2020 International Grant Program

Program Information for previous years

Program Objectives
Comments by Selection Committee Chair
List of Grant Projects
Grant Framework
Program Guidelines and Application Form
Briefing Sessions
Recommended Documents

Program Title: Cultivating Empathy Through Learning from Our Neighbors:
Practitioners' Exchange on Common Issues in Asia

Program Objectives

The grant program focuses on deepening mutual understanding and knowledge-sharing among people on the ground in East and Southeast Asia who are finding solutions to shared issues. Through promoting direct interaction among key players, the grant program aims to survey and analyze situations in target countries, obtain new perspectives, and expand the potential of future generations.

With multinational teams comprised of participants from diverse backgrounds, projects can avoid conventional linear relationships, such as “supporter and supported” or “instructor and trainee,” and instead form cooperative and creative alliances that consider, act on, and construct solutions to shared issues. The grant program anticipates that these partnerships, which extend beyond such factors as nationality, age, and organizational affiliation, will produce significant social change through fostering a process of mutual learning.

Comments by Selection Committee Chair

The chairperson of the selection committee provides comments on the content submitted in the previous year's application and on projects that received funding. Please take a moment to read these comments as they may be helpful for this year's application. For information on submissions made before this period, please refer to the annual reports.

List of Grant Projects


TYTID	Project Title	Project Leader	Position, Organization	Grant Amount (yen）
D20-N-0017	Visual Ethnography of International Students’ Migration to Japan—Deepening a Mutual Understanding and Cultivating Empathy Towards a Creation of an Inclusive Society	Dipesh Kharel	Researcher/Filmmaker, The University of Tokyo	8,500,000
D20-N-0036	Sustainable Cross-Border Community Development and Management in the East-West Economic Corridor in the time of COVID-19	Yuko Shirai	Research Fellow, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature	9,000,000
D20-N-0070	Building a support system for migrant health among urban communities during a pandemic through mutual understanding and collaboration by cross-disciplinary young professionals	Eri Yoshimura	Senior Manager, Health and Global Policy Institute	8,500,000
D20-N-0084	Toward Building Multicultural and Resilient Societies—Nurturing Empathic, Responsible and Engaged Global Citizens in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan in the Post-COVID-19 Pandemic	Kanako Kusanagi	Assistant Professor, Advanced School Education and Evidence-based Research (CASEER), Graduate School of Education, University of Tokyo	8,000,000
D20-N-0095	Accelerating Cross-Border and Cross-Sector Collaboration Through Social Investment	Ken Ito	Director, East Asia, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN)	9,000,000
D20-N-0101	Educational leader development program between Japan and Cambodia by designing soft skills training through tackling global social issues	Hiroe Sugawara	Board of director/ Steering Committee, International NGO SALASUSU	4,500,000
D20-N-0111	CIOR Project to Prevent Online Radicalization among Youths—Creating a Link between Indonesia and Japan	Yosuke Nagai	Representative Director, Specified Non-Profit Organization Accept International	5,000,000
D20-N-0126	Revitalizing Tea Industry Community through Gastronomical Tea Tourism	Amnaj Khaokhrueamuang	Associate Professor, School of Management and Innovation, University of Shizuoka	8,500,000
D20-N-0138	Creating "New culture" through community art projects by Indonesian workers and local people in rural Japan	Yuichi Watanabe	Secretary General, The Laboratory for Global Dialogue	9,000,000
Total 9				70,000,000

Grant Fremework


Target Countries	East and Southeast Asia *1
Required elements for Project	Transnational, Cross Sector, Mutual Learning, Foresight
Project Period	One year (Nov 2020 – Oct 2021) or Two years (Nov 2020 – Oct 2022)
Expected Output	Projects are required to; 1) identify issues and conduct a review by surveying and analyzing the situation in target countries; 2) carry out activities aimed at providing solutions to issues; 3) produce and disseminate tangible output
Potential Applicants	Diverse team based in multiple target countries. Team members could include those with practical experience and knowledge on addressing issues in the target countries, such as practitioners, researchers, creators, policy makers, and journalists and other media representatives.
Grant Amount (maximum per project)	a) One-year project: JPY 5,000,000 (approx. USD 44,500); b) Two-year project: JPY 10,000,000 (approx. USD 89,000)
Total Amount of Grants	70 million yen
Public Notification Period	From April 1 to June 6, 2020, 23:59 Japan Standard Time
Proposal Submission Period	From April 1 to June 6, 2020, 23:59 Japan Standard Time
Applications	Web-based application via Foundation website only
Selection of Grants	Formal decisions on the awarding of grants will be made by the Toyota Foundation Board of Directors at a meeting to be held in late September 2019, based on the deliberations of responsible Selection Committee consisting of external experts.

※: East Asia: Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Mongolia
Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam

Please also see FAQs.

Grant Applications FAQ

Proposal Guidelines and Project Proposal Form Samples

Please review the "Grant Overview," "Post-Selection Committee Chairman Evaluation," "List of Grant Recipients," "Reference Materials," etc. mentioned above. Once you have done so, please download the application guidelines, sample proposal, etc., and apply via the application entry.
※The application closed on June 6, 2020. Thank you for your interest.


Format	Item	Remarks
PDF	Project Proposal Guidelines
PDF	Application Form (Sample)	*The blank word file is available after registering applicant information.
Application Form	Application Entry	<The application period has ended>

Briefing Sessions

Online briefing sessions in Tokyo (not compulsory) (Finished)


April 10, 2020 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM (JST)
April 14, 2020 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM (JST)

(updated on May, 1) Please check the main questions and answers at the briefing session here

Each session will be held with the same contents in Japanese.

Aside from the briefing session, applicants can consult with the program officers of the Toyota Foundation in advance of applying via email.
Please refer to the program guidelines for the details and read the FAQ. FAQ.