Sakae Stünzi Foundation

Kanto | Tokyo - Minato Ward

Historical Figures & Locations

Since 2001, the assets of the late Mrs. Stünzi have helped numerous Swiss and Japanese people to realize meaningful projects in the fields of culture, social affairs, academia and science.

Protecting the Stünzi family

The Foundation originates from the ordeal of a Japanese woman, Sakae Stünzi, and her family during the Asia-Pacific War. Her husband, a Swiss citizen named Robert Stünzi (1877-1961), came to Japan in 1912 and eventually became director of Siber Hegner & Co. Ltd. (today known as DKSH), the first Swiss import/export company in Japan. He also served as Honorary Consul in Kobe after the war.

From 1941 to 1945, in spite of an increasingly hostile environment, the Stünzi family stayed in the Japanese archipelago, living between Kobe and Karuizawa (Nagano Prefecture), in a villa they had acquired right before the beginning of the war. Like the two hundred other remaining Swiss citizens in Japan during that time, they benefited from the food, emergency supplies, and other documents that the Swiss government regularly sent to Japan (although only a fraction was actually delivered). Furthermore, Minister Camille Gorgé and the Swiss Legation spared no efforts to protect its citizens and their families from the terrible persecution of the Military Police Corps.

Turning a holiday house into a foundation

Even after her husband’s passing, Mrs. Stünzi never forgot the help of the Swiss government during one of the most difficult times of her life. Upon her passing in 1990, as a token of gratitude for the patronage and protection which her family had been afforded, Ms. Stünzi thus bequeathed her villa in Karuizawa to the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan. Swiss diplomats in Japan would be able to enjoy cool summers in a holiday house near Mount Asama.

For the sake of ethics and practicality, however, the Embassy was not in a position of accepting such a generous gift. In agreement with Mrs. Stünzi’s heirs, it was rather agreed to sell the property and use the funds to set up a foundation, which was officially incorporated in 2001 in Bern (Switzerland) as a charitable, non-profit organization, according to Swiss law. The Foundation is currently managed by its Board, which includes Swiss and Japanese members, and is chaired by the Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan. The Embassy of Switzerland in Japan functions as its secretariat.

Advancing the Swiss-Japanese friendship

The purpose of the Sakae Stünzi Foundation is to foster the relations between Switzerland and Japan in the fields of culture, social affairs, academia and science. This is achieved by supporting appropriate projects in Japan and in Switzerland with the proceeds of the Foundation’s assets. Dozens of exhibitions, musical and dance performances, translation projects, film productions and youth exchanges figure among the projects supported by the Foundation thus far. In most cases, this support comes in the form of a co-financing, as the Foundation’s means are modest.

In 2011, the bereaved family of Mrs. Sachie Sasaki, late assistant of the culture and public affairs section of the Embassy of Switzerland, also donated a significant amount to the Foundation, in memory of her longstanding activities in promoting the cultural exchange between Switzerland and Japan.

Do you have a project advancing Swiss-Japanese relations in the cultural, scientific or social field? The Board of the Sakae Stünzi Foundation is waiting for your proposal!