Japan’s premier philanthropy, the Nippon Foundation, has appointed a new chairman who assumes the position aged 80 years old. Ogata replaces current chairman Yohei Sasakawa, who had led the foundation since 2005. Writing on his blog, Sasakawa emphasised his strong desire for the Nippon Foundation to move forward under new leadership. The Nippon Foundation is the largest private foundation in Japan and ranks second among the 20 largest philanthropic funders in Asia. Despite that accolade, Haruto Okabe, Japan Representative at the U.S.-Japan Foundation, argues that Japanese philanthropy has fallen behind.