Overview and entry requirements

The BA Japanese (Combined Honours) degree provides students with the highest level of competence in all aspects of the written and spoken language, as well as an introduction to both classical and modern Japanese culture - from the study of pre-modern Japanese literature and history, to contemporary cinema and TV. SOAS is the home to the largest concentration of Japanese specialists in Europe and our BA Japanese is suitable for both absolute beginners as well as those with some knowledge of the Japanese language.

Students will spend the third year of study in Japan furthering language proficiency and understanding of the local business practices and culture.

See Japan and Korea Department

Combine Japanese with other subjects

The nature of the Combined Honours degree will allow you to create a specialist niche for yourself by studying another subject, such as Development Studies, Economics, History, History of Art and Archaeology, International Relations, Linguistics, Music, Politics, Social Anthropology, or World Philosophies.

Why study Japanese Combined Honours at SOAS

• UK Top 10 in the 2021 QS World University Rankings for Modern Languages
• we are home to the largest concentration of Japan specialists outside of Japan
• you will not only learn the essential language skills but also an in depth understanding of the region’s culture covering subjects from literature, history, cinema, and politics
• you will spend your third year in Japan furthering language and cultural proficiency
• we are specialists in the delivery of more that forty African and Asian languages. Your command of a language will set you apart from graduates of other universities
• choosing to study a Combined Honours programme will allow you take advantage of the expertise of one of our other departments allowing you create a specialist niche for yourself

Explore

• Upcoming Open Day
• Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
• Japan Research Centre (JRC)
• Centre for the Study of Japanese Religions (CSJR)
• Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures

Programme Code: T210

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Start of programme: September

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

Email: eastasia@soas.ac.uk

May be combined with:

• Development Studies
• Economics, LT12 BA/JEC
• History, TV21 BA/JH
• History of Art/Archaeology, VT32 BA/HAAJ
• International Relations, LTF2 BA/IRJ
• Linguistics, QT12 BA/JKG
• Music, TW23 BA/MSJ
• Politics, LT22 BA/POLJ
• Social Anthropology, LT62 BA/SAJ
• World Philosophies, T202 BA/JWP

Key Information Set data

Click on a combined programme to load KIS data

Structure

• Year 1: students normally take 60 credits of language and 60 credits from their second subject.
• Year 2: student continue with language learning and choose modules on culture, history, literature within the Japanese syllabus to the value of 60 credits. The remaining 60 credits will be taken from the second subject.
• Year 3: students will spend this year abroad at one of the many Japanese Universities where the focus is on further language training.
• Year 4: student continue with higher level language learning and choose modules on culture, history/literature/ISP within the Japanese syllabus to the value of 60 credits. The remaining 60 credits will be taken from the second subject. 

Programme

Programme Specification

• BA Japanese and... Programme Specification (pdf; 238kb)

Important notice

Teaching & Learning

All full-time undergraduate programmes consist of 120 credits per year, in modules of 60, 30 or 15 credits. They are taught over 10 or 20 weeks. The programme structure shows which modules are taught over one term or the full year. It also shows which modules are compulsory and which are optional.

Contact hours

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study (see Approaches to teaching and learning at SOAS). It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others.

More information is on the page for each module.

Year abroad

All students spend their third year in Japan at one of the Japanese universities listed below, following successful completion of their second year. Please note that not all universities will have places available every year.

Tokyo

• Hitotsubashi University
• International Christian University
• Keio University
• Meiji University - 明治大学
• Ochanomizu University (women only)
• Sophia University
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies - 東京外国語大学
• Waseda University

Nagoya

• Nagoya University
• Nanzan University

Kyoto

• Doshisha University
• Kyoto University of Foreign Studies - 京都外国語大学
• Ritsumeikan University

Osaka

• Kansai University
• Osaka University, School of Economics
• Osaka University, School of Foreign Studies

Kobe

• Kobe University
• Kwansei Gakuin University
• Fukuoka University - 福岡大学
• Kyushu University

Hokkaido

• Hokkaido University of Education

SOAS Library

SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.

Pre-entry reading

• B. Frellesvig, A History of the Japanese Language (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
• K. Friday, Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850 (Westview Press, 2012)
• C. Gerteis and T.S. George, Japan Since 1945: From Postwar to Post-bubble (Bloomsbury, 2013)
• C. Goto-Jones, Modern Japan: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2009)
• J. Hendry, Understanding Japanese Society (Routledge, 2012)
• M.B. Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000)
• H. Shirane, T. Suzuki, and D. Lurie (eds.), The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
• P. Varley, Japanese Culture (University of Hawai’i Press, 2000)

Employment

Studying this programme will provide students with competency Japanese language skills as well as intercultural awareness and understanding. Choosing to study a joint degree programme will increase the breadth of your knowledge, and will develop additional skills with which to further your studies of Japan, or to make comparative study with other areas. 

Skills gained

• familiarity with the region through a combination of the study of language, literature, history, cinema, politics, economics or law
• communication and presentation skills
• analytical skills
• ability to research, amass and order information from a variety of sources

Careers

Graduates from the Japanese Department leave SOAS not only with language and cultural expertise, but also with a portfolio of widely transferable skills which employers seek in many professional and management careers, both in business and in the public sector.

Employers

Graduates have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

• Bloomberg L.P
• British High Commission
• British Council Tokyo
• Deloitte Management Consulting Ltd.
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International
• NHK-Japan Broadcasting Corporation
• Oxford University
• The British Embassy
• The British Museum
• Wall Street Associates

Roles

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

• Financial Analyst
• Head of Production
• US Marketing Executive
• Senior Research Executive
• Director of Development and Alumni Relations
• Project Leader, Strategic Planning
• Solicitor
• Architect
• Interactive Designer
• HM Ambassador to Japan
• Freelance Japanese Translator

Find out more about Japan and Korea graduate destinations