The Mitsubishi Foundation
The Mitsubishi Foundation is a private foundation established to provide aid in four areas: natural sciences research, humanities research, social welfare research and activities, and cultural property conservation activities.
The Foundation was launched in 1969 to celebrate Mitsubishi's 100th anniversary and it began funding projects in 1970. To date, the Foundation has assisted organizations and individuals in a variety of ways, lending a hand to approximately 4,900 projects, with disbursed grants totaling more than 20.9 billion yen.
The Foundation's grant programs differ from others in several aspects. They are broad-ranging and cover four fields, and each project is also provided with a relatively high grant amount. As a private entity, the Foundation is also able to exercise more flexibility when it comes to selecting projects. The grants have award-like aspects in addition to the evaluation for subsidization.
Securing funding for research is growing more difficult by the year, but the Mitsubishi Foundation's grant programs are open to anyone; no recommendations are required from any academic associations. Being a foundation that welcomes new ideas, the Mitsubishi Foundation receives many grant applications and is a prospective funding partner that people have high expectations for.
Mitsubishi began providing donations prior to World War II (see below) and has since contributed to society in many different ways. The Mitsubishi Foundation is just one example of this desire to help, and other Mitsubishi charitable organizations have also built upon those efforts.
The History of the Mitsubishi Foundation
Mitsubishi's 100th Year and the Foundation's Establishment
In 1969, the Mitsubishi Foundation was established to celebrate Mitsubishi's 100th anniversary. A founding prospectus was written based on the Three Principles and the other Mitsubishi basic management philosophies, while taking into account the social conditions at the time. This prospectus clearly defined Mitsubishi's attitudes toward society and even became a basic philosophy serving as the cornerstone for work the Foundation does today.
Purpose of the Establishment of the Foundation
The formation of the Mitsubishi Group of Enterprise goes back to October, 1870 (the 3rd year of Meiji), when their founder Yataro Iwasaki started marine transportation business at his native province, Tosa. In other words, the Mitsubishi Group was born at the daybreak of the modern age in Japan. Since then it has shared its fate with Japanese economy overcoming various kinds of trials.
Our country, Japan, has recently made such an astonishingly rapid growth, as has been looked upon by other nations in open-eyed astonishment, and going to take another flying jump in a coming age of more highly internationalized society. The Mitsubishi Group wishes to participate in such future development of national economy, marching forward from the bases so far attained.
As is commonly known, however, only insufficient amount of money has been spent for the welfare of the society-a fact which may appear to be a dark spot hidden behind such a rapid development in economy. We should therefore raise the question of whether the enhancement of standard of living has been followed by the corresponding development in the welfare of the people.
We wish to point out further that there are quite a few problems to be solved, such as decline in moral civilization, so-called "brain effluence" in the field of natural sciences, especially of basic sciences, unsatisfactory conditions in the education of the youth to whom the coming age is to be entrusted, and existence of a large portion of the society left behind the progress of the society.
We believe that to help to correct this imbalance, hand in hand with the measures to be taken by our government, should be a pressing duty and a matter of grave concern of leading enterprises on which rests high social responsibility.
It has been the basic policy for the Mitsubishi Group to serve the public benefit since its foundation. In line with this tradition, the companies forming the Mitsubishi Group jointly decided to establish a foundation to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Mitsubishi business in the fall of next year (i.e., 1970), in the hope of making greater contribution to society and to the further development of our national economy.
The said Foundation is aimed at giving assistance to the enhancement of scholarship, education, culture and welfare in our society. The Foundation will start with the initial fund of 250 million yen to be used mainly for giving assistance to academic research, and activities concerned with social welfare. It is expected that the companies belonging to the Mitsubishi Group will make further contribution toward the Foundation in a substantial amount in the ten years to come, and that the Foundation will thereby be able to expand its scope of activities.
(The Mitsubishi Foundation was established on September 11, 1969.)
After Establishment
The Mitsubishi Foundation has assisted approximately 4,900 projects since its establishment, and disbursed grants amounting to more than 20.9 billion yen.
For twenty years since 1990, the Mitsubishi Foundation maintained an annual grant budget of 450 million yen. By managing the fund from contributions of Mitsubishi group companies, increased by a further 10 billion yen over the five-year period beginning in 2014, the Foundation was also able to provide special grant programs for its 50th anniversary in 2019 and 2020.
In addition, 2020 was the 150th anniversary of Mitsubishi, so to commemorate this milestone, an additional 500 million yen was contributed, and the COVID-19 Special Subsidy was disbursed. The last few years have seen the provision of regular subsidies of greater than 500 million yen each year.
Grants Approved by Program Area (1970–2023)
The Mitsubishi Foundation's Initiatives
1. Grant Track Record
Please refer to the section below (Facts and Figures 2023) for information on the grants awarded in 2023 for projects in the areas of the natural sciences, humanities, social welfare, and cultural property conservation.
During fiscal 2023, the Foundation received a total of 1,555 applications for regular grants. After carefully evaluating the proposals and interviewing the applicants, the grant committee approved 139 projects totaling 564 million yen.
In addition, as part of social welfare special grants, in collaboration with the Central Community Chest of Japan, 42 grants totaling 40 million yen (contributed by our foundation) were approved from among 63 applications.
Facts and Figures 2023
| Program Area | Applications Received | Grants Approved | Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Sciences Research | 1,122 | 66 | 365 | |
| Standard | 771 | 51 | 305 | |
| Youth grant | 351 | 15 | 60 | |
| Humanities Research | 254 | 29 | 69 | |
| Social Welfare Activities and Research | Regular Grants | 155 | 33 | 100 |
| Special Grants | 63 | 42 | 40 | |
| Cultural Property Conservation | 24 | 11 | 30 | |
| Total | 1,618 | 181 | 604 | |
2. Grant Award Ceremony
On September 11, 2023, a grant award ceremony for the fiscal year 2023 was held at Tokyo Kaikan in Marunouchi. Approximately 230 people including grant recipients, guests, selection committee members, and foundation board members attended the ceremony.
This ceremony marked a return after a four-year hiatus, with the last one being held in September 2019 due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Presentation ceremony of research and project results
Before the grant award ceremony for fiscal year 2023, a presentation ceremony of research and project results was held at Tokyo Kaikan in Marunouchi on September 11, 2023. Approximately 170 people including grant recipients, guests, selection committee members, and foundation board members attended the presentation. The presentation ceremony of research and project results marked a return after a five-year hiatus, with the last one being held in September 2018 due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this ceremony, recipients from previous grants presented their research and project results in the fields of natural sciences and cultural property conservation.
4. Research and Project Report
Every year in August, we publish a research and project report, which summarizes the reports provided by grant recipients concerning the outcomes of their research.
5. COVID-19 Special Subsidy
Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Mitsubishi's founding, in 2020 Mitsubishi group companies donated a total of 500 million yen to the Mitsubishi Foundation for the purpose of contributing to society through social measures targeting the COVID-19 crisis. On receiving this grant, the Mitsubishi Foundation disbursed a COVID-19 Special Subsidy in the two fields outlined below.
Additionally, with regards to the Social Welfare Field (2), the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Special Subsidies were disbursed in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
(1) Natural Sciences
COVID-19 academic research grant
A grant program for research of COVID-19 and infectious diseases was implemented for research in a wide range of fields, mainly in the natural science fields related to social issues in Japan caused by infectious diseases such as COVID-19.
- Applications: 374
- Accepted projects: 20
- Grant amount: 400 million yen
(2) Social Welfare
Supporting People in Need Amid COVID-19: Financial Assistance for Those Who Have their Roots Outside Japan
The Foundation joined hands with the Social Welfare Corporation Central Community Chest of Japan to provide financial assistance to people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this program, financial aid was given to NPOs and social welfare corporations as “Support for Those Who Have their Roots Outside Japan” to provide assistance to people experiencing hardship due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Additionally, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Special Subsidies were disbursed in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
2020 (1st Special Subsidy)
- Applications: 82
- Accepted projects: 55
- Grant amount: 100 million yen
2021 (2nd Special Subsidy)
- Applications: 56
- Accepted projects: 43
- Grant amount: 40 million yen (contributed by our foundation)
2022 (3rd Special Subsidy)
- Applications: 64
- Accepted projects: 45
- Grant amount: 40 million yen (contributed by our foundation)
2023 (4th Special Subsidy)
- Applications: 63
- Accepted projects: 42
- Grant amount: 40 million yen (contributed by our foundation)
