In the B.A. you can study Japanese Studies with a focus on either History or Linguistics in the two-subject model. In the single-subject model, you can choose either Economics and Politics of East Asia or Languages and Cultures of East Asia and study Japanese as a language.

In the M.A., you can also study Japanese Studies with a focus on either History or Linguistics in the two-subject model. In the single-subject model, you can choose either International Political Economy of East Asia or Languages and Cultures of East Asia and deepen your existing knowledge of Japanese. In the single-subject model, there is also the East Asian Studies degree program, in which you can deepen your existing knowledge of Japanese. Or you can study Japanese as a second language if you have already studied either Chinese or Korean in your Bachelor's degree. Japanese can also be studied as part of the M.Ed. program.

The degree program consists of almost equal parts Japanese language learning and content courses. The latter are held in German, but most of the specialist literature is written in English. This means that an aptitude for foreign languages is very important. If you had very good grades in English at secondary school and were also above average in French and/or Latin, you are well placed. In terms of content, you should be interested in either history or linguistics.

No, you can start your studies without any prior knowledge. In the first two weeks you will learn the syllabary (hiragana and katakana), then the lessons start and the first kanji are added. Previous knowledge is of course useful. So if you have the chance to attend a Japanese course beforehand or take the first steps through self-study, it will definitely pay off. If you have substantial prior knowledge and think you can start in an advanced language course, you can take a placement test. Please contact the student counselling.

Although the language is very systematic, it works very differently to German, for example. You also have to learn a lot of characters. Studying is therefore very labor-intensive. If you find learning languages easy and are prepared to spend time memorizing characters, you are in a good position.

More than in other humanities subjects (Subjects such as physics or medicine have a comparable workload.). Learning the language alone takes a lot of time, especially in the first two years. Overall, the degree program requires between 40 and 50 hours of work per week (including the second subject and the Optionalbereich). Experience has shown that part-time jobs are hardly possible if you want to keep to the standard period of study.

Hardly any company is looking for "Japanologists". There is no clearly defined professional field. Nevertheless, graduates of Japanese Studies are anything but without a chance on the job market: Those who have successfully battled their way through the demanding degree program and also gained experience abroad are considered by many companies to have above-average performance potential. Depending on the area of specialization, there are opportunities in the fields of language teaching, translation, intercultural competence, the cultural sector, the media, politics and business.

A stay abroad in Japan is not compulsory for Japanese Studies, but it makes a lot of sense. Every year, the Ruhr University and Faculty of East Asian Studies award exchange places at Japanese partner universities to the best applicants, who then do not have to pay the very high tuition fees in Japan. Students must finance their travel to and stay in Japan themselves, although they can make use of BAföG abroad or scholarships. A stay in Japan usually makes sense after the second year of study; the application phase for an exchange place begins approximately one year before the stay abroad.

As soon as you are enrolled in Japanese Studies at Ruhr University Bochum, you should also enroll in the Moodle course “Introduction to East Asian Studies”. In this course you will find all information about the degree program, course registration, teaching materials, online tools, etc. Moodle is an e-learning platform used at the Ruhr University Bochum. There is a Moodle course with course materials for each of the courses you take during your studies.

In the Optionalbereich, you attend courses from other subjects or on interdisciplinary topics. In the B.A. phase, you need 30 credit points (CP) in the Optionalbereich. If you are studying Japanese Studies without any previous knowledge of Japanese, the language courses Modern Japanese Basic Level 1 (J-S1) and Modern Japanese Basic Level 2 (J-S2) already cover 20 CP. For the remaining 10 CP, you can choose courses from the Optionalbereich during the course of your studies.

Course registrations, exam registrations and exams are recorded in CampusOffice. At the end of your degree program, when you register for the exam, CampusOffice is used to check whether you have completed all your coursework. The grade of your exam-relevant modules is also calculated there. You should therefore register for your courses in CampusOffice.