Japanese universities beginning to consider endowments

Nature : Research universities in Japan are starting to look to the West and its philanthropic tradition to help ease their monetary difficulties. Although funded by the government, Japan’s universities have become cash starved, writes David Cyranoski for Nature. Recently, Japan’s internationally known Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe was offered some $7.5 million from the Kavli Foundation in Oxnard, California. However, Japanese law prevented the IPMU from accepting the full amount. So the Kavli Foundation will instead manage the money for the institute, doling it out in smaller amounts to pay for expenses that public funds don’t cover. New laws enacted last year regarding nonprofit organizations in Japan, along with the IPMU’s success, may encourage more Japanese universities to seek external funding through endowments.