Welcome to the Japan Studies Program

The beginning of the Japan Studies Program can be traced back 100 years to the founding of the School of Oriental Studies at the University of Washington. Throughout its long history, the Japan Studies Program has consistently represented excellence in scholarship and teaching and ours continues to be one of the top Japan Studies programs in the nation. As the study of Japan enters its second century at the UW, we continue to pursue our mission to foster greater understanding of Japan and its relationship with the global community, and also prepare students to pursue their professional goals and become better global citizens.

Our program offers a well-rounded interdisciplinary study of Japan, as well as more specialized training in each student’s particular are of interest. Courses cover Japanese history, politics, economics, society and civilization, business, political economy, law, sociology, drama, art and art history, literature, and linguistics. The rich and diverse interests of our program’s faculty range across these areas and from pre-modern times to the present day. Variety and depth are added to our student’s regular coursework through extra-curricular events such as the Japan Colloquia series and special symposia and conferences. In addition, The Journal of Japanese Studies, the most important academic journal in the Japan field, is published at the UW.

Because language skills are crucial to understanding Japan, students in the program are encouraged to study Japanese to an advanced a level as possible. The opportunity to do so is provided by strong Japanese language teaching in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature and the Technical Japanese Program of the College of Engineering, as well as additional courses focusing on Japanese for language for study of contemporary society offered in the Jackson School. By focusing on courses in literature, humanities, natural and technical sciences, social sciences, and business, the UW offers language acquisition opportunities much broader than most university level institutions to strongly complement undergraduate, graduate, and concurrent degree tracks with the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs and the Michael G. Foster School of Business.  In addition, our program is pleased to be able to offer several scholarship and fellowship opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Information related to courses, requirements, and related resources are located through the links provided at the left of this page and throughout the JSIS website. We hope you find the information you need.  For further assistance, please contact our staff at Japan@uw.edu

Robert J. Pekkanen, Chair