Name: Yoshiyuki ASAI
Present employment: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Institute for Human Science and Biomedical Engineering
Country: Japan

I have always been interested in the European culture (humanistic as well as scientific). I applied for a Canon Foundation Research Fellowship because the objective of the Foundation matched my own objective and such a fellowship could represent the best opportunity to fulfill my expectations and to become an 'informal ambassador' of cross-cultural mutual understanding between Europe and Japan.

During the Fellowship period, in 2004, I visited the Neuroheuristic Research Group in Italy and France, whose leader is Professor Alessandro E.P. Villa. He is working on the neural mechanisms underlying complex behavior with the transdisciplinary neuroheuristic approach. In my previous doctoral experience in Japan I have been studying the dynamics of nonlinear systems, in particular the single or networks of neuron models. The Fellowship gave me the opportunity to gain a cultural perspective and the access to a different way to organise the scientific research. I developed a fruitful exchange with the host Institution that materialised into several projects.

After the Fellowship, I came back to Japan to my current position as a researcher in AIST. My contacts with Professor Alessandro E.P. Villa are still very active and our respective institutions have recently signed an international joint research contract. Based on the experience that I had acquired during the Fellowship, I started a new project in the current group to investigate the dynamics of cardiovascular system in relation to motor control. The theme itself was set in a different field, but the scientific perspective I developed during the Fellowship is valid beyond a specific discipline and I can apply it with success in my latest activities.

My name is Erica Baffelli. I applied for a Canon Foundation Research Fellowship when I was Ph.D. candidate at Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italy). My specialty is Japanese New Religions and mass-media communications. I wanted to spend a more extended period of time in Japan. During the Fellowship period (April 2003 - March 2004) I visited the Faculty of Letters of Keio University in Tokyo (Department of Humanities and Sociology).

The research was carried out in two ways, one theoretical and one practical. As far as the theoretical part concerns, the study was primarily focusing on the mass media in modern and contemporary Japan. Secondly, the study of the sociology of religions applied to new Japanese religions. For this purpose I attended some post-graduate research seminars: sociology of religions, anthropology and sociology of religion. Other research was carried out at the Religious Information Research Centre in Tokyo. For the fieldwork, I visited several religious groups doing interviews and attending ceremonies.

After the Fellowship I came back to Venice and I received a doctoral degree with the thesis “Selling Happiness. Media, marketing and New Japanese Religions. The case of Kofuku no kagaku” in February 2005. In addition, I was able to discuss my research results at various international conferences in Europe. Thanks to the Canon Foundation I have been able to develop my research and to go through a new, fruitful experience.

Rolf Dyre Svegstrup, PhD-student, University of Tokyo, Japan

After receiving my Master's degree in Mathematics from the University of Copenhagen late December 2002, I wanted to move into the field of Mathematical Physics. On the advice of Prof. Kawahigashi of Tokyo University, I applied for and received a Canon Foundation Research Fellowship for going to Tokyo. From April 2003 to September 2003 I studied under him. The primary focus during my Fellowship period was Algebraic Quantum Field Theory but I was also able to continue some unfinished work from my Master's period on Yang-Mills theory. The stay also enabled me to visit other Japanese universities.

Following the Fellowship period, I was lucky enough to obtain a PhD scholarship from the Danish Research Agency to continue my stay in Tokyo and keep studying under Professor Kawahigashi. I would like to thank the Canon Foundation in Europe for their kind support and continued contact.

My name is Yuko Yamade. I am Japanese and am currently a lecturer & post-doc Fellow at the University of Montreal, Canada.

At the time when I applied for a Canon Foundation Research Fellowship because I needed to explore my post-doc research topic in France which I had examined in Japan and Canada beforehand. My host institution at the time of applying was Meiji University, Japan. I went alone to the University of Tours, France in 2004 where I spent a year there doing research on Migrant Japanese Women's Writings in Europe.

As a result of my research there, I am presently:
1. Preparing a book on Tawada Yoko's works (Analysis of her recent works and English Translations of 'Exphony' (in Japanese) and 'Night Train with the Suspects' (in Japanese).
2. Organizing a conference on 'Yoko Tawada's Exophony Writing' in Canada which will be held from October 18-25, 2006 at the University of Montreal and the Japan Foundation in Toronto.

After my Fellowship ended, I succeeded in securing a position at the University of Montreal, Canada where I am currently teaching Japanese language and literature. My interests are Migrant Literature, Women's Literature and Japanese Literature.

During my Fellowship period in France, I experienced the cultural (academic and education system included) and the social differences between Asia, North America and Europe. I appreciate what the Canon Foundation has done for me. The Canon Foundation Fellowship has greatly helped to advance my research and academic career.