Foundation Outline

The Saison Foundation is a private grant-making foundation established by Seiji Tsutsumi. The foundation supports contemporary Japanese theater and dance through its programs that are based on the following principles:

(1) Long-term support to artists and to their creative activities

The Saison Foundation places special emphasis on holistic and continuous support to young and mature artists and companies rather than making short-term project-only grants.
 

(2) Compound support system

The Saison Foundation not only awards grants but also offers space at Morishita Studio in Tokyo for rehearsals, workshops, symposia, conferences, etc. Additionally, the Foundation sponsors seminars and discussions on themes related to theater and dance company management.
 

(3) Support towards the improvement of the performing arts infrastructure

Profile

■OUTLINE

Mission
The Saison Foundation is dedicated to creating new values and to enhancement of mutual understanding among people by supporting activities related to arts and culture.

Date of Establishment
July 13, 1987

Founder
Seiji Tsutsumi

■PROGRAM OUTLINE

Grant Programs
The Saison Foundation, whose main areas of support are contemporary theater and dance, gives grants and/or provide spaces for rehearsals, etc., to artists and art companies through each of its programs.

Independently Organized & Co-organized Programs
It also sponsors/co-sponsors performances, seminars, and workshops, and issue newsletters.

About our founder Seiji Tsutsumi

About our founder Seiji Tsutsumi

Seiji Tsutsumi giving a speech on behalf of The Saison Foundation, which was awarded the Donald Keene Prize for the Promotion of Japanese Culture, in June 2009.
Photo: Kazushi Momoi

 Seiji Tsutsumi established The Saison Foundation with his private funds in 1987 and served as its first president for twenty-six years until his passing in November 2013. While Tsutsumi is remembered as an entrepreneur who built the conglomerate known as the Saison Group, and as the writer who left numerous works of poetry, novels, etc. under the pen name Takashi Tsujii, he was also a philanthropist who contributed to society. The activities of our foundation, which support artists and their projects without asking for any kind of compensation, embody the ideals of the philanthropist Seiji Tsutsumi and we wish to inherit his spirit throughout the future.
 

PREFACE

With the year 2000 rapidly approaching, we are gravely concerned about the current position of Japan in world affairs and the role that our nation is expected to play in the new century. Living in the latter part of the twentieth century, we can enjoy the economic prosperity resulting from forty years of hard endeavor since the end of World War II, but in the process of reaching this level we have sacrificed much and we have either lost sight of many of our old values, or their quality and shape have been changed owing to our negligence whilst involved in the race to move ahead. The changes that are occurring in the arts in these final years of the century are demonstrating that our own culture is fast losing its character and traditions. Whilst Japan is considered a major economic power, people tend to regard her as a country of relatively minor cultural significance. These considerations, together with our isolation from international society, suggest some uncertainty about our country’s future.
In order to replenish and reinvigorate the creative power rooted in the soil of Japan, it is essential to infuse our own culture with a host of fresh ideas and allow a free flow of artistic expression to develop abundantly. One significant means to this end is the promotion of international cultural exchange at a highly active level, refreshing our sensibilities and insight to the point where creativity can be restored within the context of contemporary society, and this, in return, should enable us to regain our international perspective.

The objectives of The Saison Foundation shall be (a) to carry out activities conductive to the stimulation of creativity amongst persons or bodies engaged in various fields of art and culture, and (b) to expedite international cultural exchange by the provision of grants such as to Japanese artists wishing to study in foreign countries and to foreign artists desirous of undertaking a period of study in Japan, or to projects inviting foreign artists and groups to show their work or present their performances in Japan. It is our sincere hope that through these activities we shall be able to contribute to the development of culture in our country.
 

July 1987
Seiji Tsutsumi

Seiji Tsutsumi, aka Takashi Tsujii

Seiji Tsutsumi was born in Tokyo in March 1927. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Tokyo, Tsutsumi started his career as a secretary to his father, Yasujiro Tsutsumi, who was at the time Chairman of the House of Representatives. Tsutsumi then joined Seibu Department Stores in 1954. He became president of the supermarket chain Seiyu, which he founded in 1963, and president of Seibu Department Stores in 1966. During the 1970s and the 1980s, Tsutsumi built and led the conglomerate known as the Saison Group, which included numerous companies such as Credit Saison, Ryohin Keikaku (which owns the brand MUJI), and the convenience store chain Family Mart. Tsutsumi resigned from his post as representative of the Saison Group in 1991.
In 1982, Tsutsumi donated two million U.S. dollars from the Saison Group to the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), a foundation which belongs to the Rockefeller legacy of philanthropic giving, to establish ACC’s office in Tokyo and eventually launch its Japan-United States Arts Program. At that time, this was the largest corporate contribution from Japan ever made to an arts program of a U.S. nonprofit organization. Tsutsumi became a member of ACC’s board of trustees from 1983 and was appointed as a life trustee in 2012. Tsutsumi established the Takanawa Art Museum (now known as the Sezon Museum of Modern Art) in 1986, and The Saison Foundation with his own personal funds in 1987, and served as presidents of the two foundations until his demise in November 2013. He also served as a member of the board of trustees of the Noguchi Museum, the Japan Advisory Committee of the Japan Society of New York, and the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Tsutsumi was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur in 1970 and Officier de l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur in 1987 from the French Republic, the Commander’s Cross 1st Class for Service to the Republic of Austria in 1989, and was named as Honorable Doctor of Moscow State University in 1993. In 1998, Tsutsumi received a doctorate in economics from Chuo University for his 1996

Seiji Tsutsumi receives the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Award from Ms. Elizabeth McCormack, Chairman Emerita of the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), in Tokyo in October 2012.
Photo: Masaya Yoshimura

 thesis Blueprint for Change – Beyond the Distribution Theory. He was presented the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Award from the ACC in 2012.

Tsutsumi was also active as a poet and novelist under the pen name Takashi Tsujii. After releasing his first anthology of poems titled Futashikana Asa (An Uncertain Morning) in 1955, he published many works and won prizes for his books of poetry and novels, including the Junichiro Tanizaki Prize in 1994, the Noma Literary Prize in 2004, the Japan Art Academy Prize in 2006, the Yomiuri Prize for Literature in 2007, and the Japan Poets Association’s Contemporary Poets Award in 2009. Tsujii was inducted into the Japan Art Academy in 2007. He was selected as meshiudo (the person who composes a poem by special order of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan) for the Imperial New Year’s Poetry Reading in 2012, and was also honored as Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government the same year. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Korean, and Chinese. As Takashi Tsujii, he served as member of the board of directors of the Japan Pen Club, vice-president of the Japan Writers’ Association, and was chairman of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association.

Chronology of Seiji Tsutsumi/Takashi Tsujii

1927 Born in Mitaka, Tokyo on March 30
1951 Appointed as President of Kunitachi Gakuen School
1954 Enters Seibu Department Stores, Ltd. (SDS)
1955 Publishes his first anthology of poems titled Futashkana Asa (An Uncertain
Morning) under the pen name Takashi Tsujii
1961 Organizes an art exhibition of Paul Klee’s works at SDS’s Ikebukuro store
1962 Takanawa Art Museum opens in Tokyo
1971 Tsutsumi is awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur from
the French Republic
1973 Parco shopping center and Seibu Theater (later renamed as Parco
Theater) opens in Shibuya, Tokyo
1975 The Seibu Museum of Art, Libro bookstore, and Art Vivant (a store that
specializing in art books and records) opens at SDS’s Ikebukuro store
1978 Tsutsumi becomes a trustee of the International Council of The Museum of
Modern Art of New York
1979 Ikebukuro Community College (culture school) and a multi-use space
Studio 200 opens at SDS’s Ikebukuro store
1981 Takanawa Art Museum is transferred to Karuizawa in Nagano prefecture
and becomes a museum of modern art
Establishment of the convenience store chain Family Mart
1983 Seiyu opens the first Muji store in Aoyama, Tokyo (now operated by Ryohin
Keikaku Co., Ltd.)
Seibu Credit Co., Ltd. (now known as Credit Saison Co., Ltd.) launches its Saison Card full-scale
Roppongi WAVE, a building housing a store selling records, CDs, and videos and a cinema called Cine Vivant, opens in Roppongi, Tokyo
The Saison Group donates two million U.S. dollars to the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) of New York
1984 SDS’s Yurakucho Seibu, which houses Yurakucho Art Forum, opens in Tokyo
Seibu Art Forum opens in SDS’s Ikebukuro store
1985 Seibu Retailing Group is renamed as the Seibu Saison Group
1986 Takanawa Art Museum (now known as Sezon Museum of Modern Art) is
registered as a foundation
SEED Hall opens in SDS’s Shibuya store in Tokyo

At his home library

1987 Seiji Tsutsumi establishes The Saison Foundation with his personal funds and becomes its president
Tsutsumi is awarded the Officier de l’Ordre de la Legion d’Honneur from the French Republic
1988 Yatsugatake Music Hall opens in Nagano prefecture
1989 Sezon Art Museum opens in Ikebukuro Tsutsumi is awarded the Commander’s Cross 1st Class for Service to the Republic of Austria
1990 Seibu Saison Group is renamed as the Saison Group
1991 Tsutsumi announces his retirement as
Representative of the Saison Group
Takanawa Art Museum is renamed as Sezon Museum of Modern Art
1993 Tsutsumi becomes Honorable Doctor of Moscow State University
1994 The Saison Foundation opens Morishita Studio, a building with rehearsal
facilities for theater and dance, in Tokyo
1998 Tsutsumi receives a doctorate in economics from Chuo University for his
1996 thesis Blueprint for Change – Beyond the Distribution Theory
2003 The Saison Foundation receives the 2003 Mecenat Award for Leading the
Theatrical Arts from the Association for Corporate Support of the Arts
2007 Takashi Tsujii is inducted into the Japan Art Academy
2009 The Saison Foundation receives the Donald Keene Prize for the Promotion
of Japanese Culture
2012 Serves as meshiudo, the person who composes a poem by special order of
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, at the Imperial New Year’s Poetry Reading
Tsutsumi receives the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Award from the Asian Cultural Council (ACC)
Tsujii is selected as Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government
2013 Dies in Tokyo on November 25

Board of Trustees and Directors

TRUSTEES

Tatsuro Ishii Dance critic
Masaaki Kanai Chairman and Representative Director, Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd.
Kazuko Koike Professor Emeritus, Musashino Art University;
founder of Sagacho Archives
Kazuko Matsuoka Theater critic and translator
Kiyoshi Mizoochi Theater critic
Katsumi Mizuno Representative,Executive President and COO, Credit Saison Co., Ltd.
Minako Naito General Producer of Performing Arts, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
Mitsuyoshi Numano Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo
Mariko Ozaki Literary critic
Shunichi Sato Adviser,Daikin Industries,Ltd.;Adviser,Clover Network Com Co.,Ltd.;Managing Drector,Hashida Cultural Foundation
Takao Tsutsumi President, Director, Sezon Museum of Modern Art
Tadashi Uchino Professor, Gakushuin Women’s College
Hiroshi Ueki President, Contemporary Dance Association of Japan

DIRECTORS AND AUDITORS

CHAIR
Masao Katayama
 
PRESIDENT
Shinji Hojo Former Managing Drector, Credit Saison Co., Ltd.
 
VICE PRESIDENT
Asako Tsutsumi Trustee, Sezon Museum of Modern Art
 
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Atsuko Hisano
 
DIRECTORS
Masanori Kagioka Adviser, Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
Haruhiro Nakano Chief Investment Officer, Nakano Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Koji Tsutsumi Trustee, Sezon Museum of Modern Art
Noriyuki Watanabe Former Chairman of the Board and Representative Executive Officer, Seiyu GK
 
AUDITORS
Jun Ito Certified Public Accountant
Hiroshi Miyake Attorney at Law
 

ADVISER

Yuji Tsutsumi Chairman and CEO, Yokohama Grand Inter Continental Hotel Co., Ltd.

Map & Directions

■KYOBASHI OFFICE

THE SAISON FOUNDATION
Kyobashi Yamamoto Building, 4th Floor 3-12-7 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku,
Tokyo 104-0031, Japan
TEL: +81 3 (3535) 5566
FAX: +81 3 (3535) 5565
[ Mon thru Fri 10:00 – 17:00 ]

< NEAREST SUBWAY STATIONS >
*TAKARACHO on the Toei Asakusa Line (One minute walk from Exit A1) *KYOBASHI on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line (Five minutes’ walk from Exit 1)
*GINZA IT-CHOME on the Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line (Seven minutes’ walk from Exit 10)

Google map

■MORISHITA STUDIO

MORISHITA STUDIO
3-5-6 Morishita, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0004, Japan
TEL: +81 3 (5624) 5951
FAX: +81 3 (5624) 5950
[ Opening Hours 10:00 – 22:00 ]

< NEAREST SUBWAY STATIONS >
*MORISHITA on the Toei Shinjuku or Toei Oedo Lines (Five minutes’ walk from Exit A6)

Google map

The Saison Foundation extends its sincere gratitude to the following Legal Entity Support members and for their generous contributions (as of March 2023/in alphabetical order):