A Message from the President of Friends of Todai, Inc.

I am pleased to announce the establishment of Friends of Todai, Inc. (“FOTI”), a New York not-for-profit corporation, which has been granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The mission of The University of Tokyo ("Todai") is to support education and research projects which ensure a successful future for Todai in global competition with top-ranking universities. Under the new leadership of President Junichi Hamada, Todai has continued to pursue a variety of initiatives initiated by former President Hiroshi Komiyama with the goal of expanding its academic and educational activities internationally.

FOTI aims to support this mission. We are committed to promoting charitable, educational and scientific activities in the United States through the support of joint/collaborative research and educational activities between Todai and U.S. academic institutions conducted in the United States. We intend to support a variety of programs in the United States, including the Todai-Yale Initiative for Japanese Studies and Related Humanities and Social Sciences at Yale (todai-yale.jp). We are also interested in supporting other activities including but not limited to the program of Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (www.ipmu.jp).

We encourage Todai alumni as well as other individuals and organizations to contribute to FOTI to support Todai’s commitment to the global advancement of knowledge.