DEGREE GUIDE

Japanese

What do Japanese degrees involve?

Japanese degrees teach you about Japan’s language, history, culture, and global influence, providing insight into one of the world’s most technologically advanced and culturally rich nations. You will explore key areas such as Japanese language, literature, history, politics, and society. These courses help you develop linguistic fluency, analytical thinking, and cross-cultural communication skills while examining themes like Japan’s economic development, popular culture, and international relations. You will also have the opportunity to study classical and modern Japanese texts, explore contemporary Japanese media, and gain firsthand experience through study abroad programmes. With immersive language training, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary research, you’ll build the expertise needed for careers in translation, diplomacy, business, and international relations.

Example
Modules

Japanese 1 (Beginner): Begin learning Japanese by building vocabulary, grammar and speaking skills, with a focus on practical communication and understanding written scripts.

Modern Japanese I: Continue developing language skills in listening, reading and speaking, gaining confidence in day-to-day conversations and sentence structure.

East Asia Survey: Japan: Explore Japan’s history, society and cultural change in a regional context, from samurai to salarymen.

Common Degree Names

💼 Placement opportunities are often available during the year abroad, including teaching or internships in Japan.
🌍 A year abroad in Japan is a compulsory or strongly encouraged part of most Japanese degrees.

BA (Hons) Japanese
BA (Hons) Japanese and English
BA (Hons) Japanese and International Relations
BA (Hons) Japanese and Linguistics
BA (Hons) Japanese and Business

A study desk part-way through a Japanese session, with an open Murakami novel, an open Japanese-English dictionary, a notebook of handwritten notes and a pen, beside a small Japanese flag and a map of Japan pinned on the wall.

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Japanese degrees develop fluency in the language alongside deep knowledge of Japanese culture, literature, history, and society. Most universities offer different entry routes depending on your current level – though because Japanese A-level is relatively rare in UK schools, most students start on beginners' programmes.

For advanced-level courses (if you already study Japanese):

Japanese – required
Another Modern Language – valued if applying for combined programmes
English Literature, History, or Politics – develops essay writing and cultural analysis skills

For beginners'/ab initio courses (starting from scratch):

No Japanese required – these courses are designed for complete beginners
Another Modern Language – shows aptitude for language learning and may be a requirement
English Language or Literature – useful for analytical and essay skills
History, Politics, or Sociology – helpful for understanding cultural context

✨ Most students start Japanese from scratch at university – beginners' courses are the norm, not the exception. If you've been teaching yourself Japanese or have some background, check whether an advanced route is available.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside relevant A-Level subjects
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with a language subject at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three) alongside your Career-Related Study

A year abroad in Japan is usually compulsory or strongly encouraged. Advanced and beginner courses have different requirements, so always check specific course requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE / MYP / National 5)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths at grade 4/C or above, or equivalents such as National 5s or MYP
GCSE Japanese (or equivalent) for advanced-level entry; not required for beginners’ routes

📘 For beginners’ pathways, another language at GCSE (or clear evidence of language learning) can strengthen your application.

💬 Interviews
Formal interviews aren't usually part of the application process. However, some universities may invite you for a short conversation, either online or in person, to learn more about your interest in the subject.

🔍 Work Experience

You don't need work experience to apply for Japanese. If you have a school placement to fill, any setting where you can use or be exposed to Japanese — such as a business with Japanese clients, a cultural organisation, or a tourism setting — could be useful. For this subject, engaging with Japanese language and culture matters far more than any placement.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

What draws you to Japan - its language, history, culture, literature, film, contemporary society, or something else? Being specific helps you plan what to write in your statement, because Japan offers so much to study. If you've engaged through anime, manga, films, music, literature in translation, following Japanese news and society, or starting to learn the language, reflect on what sparked your curiosity and what you want to understand more deeply. You don't need to have travelled or be fluent, but showing you understand that learning Japanese requires serious commitment - and that you're motivated by more than pop culture alone - matters. Admissions tutors want to see genuine engagement with Japanese language and culture.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Languages or Humanities

Some universities offer a foundation year if you don't have the required language background or grades. Most Japanese degrees are designed for complete beginners, so prior Japanese study is rarely required.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Humanities or Social Science)

Accepted by some universities. Choose a pathway with essay-based units and aim for Merits and Distinctions in your graded units.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with a Japanese degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

Different Cultures, Languages & Beliefs: The degree takes you deep into Japanese culture, from learning the language and its writing systems to understanding the traditions, religion, and social life of one of the world's most culturally distinctive countries, alongside its connections to the wider East Asian region.

Language, Stories & Writing: Japanese literature is a core part of the degree, from pre-modern texts to contemporary fiction and manga. You'll also study how the Japanese language is structured, including its script systems, giving you a perspective on how language works that is fundamentally different from studying European languages.

Students who thrive in a Japanese degree are often motivated by

Engaging with People and Cultures

You're energised by working closely with people to understand what's really going on for them: talking, listening, asking questions, spending time, picking up on what isn't being said directly. That might be interviewing someone for a piece of research, sitting with a client who's trying to work something out, exploring a community you've not been part of, or working alongside people from a different culture. The energy comes from the engagement itself, not just from reading or thinking about people.

Analysing and Investigating

You're energised by making sense of information, looking for evidence, spotting patterns, and piecing together how things connect. Whether it's pulling apart data, questioning assumptions, or tracing a problem back to its source, you find energy in the process of understanding what's really going on. You'd rather dig into the details than accept things at face value.

Curiosity and Learning

You're energised by the activity of learning itself: diving into a subject you've never explored, watching documentaries, taking apart how something works, or constantly asking "why?" The process of learning gives you energy, not just the outcome. You don't just want the answer; you want to understand how things connect, why they matter, and what's underneath the surface explanation.

Working Internationally

You're energised by work that crosses borders and connects you with people from different countries, backgrounds, and systems. That might be collaborating with international colleagues, working in a place that isn't your own, using another language professionally, or tackling problems that don't stop at a single country's borders. You come alive when the work you're doing reaches beyond your own patch of the world.

What makes Japanese click for the students who love it?

Some students cannot look at Japanese without wanting to know how its writing works, and how a society shaped by different assumptions came to be. It is the way ordinary life, work and art fit together in Japan that holds them, and they want more than the anime-and-travel version. A year living in Japan is where classroom study becomes daily use, the language spoken and heard from morning to night. What they never tire of is the close work, watching meaning take shape across kanji and kana.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Are you excited by the idea of learning a language that works completely differently from English, including new writing systems?
Do you enjoy the challenge of making yourself understood in unfamiliar situations, even when you're not sure of the right words?
Do you like questioning your assumptions about how other cultures work — and discovering things aren't always what you'd expect?

Careers a Japanese degree could lead you to

Japanese

What do Japanese degrees involve?

Example Modules

Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers a Japanese degree could lead you to

Example
Modules