With its immense labor force and consumer population, Asia is attracting increasing attention from the advanced industrial countries of the world, including Japan. Cultural, especially religious, differences however, have meant that attempts to move into the Asian markets have often fallen short of expectations. The number of Japanese corporations that have had to close down their operations in Asian countries after failing to make the expected impact is by no means small. The need for personnel with a deeper understanding of Asia is now greater than ever. In addition to the intensive language training on offer, the Department of Asian Studies also seeks to cultivate a deep appreciation of both the social and cultural aspects of Asia. The Department’s language training consists of instruction in Chinese and Indonesian, along with English. Chinese is spoken widely in Southeast Asia and not only in China proper, while Indonesian － the second most widely spoken language in the region － is closely enough related to Malay to allow communication between the two. The first and second years are largely devoted to acquiring these language skills, while from the third year the aim is to broaden the understanding of the Asian cultural sphere through courses on the politics, economics, society, culture, literature, and linguistics of the different countries within the region.

Features of the Department

• Faculty