http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryoichi_Sasakawa
Ryoichi Sasakawa (笹川 良一 Sasakawa Ryōichi?, May 4, 1899 – July 18, 1995) was a Japanese businessman, politician and
fascist[1][2][3] born in Minoh, Osaka. He was imprisoned as a
Class A war criminal after World War II but later released without a trial,[4][5][6] kuromaku (political power-broker), and the founder of the Nippon Foundation. While he is widely known throughout Africa and much of the developing world for the wide-ranging philanthropic programs that he established, he is at the same time viewed with hostility by many intellectuals[7][8] for his
right wing ideals and ties to Japan's motorboat racing industry and
support for the Unification Movement.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Foundation
The Nippon Foundation (日本財団 Nipponzaidan?) of Tokyo, Japan, is a private, non-profit grant-making organization. It was
established in 1962 by Ryoichi Sasakawa <snip>
The current chairman is Yohei Sasakawa, <snip> the son of the foundation's founder, Ryoichi Sasakawa.
<snip>
Controversy
Despite its funding of many public health and welfare programs, the foundation has been criticized, primarily by scholars and journalists on the left, as
an organization with right-wing, nationalist motives.[15]
The Foundation has stated its principal commitment is "to support international humanitarian initiatives aimed at improving the social, cultural, and economic well-being of developing countries, and combating poverty worldwide." In addition, however, it has
engaged in politically motivated activities such as spending millions to help support Japan's claim that Okinotorishima is an island, by building a lighthouse there and investing in a project to "grow" the island through microorganism breeding.[11]
The grants that The Nippon Foundation makes are
overseen and coordinated by the Japanese government. While no official connection exists, one article claims that the foundation’s philanthropic work constitutes an important part of the
official Japanese lobbying effort to foster and maintain a favorable image of Japan - known by the euphemism "improving mutual understanding." The article states that although many Japanese institutions refrain from seeking a grant from The Nippon Foundation, the combination of reduced US funding for Japanese studies and the efforts of the Japan Lobby for many years have virtually deprived the US and other countries of an independent capability for research and teaching on Japan. Further, it contends that The Nippon Foundation has also had considerable success in
reducing the range of opinion and advice on which US government policy is based.[16]
The Nippon Foundation <snip> supported a massive family planning campaign in Peru, known as Voluntary Surgical Contraception. It was later revealed that under the campaign, undertaken by Alberto Fujimori's administration in Peru from 1996 to 2000,
nearly 300,000, mostly indigenous, women were forcibly sterilized.[17][18][19] The United Nations, USAID and other international aid agencies also supported this campaign.[20]
Organizations established
<snip>
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
<snip>
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