Graduate School of Integrated Sciences for Global Society Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies

Comprehensive East Asian and Japanese Studies

• Research
• Education
• Careers after Graduation
• Features of the Course

East Asia is one of the most diverse, dynamic and complex region in the world. Our vision is to forecast a better future of East Asia by studying the history, environment, and societies in this region.

The Comprehensive East Asia and Japan Studies have three different sub-courses that enable you to develop your field of interest on East Asia and Japan. These courses offer varieties of approaches to grasp the diversity of this region and to solve the challenges it faces, through a research on environment, history, politics, economy, societies, and cultures in this region from prehistoric to contemporary times.

Comprehensive Research on East Asian history, environment and societies

Research on Human History Course A
We offer courses beyond disciplines such as archaeology, physical anthropology and environmental geography relevant to holistic investigations into the history of humanity. We study human activities, investigate transformation processes as well as the diverse interactions with natural environment. The ways in which the environment and culture interact with biological, social, cultural, political, and economic diversities will be the focus of our approach to understanding evolution and human history. The courses are designed to provide students with theory and methodology for research.

Research on Pre-modern and Contemporary History Course B
We consider how politics, economy, and societies in East Asia including Japan have been formed and transformed historically by utilizing the methods of historical, political, anthropological, and area studies. Especially, we focus on how states and societies have formed from pre-modern times, how they were “modernized” after the 19th century, and how far imperialism, colonialism and nationalism impacted on the politics, economy, and societies in this region. We offer courses to develop academic skills such as primary source analysis and logic construction.

Multi-disciplinarily Approach on Contemporary East Asia Course C
In Contemporary East Asia, transnational flows of people, goods, capital, and information have been accelerated in the past decades. These flows not only have strong impacts on states and societies but also dramatically transforming the region itself. We reveal these complex processes by focusing on issues such as state and politics, nationalism, religion, ethnic minorities and networks, migration, and popular culture. Analysis from the political science, international relations, sociology, religious studies, cultural anthropology, history, and area studies will expand our knowledge base and provide multi-disciplinarily approach to study these issues.

What can you study in the Comprehensive East Asia and Japan Studies?

Training the students to be the specialists who can play an active role in Asia by combination of multi-disciplinarily research and field works.

Well-designed Course Structure
The Comprehensive East Asia Japan Studies offers curriculum which enable students to approach the issues in East Asia including Japan from multi-disciplinarily perspectives. This course encourages field works both in Japan and abroad. In addition, we train the student’s with critical thinking, writing, and presentation skills by rigorous discussions and debates in the class.

Careers after Graduation

Students who completed this course have gone on to work as teachers and researchers in research institutions and universities, in prefectural and municipal education committees, as well as work in the private sectors actively doing business in Asia, using their experience and knowledge acquired at this graduate school.

Our Program Features

The Comprehensive East Asia-Japan Research Course offers intensive academic training in understanding the flow of people, things and ideas in the East Asian region in a historical perspective. Our range of history covers the primeval age to the contemporary period, in order to think beyond modern state centered historiographies of East Asia in a longer and broader context, i.e. by paying attention to the common East Asian cultural substratum, re-centralizing the maritime zone as the geographic center of history making. Our course want to explore this new model of historiography on East Asia.

Our course not only focus on area studies on East Asia but also emphasizes interdisciplinary studies. This approach naturally demands good use of various disciplines and different frame of analysis from all academic fields. The challenge toward "holistic" perspective is thus a demanding one but also much needed in this age of integrated global society. We believe this academic goal on "holistic" understanding of East Asia is the common project where students and faculty from various academic backgrounds, different origins and different generations can continuously collaborate and cooperate for the better understanding of the changing East Asian dynamics.

Faculty List