Land of the samurai and the sumo wrestler, land of ancient temples and tea ceremonies, land of Kabuki and Bunraku, of Hokusai and Hello Kitty, Kurosawa and Murakami, Manga and Anime—Japan is one of the world’s most fascinating civilizations. The Japanese Program in the Department of Comparative Literature is your window to this culture. You can major or minor in Japanese Language and Literature. We offer introductory to advanced Japanese language courses, as well as courses in Japanese literature and culture. In addition, there are many study-abroad opportunities in Japan.
The program pays equal attention to the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Graduates should be able to read diverse Japanese texts with little external help except from dictionaries, and should also be able to express ideas about complex social and literary issues orally and in writing in grammatical Japanese.
You can view the degree requirements for the Japanese Language & Literature major by visiting the bulletin

Japanese Courses

JPNS 1001

Emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar, Hiragana and Katakana characters, and about 80 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes. Course also includes conversation sessions and character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.

JPNS 1002.

Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and 120 Kanji characters. Lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes conversation sessions and character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.

JPNS 1100

Japanese language course with focus on reading, writing, speaking, and understanding Japanese for students beyond the beginning level.

JPNS 2001

Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 140 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.

JPNS 2002

Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 160 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.

JPNS 3010

Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 220 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well. The course also includes character recognition and pronunciation exercise sessions on computers.

JPNS 3020

Equal emphasis on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn grammar and about 270 Kanji characters. All lessons include Japanese culture notes as well.

JPNS 3990

Independent study and research under the direction of individual faculty members.

JPNS 4110

A continuation of Advanced Japanese II, with emphasis on improved proficiency in the four language skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and concentration on the reading of literary texts in Japanese.

JPNS 4120

A continuation of Advanced Japanese III, including the introduction of basic concepts of translating and interpreting from English into Japanese and from Japanese into English and the reading of literary texts in Japanese.

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