Mission and Activities

The mission of Friends of Todai, Inc. (FOTI), a section 501(c)(3) organization, is to promote charitable, educational and scientific activities in the United States through the support of joint/collaborative research and educational activities between the University of Tokyo ("Todai") and U.S. academic institutions conducted in the U.S.

FOTI support is provided to principally to tax-exempt organizations in the United States in the form of grants for research, lectures, workshops, publications, exhibitions and other activities which promote FOTI’s mission.

Todai-Yale Initiative

Todai-Yale Initiative is one of the academic programs in the U.S. that FOTI intends to support. The Initiative was created in September 2007 on the Yale Campus as a university-wide center. The Todai-Yale Initiative, established by The University of Tokyo as its first overseas laboratory, was created as a laboratory of the social sciences and humanities for research on or related to Japan in Yale University.

The objectives of the Todai-Yale Initiative include:

• Contributing to the training and research in Japan Studies at Yale and other universities in the United States.
• Promoting the internationalization of Japan studies researchers in the University of Tokyo.
• Strengthening the network among Japan studies researchers in the United States.
• Through a standing program on the Yale campus, increasing the visibility of the University of Tokyo in the United States.