MA (Hons) Japanese

Over the past 150 years, Japan has experienced change at breakneck pace, but has nevertheless retained its fascinating cultural heritage.

Study with us, and you will develop the linguistic and analytical skills to engage critically, and in a truly interdisciplinary way, with this dynamic society.

You will also learn about Japan's place in East Asia, now one of the world's most important and influential regions.
This programme has been carefully designed around the goal of making you an expert on Japan. It introduces skills and knowledge step-by-step, and we encourage you to see the connections between language, history, politics, and culture at every stage.

By the end of the programme you will have demonstrated your expertise through your dissertation, which will draw upon four years of rigorous Japanese studies training.

Research-led options
Our research spans a wide range of Japanese studies fields, including pre-modern and modern history, politics, international relations, religion, theatre, cinema, linguistics, and literature. Our range of Japanese studies option courses reflects this diversity, which means you will be able to choose a path through your programme that suits you.

Teaching excellence
We consistently receive excellent feedback from students in Japanese, and our NSS results are among the highest in Asian Studies nationally.

Our courses are mostly taught in seminars and tutorials, so you will have plenty of opportunity to contribute to class discussion and receive feedback on your progress.

Language classes are active, innovative, inclusive, and always informed by the best practice in the field. Our final year students regularly pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test at N2 and N1 level.

Standard entry requirement
The standard entry requirement is:

SQA Highers: AAAB-ABBB by end of S5 or AAAA-AABB/ABBBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6.
A Levels: AAB - ABB.
IB: 36 points with 665 at HL - 34 points with 655 at HL.
Minimum entry requirement
The minimum entry requirement for widening access applicants is:

SQA Highers: ABBB by end of S6. BBB must be achieved in one year of S4-S6.
A Levels: ABB.
IB: 34 points with 655 at HL.
IELTS Academic module overall 6.5 with 5.5 in each component.
TOEFL-iBT (including Special Home Edition) 92 or above with 20 in each section. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.