Department of Japanese Studies

Training globally-oriented Japanese language teachers

After completing the required course offered by the Department of Japanese Studies, you will be officially qualified to teach at various private and public educational institutions in Japan and abroad. Future work opportunities could include the NIHONGO Partners program by Japan Foundation and Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers by Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Curation and Transmission of New Japanese Culture

"Curation and Transmission of New Japanese Culture," which means to combine different materials and create something from a new perspective, is the basis for the understanding of Japanese culture. In this department, students aim to acquire the ability to scrutinize information.

A thorough brushing-up of Japanese skills

Students are given thorough Japanese language training to acquire full command of Japanese and the skills to explain things in an easy-to-understand manner.

Classes

Seminar: Japanese Culture Ⅰ・Ⅱ

Students will carefully select a topic from among the wide variety of issues related to Japanese culture and then go on to research this topic. They will present their findings to the class, where discussion between the professors and students will lead to a deeper understanding of the issues, eventually leading to preparation for their graduation thesis. At the same time, students will explore culture resulting from consumer behavior in a market economy from a marketing point of view (thinking about developing products that customers truly desire and sales strategies to effectively get those products into consumer hands). Students will hone in on the essence of Japanese culture.

Introduction to Japanese Language Teaching Practice 1

Students participate in mock lessons for Japanese language beginners, with the class being divided into teacher, beginner-level Japanese student, and observational roles. In order to develop the ability to teach using Japanese only, intermediary languages like English will not be used. Students will learn to employ various techniques, like making use of cards with illustrations on them. Students will also evaluate each other's roles in the mock lessons, leading to greater leadership capacity.

Special Lecture on Japanese Literature Ⅰ・Ⅱ

Within Japanese literature, there are numerous works set in Kyoto. With an emphasis on classics like Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Rashomon, you will make your way through these works set in Kyoto, examining them deeply from a variety of angles. Components of Kyoto culture that appear in these works, like the Gion Matsuri Festival and Nishijin-ori fabric, will be examined and you will consider how these elements affect those works.

Curriculum

PDF (248KB)

Curriculum

PDF (248KB)

Professors

* Please replace (at) by @.

Professor

Atsushi MORI

E-mail: a_mori(at)kufs.ac.jp

Japanese Language Studies, Japanese Language Education
Kumiko NAKANISHI

E-mail: k_nakanishi(at)kufs.ac.jp

Japanese Language Education, Contemporary Japanese Language Studies, Pragmatics
Michiharu TANAKA

E-mail: mi_tanaka(at)kufs.ac.jp

Japanese Language Education, Japanese Language Studies
PON Fei

E-mail: p_fei(at)kufs.ac.jp

Japanese Language and Chinese Language, Comparison between Japanese Culture and Chinese Culture
Shinichi SASAKI

E-mail: s_sasaki(at)kufs.ac.jp

Cultural Anthropology, Folk Religion Studies, Consumption Culture Studies
Takuma NAGAHAMA

E-mail: t_nagahama(at)kufs.ac.jp

Japanese Modern Literature
Yoshio NAKAGAWA

E-mail: yo_nakagawa(at)kufs.ac.jp

Japanese Language Education, Japanese Language Teacher Training