School of Japan Studies

Studying Japan in a Global Context

The School of Japan Studies (SJS) in TUFS has the following three distinctive features.

Students study about Japan as one nation/society within the global community of nations. Students study Japanese society, literature, culture, language, and language education in an interdisciplinary manner.
Students from many different nationalities learn together (students who did not go to high school in Japan account for 40% of SJS students). In addition to lectures, several courses based on group work and fieldwork are offered in the first and second years, in which students with diverse backgrounds and native languages collaborate.
Classes are held in Japanese and English. The students become fully conversant in both Japanese and English.

Although SJS was established in 2019, TUFS has been teaching Japanese undergraduate students and students from abroad together since 1985. The School of Japan Studies is built on this long heritage.

Studying in SJS is a big challenge, but at the same time very rewarding. We welcome applications from highly motivated students.

Study Features

1. Study Japan from Multiple Perspectives

In the School of Japan Studies, students study Japan from multiple inter-disciplinary perspectives. Furthermore, Japan is placed firmly in its international context. Specifically, students learn about Japanese politics, economics, society, history, literature, culture, and the Japanese language. Students can also acquire knowledge on how to teach the Japanese language around the world.

Students can take their courses from a wide range of topics, and from the third year participate in seminars to learn how to conduct research. By the fourth year, students have narrowed down their research interest and proceed to working on their graduation project (thesis) in a Research Seminar.

Seminars are clustered in the following four academic fields.

Japanese Society
Japanese Literature and Culture
Japanese Linguistics
Japanese Language Education

Japanese Society	Japanese Literature and Culture
Introduction to Japanese History (E/J) Introduction to Japanese Society (E) Economic History of Modern Japan (J) Diplomatic History of Modern Japan 1 & 2 (E) Introduction to Japanese Intellectual History (E) An Introduction to Contents Tourism (E/J) The Sex Trade in Early Modern Japan (J) Japan under the Occupation and the Cold War (E) History, Thoughts, and Literature: Queer Studies, Subaltern Studies, Post-Colonial Studies (E/J) Understanding Cross-Cultural Issues of Collective Memory: The “History Issue” in East Asia (E) State and Politics in Modern Japan (E) Environmental History and Politics in Japan (E)	Japanese Classical Literature 1 & 2 (J) 〈Softened〉Literature and Culture in Japan (J) Methods and Ideals in Medieval WAKA (J) Practice Reading Kana Characters (J) History of Modern Japanese Literature (E) Reading Modern Japanese Poems in the Meiji and Taisho Era (J) Reading Prewar Japanese Poems in the Showa Era (J) Animals and Nature in Modern and Contemporary Japanese Literature (E) Language, Power, and Identity in Contemporary Japanese Literature (E) Japanese Popular Culture (E) Girly Culture in Japanese Visual Media (E) A Critical Overview of the Japanese Cinema 1 & 2 (E)
Japanese Linguistics	Japanese Language Education
Introduction to Japanese Linguistics (E) Introduction to Modern Japanese Grammar (J) Japanese Language from the Perspective of Sociolinguistics (E) Introduction to the History of Japanese Grammar (J) Complex Sentences in Japanese (J) Various Aspects of Contemporary Japanese Vocabulary (J) Semantics of Contemporary Japanese (J) Some Crucial Themes of Sociolinguistics (J) History of Japanese Language 1 (J) Basics of Meaning Analysis of Contemporary Japanese (J) Semantic Literature Reading (J) Seminar in Japanese Grammar and Lexicology 1 & 2 (J)	An Introduction to TJSOL (J) Teaching Practice of Japanese Language Pronunciation (J) Experiential Learning of Direct Method in Foreign Language Teaching (J) Writing Assessment in Japanese Language Education (J) Receptive Skill (Reading and Listening): Teaching and Support (J) Language Policy (J) Japanese Natural Language Processing and AI 1 & 2 (J) Teaching Writing Skills (J) Reexamining Society around You through Examples of Conversational Data Analysis (J) Japanese Language Learning and Teaching (J) Readings and Discussion in SLA 1: Issues in Second Language Acquisition (J) Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology (J)

Medium of Instruction: E (English), J (Japanese), E/J (English Including Japanese)
A Sample List of Offered Courses as of April 2025

Research Seminar Guide

2. Students from Diverse Backgrounds Study Together Using Both English and Japanese

In the School of Japan Studies, students from diverse backgrounds study together using both English and Japanese. All students, regardless of linguistic background, have access to comprehensive programs in the Japanese and English languages. Students study Japan comprehensively while improving their language proficiency.

In addition, plentiful short-term and long-term study-abroad programs provide opportunities to study overseas.

Universities with student exchange programs (student exchange partner universities)

[United Kingdom] School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, University of Leeds, The University of Manchester, University of Essex
[Canada] The University of British Columbia, University of Regina
[United States of America] University of California, San Diego, University at Albany, State University of New York, San Diego State University, Stony Brook University, The State University of New York, University of Nebraska at Kearney, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, The University of Texas at Austin, George Mason University
[Australia] The University of Melbourne
[New Zealand] The University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, etc.

Universities with student exchange programs (student exchange partner universities)

TOPIC

Two Degrees in Four Years:
The Dual Degree Program

We have established Dual Degree Programs (DDP) with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) (UK) and the University of Melbourne (Australia).Under this arrangement SJS students can complete a second bachelor’s degree at UCLan or the University of Melbourne following an extensive period of study abroad.

School of Japan Studies - Dual Degree Programs

3. Collaborative Project-Based Learning

In the School of Japan Studies, students engage in project-based learning to develop their teamwork and leadership skills. For example, in “Multicultural Collaboration” in the first year, students identify a local problem, decide a research project connected to it, and discuss in groups how to resolve the problem.

Students gain experience in resolving problems in groups containing people of diverse backgrounds, going over their prescribed norms, through participating in such project-based-learning classes.

A Selection of Courses in SJS

Multicultural Collaboration

Instructors: OTSU Tomomi, ITO Katsuhiro, ABE Shin, Iris HAUKAMP

This is a course in which Japanese and international students collaborate during fieldwork, etc. and give presentations on the results. Students with diverse backgrounds work in a group using English and Japanese on a theme chosen by the group members themselves. The goal is to acquire language competency and the ability to act and communicate in a multilingual and multicultural environment.

Fieldwork in the Local Community: Planning and Implementation of Exchange Meetings with Partner Schools

Instructor: YUKIMATSU Hanae

We will visit our partner schools or invite students from there to engage in exchange activities. Through planning and implementing events to promote interaction with local high school and junior-high school students, students will develop such skills as planning ability, organizational skills, and creativity. Assigned the task of explaining about the research in the field of “Global Japanese Studies” and its appeal to middle-school students, students will also have the opportunity to reflect on their own learning at SJS.

Survey of Japanese Literature and Culture 2: Literature and Culture in Japan

Instructor: TSUCHIDA Kosuke

The Chinese character, “Wa” (和), means not only the country of Japan (やまと) but also softening something (やわらげる). The Japanese have adopted other cultures since ancient times, but cultural reception is not a pure imitation but a process of adaptation. Thus, “Wa” can be interpreted as a word referring to how the Japanese adopted and “Japanized” (or “softened”) other cultures. In this lecture, we will consider how the Japanese have reworked other cultures into their own – a “softened” culture – in each era by looking at various cases.

Theories of Multicultural Society: Understanding Cross-Cultural Issues of Collective Memory: The "History Issue" in East Asia

Instructor: Philip SEATON

The “history problem” (the aftereffects of imperialism and war in East Asia) is a major challenge in the relationship between Japan, China, and South Korea. This debate-style class considers various issues relating to historical consciousness and imperial responsibility. In addition, students think about war and peace through fieldwork.

[TOPIC] The International Teaching Staff of SJS

The School of Japan Studies has over 30 full-time professors, associate professors, and lecturers, all with long experience of research and teaching in their respective fields within Japan Studies. SJS also has a special program (under the auspices of the Consortium for Asian and African Studies, CAAS) which invites post-doctoral researchers from partner universities on short-term teaching and research fellowships. With an average of one new teaching fellow employed every year, they make an invaluable contribution by regularly bringing fresh research interests and teaching methods into the School.

Global Liberal Arts Program

All students take the Global Liberal Arts Program regardless of the school they are enrolled in (School of Language and Culture Studies, School of International and Area Studies, or School of Japan Studies). The program includes not only humanities and social science classes but also natural science classes, so that students can receive a broad-based education essential for living/working in international society.

Please see here for details about the Global Liberal Arts Program.

Japanese Language Teacher Training Program

In April 2024, the certification system for “Nationally Registered Japanese Language Teachers” to teach at “Nationally Accredited Japanese Language Educational Institutions” was established. TUFS offers a “Japanese Language Teacher Training Program” to help students obtain this certification. Upon completion of this program, students are exempted from the “Fundamental Competency Examination” part of the “Japanese Language Teacher Examination” and the “Practical Training” (teaching practice), which are required for certification. (Passing the “Applied Competency Examination” part of the qualification examination is required to obtain the certification.) If you are interested in Japanese language education and foreign residents support, both of which play a major role in our efforts to realize a multicultural society, please consider enrolling in the program.

Please see here for details about the Japanese Language Teacher Training Program.

Research Seminar Guide

Students join a Research Seminar in their fourth year. They deepen their research interests through small-scale seminar classes and individual tuition with their chosen supervisor, and complete their graduation project (thesis).

For details, see here