News

Michael Emmerich
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

As a Japanese studies researcher, I get this question a lot. “Anime and manga appear to be very popular abroad, but compared to the bubble economy years, would it not be accurate to say Japanese studies research is in decline?” This could not be further from the truth. According to a survey by the Modern Language Association of America (MLA), in 1986, there were 23,454 university students studying Japanese in America. The most recent data from the MLA shows that in 2013, there were 66,740 students studying Japanese and 61,055 students studying Chinese, proving that even to this day Japanese is more popular. This popularity goes beyond the Japanese language. Courses on Japanese culture are on the rise, graduate students are going on to pursue doctorates, and research standards are improving. One example is the Tadashi Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities, which builds a network for international collaborative studies between Waseda and UCLA. Considering the ground-breaking plans for this collaboration, I think it is safe to say that there is a lot to look forward to with Japanese studies research in the US.

*This article was translated from a Japanese Waseda Weekly article.

Michael Emmerich

Michael Emmerich is an associate professor of Asian Languages & Cultures at the University of California Los Angeles. Born in 1975 in New York, Emmerich obtained his doctorate from Columbia University. Emmerich’s research ranges from classical Japanese literature to modern popular fiction. His major works include The Tale of Genji: Translation, Canonization, and World Literature and translations of works by Kawabata Yasunari, Yoshimoto Banana, Kawakami Hiromi, and other Japanese authors.