Japanese

Many students begin studying Japanese out of an interest in Japanese culture, including anime and Japanese video games. Students, however, will soon learn that contemporary Japanese culture consists of a diverse mix of the old and the new, the East and the West, and traditions and cutting-edge technology. No prior experience in Japanese is necessary to study at OU. However, high school study of foreign languages and cultures is helpful.

Degrees Offered

OU offers a Major and a Minor in Japanese. Many Japanese minors are majoring in Asian Studies in the School of International Area Studies or in International Business in the Price College of Business.

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Japanese at OU

Why Study Japanese at OU?

Faculty members in the Japanese program have won prestigious university awards as well as research grants from multiple institutions. Many recent Japanese minors have won university scholarships and awards, as well as Fulbright Scholarships and The Association of Teachers of Japanese Bridging Scholarship.
Introduces students to the dynamism and flexibility of Japanese culture and language.
Students of the Japanese language will exercise the mind in unique ways and learn to see the world though the eyes of a very different culture.
Equips Japanese students with daily communication skills and an understanding of cultural and social differences between the U.S. and Japan.

Career Opportunities

Colleges and universities
Fashion Industry
Food Industry
Government agencies
International businesses
United Nations

Courses Offered

JAPN 1115 Beginning Japanese
- An elementary course in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Japanese. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.
JAPN 1225 Beginning Japanese Continued
- An elementary course in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Japanese. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. Prerequisite: 1115.
JAPN 2113 Intermediate Japanese
- Combination of basic Japanese grammar and vocabulary and their application to spoken and written Japanese. Prerequisite: 1225.
JAPN 2013 Intermediate Japanese Listening and Speaking
- Provides intensive training in listening and speaking in Japanese for students who have taken first year Japanese. Through a systematic review of grammar and vocabulary taught in 1000-level Japanese coursework, develops students' understanding of functional ability to understand and speak Japanese and introduces unique features of Japanese language and culture, including formal and casual speech levels in Japanese. Prerequisite: JAPN 2113 or concurrent enrollment with JAPN 2113.
JAPN 2223 Intermediate Japanese Continued
- Develops control of the grammar, vocabulary and idioms of spoken Japanese and provides a thorough introduction to the Japanese writing system as well as some grammatical structures peculiar to written Japanese. Prerequisite: 2113.
JAPN 3013 Advanced Japanese Listening and Speaking
- Designed to give intensive training in listening and speaking in Japanese for students who have successfully completed Japanese 2113. Develops students' understanding of functional ability of listening and speaking Japanese. Unique features of Japanese language and culture will be learned, including casual/polite speech, honorifics, giving-receiving verbs, a variety of new forms, such as transitive/intransitive, causative, passive, causative-passive forms. Prerequisite: JAPN 2223 or concurrent enrollment in JAPN 2223.
JAPN 3113 Advanced Japanese I
- Trains students in advanced Japanese language skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing and introduces new grammatical forms, vocabularies and expressions. Prepares students to understand Japanese society. Prerequisite: JAPN 2223.
MLLL 3623 Pre-Modern Japanese Literature and Culture
- A survey of Japanese literature from ancient time to the Meiji restoration. Covers prominent works of poetry and prose in English translation. Students are introduced to traditional genres, themes, rhetorical device and aesthetics, as well as socio-historical context of literary production. Prerequisite: junior standing.
JAPN 3223 Advanced Japanese II
- An advanced course in conversation and composition covering cultural topics. Develops listening and speaking skills to communicate orally in authentic Japanese and expands spoken and written vocabulary knowledge. Presenting ideas in speech and composition effectively will be practiced. Prerequisite: JAPN 3113 or equivalent.
JAPN 4543 Introduction to Classical Japanese
- Students will learn classical Japanese grammar, major Japanese literary texts, as well as Japanese customs in ancient Japan. Prerequisite: JAPN 3223.
MLLL 3633 Modern Japanese Literature and Culture
- A survey of Japanese literature from the Meiji restoration (1868) onward, with attention to social, political, and cultural issues as well as literary theory. Topics will include Japan's "westernization," "naturalism," proletarian literature movements, early post-war literature, and the "third new generation writers." Prerequisite: junior standing.
HIST 3853 Japan 1850
- Traces the history of Japan beginning with the earliest Jomon and Yayoi cultures and ending with the unraveling of the last feudal regime in the nineteenth century. Prerequisite: ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213.
JAPN 4113 Japanese Language and Society I
- May be repeated with change of content; maximum credit six hours. Designed to develop the advanced-level proficiency in reading and writing. Authentic reading materials on various topics will be used in combination with discussions, and oral and written reports. Emphasis is placed on strengthening correct usage of grammar and increasing knowledge of Kanji and compound terms using expressions and idioms in Japanese. Prerequisite: JAPN 3223 or JAPN 4543.
JAPN 4543 Introduction to Classical Japanese
- Students will learn classical Japanese grammar, major Japanese literary texts, as well as Japanese customs in ancient Japan. Prerequisite: JAPN 3223.
MLLL 3223 Japan Through Film and Literature
- Introduces Japanese post-war society and culture with emphasis on 1945 to the present, as reflected in film and literature. Students will examine essential issues, including class, family, gender, work, education, and minorities, paying attention to the struggles between traditional cultural values and modern society. Prerequisite: junior standing.
JAPN 4993 Senior Capstone in Japanese
- Examines Japanese modern literature with a focus on the questions of Japanese modernity, post-modernity, nationalism, and cultural identity. Prerequisite: JAPN 4113.
HIST 3863 Japan Since 1850
- Designed to introduce students to the history of Japan from the 1850's to the present. Will include the Meiji restoration, industrial development, imperial expansion, wartime mobilization, the U.S. occupation, economic recovery and high growth, and the changing political and popular culture of the 1980s and 1990s. Prerequisite: ENGL 1213 or EXPO 1213.