BA in Japanese Language & Literature

GW East Asian Languages and Literatures Alumni Yanru Wu kneeling while putting a plant in the ground — Yanru Wu, BA '15, worked as a JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) fellow in the Niseko Town Office, Hokkaido.

Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese learn linguistics, literature, history, political science, anthropology, international affairs and culture through intensive language courses and electives.

The program is flexible enough to allow students to tailor their electives to their interests and rigorous enough to prepare them for business and management roles, government work, graduate school and more.

Questions about the Japanese major? Contact Brendan Morley.

Apply to GW

Japanese Placement Exam

Declare a Major

Japanese Program Faculty

Departmental Honors

Students may apply to earn special honors in Japanese to be noted on their transcript. The Japanese program selects no more than two students based on overall performance in the program. Department faculty will recommend the student for special honors only if they meet the requirements for eligibility:

Meet GW’s special honors requirements
Maintain a GPA of 3.7 or higher in the major and 3.4 overall
Achieve a minimum grade of C- in every course taken at GW

Course Requirements

The following requirements must be fulfilled:

The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Undergraduate Programs.

Program-specific curriculum:

Code	Title	Credits
Prerequisite courses
JAPN 1001	Beginning Japanese I
JAPN 1002	Beginning Japanese II
JAPN 2003	Intermediate Japanese I
JAPN 2004	Intermediate Japanese II
Required for the major
JAPN 3105	Intermediate Japanese III
JAPN 3106	Intermediate Japanese IV
JAPN 3111	Japanese Literature in Translation I
JAPN 3112	Japanese Literature in Translation II
JAPN 4109	Introduction to Bungo, Literary Japanese
Six additional JAPN courses (18 credits) numbered 3000 or above.
Two additional courses (6 credits) selected from the following:
AH 2190	East Asian Art
ANTH 3705	Anthropology of East Asia
CHIN 3111	Chinese Literature in Translation I
CHIN 3112	Chinese Literature in Translation II
CHIN 3136W	Chinese Women in Myth, Literature, and Film
or WGSS 3136	Chinese Women in Myth, Literature, and Film
or WGSS 3136W	Chinese Women in Myth, Literature, and Film
EALL 3811	Confucian Literature in East Asia
or REL 2811	Confucian Literature in East Asia
EALL 3814	Religion and Philosophy in East Asia
or REL 2814	Religion and Philosophy in East Asia
EALL 3831	Introduction to Daoism
or REL 2831	Introduction to Daoism
ECON 2170
HIST 3610	Imperial China (Song-Qing)
HIST 3611	History of Modern China
HIST 3621	History of Modern Japan
IAFF 2091	East Asia-Past and Present
KOR 3111	Korean Literature in Translation I
KOR 3112	Korean Literature in Translation II
PSC 2370	Comparative Politics of China and Northeast Asia
PSC 2374	Politics and Foreign Policy of Japan
PSC 2475	International Relations of East Asia
REL 2601	Buddhism