Tarokichi Hattori Est. Foundation in 1919.

The establishment of the Hattori Foundation was officially recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Home Affairs on February 6th, 1919. Established by Tarokichi Hattori, it has been active in educational philanthropy. The fundamental purpose of the Foundation is to make the best possible contribution to improving the welfare of local society.

The Foundation actively supports educational activities at all levels from early childhood through to tertiary level. It aims to contribute to the further development of Okazaki as a city of culture and education and help revive the distinctive features of the Mikawa region.

Aims: In regards to international education, the Hattori Foundation has set itself several key objectives. Each of these objectives has lead directly to cooperation with other education providers in Japan and around the world.

In particular, the Foundation set about to concentrate resources into improving the quality of Japanese language education for international students both inside Japan and in their own countries. Hattori Foundation scholarships, research and assistance to academics in this field are key parts of this effort. However the absence of a genuinely high quality institution specializing only in the teaching of Japanese language programs and open to applications from all nationalities regardless of institutional links, led to the direct establishment of the Yamasa Institute by the Foundation itself. From its initial establishment, Yamasa has constantly been setting ever increasing standards in this field.