Japanese Studies

There are approximately 125 million people in Japan, which makes Japanese one of the ten most widely spoken languages in the world. Until the middle of the twentieth century, almost all Japanese speakers could be found in the Japanese archipelago; but in the decades since World War II, as Japan's economy became the second most powerful in the world and its connections with other countries increased exponentially, Japanese speakers can be found in every corner of the globe, and Japan plays an increasingly important role in shaping international organizations.

Alongside this, elements of Japanese culture have swept across other countries, from the Western fascination with Zen during the 1960s, through the preoccupation in the United States with Japanese business organization in the 1980s, to the current worldwide prominence of Japanese comic books, Japanese animation, and other elements of Japanese popular culture. Words like anime, sushi, and sumo have long been a part of the English lexicon. Students can study all of these things and more at William and Mary. Click here for more information on placement into Japanese language classes