Mr. Tatsuya Tanami serves as a Special Adviser at the Tokyo-based independent and non-profit Nippon Foundation, working to achieve a better society through areas like support for children, persons with disabilities and support for disaster recovery. Prior to his role as special advisor, Mr. Tanami served as their Executive Director and oversaw international programs, including global leprosy elimination. He was responsible for various fellowships and scholarships, intellectual dialogue frameworks, and international cultural exchanges sponsored by the Foundation. Mr. Tanami's commitment has led to the establishing of the Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship (API); a program designed precisely to help build a community of Asians who can think and work in the public sphere. By promoting mutual understanding and shared learning among Asian public intellectuals, the API Fellowships aim to contribute to the growth of public arenas where effective responses to regional needs can be generated.
Before joining the Nippon foundation, Mr. Tanami worked at the International House of Japan, a private, non-profit organization based in Tokyo that promotes cultural exchange and intellectual cooperation between Japan, U.S. Asia and other countries. As Program Director, he worked closely with universities, academic institutions and private foundations including the Toyota, Ford and Rockefeller foundations.
Mr. Tanami is a sitting board member of the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, the Fondation Franco-Japonaise Sasakawa, the Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation and the Center for Human Rights Education and Training. Highly interested in geopolitical matters, Mr. Tanami has published several articles, including 'Asia-Identity, Vision and Position' (2011). He is a graduate of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and was a visiting scholar at Wittenberg University in Ohio. Tatsuya Tanami is a member of the Salzburg Global Seminar Japan Advisory Council.