Alexander Woodman

LOS ANGELES: As an honor alumnus of University of California Los Angeles, UCLA I am delighted to announce that Humanities Division of UCLA received a $25 million gift from Tadashi Yanai. He is the founder of the Uniqlo clothing giant and Chief Executive of the Japan-based Fast Retailing Company.

These funds will endow the 'Tadashi Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities,' and will uplift the status of UCLA as a leading center of Japanese literature, language, and culture.

This gift is the most substantial contribution from an individual benefactor in the history of the Division. The Yanai Initiative was established with a previous donation of $2.5 million from Mr. Yanai in 2014. It represented a collaboration between UCLA and the Tokyo-based Waseda University, one of Japan’s most respected universities. Waseda University supports academic and cultural programming and enables student and faculty exchanges between the two universities.

The gift was facilitated through a donations program from the Japan Foundation, whose goal is to promote cultural and intellectual exchange with Japan. During the past three decades, the foundation has supported several incredible cultural programs at UCLA.

The Yanai Initiative is housed in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and is led by Professor Michael Emmerich. This particular gift will fund and permanently establish an endowed chair in Japanese literature; an incredible honor. It will also be used to fund conferences, public lectures, faculty research, cultural performances, and community outreach programs. It will support graduate and post-doctoral fellowships as well as undergraduate awards.

This extraordinary gift will also work to activate similar funds from the Humanities Centennial Match, and the UCLA Centennial Scholars Match. These matching gifts will go on to support UCLA graduate students studying in the field of Japanese humanities as well as other areas of study. 

Mr. Yanai is a visionary and his gift is a clear investment in a field of increasing interest. Those working in the field of humanities, scholars and students will benefit greatly from his generosity. His financial support of programs will bring new attention to a robust Japanese culture that has captured the imaginations of students and researchers for centuries.

• Alexander Woodman is an author based in the Gulf. His research interests include global health, international health policy development, transnational and transcultural health politics, ethics, as well as international diplomacy ucla@gmail.com Instagram @thelandofadat