Inamori Foundation signs Letter of Intent to support Kyoto University's Kokoro Initiative (14 April 2015)

Representing the Inamori Foundation, President Dr Kazuo Inamori signed a Letter of Intent on 14 April to support Kyoto University's Kokoro Initiative, which is set to begin operations later this year.

Between 2003 and 2007, Kyoto University, the Inamori Foundation, and the Kyoto prefectural government funded operation of the Kyoto International Culture Forum as a platform for highlighting diverse perspectives on the importance of kokoro , or the human psyche. Continuing in the spirit of discussions that took place at the Forum, Kyoto University in 2007 founded the Kokoro Research Center (KRC), with support from the Inamori Foundation.

This new agreement between the University and the Foundation follows these developments, providing for an annual grant of 15 million yen for six years beginning in 2015, for a total of 90 million yen. The Initiative will be led by KRC, aiming to reexamine the human psyche and its significance, and to promote international scholarship in related fields.

On 14 April, Dr Inamori and KU President Juichi Yamagiwa signed the Letter in the presence of Inamori Foundation officials, including Senior Managing Director Toyomi Inamori and Mr Shoichi Himono and Mr Kazuhito Himeda, the latter two being the head and deputy head of the Foundation's secretariat, as well as KRC Director Sakiko Yoshikawa and Professor Toshio Kawai.

The Kokoro Initiative will be led by a committee of researchers not only from KRC, but from across the University, and will undertake the following activities: hosting quarterly kokoro workshops that bring together researchers from across the country and beyond, including artists and business leaders; domestic and international conferences dedicated to the investigation of the human psyche; and the publishing of reports on these events in both Japanese and English. The inaugural kokoro conference is scheduled to take place in Kyoto on 13 September.