Suntory Foundation Announces Recipients of the 2025 'Challenge Research Grant for Young Researchers'

The Suntory Foundation (Chairman: Shingo Torii) has selected 15 recipients for its fiscal 2025 'Challenge Research Grant for Young Researchers' from a total of 277 applications. The total grant amount is 14.73 million yen.

This grant aims to support ambitious young researchers in the fields of humanities and social sciences who possess new academic perspectives and strive for research with social breadth. During the grant period, recipients are provided with opportunities to broaden their interdisciplinary perspectives by reporting their research to experts from different fields.

The recipients for this year consist of 15 young researchers aged 25 to 35. Their studies were chosen for their ambitious and innovative nature, aligning with the purpose of the 'Challenge Research Grant.' All selected research projects are based on unique ideas within their respective specialized fields, showing potential for development in various directions and presenting new perspectives on traditional scholarship or contemporary social issues.

*Selection Committee: Kumie Inose (Auditor, National Institutes for the Humanities) Yutaka Onishi (Professor, Kobe University) Sayaka Ogawa (Professor, Ritsumeikan University) Akinori Kyotani (Professor, Gakushuin University) Shin-Ichi Fukuoka (Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University) Noriyuki Yanagawa (Professor, The University of Tokyo)

*Contact Information: Suntory Foundation 'Challenge Research Grant for Young Researchers' Section Tel: 06-6342-6221 Fax: 06-6342-6220 Website: https://www.suntory.co.jp/sfnd/

List of 2025 Grant Recipients (Name / Affiliation / Research Theme): 1. Taihei Atarashi (The University of Tokyo) - Theory and Evidence on Border Demarcation Effects. 2. Yuko Ii (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) - Ukrainian Imagery in Late 19th Century Landscapes. 3. Shinji Okazaki (LSE) - Industry, Poverty, and Air Pollution in African Urban Auto Sectors. 4. Masahiro Kubo (CERDI) - Cathedral Construction and Economic Growth in Medieval Europe. 5. Taiki Sano (The University of Tokyo) - Genealogy and Modern Manifestations of 'Gluttonous Eating'. 6. Shiyu Sun (International Research Center for Japanese Studies) - History of Technology regarding Menstrual Products in Modern Japan. 7. Momoka Takahashi (Kyushu University) - Image Anthropological Study of Modernizing Nishiki-e. 8. Ayaka Nishimura (NRCD) - Limits of Text-based Communication for Information Accessibility. 9. Kenji Matsuo (The University of Tokyo) - State Affiliation and Order Transformation in Central Eurasia (1880s-1930s). 10. Hikaru Maruoka (Hitotsubashi University) - Islamic Bioethics and Organ Transplantation in Iran. 11. Hiroaki Misu (Hokkaido University) - Transition of National Integration Theory in V.A. Tishkov's Thought. 12. Hayate Murayama (UC Santa Barbara) - Memories of Japanese Internees in Central Asia. 13. Kairu Yamanaka (Nagoya University) - Construction of the 'Human' Image in Post-Socialist Czech Puppetry. 14. Hao Liang (Cornell University) - Micro-segregation of Immigrants in Urban Housing Structures. 15. Masayuki Watanabe (Ochanomizu University) - New Left Perspectives on Children in the 1970s-80s Consumer Society.