Why Study Japanese?

With more than 120  million speakers, Japanese ranks among the world’s most widely spoken languages. As Japan maintains the fourth‑largest global economy, learning Japanese remains a valuable skill for those pursuing careers in business, economics, history, hospitality, pop culture, and entertainment. As Japan’s history, industry, and cultural influence continue to shape global trends, studying the language not only opens doors to diverse career opportunities but also helps learners develop advanced listening, speaking, and cognitive processing abilities.

Major in Japanese

A major in Japanese consists of a minimum of 120 semester hours, of which 42 must be advanced, and fulfillment of degree requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree as specified in the "General University Requirements" in the Academics section of the catalog and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences requirements. A major in Japanese consists of the six foundational courses (1010, 1020, 2040, 2050, 3020 and 3030) plus seven courses from the the following list. The Topics courses may be repeated. A grade of C or higher is required.

Major Requirements, 39 hours total

Required courses, 18 hours:

Additional advanced-level courses, 21 hours:

Students must take an additional 21 semester hours of advanced work. Topics courses may be repeated.

Topic Courses (may be repeated):

Minor in Japanese

A minor in Japanese consists of a minimum of 21 semester hours in Japanese, including JAPN 3020 and JAPN 3030. A minimum grade of C is required for a course to count toward the minor.

Transfer Credit and Placement Test

Placement for credit by examination may be used to satisfy JAPN 1010-2050 or by transferring credits from another institution approved by UNT. For placement test information, please see the Placement Test section on our website for details.

Advising

For Japanese advising, please visit our Undergraduate Advising page on our website visit and reach out to Angela.Harris@unt.edu

Faculty

For a list of current faculty and their contact information, please visit the Faculty and Staff page on our website.

Syllabi & Courses

For full listing of courses with descriptions and prerequisites, please visit UNT's Catalog home page. You can also find syllabi listed on faculty profiles at https://facultyinfo.unt.edu/.

Certificate of Achievement in Japanese

To receive a Certificate of Achievement in Japanese, students are required to take 12 advanced hours in Japanese, 6 of which must be at the 4000 level.

Study Abroad

Second year Japanese, JAPN 2040 and JAPN 2050, is offered in May and June in a unique study-abroad format. The group starts out on campus with intensive study for 3½ weeks during Maymester, then travels together to Japan for another 3½ weeks of study and first-hand cultural experience. This program is directed by Yayoi.Takeuchi@unt.edu and Angela.Harris@unt.edu

For study abroad opportunities, please visit studyabroad.unt.edu

Additional Resources

Japanese Tutoring- World Languages Tutoring Schedule

Events and Student News- Follow the department on Instagram at untwllc for the Japanese program's upcoming and recents events!

Clubs and Organizations- UNT has several clubs and organizations for students interested in or taking Japanese.

For more information on the Japanese Cultural Organization, please contact Kaori.Furuya@unt.edu
For more information on the Japanese Scholars Society, please contact Yayoi.Takeuchi@unt.edu
For more information on the Japanese Student Association, please contact Miwako.Ichikawa@unt.edu