JAPANESE (JAPN)

Additional Resources 

Courses

JAPN 101.  Elementary Japanese I.  4 Credits.  

Introduction to modern Japanese with text and supplementary materials. Hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji are introduced. Weekly class hours devoted to basic sentence pattern exercises, speaking and writing practice, and creative application. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 1.  
JAPN 102.  Elementary Japanese II.  4 Credits.  

Continued beginning course of modern Japanese with text and supplementary materials. Approximately 150 additional kanji are introduced. Focus on basic sentence pattern exercises, speaking and writing practice, and creative application. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 101 or permission of the instructor.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 2.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 160.  Introduction to Japanese Literature in Translation.  3 Credits.  

The major genres, aesthetic concepts, and classic and modern works of Japanese literature in English translation.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 162.  Japanese Popular Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine how and why Tokyo emerged as a dominant locale in global mass culture. Students will be introduced to major figures and genres in Japanese pop culture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 203.  Intermediate Japanese I.  4 Credits.  

Emphasis on situational expressions, mastery of basic structures, and approximately 150 new kanji. Conversation practice, reading and writing of passages, and creative application expected. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: GLBL-LANG.
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 102.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 3.  
JAPN 204.  Intermediate Japanese II.  4 Credits.  

Continued emphasis on situational expressions, mastery of basic structures, and approximately 150 to 200 new kanji. Conversation practice, reading and writing of passages, and creative application expected. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 203.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 4.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 231.  Ancient and Medieval Japanese History and Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys Japanese history and cultural development from the prehistoric period, rich with archaeological evidence, to the reunification of Japan in the late sixteenth century. One major topic is the mythology or and historical evidence for early state formation, including the role that Japan's long "unbroken" history plays in modern debates about national identity, xenophobia, and relations with regional neighbors. Another focus is the emergence of women's literature.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 271.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 246.  Early Modern Japanese History and Culture.  3 Credits.  

From the 1603 establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa family in an unusual early modern federation, with a balance of power between the warrior government in Edo and the domanial governments spread across the archipelago. This resemblance of this system to the U.S. balance between federal and state power frames our examination of the early modern period.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 247.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 277.  Empire of Sex: Eroticism, Mass Culture, and Geopolitics in Japan, 1945-Present.  3 Credits.  

Tokyo, Japan, became the center of global pornographic culture after the United States occupation ended in 1952. This course will use film, animation, and historical texts to try to understand how and why this happened. Moreover, we will identify how this phenomenon impacted the lives of Japanese men and women.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 288.  Media Studies of Japan.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces Japanese thoughts and culture through the lens of media cultural studies, and studies socio-cultural issues of Japan through media productions and trends. We will learn about Japan's nationalism and imperialism, gender and family ideologies, post-Bubble economic misery and homelessness, memories of war, feminist and minority struggles, working culture, technology, and post-Fukushima philosophy of survival in film, commercials, print media, news, and TV shows.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: COMM 288.  
JAPN 305.  Advanced Japanese I.  3 Credits.  

Advanced written and spoken Japanese introduced to students who have learned more than 500 kanji. Emphasis is placed on advanced expressions, conversation for a variety of situations, reading and writing longer texts, and approximately 150 additional kanji. Class conducted in Japanese. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 204.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 5.  
JAPN 306.  Advanced Japanese II.  3 Credits.  

Second semester of third-year Japanese, continuing the study of written and spoken Japanese at the advanced level. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 305.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 6.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 375.  The Culture of Modern, Imperial Japan, 1900-1945.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine the various expressions of cultural modernity in Japan with a focus on film, literature, and popular culture from 1900 to the end of the Pacific War.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 401.  Gateway to Mastering Japanese.  3 Credits.  

This course reviews the key grammar, vocabulary, and characters from the first three years of Japanese in preparation for the more advanced work of fourth-year elective courses.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 408.  Japanese Journalism.  3 Credits.  

Uses newspaper and magazine articles and television broadcasts to introduce journalistic writing and speech as well as contemporary social and cultural issues. Class conducted in Japanese. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 410.  Topics in Contemporary Japanese Literature.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the popular writing, both fiction and nonfiction, designed for mass-market consumption in contemporary Japan. Class conducted in Japanese. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 411.  Food and Culture in Japan.  3 Credits.  

Advanced Japanese course designed to develop Japanese skills and deepen appreciation of Japanese cooking. Students will develop the ability to discuss and write about topic-oriented issues in Japanese.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 412.  Making Music in Japan.  3 Credits.  

Students will learn a history of postwar Japanese music as an integral part of Japanese society and culture, and try to understand what messages each song attempts to communicate.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 414.  Manga as a Japanese Art and Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course explores contemporary Japanese language and culture through the pop cultural media of manga and anime. Topics include manga history, production, and various genres of Japanese comic books, manga.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 415.  Sports in Japanese Culture.  3 Credits.  

Introduces students to the unique Japanese cultural perspective on sports, while introducing new kanji and grammar structures and improving reading, speaking, and writing abilities.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 416.  Understanding Japanese Business Culture and Its Practice.  3 Credits.  

Students will learn about business culture in Japan, including customs and rules, in order to broaden their understanding of Japanese culture and people, while improving their language skills.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 417.  Japanese Culture through Film and Literature.  3 Credits.  

This course helps students to improve their Japanese language skills while developing an understanding of Japanese culture through films and literature. Exercises include reading novels in Japanese, close observation of Japanese films, analysis of cultural context, writing summaries, and frequent discussion.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-GLOBAL.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 418.  Service Learning in Japanese Language.  3 Credits.  

The primary goal of this course is to prepare students to work, using the Japanese language in their desired occupation, such as in business, teaching at school, research, and so forth.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: HI-SERVICE, COMMBEYOND.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Service Learning.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 451.  Swords, Tea Bowls, and Woodblock Prints: Exploring Japanese Material Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys Japanese material culture. Each week we will examine a different genre of visual or material culture in terms of its production, circulation through time and space, and modern deployment in narratives of national identity. This course includes regular engagement with the Ackland Art Museum at UNC.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, EE- Field Work.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 482.  Embodying Japan: The Cultures of Beauty, Sports, and Medicine in Japan.  3 Credits.  

Explores Japanese culture and society through investigating changing concepts of the human body. Sources include anthropological and history materials, science fiction, and film.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 489.  Women, Margin, Writing, and Transnational Japan.  3 Credits.  

This course explores literary and media art produced by women from various political and social margins of Japan, voiced from their transnational subjectivities. The transnational situations include: immigration, colonialism, diaspora, and international coalition as well as globalizing feminist alliance. By focusing on literature, film, and performance, this course takes an interdisciplinary approach to women's creative political statements.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 489.  
JAPN 490.  Topics in Japanese Language and Literature.  3 Credits.  

Possible areas of study include popular culture, business Japanese, and Japanese-English translation. Course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JAPN 496.  Independent Readings in Japanese.  1-3 Credits.  

Permission of the department. For the student who wishes to create and pursue an independent project in Japanese under the supervision of a selected instructor. Maximum three credit hours per semester.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 521.  Investigating Japanese Culture through TV Dramas.  3 Credits.  

Students will improve Japanese language skills while they develop an understanding of Japanese culture through TV dramas. Exercises include intensive listening, reading and analyzing drama scripts, writing summaries, and frequent discussions on various topics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 401, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, or 490.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJAPN 563.  Structure of Japanese.  3 Credits.  

Introductory linguistic description of modern Japanese. For students of linguistics with no knowledge of Japanese and students of Japanese with no knowledge of linguistics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 102 or LING 101.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: LING 563.  
JAPN 590.  Advanced Topics in Japanese Language and Literature.  3 Credits.  

Topic varies by instructor. Possible topics include Japanese literature, popular culture, and media. Course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. Participation in relevant extracurricular activities encouraged.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, JAPN 306.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.