About the Contemporary Japanese Studies Program(CJSP)
A PROGRAM TAILORED TO THE GLOBAL ERA
"The perfect environment for fostering practitioners well versed in the Japanese society, with excellent international communication skills that will help them succeed globally"
After World War II, Japan underwent several difficulties that mankind had never experienced before: it quickly transformed itself from ruins due to large-scale air raids and the atomic bombing to a fully rebuilt country. It then attained fast economic growth and overcame environmental destruction, becoming the second largest world economy. This was followed by the collapse of the economic bubble, the rapid pace of demographic aging and low birth rates, and the unprecedented disasters caused by earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear accidents.
To conquer these unknown problems, the people living in the Japanese Archipelago not only relied on compendiums of traditional knowledge but also through consecutive series of failures and successes they accumulated entirely new practical knowledge. If this compilation of wisdom can be summarized in the so-called “Japan Model”, let us say that the mission of the Graduate School of Social Sciences is to research this model through an interdisciplinary approach, integrate its collective wisdom for the human beings and transmit it to future generations.
Starting from September 2012, an English-based Contemporary Japanese Studies Program will be offered by the Graduate School of Social Sciences at Waseda University. Unlike traditional approaches towards Japanese studies that privilege only local cultural elements, the CJSP focuses on the transdisciplinary component of the social sciences by integrating research areas such as Global Society, International Studies and Sustainability. The result is a powerful, comprehensive methodology that allows professionals to grapple with today’s complex problems. This ambitious goal calls for ambitious individuals. The CJSP provides the perfect environment for fostering practitioners well versed in the Japanese society, with excellent international communication skills that will help them succeed globally.