Who we are

Deep wisdom,
high resilience.

Built on nearly 60 years of history, a public-interest foundation that cultivates people able to live through an uncertain age.

Our story

From an English class to a public-interest foundation.

Beginning as an English class in Ashiya in 1958 and incorporated as a foundation in 1970, this public-interest body has, for some 60 years, pursued work centered on character formation and language education. In 2022, in applying to become a public-interest incorporated foundation, it made a fresh start as a foundation whose goal is "the formation of people with an unwavering axis and rich bonds, who respect and accompany others and contribute to the development of the world" — a stance for living through an unpredictable age.

Rapid social change has made our era hard to foresee. The Foundation aims to cultivate people of deep wisdom and high resilience — people able to contribute to society, as such times demand.
Ichiro Mukoyama, Chairman

Milestones

Our timeline.

1958
Begins as an English class in Ashiya
1970
Incorporated as a foundation
2022
Renamed from the Seido Education Promotion Foundation to the Altum Foundation
2023
Receives approval and becomes the public-interest Altum Foundation

The name

On the name

Altum / Altus

Altum is the neuter form of the Latin Altus, meaning "on high" and "the open sea." Climbing to the heights and digging into the depths resonate with the Foundation's mission, so this word was chosen.

The mark

On the logo

A hawk flying through the open sky on light and wind is the Foundation's symbol, with the name Altum set beneath it.

Program directors

The people behind the programs.

Program directors and coordinators, experience-tour conductors, program officers and volunteers develop and deliver the programs, supported by suitable external specialists and internal staff.