Corporate History
Road to Establishment of the Foundation
| 1959 | April 28 | The "Sony Fund for the Promotion of Science Education in Japan" was established to support the educational activities of elementary schools. |
| 1961 | October 28 | In commemoration of Sony Corporation’s 15th anniversary, junior high schools also became candidates for the fund. (The 6th Sony Fund for the Promotion of Science Education in Japan Ceremony) |
| 1963 | November 2 | The First National Convention of the Association of Award Winning Schools Convention for the Sony Fund for the Promotion of Science Education in Japan was held at Shiga Prefecture’s Toyosato Elementary School. |
| 1971 | October 28 | To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Sony Corporation, lmembers of the Association of Award Winning School were sent to the US for training and development exchange programs. (Continued for fort next 10 years.) |
History of the Foundation
| 1972 | October 20 | Gained the Education Ministry’s approval to establish the foundation under Section 34 of the Civil Law. |
| October 24 | Established Sony Education Promotion Foundation (Chairman of the Board : Masaru Ibuka), with 100 million JPY contributed from Sony Corporation as initial capital. (Funds of 3.1 billion JPY in 2000) | |
| November 1 | Began its operations. （Continued the promotional activities of its predecessor, Sony Corporation’s Education Promotion Office.） | |
| 1973 | April 11 | Accredited by Education Minister as an Experiment and Research Body (“A body that markedly contributes to the enhancement of public welfare” – April 1988). (License ongoing.) |
| 1974 | March 23 | Hosted the First International Education Symposium (held 10 times in total, including Washington in 1954). |
| 1981 | April 4 | Awarded by the National Science Teachers Association for contributing to Japan-US educational exchange programs. |
| October 23 | Awarded a certificate of gratitude from the Education Minister at the celebration ceremony for the foundation’s 10th anniversary. | |
| 1983 | October 27 | To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sony Science Education Promotion Fund, Sony Corporation began presenting TV and video equipments as supplementary prize. |
| 1984 | October | Awarding commemorative gifts to children attending the winning schools began. |
| 1986 | May | Teacher exchange training programs between international sister cities began. （Lasted for 9 years, with 14 pairs from 29 cities participating.） |
| 1987 | February 1 | Renamed to “Sony Education Fund” with the 32nd call for entries. |
| 1989 | June 17 - October 10 |
As a project to commemorate the 30 anniversary of Sony’s educational subsidies, and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Association of Award Winning Schools, the “Playing with Science – Exploratorium (San Francisco’s Museum of Science) Exhibition” was held at Tokyo’s Science Museum. |
| 1990 | May 1990 – June 1992 |
The exhibition toured in cities such as Asahikawa, Niigata, Chiba, Tokyo, Kawasaki, Nagoya, Kurume, and Kobe. (approximately 940,000 visitors) |
| 1992 | November 3 | Chairman of the Board Masaru Ibuka was decorated with the Order of Cultural Merit. |
| 1996 | May | Began seeking submissions for middle school students’ “English Video Messages”. |
| 1997 | December 19 | Chairman of the Board Masaru Ibuka passed away. （The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Paulownia Flowers, was conferred upon him posthumously, as an accolade for third place.） |
| 1998 | March 24 | Appointed Norio Ooga as Chairman of the Board. |
| 1999 | November 19 | Received a certificate of gratitude from the Education Minister for the second time at the 40th anniversary celebration of Sony Education Fund. |
| 2000 | “Sony Science Education Program for Children” began. | |
| 2001 | November 20 | Merged with Early Development Association, and together became the Sony Foundation for Education. |
| 2002 | June | The “Sony Preschool Education Program for Children” began. |
| 2005 | Appointed Nobuyuki Idei as Chairman of the Board. The first “Wellspring of Science Inspirations - Children's Schoolhouse of Dreams” was held. |
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| 2006 | Early Development Activity Center ended its activities. | |
| 2007 | The Sony “Mono-zukuri” workshops and exchange programs with overseas organizations began. |
