Present-Day Japan

By means of the lectures and the related readings you will: 

• Have a basic knowledge of central facets of present-day Japan 
• Be able to read and synthesize academic texts about Japan 
• Gain insight into various crucial issues in contemporary Japanese society, culture, politics and international relations 
• Be able to put Japan into a broader global context

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

This course is not available for single course students.

The course consists of 12 weekly lecture classes. 

Compulsory activities 

• Mandatory attendance: In this course, students must have an attendance of at least 60%. This translates to 7 of 12 lecture classes 

• Reading the compulsory assigned materials 

You are expected to participate actively in the classes. This does not merely imply that you need to prepare the various readings for each class, but also that you think while you read and formulate questions, and actively contribute to the discussions. 

This course requires at least 60% attendance. This requirement is absolute.

The absence limit should cover normal absences due to illness, etc. You will therefore not be granted a valid excused absence based on a medical certificate, even if the absence is due to circumstances for which you cannot be blamed.

In special cases, for example, in the event of serious or long-term illness, you can apply for special needs accomodations. For questions about special needs accommodations, please contact [email protected]

The obligatory attendance is valid for the next two semesters that the course is taught.  

• Here you will find information about compulsory activities at the Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

It is important that you familiarize yourself with the rules regarding absence from compulsory activities, to prevent being excluded from teaching and losing your eligibility to take the exam.

More information on compulsory activities at the University of Oslo:

• Common guidelines relating to compulsory activities - University of Oslo (uio.no)

All compulsory activities must be approved to qualify for the exam. It is your responsibility to verify that you have obtained approval for all compulsory activities.

Access to teaching

A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.

Written exam: The exam consists of a final four-hour written examination. 

You must submit the exam in Inspera - see guides for digital exams

You are personally responsible for familiarizing yourself with the requirements and deadlines for the exam.

All compulsory activities must be completed and approved in order to take the exam.

You can find more information about the exam on the semester page of the course.

In this course you are allowed to bring a Norwegian-English or a Japanese-English dictionary. The dictionary needs to be a physical book, and it cannot contain written notes on pieces of paper or directly on the pages. No other examination support material is permitted.

If you need to use a dictionary from another language due to problems with language proficiency, you may apply to the department no later than four weeks before the exam date.

• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Resitting an examination