Japanese Language Program

Undergraduate Courses

General Course Information

The Japanese Language Program offers a four-year curriculum in the Japanese language as well as Japanese literature courses.

The program maintains four-days-per-week instruction plus a weekly half-hour peer tutor session for the initial four-semester sequence of Japanese language courses (JAPN 10A, 20B, 30A and 40B). For Japanese 105A and 105B, instruction is divided between two weekly 80-minute sessions and one weekly 50-minute session (4 hours total per week). Through these intensive courses, Brandeis students gain strong Japanese language skills and understanding of its culture. JAPN 120A (fourth-year Japanese course) will be a project-based class, and students will collaborate with Japanese students and conduct research together to further develop their advanced Japanese language skills.

The four-semester sequence of Japanese courses 10A through 40B, or its equivalent, fulfills the language requirement for the East Asian Studies major and minor.

Placement

All students who have previously studied Japanese (high school, university, self-study or a home) and wish to continue studying Japanese at Brandeis must take a placement test to determine their level of proficiency so the instructor can place them in the appropriate class. The test will be scheduled during the first week of the semester so there is sufficient time to choose and register for an appropriate class. Please contact Professor Hisae Fujiwara when you arrive on campus in the fall.

SAT II test scores in Japanese do not satisfy the foreign language requirement.

Spring 2024 Courses

JAPN 20B: Continuing Japanese

Taught in Japanese

Spring 2024 mode: Offered in person

Instructors: Professor Hisae Fujiwara (Sections 1 & 2); Professor Mayumi Tamaki (Section 3)

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 10a or the equivalent. Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.

Continuation of JAPN 10a. Further development of the basics of Japanese grammar, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Students acquire Japanese language proficiency through various interactive classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, writing essays, and computer-assisted exercises.

JAPN 40B: Advanced Intermediate Japanese

Taught in Japanese

Spring 2024 mode: Offered in person

Instructors: Professor Yukimi Nakano

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 30a or the equivalent. Meets four days per week for a total of four class hours per week and one half-hour tutoring session per week.

Continuation of JAPN 30a. Further refining of a student's four language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Japanese through various classroom activities, workbook, audio, video, and writing essays.

JAPN 105B: Advanced Conversation and Composition II

Taught in Japanese

Spring 2024 mode: Offered in person

Instructor: Professor Yukimi Nakano

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in JAPN 105a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of JAPN 105a. For advanced students of Japanese who wish to enhance and improve their speaking proficiency as well as reading and writing skills. Students will develop their proficiency in reading and speaking through texts, films, videos and discussions on current issues on Japanese society. Various forms of writing will be assigned to improve students' writing skills.

JAPN 120B: Readings in Modern Japanese Literature

Taught in Japanese

Spring 2024 mode: Offered in person

Instructor: Professor Matthew Fraleigh

Prerequisite: JAPN 120a or the equivalent.


Students read, analyze, discuss, and write about Japanese short fiction by a wide range of modern and contemporary authors. Screening of film adaptations and television programs complement class discussion, which is conducted in Japanese.