About
Leaders in East Asia for Peace
Peace, Reconciliation, Mutual Understanding
The LEAP Program is one of the people-to-people exchange programs of the International House of Japan. It aims to strengthen grassroots relations among neighbouring countries and promote peace in East Asia, with a particular focus on “peace, reconciliation, and mutual understanding.” The LEAP Program consists of three fellowship programs.
This program is supported by Chris Brünger, a member of the Board of Trustees of the International House of Japan.
Trustee
Chris Brünger, MD
Chris Brünger founded IDEC Inc., International Pharma Consultants (Tokyo) in 2003 and served as the founding President from 2003 to 2020, and Chairman from 2020 to 2023. Prior to these positions, He served as Member of the Board, Vice President of R&D and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Pharmacia KK (Tokyo) from 1997 to 2003, and as Head of R&D and CMO of Nihon Schering Pharmaceutical Co. (Osaka) from 1989-1997. He held the position of Special Research Physician in Internal Medicine at Keio University in 1988. Between 1983 and 1987, he served as Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine at Fujita Health University in Nagoya. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Essen University (Germany), and holds a German and a Japanese medical license.
Three Programs
LEAP program consists of three programs.
・LEAP Overseas Fellows (South Korea, China, Taiwan)
・LEAP Professional Fellows
・LEAP Asia-Pacific Fellows
LEAP Overseas Fellows
LEAP Overseas Fellows Program is a fellowship program that dispatches young researchers to think tanks and research institutions in neighbouring East Asian countries. Through on-site exchange and research activities, the program aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders who can contribute to sustainable peace and regional cooperation. Fellows deepen their understanding of regional issues from the perspectives of each host country while working to promote “peace, reconciliation, and mutual understanding” in East Asia. The program also seeks to foster grassroots-level connections with local communities and build long-term human networks through research and policy engagement.
LEAP Professional Fellows
LEAP Professional Fellows aims to enable promising mid-career professionals from Japan and South Korea to build relationships of trust through mutual exchange that transcends their respective fields of expertise, thereby paving the way for a new future in East Asia. By connecting the next generation of experts from South Korea and Japan at an early stage, we aim to build a human network that will serve as the foundation for future Japan-South Korea relations and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, based on LEAP’s philosophy of “peace, reconciliation, and mutual understanding.” Through these efforts, we will cultivate talent capable of contributing to peace in East Asia in the medium to long term.
LEAP Asia-Pacific Fellows
LEAP Asia-Pacific Fellows is a program in which promising young and mid-career experts from the Asia-Pacific region residing in Japan engage in mutual exchange and research-related activities at the International House of Japan, transcending their respective fields of expertise and nationalities. Based on LEAP’s philosophy of “peace, reconciliation, and mutual understanding,” the program aims to build a network among experts to establish a foundation for cooperation and envision the future of the Asia-Pacific region. It also seeks to strengthen the intellectual foundation necessary to adapt to changes in the regional order through research and policy dialogues. Through these initiatives, the program cultivates human resources who will contribute to peace in East Asia and the world in the medium to long term.
Inquiry
Archives
Program
LEAP Program LEAP Overseas Fellows (South Korea, China, Taiwan)
Innovation
Leadership Development
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