The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and The Japan Foundation have just published Japanese Degree Courses 2001-2002. 

Download Japanese Degree Courses 2001-2002

It examines the degree structures, graduate numbers, financial provision, and student and staff ratios at fifty-four higher education institutions across the UK. 

No other publication provides such a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the current state of Japanese studies at British universities. 

It is is an invaluable resource for students, academics, administrators and policy decision-makers.

The new edition is an update to the original 1996-97 publication. 

Highlights

The survey has identified the following changes since 1996-97:

• The number of students graduating with Single Honours Japanese degrees has increased by 21%.

• There are now 49 institutions offering accredited Japanese courses, an increase of two.

• Nine universities have introduced accredited modules in Japanese for the first time (Abertay Dundee, Anglia Polytechnic, Bangor, Birkbeck, UWE, Exeter, Leeds Metropolitan, Northumbria and Portsmouth).

• While the number of students completing postgraduate taught courses has remained unchanged, the number of completed Japan-related PhDs has quadrupled from 4 to 16. 

• Nine institutions have made the decision to withdraw Japanese courses (Stirling, King Alfred’s College of Higher Education, Ulster, Aston, Lancaster, Luton, Wolverhampton, Hertfordshire and Napier).

• The number of undergraduates taking accredited Japanese courses has fallen by 2%. 

• The number of students graduating with Major/Joint/Dual/Combined Honours Japanese degrees has decreased by 14% and the number of students graduating with Japanese as a Minor by 8%.

• The number of students who went to Japan as part of their undergraduate degree fell by 22%. 

• Annual expenditure on Japan-related library resources ranges from zero at some institutions to more than £80,000 at Oxford. The same eight universities have more than 5,000 Japan-related books in English and/or Japanese (Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford, SOAS, Sheffield and Stirling). 

Consequently, the most critical issues facing Japan-related studies in the UK are:

• The high cost of study periods in Japan. More degree programmes include a compulsory period in Japan and this deters many potential students from applying for Japanese, a problem exacerbated by the switch from grants to loans. 

• The lack of adequate funding for postgraduate students.

• The overall student demand for Japanese remains considerably below what is considered to be in the national interest.

• The acute shortage of library resources. Many of the universities surveyed had no separate budget allocation for Japanese resources. 

• Funding problems in maintaining the full complement of both language and non-language teaching staff. At some institutions, the lack of funding threatens the future existence of the Japanese department itself.

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Japanese Degree Courses 2001-2002 is available to download in PDF format here.