At the National Library, the annual Japan Study Grants began in 2008 to support scholars who live in Australia and don’t have access to good collections on Japan. It is supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust. It is now in its 10th year. Applications for 2017 is now open and will close on Sep 30 2016.

Japan Study Grants are for researchers who are citizens of, or resident in, Australia. Applicants may be PhD candidates, early career or established researchers, or independent scholars, working in any discipline and who need to use the Library’s Japanese language or Japan-related collections for their research.

Researchers may be in the early or later stages of a project. They may need to explore the extent and depth of the Library’s collections to further develop their research or use specifically identified materials for a topic or thesis. A study grant may also enable a researcher to undertake preliminary investigations towards a larger or related project that may assist in attracting further research funding or work, including a future National Library of Australia Fellowship in Japan Studies, also supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust.

Study Grant recipients will receive financial support consisting of:

• An honorarium of $1000 per week to cover accommodation and living costs in Canberra for up to four weeks
• A contribution to travel within Australia, equivalent to one return economy domestic airfare to and from Canberra

All recipients receive in-kind support consisting of:

• Special access to Asian collection stacks and staff expertise, including the support of Asian languages specialist librarians
• Access to office facilities in the Asian Collections area
• Copying of collection materials (within reasonable limits in accordance with the Australian Copy Right Act.)

Since its conception in 2008, 40 scholars have so far been awarded (including a few repeater recipients). The program, in conjunction with National Library Fellowship, supports the Japanese Studies community in Australia. From this year, all the fellowships and grants at the National Library of Australia were streamlined and aligned for the advantage of both applicants and the Library.

Whilever there are universities without good-sized Japanese collections or Japanese collection specialists, we do hope this program will continue to support scholars of Japanese studies.

For further information, please see the details of Japan Study Grants at www.nla.gov.au/awards-and-grants/fellowships-and-scholarships/japan-and-asia-study-grants

and the details of National Library of Australia Fellowship – Japan Program at www.nla.gov.au/awards-and-grants/fellowships-and-scholarships/national-library-of-australia-fellowships

Image above: Dr Natsuko Akagawa, RMIT University, a recipient of a Japan Study Grant in 2016

Image above: Assist. Prof Tomoko Aoyama, University of Queensland, a recipient of a Japan Study Grant in 2016