Sumitomo Corporation Becomes a Strategic Partner of the TOMODACHI Initiative and Launches the TOMODACHI Sumitomo Corporation Scholarship Fund

Sumitomo Corporation (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kuniharu Nakamura) has partnered with the U.S.-Japan Council to launch the “TOMODACHI Sumitomo Corporation Scholarship Program” with a 100 million yen donation.

Viewing educational support for the next generation as a priority in its social contribution activities, Sumitomo Corporation has a long history of providing scholarship assistance to university students in developing Asian countries and carrying out such projects as the Sumitomo Corporation Youth Challenge Program for the Revitalization of East Japan to support youth engaged in reconstruction assistance in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Endorsing the spirit of the TOMODACHI Initiative, Sumitomo Corporation will be starting a university-level scholarship program in 2014 to support exchange students between the United States and Japan over the next four years. The TOMODACHI Sumitomo Corporation Scholarship Fund will provide assistance to high-achieving university students with financial need to enable them to study abroad for one year. Sumitomo Corporation’s support is aimed at helping to develop globally-minded young leaders who will serve as active bridges between Japan and the United States.

 (TOMODACHI Initiative)
The TOMODACHI Initiative is a public-private partnership, born out of support for Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake, that invests in the next generation of Japanese and American leaders through educational and cultural exchanges as well as entrepreneurship and leadership programs.

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  US-Japan Council (Japan) Representative Irene Hirano Inouye (Right) and Sumitomo Corporation President and CEO Nakamura (left)