Japanese Studies

Student participates in the Japanese tea ceremony

The Japanese Writing Center

The Japanese Writing Center (JWC) helps students develop strong Japanese writing skills.

The writing tutor is usually a Japanese native-speaking graduate student. The students are assigned to write one paragraph each week and present it to the tutor for corrections. The tutor will assist you with:

  • brainstorming for topic ideas
  • organizing essays
  • choosing appropriate writing styles
  • identifying grammatical and usage errors
  • choosing appropriate kanji characters

The tutor writes a weekly report to the instructor on student progress. The students also send the instructor their drafts at the beginning, mid-way, and final stage of the project for comments and revisions.

Japan Club

The Japan Club at USF is growing in membership and providing exciting opportunities for students to expand their knowledge about Japanese culture and society.

Many students who are pursuing majors and minors in Japanese Studies belong to the Japan Cub. The group sponsors a variety of events, including Kimono Wearing, Tea Ceremony, Sword, and Flower Arrangement demonstrations. The club also volunteers for community activities, such as assisting with the annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco Japan Town and guiding college students from Japan to major attractions in San Francisco.

You do not have to know Japanese in order to join — You just need to be interested in Japan! For more information, contact Professor Noriko Nagata (Japan Cub Advisor) at nagatan@usfca.edu.

Study Abroad

You may take intensive Japanese language courses as well as a variety of liberal arts and business courses taught in English.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must have attained junior standing and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. All courses must be approved in advance by Prof. Noriko Nagata (Director of the Japanese Studies Program) for your Japanese Studies Major/Minor requirements and by the University Evaluator for transfer credits.

To apply for exchange programs, please contact the Center for Global Education.

Programs

Sophia University

Courses offered in the academic year:

Ritsumeikan University

Academic and Cultural Resources

San Francisco

USF's strategic location on the Pacific Rim makes it ideally suited to the study of Japanese language and culture.

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Translation Dictionaries