GRANTS AWARDED

Education
New York Botanical Garden - To support hands-on activities for children, teachers, and families in association with the Garden's fall exhibition, Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden, which runs from October 17 to November 15, 2009. Bronx, New York. $35,000

University of Pennsylvania - To support the third year of a three-year program to prepare educators to teach about contemporary Japan in the Greater Philadelphia Region. Philadelphia, PA. $74,082

Japan-America Society of Washington, DC - To support a national Japanese language and culture competition for high school students. Washington, DC. $50,000

The Mountain Institute - To support the third year of the development of new and innovative middle to high school level curricula that use the virtual climb of each mountain as the central study themes to introduce American and Japanese students to the history, culture, geography, and environmental issues of each other's countries in new and engaging ways. Washington, DC. $80,000

Five Colleges Inc. (Five College Center for East Asian Studies) - To support a thirty-hour pilot program that will train fifteen middle school teachers to teach about Japan through the use of literature that examines the physical and human characteristics of Japan. Amherst, MA. $15,125

Association for Asian Studies - To support special Japan-related sections in the Association for Asian Studies' teaching journal Education About Asia. Ann Arbor, MI. $37,500

Global Nomads Group - To support a series of live videoconferences that will connect high schools in the US and Japan. New York, NY. $15,000

Grace Church School - To support the Yukuhashi-Grace Church School sister school program. New York, NY. $18,200

Kushi Foundation - To support the design and development of a website that will support the sharing of culture-rich teaching materials for K-12 Japanese-language instruction. Becket, MA. $17,243

Creative Connections - To support an arts-related cultural exchange project for 600 students in Hiroshima and the U.S. Norwalk, CT. $16,750

Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois - To support a documentary video with supplementary instructional materials about the half-century long engagement between people in a town in Tohoku and an American anthropologist. Champaign, IL. $40,205

Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana - To support a Japanese language competition held annually in February for high school students currently studying Japanese in the San Diego area. San Diego, CA. $20,000

NY de Volunteer - To support a series of Japanese cultural education programs for underprivileged children in New York City. New York, NY. $28,000

Communications/Public Opinion
The Center for Independent Documentary - to support travel to Japan in October 2009 as part of the film Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful about Keiko Fukuda, the highest ranking female judo master. Sharon, MA. $20,000

Western Washington University Foundation - To support a community-wide film and discussion program that will explore Japanese society and culture as it has evolved from the pre-war 1930's through the war and reconstruction. Bellingham, WA. $3,000

Japanese Garden Society of Oregon - To support the first year planning phase of The North American Japanese Garden Initiative, a long-term project that will develop a network of Japanese gardens in the US and link them with garden professionals in Japan. Portland, OR. $43,000

Community Television Foundation of South Florida - To support the production and broadcast of at least eight reports on Japanese business/economic topics on public television's Nightly Business Report. Miami, FL. $37,400

Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum - To support communications initiatives promoting The Noguchi Museum and its wide-variety of programs to Japanese speaking individuals. Long Island City, NY. $10,000

National Bureau of Asian Research - To support the continuation of monthly analysis of Japanese publications by Ms. Fumiko Halloran on the Japan-US Discussion Forum and to support a portion of the Forum's operating costs. Seattle, WA. $15,000

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation - To support the Asian Opinion Poll Database, an online reference tool for researchers in the United States to monitor and access public opinion trends in Japan and other Asian nations. Washington, DC. $10,000

Vermont Studio Center - To support fellowships for two Japanese visual artists to engage in eight-week residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and participate in their educational outreach programs. Johnson, VT. $25,000

U.S. - Japan Policy Studies
Institute for International Policy Studies - To support the third year of a three-year series of comprehensive studies of what the Japan-US Alliance toward 2020 should be. Tokyo, Japan. ¥7,477,400