Exploring Japan through historical, regional and cultural studies Our department is divided into four major fields of study: Japanese culture, Japanese history, local area studies and comparative culture. Each field has three full-time staff members who offer classes and seminars to small numbers of students. The students can choose classes according to their own academic interests. Here, they will acquire general and specialized academic skills, using materials of diverse cultural and educational significance - ranging from the implements and artefacts of folk and craft traditions, through historical documents, to the modern media of academic information (books, journals, online resources, etc.).

Our primary objective in education and research is to help students understand regional cultures - past and present - in Aichi Prefecture and the Greater Tokai Region. This we achieve through the combined study of Japanese culture, history, geography, folklore, sociology, anthropology and comparative philosophy. Secondly, we aim at encouraging our students to become internationally-minded by developing in them a positive attitude towards cross-cultural communications, one based on deep insight into the many regional histories and cultures of Japan. Graduates from the Department of Japanese History and Culture are thus able to contribute as administrative officials to the development of regional cultures; to work in various business fields by taking advantage of their cross-cultural knowledge; to function as personnel in museums and libraries; to seek teaching or academic careers in Japanese history and regional culture; or to work as journalists.