ISSN 0285-9033

OCCASIONAL REPORT No. 36
THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION

May 2008

Shinjuku Mitsui Building 37F • 2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku • Shinjuku-ku • Tokyo 163-0437, Japan • Tel: (03) 3344-1701 • Fax: (03) 3342-6911

On Being Appointed President of the
Toyota Foundation
Atsuko Toyama
President, The Toyota Foundation“A Song of Early Spring,” which begins with thewords “A spring in name only as the cold winds
blow,” is a beautiful, nostalgic song that strikes achord with the listener. In thepleasant season of early spring,
this year I have experienced
some nervousness. The strangest thing has happened: I havebeen appointed president of the
Toyota Foundation, an institution steeped in tradition and history, having a major presenceboth in Japan and overseas. My
predecessor, the late Shosaburo Kimura, was a person of shining intellect and urbane character, a rare
man of culture who charmed a great many people.
There is tremendous pressure in following someone
like that. Nevertheless, now that I have taken the position I intend to do the very best I can, with the assistance of everyone concerned now and in the fu-

ture, to achieve the high ideals of this organization.
The Toyota Foundation is not merely one of Japan’s leading grant-making foundations; its activ­
ities have also been characterized by three significant
innovations. The first lies in the Foundation’s statedgoals. We clearly set forth the lofty ideal and goal ofadvancing the happiness of individuals, and thereby
the future happiness of the society that they makeup, with our pledge to contribute to “greater humanhappiness.” This philosophy is one that actively
guides our efforts to draw up concrete strategies for
the Foundation as well as our selections of project
proposals to receive grants. Furthermore, the Toyota
Foundation has been flexible enough to revise its approach to grant making from time to time in accordance with the needs of the times and its ideals,
which is just how a grant-making foundation should
behave.
The second characteristic has been our willingness
to look beyond specific academic fields to award
grants to a truly broad range of research focusing on
network formation with an eye on the Asian region,
research on the revitalization of communities thathave lost their vigor in the modern era of urbanization, and research that contributes to “the search forthe richness of human life and activity.” This researchtends to be low-key in nature, aiming to make steady

CONTENTSOn Being Appointed President of the Toyota Foundation......................................................1
Public Symposium: “Ties Between People Will Unlock Asia’s Potential”..............................2
Creation of Regional and Personal Networks on the Legend of Xu Fu:
The Possibilities of New Comparative Studies Based on Oral Literature............................3
Construction of a Network and Archive on the History of Community Developmentin East Asian Countries.....................................................................................................4
The Role and Relationships of International NGOs and Local NGOs in the Global
Community: The Example of South Asia...........................................................................6
Website Redesigned.............................................................................................................7
The Toyota Foundation’s Activities in Fiscal 2008.................................................................8

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

progress toward the improvement of human lives.
This is a major distinction. We believe that thesequalities make this sort of work absolutely essential
for Japan as it moves into the future. Under the To­
yota Foundation’s Mid- and Long-Term Vision,
crafted to mark the organization’s thirtieth anniversary, we are just setting sail in a new vessel, so to
speak. I feel as though I have landed on the deck ofa huge ship that has just set sail, guided by new sea
charts. I hope to see the Foundation continue to be
the kind of vessel that contributes to the true happiness of people and society.
The third characteristic is the fact that our organization has never been tied directly to the profitabilityof Toyota Motor Corporation’s worldwide business
operation, but has enjoyed an independent existencefrom its very beginning. This is the form taken bynumerous foundations in Japan that are supported
by a corporate parent, but we believe that by contributing to society in this manner, Japanese corporations have created a special kind of private organization that they can be justifiably proud of on a global
basis.
I am currently serving as president of the foundation that operates the New National Theatre. The
New National Theatre is attracting international attention as a cultural base where we plan, produce,and stage world-class performing arts, such as operas and ballets, and help disseminate culture bothin Japan and abroad. The artists who appear in our
programs—singers, dancers, conductors, and directors—cross easily over national borders as they compete in the world of artistic talent. It is encouraging
to see that Japanese artists are among those surviving the competition and achieving considerable success.
Witnessing and supporting contemporary performing arts, the work of first-class artists, is somewhat different from working for a grant-making
foundation. Some aspects are difficult while others
are highly interesting. This fall will mark the tenthanniversary of the opening of the New National Theatre. While the organization is still in its infancy, I
believe it is helping to disseminate Japanese culture.
The New National Theatre Foundation is a different
type of organization from the Toyota Foundation,
but the important thing is that all the people involved
share the same goals and strategies and act in concert.
As it happens, I have also been involved directly
or indirectly with a number of other foundations,and I have learned a great deal about foundations
May 2008

and their activities. Every foundation has its own
philosophy and history. I have been struck by the factthat both the steady administration of grants in afoundation’s particular areas of interest and the skillful orchestration of the abilities of outside experts are
beneficial in grant-making activities.
The work of foundations is to help create more
happiness for this country’s people and society, andfor all humanity. With foundations pursuing thecommon ambition to help create a better society, theresult will be to focus the energy of Japan’s private
sector and increase each organization’s significanceas a public interest corporation.
The significance of public interest corporations
lies in their ability to use the power of the private
sector to provide finely tuned, sometimes daring
forms of assistance that national or local public agencies cannot provide. Here at the Toyota Foundation
we will work to rejuvenate our own activities from a
broad range of perspectives. As long as we can provide opportunities for harnessing the power of Japan’s private sector to contribute to society, our efforts will be fruitful.

Public Symposium: “Ties Between
People Will Unlock Asia’s Potential”
On October 25, 2007, the Toyota Foundation hosted
a public symposium on the theme “Ties Between
People Will Unlock Asia’s Potential: What Network
Formation Generates.”Three recipients of Toyota Foundation grants under the Asian Neighbors Network Program gave
presentations at the event, and Professor Haruo Miyamura of Seikei University’s Faculty of Law provided commentary. The presentations are summarized below.
Basing his remarks on the ways in which societies
and cultures have become more open as the countries of East Asia have experienced opening up to theworld, Professor Miyamura spoke about discovering
the mutual bonds between communities, linking
projects through networking, and inter-organizational challenges.
The symposium concluded with a summary presented by Professor Kozo Hiramatsu of Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Asian and African Area
Studies. Professor Hiramatsu noted that there are noTHE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

uniform standards for determining the results of network formation activities and reiterated the pointthat what is most important is the process by whicha network is formed.

Creation of Regional and Personal Networks
on the Legend of Xu Fu: The Possibilities of
New Comparative Studies Based on Oral Literature
Shiho Tsuji
Part-time Lecturer, Faculty of Letters, Aichi Prefectural
University
Researching the Xu Fu Legend
According to Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, after the unification of China the first Qin emperor sent Xu Fu on a quest for the “elixir of life.”
Accompanied by thousands of sailors he traveled to
the “three sacred mountains” rising in the easternseas, took over broad plains and wetlands, and set
himself up as a king, without returning to China.
Many legends have survived in Japan and Korea
concerning the location of Xu Fu’s kingdom, while
in China Xu Fu’s birthplace and place of departure
have begun gaining attention. As a folklorist, I am
attracted to the story of Xu Fu from the standpointof research on oral literature (legends).
The most interesting aspect of the Xu Fu legends
is the fact that they are connectedacross an ocean. Xu Fu legends
have endured in dozens of locations in Japan, South Korea, andChina. In the study of folklore it
has been generally thought thatonce a legend is revealed to exist
in multiple locations, the legend
dies out. Nevertheless, competition for credibility has not caused
divisiveness among the locations
where the Xu Fu legends are preserved. Instead, thevarious stories complement one another and combine to make up the overall legend.
Let us visit the places in Japan where such legends
are preserved. There is a tomb, said to be that of Xu
Fu, in Hadasu in the city of Kumano, Mie Prefecture.
Since the Kumano Kodo, a series of pilgrimage
routes, were registered as a World Heritage site, a Xu
Fu teahouse has been built along one of the routes.

May 2008

There is another tomb reputed to contain Xu Fu’s
remains about 30 kilometers to the south, in the cityof Shingu in Wakayama Prefecture. It was built at thecommand of Tokugawa Yorinobu, the founder of the
Kishu clan. A park was also built there during theadministration of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita
with funding from the “Hometown Revival” program. A professional reciter of the legend, 97 years
old this year, is still active there as well.
An 80-year-old man in the town of Ine, Kyoto Prefecture, alarmed at the prospect of the oral traditionof the Tango Peninsula ending when he dies, had astone monument inscribed with the oral tradition
erected at Niizaki Shrine this year at his own expense. It has attracted many visitors. Thus, the Xu Fulegends are being preserved in various locations not
through government involvement but through theefforts of local people. In addition, the legends arealso being transmitted in schools, including in integrated learning classes. A junior high school in the
town of Nakadomari in Aomori Prefecture and anelementary school in the city of Yame in Fukuoka
Prefecture are among the schools that hold events
related to Xu Fu’s crossing.

Motivation for and Process of Network Formation
I wanted to inform the next generation about elderly
keepers of the legends. Attempts have been made in
the past to bring together the efforts in the various
locations, but the people in each location cherish
their own oral traditions, so it is difficult to form anorganization positioned above them. For that reason
I decided to take it upon myself to act as the liaison.
I also thought that I would be able to incorporate
books published in these locations into my research.
As a folklore researcher, I continually wondered
whether it was acceptable for me to intervene in thecommunities, but through my role as liaison I cameto see that it was necessary to place myself in a position where the local people would see me as a usefulpresence. This did not alter my perspective as a researcher. Since I had already stepped inside the communities, I decided to try to get closer to the local
mindset. I do not speak Chinese or Korean, so I had
to seek help, and this led to new friendships. Writing
letters and making phone calls are essential for maintaining a communications network with older acquaintances.
In China, a Xu Fu celebration is held every October in the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province.
Other such events are held in May in the city ofTHE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORTA statue of Xu Fu in Ganyu County, Jiangsu Province, China

Longkou and in June at Langyatai in the city of Jiao­
nan, both in Shandong Province. Festivals inspiredby Xu Fu’s departure are held in the city of Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, and on the island of
Daishan, Zhejiang Province.
In South Korea, meanwhile, government-fundedinternational seminars and similar events have been
held. Just as exchanges related to Xu Fu between Japan and China began after the normalization of diplomatic relations, friendly exchanges concerning Xu
Fu have occurred between China and Korea. China’s
Shandong Province presented the island of Jeju in
Korea with a statue of Xu Fu, and an unveiling ceremony was held.
In Gyeong-Sang Nam-do, South Korea, there is astone monument bearing an inscription that says Xu
Fu set out for Yame in Fukuoka Prefecture, and people from Yame have begun traveling to South Korea
to see the monument.
There have been other, more recent developments.
In 2004 a large monument commemorating Xu Fu’s
arrival was built by a Taiwanese group of Xu family
members in Saga Prefecture. In China, Japanese businessmen have built a memorial hall dedicated to Xu
Fu in the city of Cixi, Zhejiang Province. The construction of the hall is both a contribution to international exchange and an effort to provide a venue forJapanese-language education, where young people
from the surrounding area can improve their Japanese skills. In some places, such as Taiwan, there is atendency to regard Xu Fu as a trailblazer for overseas
Chinese and travelers to new shores.

Results and Future Prospects
By actually going to the locations where these eventswere held, I was able to view them from a local per

May 2008

spective. This year, when I happened to fall ill, I was
delighted by the ingenuity that local people displayedin keeping the network going. There is no questionthat a bidirectional network is now operating.
This project has been highly rewarding for me, inthat my desire to research the Xu Fu oral tradition
has now gained understanding among Chinese folklorists.
I intend to continue to impress upon other scholars the fascinating nature of how the Xu Fu legends
have been transmitted. I feel that my role is to convey
the attractive aspects of the Xu Fu legends to those
who are unaware of them. Knowing that legends area part of daily life, are constantly shifting, and aresometimes used for political purposes, I intend toaddress legends and oral traditions within the context of globalization.

Construction of a Network and Archive on the
History of Community Development in East
Asian Countries
Shin Aiba
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University
What Is Community Development?
Moves to make urban planning better suited to theresidents of local communities began in the 1960s.
Standing in contrast to the stuffy
image of urban planning, thesejoint efforts by citizens, administrators, and experts to achievemachizukuri (community development) have yielded manytechniques and methodologies
over the past 40 years. One example is an initiative undertaken
by municipalities across Japan inwhich citizens use models to take part in park design.
When I became a researcher in the late 1990s, people had noticed that there were similar community
development movements in South Korea and Taiwan. More recently, researchers have fostered exchange by visiting neighboring countries to investigate community development there. That is where
our project begins, in the building of a common foundation of knowledge with the aim of fostering deeper
mutual understanding.

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORTIn short, the purpose of our project is to portraythe shared history of community development inSouth Korea, Taiwan, and Japan through joint interviews of pioneers in this field. We began by gaining
an understanding of the modern history of community development in each country as a springboard
to the portrayal of our common history by listening
to the stories of pioneers who were active in the earlydays of community development in each country.
The key point is that everyone in the project shouldshare in the process of discovery, with we on theJapanese side interviewing pioneers in other countries and researchers from South Korea and Taiwan
interviewing Japanese pioneers.
Our ultimate vision for the project is that young
researchers from the three countries will form an international network through collaborative works
and will also develop, through the interviews, a network with the older generations who led the way incommunity development in their respective countries. We intend not only to build relationships but
also to compile an archive of our results and place
this at the center of our network.
Issues and Implementation
We initiated this project before applying for the grantfrom the Toyota Foundation. For about the first yearof the project we solicited Taiwanese and South Korean participants while creating our organization in
Japan. Then in the summer of 2006, we worked out
and proposed a joint research methodology. We anticipated that language differences would make communication difficult, so instead of complex research
we proposed a simple research methodology that all
participating researchers would be able to share.
In June and July 2007 we held meetings in bothSouth Korea and Taiwan, and in August we held our
first international workshop attended by representatives from all three participating countries. Participants were able to interview community development pioneers, with researchers from all three
countries able to ask questions through consecutive
interpretation, and field tours were also held, allowing researchers from Taiwan and South Korea to observe examples of Japanese community building
firsthand.

May 2008

the formation of connections with particular universities only. We also needed to take account of the different group culture found in each country. South
Korea is said to be a society in which elders are respected and the participation of elders attracts thatof others, while we had heard that Taiwanese society
was like a collection of small islands, characterized
by strong ties within the individual islands but eachisland isolated from the others. The methods of approaching people in each country would differ accordingly, therefore.
At first we considered using English, but English
would not be understood in the localities that wevisited to study community development. Since thestudy of community development requires that research take place in actual communities, it is criticalthat the people involved in the research be able toreadily exchange information on the localities understudy. We decided, therefore, to use interpreters
among the three languages as a means of ensuringthat the participants could communicate with eachother properly.
We had also planned to use the Internet as a meansof communication, but in the end we decided against
this and opted to place priority on meeting in person.
Given our goal of forming a network, we resolved tomeet in groups so as to create as many nodes as possible between individuals.
Results, Impact, and Future Prospects
We intend for our network to produce results in theform of an archive. We are generating a wealth of
new information on Japan, while our colleagues inSouth Korea and Taiwan are compiling their information using the same formats, which include listsof pioneers, case studies, and chronological tables.

Problems and Solutions
The issue of greatest concern was who should takethe initiative when forming the network. We knewthat approaching people in South Korea and Taiwan
without proper preparation would likely result in

Participants in the first international workshop walk around a Japanesecommunity.

THE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORTThe modern history of East Asia has tended to be
recounted using “big words.” The smaller history of
the small-scale field of civil society has not yet been
depicted. What we are describing in detail throughthis project is the history of community development, an even smaller field within civil society, but
we believe that if the history of such other phenomena as community welfare, education, and environmental movements could also be described using thesame methodologies, this might yield an intriguingcollection of insights into modern history.
Three more workshops are planned during theterm of the Toyota Foundation grant (November 1,
2007 to October 31, 2009). We hope to conduct numerous interviews with community development
pioneers and to compile them into a format thatmakes them easy for citizens to read.
We have also launched a study group with foreign
students in Japan. Moreover, we are now receiving
more inquiries from citizen groups in Taiwan andSouth Korea that are interested in coming to Japan.
We are currently focusing on exchange among researchers, but in the future we hope to also organize
exchange between specialists involved in community development in the field.
The future direction of our network is now underdiscussion. Some have proposed that as we have so
far concentrated on building a framework, we should
now allow the network to become looser. Others
have proposed that, rather than a network, we should
create something like a research platform that can besustained for the long term. I am sure that we willsee further promising developments over the coming
year.

The Role and Relationships of InternationalNGOs and Local NGOs in the Global Community: The Example of South Asia
Tetsuo Tsutsui
Deputy Secretary General, Shapla
Neer Citizens’ Committee in Japanfor Overseas Support

The Story So Far
The Shapla Neer Citizens’ Committee in Japan for Overseas
Support was founded in 1972
and is active in Bangladesh, Ne

May 2008

An international NGO symposium held in Nagoya as a Toyota Foundation grant project

pal, and India. Until 1999 we implemented all of our
projects directly by posting Japanese to these countries and having them employ local staff.
During the 1970s and 1980s, amid the chaos following the independence of Bangladesh, our activities
centered on poverty relief in farming villages. Later,as the poverty problem gradually subsided, newproblems surfaced. Circumstances including the
problem of urbanization led Shapla Neer to wonder
what its role as an overseas NGO should be. At thesame time, we have expanded our activities to othercountries and are considering how we can apply theexperience we have accumulated over the years.
Shapla Neer began working in Nepal in 1996.
Overseas NGOs have an agreement with the Nepa­
lese government that they will operate in cooperation with local NGOs rather than providing assistance directly, so we began our activities in Nepal inpartnership with local NGOs.
We began addressing urban problems in Nepal
and Bangladesh in 1999. We handed the activities we
had been undertaking in rural villages over to local
staff, and these have now developed into three independent NGOs. We shifted to an indirect approachover a period of 10 years and now conduct all of ouractivities in partnership with NGOs in the localities
in which we operate, but this poses different challenges. We have therefore been holding meetings
with NGO leaders to find out how Western NGOs
think and how local NGOs view their foreign counterparts.

Aims of Network Formation
The first point to be aware of is the distinction between partnership and funds provision. We placeTHE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

importance on evaluating projects as we propose,plan, and implement them jointly with our partners,
an approach we view as different from the mere provision of funds. Our partners on the receiving end of
the financial support appear to feel differently, however. Thus, one goal of our networking is to discoverwhat form a partnership should take, how the developed-country party should contribute, and how tobuild an equitable relationship.
The second point we need to consider is what roleinternational NGOs with a foothold in recipient localities can play. We wanted to know if the role ofNGOs from developed countries is to roll up theirsleeves and work alongside local people or to support local movements and activities that are alreadyunderway.
On the one hand, many NGO partnerships are, inreality, partnerships in name only, consisting of donordriven relationships in which the NGO partner in thedeveloped country delegates the work it wants doneto the NGO in the recipient country. On the other
hand, a relationship in which the developed-country
NGO simply dispenses money is not the right approach. The question is where Shapla Neer should
position itself between these two methods.

Implementation and Results of Networking
In our Toyota Foundation grant project we have hosted
five discussion forums in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and we continue to share information with local
NGOs as we carry out our work. We have also published Shinka Suru Kokusai Kyoryoku NPO (Evolving
International Cooperative NPOs) (Akashi Shoten
Co., Ltd.), an account of our activities thus far.
As a result of our work we have realized that therelationship between an overseas NGO and a local
NGO in a recipient country has no fixed ideal; instead it is a process of changing mutual ties.
People overseas have asked us what we want to
do. We aspire to build relationships that we feel aredesirable, and the first step is to clarify what Shapla
Neer aims to do. We have come to believe that whatis needed is a partnership characterized by mutual
stimulation between two partners, a local NGO on
the ground and an overseas NGO on the outside.
In 2005 Shapla Neer conducted emergency relief
efforts in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan in the wakeof the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. We first contacted people in our network in the areas affected by the disasters, where
there are no Shapla Neer offices, and they provided
us with information on reliable NGOs in these areas

May 2008

and on NGOs that were active in areas that had notreceived assistance or that were focusing on aiding
disaster victims. As a result, we were able to begin
providing whatever assistance we could in a relatively short time. In the case of the tsunami, moreover, we did not dispatch a tsunami expert from Japan but instead sent an experienced Bangladeshi
expert to the devastated area to provide advice tolocal NGOs in the affected region.

Developments After Project Completion
Although we had been selecting partners with a viewto achieving tangible project results, we then decided
that we should take on the role of fostering groups
and NGOs. Fostering a group is far more difficult
than implementing a project, however, and we havecome up against new challenges.
In this regard, one issue that we currently face is
how to interact with groups conducting activities infarming villages that have become independent of
Shapla Neer. We have found that fostering groups
and implementing projects simultaneously is a difficult task. The extent to which we should involve
ourselves in the governance of our partner organizations is another important issue.
For a long time we conducted our activities in thehope of becoming a full-fledged local NGO in Bangladesh. We then noticed, however, that other local
NGOs had become larger and were performing valuable activities. We are continuing our day-to-day efforts as we consider what kinds of activities weshould conduct in South Asia as an international
NGO from Japan.

Website Redesigned
On October 15, 2007, the Toyota Foundation website
was relaunched with a new design. To publicize
Foundation activities more widely, we have added
an “Updates” section. Thissection is updated frequently with information
not only on programs currently accepting applications but also on Foundation activities and grant
projects. We have also
launched an e-mail newsTHE TOYOTA FOUNDATION OCCASIONAL REPORT

letter to keep people informed of these updates. In
the future we hope that the website will serve as ameans of disseminating the results of grant projects
and as a forum for exchange. We welcome users’
opinions and impressions of our new-look website:
http://www.toyotafound.or.jp/english/

The Toyota Foundation’s Activities in
Fiscal 2008
The Toyota Foundation’s founding philosophy is “tocontribute to the realization of a human-oriented society for the sake of greater human happiness.” To
broadcast this philosophy to society through its grant
programs as a more practical message, in fiscal 2008
the Foundation set “realizing a sustainable society”
and “community revitalization and coexistence” ascommon goals of its three publicly solicited grant
programs.
“Realizing a sustainable society” is an important
theme for the international community as it addresses such issues as the finite nature of resourcesand environmental problems. It will help to promotepartnership (collaboration/cooperation) with otherfoundations in Japan and with overseas and international organizations.
With society facing a variety of issues, the aim of“community revitalization and coexistence” is to create richly dynamic, living communities by focusingon people’s efforts to support one another.
In fiscal 2008 the Foundation will implement thefollowing three publicly solicited programs in linewith these two common goals:
Grant Program for Community Activities (limited togroups in Japan)
With the basic theme “Restructuring Local Communities: Supporting One Another in Life and Living,”
it promotes efforts to build a society based on networks of coexistence in which people living in communities support one another by sharing the richness and security of living.
Asian Neighbors Network Program
With the basic theme “Ties Between People Will Unlock Asia’s Potential,” it supports projects that aim
to resolve issues in Asia through the formation oftransregional networks.
May 2008

Research Grant Program
In fiscal 2008 the program will focus on “Revitalizing
Local Communities Under Globalization,” based on
the basic theme of “The Search for the Richness of
Human Life and Activity.” Special priority is given
to practical projects that harness the dynamism ofcommunities.
In addition to the above, the Foundation also operates the following two programs for which applications are not publicly solicited:
Communication with Society ProgramThis is a program that transmits and disseminates
the results of grant projects to society. The Foundation selects candidate projects through monitoringand other means and cooperates with grant recipients to ensure that results are transmitted and disseminated to society in an effective manner.
Initiative ProgramThis program supports projects that are likely to contribute to the development of new grant programs,
such as projects undertaken in partnership with theFoundation’s own survey activities or study groups,
current grant projects judged to have the potential toproduce greater results, and joint projects to create
broad networks with other organizations. It also includes the Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program (SEASREP). SEASREP is jointly
funded by the Toyota Foundation and the JapanFoundation and is planned and administered by the
SEASREP Foundation.
Please see the Foundation website for detailed information on the programs:
http://www.toyotafound.or.jp/english/

The Toyota Foundation welcomes responses fromreaders of the Occasional Report. Comments and questions should be addressed to the International Division, The Toyota Foundation, Shinjuku Mitsui Building 37F, 2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, ­Tokyo
163-0437, Japan. The articles in the Occasional ­Reportreflect the authors’ opinions and do not nec­essarily
represent the opinions of the Foundation.
Coordinating editor: Keisuke Sasaki. Production: Japan Echo Inc., ­Tokyo.
Copyright ©2008 by The Toyota Foundation; all rights reserved. Printed
in Japan.