Leadership training for young people is a special priority of Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation. Recently, he gave a talk at a leadership training course for students at Waseda University in Tokyo.

Sasakawa led off a series of talks, called “Theory and Practice in Leadership Training.” He discussed a wide range of the Foundation’s activities with students, including social welfare work in Japan and international cooperation.

The format was an interactive give-and-take between Sasakawa and the students, who showed a great deal of enthusiastic interest in the subject and inundated Sasakawa with opinions and questions.

Sasakawa also mentioned the fact that the Foundation helped to establish the Student Volunteer Center earlier this year in Tokyo, which is actively supported by the Foundation.

Chairman Sasakawa Speaks At Waseda University Leadership Course

A key goal of this new student center is to raise volunteer consciousness among university students and get them involved with volunteer and charity work. It is thought that this will contribute to developing even more human resources in the volunteer field over the next 20 years.

The leadership lectures were held at Waseda’s Ikuo Hirayama Memorial Volunteer Center. Visiting professor Yuji Nishio took a leading role in organizing the lectures in order to give students guidance and practice in community volunteer work.

The leadership lecture series this year is the second time The Nippon Foundation has collaborated with Waseda University to give talks to students. Last year, the Foundation’s International Cooperation Group presented discussions about ASEAN (Association of South East Asia Nations) and Africa development activities.

Many students participated in session

The latest round of talks included discussions by 3 members of the Foundation’s Domestic Program Department, who talked about their section’s social welfare activities.

Sasakawa dealt mainly with the theme “Society 20 Years from Now,” and introduced the fact that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) recently held a worldwide opinion poll that shows Japan is considered to have the most positive influence on international affairs.

The students posed such questions to Sasakawa as "what contributes to Japan’s likeability," or "what is happiness," and offered such opinions as "there is no religious conflict in Japan," "Japan is economically stable," and "Our water supply is well maintained." Other questions asked were "How do I become a social entrepreneur," and "On what basis can you judge whether volunteer work or NPO activity is successful?"

Students asked a number of questions and gave their own opinions

The three members of the Domestic Program Department discussed their experiences in supporting local volunteer organizations’ activities.

One crucial subject covered in their series of talks was "Crime Victim Support and Suicide Prevention Measures." They also explained that The Nippon Foundation covers the full costs of domestic volunteer organizations' events and activities once a project plan has been accepted.

Additionally, the Foundation speakers gave the students a useful explanation of the current state of Japan’s donation and charity culture.

The speakers started with a general lecture style, but soon opened up the sessions to an interactive give and take of questions and answers with the students, and an exchange of opinions.

These practical sessions between students and representatives of The Nippon Foundation helped the former to better understand the latter’s activities, and it was useful for the Foundation workers to hear the opinions of the students and the views they have about volunteer organizations and NGOs. The lecture series is expected to continue next year.