Nissan President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn announced the latest benefaction from Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies at an address marking the start of its 25th Anniversary celebrations.
The Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies (pictured left) was founded in 1981 at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford following a donation from Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. It was set up to promote study of the history, culture, politics and economy of modern Japan and is today recognised as one of the leading academic institutions in Europe focused on the study of modern Japan.
Today’s announcement of a £1.5 million benefaction spread over three years marks a renewed association between Nissan and the Institute. It will ensure funding of the Institute’s core academic posts in social anthropology, economics, politics and modern Japanese history.
"We are very proud of our association with the Institute and to have this opportunity to join the celebration of its 25th Anniversary. I am encouraged to see that Nissan’s early support has helped the Institute gather momentum," said Nissan President and CEO, Carlos Ghosn.
"Japan is the world’s second-largest economy. It is an important trading partner and source of direct investment for the UK. Japan is also a potent source of innovation that will continue to influence the future of Europe and the world," continued Ghosn.
Commenting on the Nissan endowment, Dr Ann Waswo, Director of the Nissan Institute said: "All of us at the Institute are delighted to welcome Carlos Ghosn to the launch of our 25th Anniversary celebrations. We are immensely grateful for the generous benefactions Nissan Motor Company has made to the University of Oxford over the past 25 years for the development of modern Japanese studies in Oxford." Professor Roger Goodman, Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies added: "The new benefaction consolidates everything we have achieved in the past 25 years and will allow us to go on to become one of the top institutes of modern Japanese studies in the world during the next decade."
Japanese teaching in Oxford goes back almost exactly 100 years. Until 1980, it was a small undergraduate programme teaching what was then considered a very exotic language and focused on pre-modern history and literature. Nissan’s initial benefaction in 1980 created three further teaching posts in new disciplines and the Nissan Institute itself, then located in a refurbished college building. Ten years later a further endowment from Nissan grew the teaching posts by another two and enabled the construction of bespoke, new premises.
In 1991, HIH Prince Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan, broke the new ground for this purpose-built Nissan Institute building in Oxford. The Institute has occupied the facility ever since.
Nearly 80 postgraduate students in Japanese Studies have completed doctoral degrees since 1981, most of them taking up academic posts around the world. In 2003, the Institute’s founding director, Arthur Stockwin, was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Government of Japan for achievements in Japanese Studies in the UK. Furthermore, the Institute has built up the best library of Japanese social science books and other information in Europe. It has also established a series of publications on Japan, now with almost 70 titles – the Nissan/Routledge Japanese Studies series is now the largest focusing on Japan in the Western World.
Thanks to Nissan’s latest benefaction, the Institute expects to double the number of students entering doctoral programmes and to develop more specialist, high level language teaching as well as training in social sciences methodology. Professor Goodman and Dr Waswo believe that within the next decade the Nissan Institute will be regarded as one of the best centres for the study of modern Japan in the world.