Event in honour of the alumni of the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) at the Athens University History Museum

The Sylff programme alumni celebration event, which took place on Friday, 4 October 2024, at the Athens University History Museum, was a great success. Honouring the event with their presence were HE, the Ambassador of Japan to Greece, Mr Koichi Ito, the former Rector, former Member of Parliament, and Professor Emeritus of the NKUA’s School of Law, Mr Theodoros Fortsakis, the members of the Sylff local Steering Committee, faculty members at NKUA, and, obviously, the guests of honour of the evening, the Sylff programme fellows. The event opened with a brief review of the Sylff fellowship programme at NKUA by the Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs, International Relations, and Extroversion and Chair of the local Sylff Steering Committee, Professor Sophia Papaioannou. The Vice-Rector referred to the beginning of collaboration between NKUA and the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research in 1993. Since then, over 300 Social Sciences and Humanities students have received Sylff fellowships for their outstanding academic performance, leadership qualities, extroversion, and social contribution. HE, the Ambassador of Japan to Greece, Mr Koichi Ito, spoke about Sylff’s presence in 69 Universities globally—including the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens—and thanked the local Steering Committee members for their contribution to the programme’s efficient operation. The Ambassador praised the achievements of the Sylff programme’s alumni at NKUA, many of whom have assumed leadership roles in the public sphere or went on to distinguish themselves in academia. He also referred to other collaborations between Japan and Greece at the academic and cultural levels, such as the exchange programmes between NKUA and Keio University. HE, the Ambassador of Japan to Greece, Mr Koichi Ito, concluded his speech by emphasizing the importance of academic and cultural collaborations as potent catalysts for promoting understanding, cooperation, and friendship between nations. This part of the event closed with the reading of an address sent by the Executive Director for Leadership Development at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Ms Mari Suzuki. Two Sylff alumni then took the floor: Ms Elvisa-Foteini Frrokaj, a psychologist-psychotherapist, and Mr Nikolas Vadivoulis, a lawyer. They both emphasized the importance of the grant to their postgraduate studies and the chance it provided them to join a great community of young people who have excelled in academia and are now pursuing careers in Greece and abroad. They also talked about how this event was an opportunity for old and new Sylff fellows to get to know each other and grow closer together. Finally, Mr N. Vadivoulis said that a proposal for a Sylff Fellows Association already exists as a step towards improving the social and academic ties among Sylff programme alumni and helping younger fellows with their endeavours. At the end of this part of the event, the Ambassador and the alumni took a guided tour of the Athens University History Museum. Following that, there was a reception in the Museum’s gardens, where the alumni got to know one another and discussed possible future activities of the Sylff Fellows Association, which we hope will be formed shortly. The evening closed with a magnificent musical programme by the artistic ensemble ‘Tropos’ of the NKUA’s Department of Music Studies (School of Philosophy), performing works by Manos Hatzidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, and other Greek composers.