History
"Tenshi Hanko: Try it in a narrow range (point), and when it is found to be good, do it widely"
“No matter how much we think it's a good idea, we won't know until we actually try it. There may be a lack of misunderstandings and thoughts. It is dangerous to decide "this is good". That's why you have to experiment partially within a narrow range. If you find it "good", then you should be well prepared and spread nationwide. That was my way.”
History
Yamada Science Foundation was established by the late Kiro Yamada, the first president of Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. with his personal fortune of 3 billion yen.
Kiro greatly developed Shintendo Yamada Anmin Pharmacy, which he inherited from his father, and founded Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. with great success as a business owner. Through his life experience, he realized that the success of his business was due to the support of many people, so he wanted to give back to society in an effective way with his own private fortune. He went over a number of ideas and came to the conclusion that it is important for the development of Japanese society to emphasize logic and originality, and that it is necessary to promote these things, especially in the basic fields of natural science. He decided to establish a foundation for the purpose of "promoting basic research in the natural sciences", and Yamada Science Foundation was born in 1977.
Since its establishment, for the purpose of "promoting basic research in the natural sciences", our foundation has provided assistance in all areas of natural science, from astronomy to biology, not just those related to the business of Rohto.
When Kiro established the Foundation, he considered the role that a private foundation should play. This is summed up in the phrase, "Tenshi Hanko", the meaning of which is "Try it in a narrow range (point), and when it is found to be good, do it widely".
This term was coined by Kiro, but the idea is that private foundations should play the role of point testers (Tenshi) by supporting research that is small in scale but boldly tackles unknown areas, and if it proves to be promising, ask the government for large-scale support (Hanko). In contrast to public assistance, which tends to be orthodox, the Foundation's policy of reaching out to advanced and interdisciplinary research that has the seeds of creativity but is often overlooked has remained unchanged since its establishment.
Kiroh Yamada
Another important phrase for the Foundation is "Η ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΩΣΕΙ ΥΜΑΣ," which is inscribed on the beam in the Central Catalog Room of the National Diet Library in Japan. These words are found in the second half of verse 32 of chapter 8 of the Gospel of John in the New Testament.
We believe that "the truth will set us free," as "free thinking will lead us to the truth".