The "United States-Japan Foundation Scholar"  

Dissertation Award 

The "United States-Japan Foundation Scholar" Dissertation Award is a new annual  competition recognizing the best social sciences doctoral dissertation on Japan produced in the  U.S. 

A committee of distinguished Japan specialists will review dissertations nominated by  social science deans and/or department heads of PhD-granting U.S.-based research universities.  The Award committee will define social sciences broadly to include--but not be limited to-- anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, and related fields such  as demography, finance, and global/regional studies. Applicants are not required to be U.S.  citizens. 

An honorarium of $2,500 will be awarded to the author of the dissertation that best  uses Japanese sources and social science methods to provide fresh insights and innovative  perspectives that have implications for Japan's contemporary politics, economy, or social  relations. 

The recipient will be honored at a public event, where the author will be invited to  deliver a presentation at the March 2026 annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in  Vancouver.  

The committee will review doctoral dissertations that were accepted between January 1,  2024 and June 13, 2025, and submitted by the PhD recipient's department head or academic  dean. The deadline for completed submissions is June 15, 2025. 

The winner will be announced by Sept. 2, 2025. 

Nominations should be emailed to the USJF at scholars@us-jf.org and include a cover  letter from the nominating university dean or department head that details the specific  contributions made by the dissertation. Self-nominations will not be accepted. No more than  two dissertations can be submitted by a single academic department. 

The United States-Japan Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization  working to strengthen bilateral ties and address shared challenges. We empower next generation leaders and fund innovative initiatives, catalyzing collaboration and exchanges  among stakeholders in search of solutions.