“Forging a better tomorrow with ‘hirameki’ and ‘kirameki’” has been made the catchphrase for this 26th year of the research grant. The foundation looks forward to seeing research and development themes that contribute toward the continued creation of a better future using the creativity of researchers and the potential of precious metals.

Recipients this year will receive a total of 20 million yen in research grants, including up to 10 million yen under the Umekichi Tanaka Award. There are also new awards being offered this year: the Ichiro Tanaka Award, Innovative Precious Metals Award, KIRAMEKI Award, and HIRAMEKI Award. The Umekichi Tanaka Award is named after company founder Umekichi Tanaka, who strove to expand industrial use of precious metals, while the Ichiro Tanaka Award is named after the company’s second president Ichiro Tanaka, who strove for overseas collaboration.

Applications can be submitted using the application form on TANAKA Memorial Foundation website (https://tanaka-foundation.or.jp), and, after strict examination, award recipients will be announced at the end of March 2025.

TANAKA Memorial Foundation aims to contribute to the development and cultivation of new fields for precious metals and to the development of science, technology, and the social economy by conducting activities that enable more people to experience a prosperous society. This grant program aims to support a range of endeavors that can contribute to the creation of a sustainable future.

Last year, the Umekichi Tanaka Award was presented to “Research on bonding wire with electromagnetic wave shielding function” which sought to make it possible to use bonding wire in the high-frequency band, which was not previous possible, by coating the surface of bonding wire with a magnetic thin film containing precious metals.

Overview of the 2024 Precious Metals Research Grants

Theme

- Themes that involve any of the following: new technologies to which precious metals can make a contribution, research related to precious metals that will bring innovative evolution to products, or research and development of new products using precious metals

Grant Amounts (Maximum amounts from a grant pool of 20 million yen)

* The grant amount is treated as a scholarship donation.
* Awards may not be granted in some cases.

Eligible Candidates

- Personnel who belong to (or work for) educational institutions in Japan (universities, graduate schools, or technical colleges) or public and related research institutions may participate.
* As long as the applicant is affiliated with a research institution in Japan, the base of activity can be in Japan or overseas.
* HIRAMEKI Awards are for researchers under the age of 37 as of April 1, 2024.

Application Period

- 9am, September 2, 2024 (Mon) - 5pm, November 30, 2024 (Sat)

Application Method

- Enter the required information on the application form available on the TANAKA Memorial Foundation website (https://tanaka-foundation.or.jp) and upload details of the research (papers and supplementary material on the theme).

Announcement

- Results will be announced on the TANAKA Memorial Foundation website around the end of March 2025.
* TANAKA will contact the award recipients directly.

Conditions

New research and development themes—either using precious metals or which can be applied to precious metals—that contribute to the creation of a sustainable future, with research content that falls under any of the following.
- New technology related to precious metals (new materials, processing methods, process development, etc.)
- Research that brings about innovative evolution in product development (new functions, process development, computational science, etc.)
- Research and development of new products using precious metals
* Precious metal refers to eight elements of platinum, gold, silver, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium.
* If development is conducted jointly (or planned to be) with other material manufacturers, please indicate so.
* Products that have already been commercialized, put to practical use, or that are planned are not eligible.

About Umekichi Tanaka

After learning his trade at Ejimaya pawn brokerage in Tokyo, company founder, Umekichi Tanaka, opened Ejimaya Tanaka Shoten at Kitajima-cho, Nihonbashi-ku, Tokyo, (now Kayabacho, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo), which remained the headquarters of TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. until 2006. The company’s business originally entailed buying copper coins (one-hundredth of a yen) and nickel coins (five-hundredths of a yen), and exchanging them, in lots of 100 yen, with merchants for a fee. It went on to engage in the bullion trading business, and began melting down foreign gold coins from Yokohama’s foreign quarter and other places, and then refining and selling the metal. The technologies developed at this time went on to play a significant role in later industrial use of precious metals.

About Ichiro Tanaka

Tanaka Shoten’s second president Ichiro Tanaka began negotiations around 1920 to directly import platinum from the Soviet Union, which accounted for approximately 70% of the world’s platinum production during that time. Three years later, in April 1923, the Soviet government signed a contract on sales rights with Tanaka Shoten. Through this contract, Tanaka Shoten became Japan’s sole sales agency for platinum and palladium and gained sales rights for the entirety of East Asia, which were the same terms as with the United States and the United Kingdom. Subsequently, Ichiro Tanaka strove for overseas collaboration in platinum group precious metals such as platinum and palladium.

Inquiries Concerning the Research Grant Program
Precious Metals Research Grants Office
Global Marketing / R&D Supervisory Department, TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.
2-6-6 Nihonbashi Kayabacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0025
E-mail: joseikin@ml.tanaka.co.jp
TANAKA Memorial Foundation website: https://tanaka-foundation.or.jp

TANAKA Memorial Foundation
Established: April 1, 2015          
Address: 2-6-6 Nihonbashi Kayabacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Hideya Okamoto
Incorporated: 2015
Purpose of Business: To provide grants for research related to precious metals to contribute to the development and cultivation of new fields for precious metals, and to the development of science, technology, and the social economy.
Areas of Business:
- Provision of grants for scientific and technological research related to precious metals.
- Recognition of excellent analysis of precious metals and holding of seminars and other events.

TANAKA Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.
Headquarters: 2-6-6 Nihonbashi Kayabacho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Koichiro Tanaka, Group CEO
Founded: 1885
Incorporated: 1918
Capital: 500 million yen
Employees: 2,498 (December 31, 2023)
Sales: 217,204,581,000 yen (FY2023)
Main businesses: Manufacture, sales, import and export of precious metals (platinum, gold, silver, and others) and various types of industrial precious metals products.
URL: https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com

Press Inquiries
TANAKA Holdings Co., Ltd.
https://tanaka-preciousmetals.com/en/inquiries-for-media/

Press Release: https://www.acnnewswire.com/docs/files/20240902.pdf