The Hakuho Foundation was established in 1970 under the approval of the Ministry of Education (the current Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to provide support for the fostering of rich human qualities in children, the leaders of the tomorrow. The total market value of the Foundation's assets was ¥59.29 billion as of the end of 2006. The Foundation's budget for 2007 is ¥323 million.
Since its establishment, the Foundation has been convinced that the key to children's education lies in language education. People absorb knowledge with language and think through language. The ability to understand language correctly and to express one's thoughts correctly through language forms the very foundation of learning. We therefore believe that as the backbone of education, language education should be held in high esteem across all subjects and not only in national language classes. Moreover, since aspects of a country's culture, such as climate, environment and traditions, form the backdrop for language, we believe that learning both the language and the cultural milieu from which it springs is an important part of fostering rich human qualities in children.
Based on these ideas, the Hakuho Foundation has been supporting education activities for children and research to further promote and deepen those activities, with particular emphasis on the language and the culture of Japan. In addition, the Foundation has initiated programs to offer cultural experiences to and promote international exchanges among the children of the world through the Japanese language.
The Hakuho Award aims to support the frontline of child education by recognizing schools, organizations, teachers and educators who contribute to and help to foster rich human qualities in children.
The Hakuho Research Grant for Child Education aims to boost the fundamentals of child education by providing financial support for research by educators, instructors and researchers with fresh perspectives, then reflecting the results of this research in educational practice.
The Hakuho Japanese Language Research Fellowship Program aims to further deepen and put into practice research into the Japanese language and Japanese language education, as well as strengthen the fundamentals of such research, both in Japan and abroad, by inviting leading researchers working abroad to conduct residential research in Japan.
The Hakuho Scheme for a Global Children’s Japanese Language Network aims to provide opportunities for overseas children to understand Japan and for Japanese children to grow to become international people by experiencing each other’s cultures and participating in intercultural activities through the medium of the Japanese language.
