Course summary

Our Graduate Diploma in Japanese Studies is ideal if you have a passion for learning Japanese and exploring the culture of Japan but have a basic understanding of Japan already and have achieved beginners’ proficiency in the language. It gives you the chance to consolidate and expand your knowledge further. Why choose this course?

• You will be taught by specialists in contemporary Japanese culture and veteran native Japanese teachers with many years of language teaching experience.

• It offers you a multidisciplinary approach to studying Japanese language and culture covering a range of skills and topics, including manga and anime, film, literature, history, linguistics, translation, visual arts and gender studies.

• This course is also ideal if you have substantial experience of Japan but are not qualified to undergraduate degree level in this subject.

• Our Japanese Studies team achieved first place in London for Teaching Satisfaction in the 2024 National Student Survey.

• Birkbeck is surrounded by cultural institutes, theatres, museums and galleries relevant to the study of Japanese language and culture, such as the Japan Society, Daiwa Foundation, Japan House London, Japan Foundation, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and British Film Institute.

• All teaching takes place in our central London location in Bloomsbury, a stone’s throw from research libraries. Our own library has thousands of books and resources on Japan and we are close to the SOAS library and British Library which also have an impressive collection of Japanese books, to which Birkbeck students can apply for free access.

• Our students come from diverse backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, learning abilities, nationalities and identities helping enrich your learning experience.

• the ability to analyse and engage critically with cultural topics or products such as literature, film, manga and anime and other cultural artefacts

• experience in producing various forms of work such as journalistic reviews, video essays and translations

• an increased confidence when presenting and debating complex issues in a succinct and convincing manner both in writing and orally

• the ability to work independently and effectively manage your time and diverse deadlines.

• language teacher in Japan

• editor or a role in publishing

• translator

• events manager for Japanese organisations

• marketing manager

• journalist

• social researcher

• digital content creator

• positions in hospitality, gaming, telecommunications and other industries.