Expand your worldview by getting a taste of a nation that embraces ancient tradition and modern innovation and learn Japanese through experience-focused language classes. The bachelor’s degree in Japanese at Portland State supports many interests, whether you want to perform Kabuki drama or just read your favorite manga.
Strikingly rendered and culturally complex, Japanese is one of the fastest-growing languages studied in the country. At Portland State, the historically-steeped traditions of Japanese are taught alongside the contemporary international elements of the language, which boasts over 120 million native speakers and represents one of Asia’s key languages of trade and culture.
PSU's highly structured program for Japanese learning has been a decades-long leader in Japanese language education. Our faculty, both native and non-native speakers, help prepare you to become wholly immersed in the language using the performed culture approach, which trains students how to express themselves in a way that native speakers feel appropriate in given situations.
We offer a distinctive array of cultural and linguistics classes, including courses on manga, Japanese literature from the earliest writings to contemporary novels and poetry, Japanese religion through literature and performance, and pop culture.
A bachelor’s degree in Japanese from Portland State will prepare you to enter into the world of Japanese culture and expand your career potential.
Portland State offers a robust Japanese-American community through the Center for Japanese Studies, a student-oriented resource center focused on preparing students to become leaders in business, government, and the arts by fostering cross-cultural understanding through a variety of curricular and outreach programs.
Portland State and the Center for Japanese Studies has a special relationship with Waseda University, one of Japan’s preeminent private universities located in Tokyo, and Hokkaido University, a public university in Portland’s Sister City, Sapporo. These relationships provide you with uniquely immersive experiences, allowing you to study Japanese in Japan and live with a Japanese host family.
A senior Capstone project provides you with the opportunity to work with elementary school programs that offer Japanese in the Portland area by assisting a classroom teacher and developing teaching materials.
A major or minor in Japanese from PSU empowers you to enter the workforce with a proficiency in the Japanese language and culture that will prepare you to work in a number of fields. Many of our graduates go into teaching, either teaching English in Japan through the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program or with private English schools or teaching Japanese in U.S. immersion programs. Others go into translation and interpretation work or pursue graduate studies.