China Society for Human Rights Studies) as the seventh in a series of symposiums on Reconstructing Values for the Global Age in commemoration of its Tenth Anniversary.

It is our wish that this donation be used to help in the reconstruction efforts.

Donation of ¥500,000 presented

To His Excellency Cui Tiankai Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the People's Republic of China to Japan

On June 4, 2008