WMU Sasakawa Fellowship in-aid Program

In 1987 The Nippon Foundation donated to WMU a fund worth 1 million dollars in order to provide fellowships to WMU students from Asian and African countries.


In the following year, the Foundation initiated WMU Sasakawa Fellowship Program by use of the fund, and began awarding fellowships to WMU students to help produce maritime personnel capable of making significant contributions to the international maritime community.


As the 1987 fund dwindled, The Nippon Foundation decided in 1991 that an additional fund worth 4 million dollars be instituted in WMU in response to the requests of IMO and the Japanese Ministry of Transport. At the same time, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (SPF) was entrusted with the administration of the Program and became involved with selection of fellowship recipients.


In 1997, the Program's administration was transferred to the Tokyo Foundation (Formerly named Global Foundation for Research and Scholarship), and once again in April 2001, it was relayed to the Ship & Ocean Foundation (Currently named as Ocean Policy Research Foundation). Thus, although the Program's administration was taken over by different bodies, the Program itself has been funded by The Nippon Foundation from the outset.


The Nippon Foundation, together with other Japanese donors, has so far helped 424 students from 53 countries to study at WMU. While Sweden provides the bulk of the overall funding of WMU, The Nippon Foundation, through OPRF, is the largest fellowship donor to the university, providing 25 new awards each year at any given time.


Following the footsteps of The Nippon Foundation, the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK), the Japanese Shipowners' Association, Nippon Kaiji Kentei Kyokai (NKKK), Oshima Shipbuilding Co. and Namura Shipbuilding Co. awarded fellowships, while NK, the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan and the Cooperative Association of Japan Shipbuilders presented the university with computers for educational use.



WMU Sasakawa Fellows, Categorized by Countries (Nov. 2011)

Area Coutry 　　　Graduates Current Students Total
Sasakawa
Fellows 		With-
Draw		 Other
Sponsors		 Class 2011 Class 2012
Asia Bangladesh 21 1 0 2 2 26
Cambodia 12 1 0 0 0 13
China 50 1 3 0 0 54
India 13 0 0 3 2 18
Indonesia 35 1 3 2 0 41
Japan 17 2 0 1 2 22
Malaysia 18 0 0 0 0 18
Maldives 2 0 0 0 0 2
Mongolia 1 0 0 0 1 2
Myanmar 26 0 0 2 2 30
Pakistan 13 0 0 1 1 15
Philippines 52 2 2 4 2 62
Sri Lanka 10 2 0 1 3 16
Thailand 20 3 2 1 2 28
Vietnam 30 2 1 3 3 39
Sub Total 　15 countries 320 15 11 20 20 386
Pacific Fiji 5 1 0 1 0 7
Kiribati 1 0 0 0 0 1
Micronesia 1 0 0 0 0 1
Papua New Guinea 1 0 0 0 0 1
Samoa 1 0 0 0 0 1
Tonga 3 0 0 0 0 3
Sub Total 　 6 countries 12 1 0 1 0 14
Europe Albania 1 0 0 0 0 1
Estonia 1 0 0 0 0 1
Georgia 1 0 0 0 0 1
Latvia 1 1 0 0 0 2
Lithuania 3 0 0 0 0 3
Ukraine 1 0 0 0 2 3
Sub Total 　 6 countries 8 1 0 0 2 11
Latin America Belize 2 0 0 0 0 2
Brazil 2 1 0 0 0 3
Colombia 4 0 0 0 0 4
Ecuador 1 0 0 0 0 1
Honduras 1 0 0 1 0 2
Jamaica 3 0 0 0 0 3
Mexico 2 0 0 0 0 2
Panama 2 0 0 0 0 2
Peru 2 0 0 0 0 2
Venezuela 0 1 0 0 0 1
Sub Total 　10 countries 19 2 0 1 0 22
Middle East Iraq 1 0 0 0 0 1
Jordan 1 0 0 0 0 1
Turkey 1 0 0 0 0 1
Sub Total 　 3 countries 3 0 0 0 0 3
Africa Cameroon 1 0 0 0 2 1
Cape Verde 1 0 0 0 0 1
Cote d'Ivoire 1 0 0 0 0 1
Egypt 4 0 0 0 0 4
Ethiopia 2 1 0 0 0 3
Ghana 6 0 0 1 1 6
Kenya 4 0 0 0 1 4
Liberia 1 0 0 0 0 1
Madagascar 1 0 0 0 0 1
Malawi 0 0 0 0 1 1
Morocco 1 0 0 0 0 1
Nigeria 3 0 0 1 0 3
South Africa 0 1 0 0 0 1
Tanzania 6 0 0 0 0 6
Sub Total 　14 countries 31 2 0 2 5 40
Grand Total 　54 countries 393 21 11 24 27 476