UCLA College Division of Humanities receives $31M donation

Tadashi Yanai, a billionaire Japanese executive and philanthropist, has committed to donate $31 million to the University of California, Los Angeles College Division of Humanities. This is the largest gift in the division’s history, according to the university. 

The gift is to the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities, which was established in 2014 by UCLA in partnership with Tokyo's Waseda University thanks to a $2.5 million donation from Yanai. He also donated $25 million in 2020 to the initiative. Yanai is the founder and CEO of Fast Retailing, the parent company of the Uniqlo clothing brand. 

“Adding to his already considerable past support, Mr. Yanai’s new gift will substantially advance the study of Japanese humanities, solidify UCLA’s position as a leading center for such scholarship and contribute greatly to our global reach and impact,” said UCLA Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt. 

The majority of the $31 million donation will support “Japan Past & Present,” which is based in the UCLA Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. It’s intended to position the campus as an engine for elevating the field globally. 

“Japan Past & Present” is designed to “transform the field of Japanese humanities by promoting easy and equitable access to research and teaching resources and fostering greater collaboration among scholars throughout the world.”

"I am proud to support the study of Japanese humanities at UCLA and around the world because I believe in sharing and valuing the practices and art forms that shape our world," Yanai said in a statement. "The humanities and arts make us who we are -- they enable us as humans to relate to and care for one another. I look forward to seeing how ‘Japan Past & Present’ will expand and enrich this critical work."

Japanese humanities scholars typically find it hard to collaborate with peers because of simple logistical problems and because many universities outside of Japan don’t have stand-alone departments dedicated to the field, according to Michael Emmerich, director of the Yanai Initiative and “Japan Past & Present.”

"We want to make sure there is greater equity across the global community of scholars, in terms of both access to resources and the visibility of the work we are all doing," Emmerich said in a statement. "And we want this digital hub to be a place researchers keep coming back to, because it will offer all sorts of resources they want and need.

The “Japan Past & Present” website went live in March. It’s an effort to create bridges and foster collaboration worldwide.

"Creating that sort of space for scholars everywhere is key to reimagining the Japanese humanities as a truly global field," Emmerich stated. 

Hunt said that Yanai’s gift "will substantially advance the study of Japanese humanities, solidify UCLA's position as a leading center for such scholarship and contribute greatly to our global reach and impact."

The donation was facilitated through a designation program run by the Japanese Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting cultural and intellectual exchanges with Japan.