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Academics
Overview
Through JFIT, students enter a community where Japan is studied not only through courses, but through ongoing discussions among scholars, executives, policymakers, and practitioners.
This gives the academic experience a different texture. A class on Japanese business becomes more than a survey of management practices when taught by Professor Ulrike Schaede, whose work has helped define the idea of Japan’s corporate reinvention. A course on the Japanese economy becomes equally immediate through Professor Shinnosuke Kikuchi’s research, which uses Japan to examine how automation, offshoring, demographic pressure, and labor-market change are reshaping work itself.
Together, courses at GPS move Japan beyond familiar labels like “stagnation,” “aging society,” or “traditional management.” Students encounter Japan as a place where companies are reinventing strategy, workers are adapting to new technologies, and scholars are still debating what these changes mean for the global economy.
Courses
To support this kind of training, Japan Focus students draw from courses that connect Japan’s economy, politics, business and regional role to the broader Pacific Rim, including:
Business and Management in Japan
This course introduces the main aspects of Japanese business and industrial organization, Japanese management practices, and the representation and influence of business interests in the Japanese political economy. Contemporary case studies introduce students to the opportunities and challenges of corporate Japan today.
Japanese Economics
This course examines Japan as a critical case for analyzing central questions in modern economic development and policy. Rather than treating Japan as a discrete body of country-specific facts, the course uses Japan’s postwar and contemporary experience to investigate broader issues in economic growth, structural change, demographic transition, labor market adjustment, technological transformation, inequality, globalization, and the political economy of policy reform.
Language Program
Language study is an important part of the Japan Focus experience at GPS. MIA students are required to demonstrate proficiency in a language that matches their regional specialization, meaning students specializing in Japan must complete Japanese. This requirement can be fulfilled through various means: prior education in Japanese, native proficiency, college-level coursework through the sixth-quarter level, or a GPS-administered proficiency exam. MPP students are not required to complete a language, but Japanese study is strongly recommended for those who want to pursue a serious Japan specialization.
Students who need to build or complete their Japanese training generally do so through UC San Diego’s Japanese Studies Program, which offers structured language courses from first-year through advanced Japanese, including Japanese for Professional Purposes. The program also provides placement and proficiency resources so students can enter at the appropriate level. For students focused on Japan, language study is not just a requirement; it becomes a practical tool for engaging more deeply with Japanese business, policy, society and professional networks.
Boren Scholarship/Fellowship
Students who want to deepen their Japanese beyond the classroom may also consider nationally competitive language fellowships such as the Boren Fellowship. For Japan Focus students, this can be an opportunity to spend an extended period in Japan building advanced Japanese ability while connecting language study to public policy, international affairs, security, economic competitiveness or regional expertise.
Because Boren supports long-term overseas language study, students may structure it differently depending on their academic timeline. For example, first-year students may apply during their first year and take a planned gap between year 1 and year 2 to study Japanese intensively in Japan before returning to complete the degree. Others may pursue the fellowship after graduation, using the post-coursework period to strengthen language skills and professional specialization before entering government, policy or internationally focused careers.
For students serious about Japan, this kind of immersive year can turn Japanese from a graduation requirement into a professional asset. Explore the Boren Program in depth and how to apply.