BA Japanese

Students take 120 credits per year composed of core and optional modules, which allows for students to design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.

You will study Japanese language intensely for the first two years, half the programme load. The other half is focused on Japanese culture/society modules, including both contemporary and traditional Japan.

The third year is spent at one of the twenty-plus Japanese universities that we have exchange programmes with. During the year in Japan you will study Japanese language as well as modules on Japan society, culture and history.

In the final year you will explore a topic of your choice in an Independent Study Project (final-year thesis), and two other modules that allow you to read Japanese-language sources. Your final module can be an open option from another department.

This module must be passed in order to progress to the following year of study

• J100: Elementary Japanese

• Japanese Cultural History to 1600: Power, Belief, Creativity
• Japanese Cultural History 1600 to 1945: Power, Belief, Creativity

Optional Module

Choose 30 credits from List B, or an approved open option (i.e. a module in a subject other than those named in the student’s chosen degree title). Students may not choose a language open option during their first year. Here is a list of non-language open options.

This module must be passed in order to progress to the following year of study

• J100: Accelerated Elementary Japanese

• Japanese Cultural History to 1600: Power, Belief, Creativity
• Japanese Cultural History 1600 to 1945: Power, Belief, Creativity
• Survey of Pre-Modern Japanese Literature in Translation

Optional Module

Choose 30 credits from List B, or an approved open option (i.e. a module in a subject other than those named in the student’s chosen degree title). Students may not choose a language open option during their first year. Here is a list of non-language open options.

These modules must be passed in order progress to the following year of study.

• J200: Intermediate Japanese
• Nation and Identity in Contemporary Japan
• Gender and Society in Contemporary Japan

NB: (Issues in Post-War Japanese Society 1 & 2 have changed their module titles to Nation and Identity in Contemporary Japan (Issues 1) and Gender and Society in Contemporary Japan (Issues 2).
If you already took Issues 1 and 2 in 2017/18, your core modules for 2018/19 will be Survey of Pre-modern Japanese Literature in Translation (term 1) and Fieldwork methods in language and culture (term 2). If you took just Issues 1, then please select Gender and Society in Contemporary Japan and Survey of Pre-modern Japanese Literature in Translation. If you took just Issues 2, then please select Nation and Identity in Contemporary Japan and Fieldwork methods in language and culture.

Optional Module

Choose 30 credits from List B, or an approved open option (i.e. a module in a subject other than those named in the student’s chosen degree title). Here is a list of non-language open options.

Please see more information on the year abroad in Japan under the Teaching & Learning tab.

• Independent Study Project in Japanese Language and Culture

Choose 60 credits from List A at the appropriate level.

Optional Module

Choose 30 credits from List B, or an approved open option (i.e. a module in a subject other than those named in the student’s chosen degree title). Here is a list of non-language open options.

Before selecting a module, student's must first check that the module is at the correct level. They must also ensure that they meet any pre-requisites.

• J400: Advanced Japanese
• J201: Japanese Readings
• Modernity and Identity in Modern Japanese History 1868-1912
• Nation and Empire in Modern Japanese History 1868-1945
• Reading Pre-modern Japanese Texts 1
• Reading Pre-modern Japanese Texts 2
• Self, City and Sexuality in Modern Japanese Literature 1868-1945
• Writing from the Margins: Minority Voices in Modern Japanese Literature, 1945 to the Present

• Chinese 103: History and Culture of China
• Modern Korea 1: History
• Modern Korea 2: Culture and Society
• Cultural History of Tibet
• Imagining Tibet

• Music and Japanese Identities
• Survey of Modern Japanese Literature in Translation
• Cool Japan: Manga, Anime, Sushi

• J201: Japanese Readings
• Fieldwork methods in language and culture
• Identity and social relations in Japanese
• Survey of Pre-Modern Japanese Literature in Translation
• Japanese Cinema: a Critical Survey
• Japanese New Wave Cinema: Youth, Sex and Protest
• Extended Essay (Japanese Language and Culture) 1
• Extended Essay (Japanese Language and Culture) 2
• 1990's South Korean cinema: A critical Survey
• History and Culture of Korea to the late 19th Century
• History and Memory in East Asian Cultures
• The Other Korea: North Korea since 1945

• Trajectories of Modernity in Korean Literature
• Japanese Language Ideologies
• Japanese Traditional Drama
• Modern Japanese Literature
• Modern Film from Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora
• Cinema and Performance in China: Critical and Historical Approaches

• BA Japanese- Programme Specifications 2017/18 (pdf; 157kb)

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules