The 50th Anniversary of the Toyota Foundation: Changing Grant Activities in Asia
TONE Hideo / Program Officer, Group for International Grants, The Toyota Foundation
February 12, 2025
The Toyota Foundation commemorated its 50th anniversary on 15 October 2024. As expressly stated in its prospectus, “the foundation views events from a global perspective as it works to support activities that bring broad, long-term benefits to society” and “identifies issues in a wide range of areas in line with the needs of the times”. The total amount of grant provided by the foundation over these years exceeds JPY 20.6 billion, and over 8,400 researches and projects have been supported through its grant programs. Let me focus upon its global grant-making activities on this occasion.
In 1974, the Toyota Foundation was endowed and established by Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Sales Co. Ltd., both of which later became what is now Toyota Motor Corp. Back at the time, Japanese society, which had achieved tremendous economic growth, was full of vigor and there was a rapidly heightening sense of its presence both at home and abroad. On the other hand, it was also fueling resentment among people in Southeast Asian countries. The riot that occurred in Indonesia upon the then Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka’s Southeast Asia Tour was one such example of anti-Japan sentiment surfacing in a visible way.
International grant-making activities of the Toyota Foundation started in Southeast Asia. Under the social condition completely different from that of today, those who assumed hands-on responsibilities were “Program Officers (PO)”.
Mr. Yujiro Hayashi, who was the executive director upon inception, visited foundations in the United States including the Ford Foundation to learn the fundamentals of grant-making. What he witnessed there was the POs, designated staff who worked as specialists. The Toyota Foundation became the first to introduce this structure in a full-fledged form in Japan. POs were expected to examine the themes and objectives of grant activities and further design actual programs, rather than just soliciting application forms and liaising with grantees. I myself am one of them as well.
There was a Translation-Publication Program named “Know Our Neighbors”. Back in the days when the Toyota Foundation was established, it was not easy for people of Southeast Asia to visit their neighboring countries and those who knew their lives and cultures were extremely limited. Taking note of the situation, the program was launched with an attempt to translate literatures such as classic folktales representing each country into languages of their neighboring countries. The goal of the project was to facilitate mutual understanding. POs of the foundation frequently visited relevant countries and communicated closely with the people involved as they worked on the project. Over 660 books were published during the translation program period. Concurrently, grants were provided for editing of dictionaries, preservation of ruins, archiving of documents, and development of young researchers in the Southeast Asian countries.
Meanwhile, Asian countries continued their economic growth at a blistering pace and people today have access to foreign information on a day-to-day basis, including social media information. More and more people can now afford overseas travel from time to time. Such a society looks as though if it is full of life, but on the contrary, various challenges have begun to surface. Many of those are shared in common among the countries, such as dwindling birthrate and an aging population, climate change, sense of isolation and mental health crisis, etc.
One of the goals of the Toyota Foundation today is to foster a mutual learning among Asian countries. The foundation supports interdisciplinary and cross-border exchange activities for mutual learning among groups of practitioners and researchers working to solve social issues and improve the situation. Behind this is a belief that Japan and Asian countries are on a same boat, sharing common issues and that they should tackle them together.
While today’s world is hugely impacted by a rapid development of advanced technologies, it is human beings that can decide what kind of changes they desire. The Toyota Foundation has launched new grant programs a couple of years ago to support research projects tackling social issues arising from the development of advanced technologies, including generative AI, as well as efforts in developing social structures to deal with the increasing number of migrants in Japan. This is a reflection of the foundation’s belief that these topics have a huge impact on social changes. The Toyota Foundation will not fear changes and continue to work on grant-making activities for the future, serving as a partner for those who are always endeavoring to tackle issues and tasks as they arise.
TONE Hideo is Program Officer, Group for International Grants, The Toyota Foundation
In 1974, the Toyota Foundation was endowed and established by Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. and Toyota Motor Sales Co. Ltd., both of which later became what is now Toyota Motor Corp. Back at the time, Japanese society, which had achieved tremendous economic growth, was full of vigor and there was a rapidly heightening sense of its presence both at home and abroad. On the other hand, it was also fueling resentment among people in Southeast Asian countries. The riot that occurred in Indonesia upon the then Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka’s Southeast Asia Tour was one such example of anti-Japan sentiment surfacing in a visible way.
International grant-making activities of the Toyota Foundation started in Southeast Asia. Under the social condition completely different from that of today, those who assumed hands-on responsibilities were “Program Officers (PO)”.
Mr. Yujiro Hayashi, who was the executive director upon inception, visited foundations in the United States including the Ford Foundation to learn the fundamentals of grant-making. What he witnessed there was the POs, designated staff who worked as specialists. The Toyota Foundation became the first to introduce this structure in a full-fledged form in Japan. POs were expected to examine the themes and objectives of grant activities and further design actual programs, rather than just soliciting application forms and liaising with grantees. I myself am one of them as well.
There was a Translation-Publication Program named “Know Our Neighbors”. Back in the days when the Toyota Foundation was established, it was not easy for people of Southeast Asia to visit their neighboring countries and those who knew their lives and cultures were extremely limited. Taking note of the situation, the program was launched with an attempt to translate literatures such as classic folktales representing each country into languages of their neighboring countries. The goal of the project was to facilitate mutual understanding. POs of the foundation frequently visited relevant countries and communicated closely with the people involved as they worked on the project. Over 660 books were published during the translation program period. Concurrently, grants were provided for editing of dictionaries, preservation of ruins, archiving of documents, and development of young researchers in the Southeast Asian countries.
Meanwhile, Asian countries continued their economic growth at a blistering pace and people today have access to foreign information on a day-to-day basis, including social media information. More and more people can now afford overseas travel from time to time. Such a society looks as though if it is full of life, but on the contrary, various challenges have begun to surface. Many of those are shared in common among the countries, such as dwindling birthrate and an aging population, climate change, sense of isolation and mental health crisis, etc.
One of the goals of the Toyota Foundation today is to foster a mutual learning among Asian countries. The foundation supports interdisciplinary and cross-border exchange activities for mutual learning among groups of practitioners and researchers working to solve social issues and improve the situation. Behind this is a belief that Japan and Asian countries are on a same boat, sharing common issues and that they should tackle them together.
While today’s world is hugely impacted by a rapid development of advanced technologies, it is human beings that can decide what kind of changes they desire. The Toyota Foundation has launched new grant programs a couple of years ago to support research projects tackling social issues arising from the development of advanced technologies, including generative AI, as well as efforts in developing social structures to deal with the increasing number of migrants in Japan. This is a reflection of the foundation’s belief that these topics have a huge impact on social changes. The Toyota Foundation will not fear changes and continue to work on grant-making activities for the future, serving as a partner for those who are always endeavoring to tackle issues and tasks as they arise.
TONE Hideo is Program Officer, Group for International Grants, The Toyota Foundation
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
トヨタ財団50周年：変化するアジアでの助成活動
利根 英夫 / トヨタ財団 国際助成グループ プログラム・オフィサー
2025年 2月 12日
2024年10月15日、公益財団法人トヨタ財団は創立 50 年を迎えた。その設立趣意書では「世界的視野に立ち、しかも長期的かつ幅広く社会活動に寄与するため」、「多領域にわたって時代の要請に対応した課題をとりあげる」と明言されている。これまでの助成総額は206億円を超え、8400件以上の様々な研究ならびに事業への助成を行ってきた。本稿では、その国際的な助成活動について触れてみよう。
トヨタ財団は、現在のトヨタ自動車の前身である、トヨタ自動車工業株式会社とトヨタ自動車販売株式会社によって1974年に設立された。当時、高度経済成長を果たした日本社会は活気に溢れ、海外での存在感も急激に高まっていただろう。その一方で、東南アジアでは反日感情が高まっていた。田中角栄首相の東南アジア歴訪の折、インドネシアで起こった暴動は、それが目に見える形で現れたもののひとつだ。
トヨタ財団の国際的な助成活動は東南アジアから始まった。現在とはまったく異なる社会情勢のなかで、助成実務を担ったのは“プログラムオフィサー”（PO）だ。
設立時の専務理事である林雄二郎は、助成財団とはなんたるかを学ぶため、米国のフォード財団等を訪れている。彼がそこで見たのが、専門職としてのスタッフであるPOの存在だ。この仕組みを、日本の財団では初めて本格導入した。申請書を募り、助成先とのコミュニケーションを担うだけでなく、助成のテーマや目的を検討し、具体的なプログラムを設計していくことが求められる。筆者もその一人だ。
「隣人をよく知ろう」と名付けられた翻訳出版助成プログラムがある。トヨタ財団設立当時、東南アジア諸国の人々が隣国を訪れることは難しく、その生活文化について知る人は極めて限られていることに着目した。そこで助成を始めたのが、各国を代表する民話等を各国語に翻訳する試みだ。目指したのは、相互理解の促進である。財団のPOは頻繁に各国を訪れ、現地関係者との深いコミュニケーションを通じて作業が進められた。プログラムの終了までに660冊以上が刊行されている。並行して、辞書の編纂、遺跡や伝統文書の保存、東南アジア諸国の若手研究者育成への助成も行われた。
アジア各地は猛烈な勢いで経済成長を続け、ソーシャルメディアを含めて外国の情報にアクセスすることは日常になっている。時には海外旅行を楽しむ人々も増えた。その社会は活力に満ちている（ように見える）が、同時に多くの課題も表面化してきている。少子高齢化、気候変動、孤独やメンタルヘルスの課題など、共通しているものも多い。
現在のトヨタ財団が掲げるテーマのひとつは、アジア各国間の学びあいだ。社会課題の解決や状況の改善に取り組む事業家や研究者等のグループが、専門も国境も超え、相互に学ぶ交流活動に助成している。その背景には、日本とアジア諸国は同じ課題に向き合う運命共同体であり、共に状況の改善に取り組むべきという考えがある。
テクノロジーの飛躍的な発展は、世界の変化に大きな影響を与えているが、どんな変化を望むのかを決められるのは人間だ。トヨタ財団は、生成AIをはじめとする先端技術と現代社会の課題を扱う研究や、日本国内の外国人増加に対応する仕組み構築への助成を数年前から開始した。これからの社会変化に大きな影響を与えるトピックだと考えているためだ。トヨタ財団自身も変化を恐れず、常に課題に向き合う人々のパートナーとして、未来に向けた助成活動を行っていく。
筆者はトヨタ財団 国際助成グループ プログラム・オフィサー
トヨタ財団は、現在のトヨタ自動車の前身である、トヨタ自動車工業株式会社とトヨタ自動車販売株式会社によって1974年に設立された。当時、高度経済成長を果たした日本社会は活気に溢れ、海外での存在感も急激に高まっていただろう。その一方で、東南アジアでは反日感情が高まっていた。田中角栄首相の東南アジア歴訪の折、インドネシアで起こった暴動は、それが目に見える形で現れたもののひとつだ。
トヨタ財団の国際的な助成活動は東南アジアから始まった。現在とはまったく異なる社会情勢のなかで、助成実務を担ったのは“プログラムオフィサー”（PO）だ。
設立時の専務理事である林雄二郎は、助成財団とはなんたるかを学ぶため、米国のフォード財団等を訪れている。彼がそこで見たのが、専門職としてのスタッフであるPOの存在だ。この仕組みを、日本の財団では初めて本格導入した。申請書を募り、助成先とのコミュニケーションを担うだけでなく、助成のテーマや目的を検討し、具体的なプログラムを設計していくことが求められる。筆者もその一人だ。
「隣人をよく知ろう」と名付けられた翻訳出版助成プログラムがある。トヨタ財団設立当時、東南アジア諸国の人々が隣国を訪れることは難しく、その生活文化について知る人は極めて限られていることに着目した。そこで助成を始めたのが、各国を代表する民話等を各国語に翻訳する試みだ。目指したのは、相互理解の促進である。財団のPOは頻繁に各国を訪れ、現地関係者との深いコミュニケーションを通じて作業が進められた。プログラムの終了までに660冊以上が刊行されている。並行して、辞書の編纂、遺跡や伝統文書の保存、東南アジア諸国の若手研究者育成への助成も行われた。
アジア各地は猛烈な勢いで経済成長を続け、ソーシャルメディアを含めて外国の情報にアクセスすることは日常になっている。時には海外旅行を楽しむ人々も増えた。その社会は活力に満ちている（ように見える）が、同時に多くの課題も表面化してきている。少子高齢化、気候変動、孤独やメンタルヘルスの課題など、共通しているものも多い。
現在のトヨタ財団が掲げるテーマのひとつは、アジア各国間の学びあいだ。社会課題の解決や状況の改善に取り組む事業家や研究者等のグループが、専門も国境も超え、相互に学ぶ交流活動に助成している。その背景には、日本とアジア諸国は同じ課題に向き合う運命共同体であり、共に状況の改善に取り組むべきという考えがある。
テクノロジーの飛躍的な発展は、世界の変化に大きな影響を与えているが、どんな変化を望むのかを決められるのは人間だ。トヨタ財団は、生成AIをはじめとする先端技術と現代社会の課題を扱う研究や、日本国内の外国人増加に対応する仕組み構築への助成を数年前から開始した。これからの社会変化に大きな影響を与えるトピックだと考えているためだ。トヨタ財団自身も変化を恐れず、常に課題に向き合う人々のパートナーとして、未来に向けた助成活動を行っていく。
筆者はトヨタ財団 国際助成グループ プログラム・オフィサー
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟