1985 TOYOTA FOUNDATION GRANTS ANNOUNCED

Tokyo―The Toyota Foundation approved 224.6 million yen in research grants for 74 specific projects at its board meeting on Oct. 3. In addition, the Foundation has earmarked a further 290.4 million yen to be spent for various other grant programs, making this year's awards worth a total of 515 million yen. Recipients will be officially announced Oct. 15, at a ceremony at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo.

The Toyota Foundation's Research Grant Program annually invites applications on the theme "In Search of a New Society." This year, 712 applications were received from around the world, including those for grants in special-subject research on "Documentation of Citizen Activities Contributing to a New Society."

Recipients are selected regardless of nationality or location of research; this year 25 of the 74 grantees were from overseas and almost 60 percent of the research topics were international in scope.

This year's projects exemplify the breadth of the Foundation's interests, and include such diverse topics as the cultivation of mushrooms to replace poppies as a cash crop in northern Thailand; primary health care in Bangladesh villages; the status of women in Hinayana Buddhism; the effect of oil field development on Eskimo hunting and seasonal migration; and intercultural interaction on ships staffed by multinational crews.

The Toyota Foundation was established in October 1974 as part of Toyota's continuing effort to involve itself more in the international community in which it operates. Chartered by the Prime Minister's Office, the Foundation currently has an endowment of 11.35 billion yen, and since its inception it has awarded more than 4,600 million yen. The chairman is Eiji Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation.