Japan

This course answers a wide range of inquiries related to the one of the most complex and profound texts in human history, the Old Testament, or the Hebrew Bible. Who wrote this book? For whom was this book written? When and how was this book created and completed? How was this book interpreted throughout the history of Western civilization? 

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will:
1. Be familiar with theological terms and expressions in the English language for Old Testament study.
2. Demonstrate understanding and knowledge of the basic contents and theological outlooks of some relevant texts of the Old Testament.
3. Discuss some significant contemporary debates and recent developments concerning the formation history of the Old Testament.
4. Engage with big ideas.
5. Improve intellectual and academic skills.

This course introduces the key issues underlying the interaction of states and transnational actors in the international system, particularly the problems of international peace and cooperation, regionalism, democratization, nationalism and cultural conflict.  Unlike conventional foundation courses in International Relations (IR), this course approaches the field from a student-centered approach. The course begins with an introduction to the main theories of International Relations, then an introduction to critical perspectives in IR. After students' understanding of the theories covered are examined through the midterm, the course discusses a series of empirical case studies and global issues. The goal is to integrate theory and practice, by presenting theoretical ideas and concepts in conjunction with a global range of historical and contemporary case studies.

This course is for students learning Japanese as a mother tongue, first language, or heritage language. Through this course, students will expand such skills as kanji, vocabulary building, reading comprehension, writing passages, and oral expression expected for university students. Prerequisite: “SPECIAL JAPANESE 1” or equivalent. Six class hours/week. 

By the end of this course, students will be able to: 

• Read a variety of texts from various genres and understand the writer's intentions and arguments.
• Express one's own opinions about what (s)he has read and heard accurately using appropriate expressions.
• Make oral presentations and book reports using figures and tables.

This course is designed for students in the second half of the elementary-level course. It provides an opportunity for students to obtain and practice listening and speaking skills. 

"Anime," "Comic," and "Game" are some of the aggressive and innovative forms of popular culture spreading throughout the world. Japan is one of the major countries influencing this unique popular culture moment so much so that enthusiasts of such popular culture have been called “Otaku.” Otaku also delivers a new sense of atmosphere in terms of "Kawaii" and "Moe." 

“Otaku” cultures have created a transnational cultural boom referred to as “Cool Japan,” creating an inevitable cultural influence. Furthermore, political strategy suggests favorable international competitiveness due to these cultural deliverables, seeds of creativity influencing its national branding.

This course aims to understand how the roots of these Otaku cultural activities in Japan have expanded internationally as one of Simulacra with creators, and activists of the fields: How has the technology created and known its real motivation to drive these sub-cultural activities? This course addresses the backgrounds and characteristics as well as the innovative expansion of “Otaku” culture, which is recognized internationally and born in the age of competing creativity from the Social Darwinism inherent during the phase of its economic growth and development of Japan.
 

This course uses concepts and tools in microeconomics. The purpose of the course is to clarify phenomena and problems that are inherent in the market economy by an examination of the laws and economic systems that support the internal and contractual structure of the market. In particular, the course focuses on Coase Theorem and its application to nuisance law, sales law, and tort law. This is a lecture course, but students are expected to work on "legal cases" in three groups (plaintiff, defendant, and judge or jury) in each class, and are expected to participate in the deliberations of the cases among the three groups.
 

This course considers in-depth current issues and topics in second language acquisition and learning such as the role of age; learner differences; theoretical perspectives, and the role of instruction. Current views of second language acquisition and learning are considered critically relative to findings of empirical research.  LED102 Principles of Language Learning and Teaching is a prerequisite for this course.

During 2022 last year, Japanese economy recovered from the Pandemic Shock. But almost simultaneously it faced many uncertainties. Global wave of inflation made Japanese Consumer Price Index rise by 4% compared to the previous year in December 2022, the highest pace for four decades. As many economists have seen long-lasting low inflation or even deflation in Japan as a signal of its stagnated economy, an emerging interesting question is what can result from this external price shock? After all, do firms and working people in Japan change their static mindset of many years and move towards surge of wages, ultimately leading to higher spending and hence, higher growth? On the other extreme, we cannot rule out the concerns of stagflation. 
Higher inflation has triggered rapid interest rate hikes by central banks globally. While this makes economic slowdown inevitable in 2023, how much it will be is still unpredictable. Looking at China, its sudden loosening of corona restrictions from the end of 2022 is likely to mean higher growth for the world. At the same time though, faster demand expansion of China may offset the impact of anti-inflation measures by other countries and force their central banks to tighten even more. Also, no one is sure which way yen’s exchange rate goes. 
These are just examples of the uncertainties for Japanese economy at the time of this writing (January 2023). However, underlying structural problems for Japan do not go away, either. Japanese population leads the world in terms of aging while its size continues to shrink. This poses strains on social security such as pension and healthcare. Geopolitical tension does not seem to subside as well, continuously making firms to rethink and restructure their cross-border supply chains. 
Many industries are under pressure for transformation. Digital innovations such as AI are the source of business creation by many startups, while they disrupt established business models everywhere. Recently the shockwave is reaching finance and automobile industries, bastion of the modern economy as we know it. In addition, environmental concerns require the whole economy to shift towards carbon-free. While this generates many business chances, it can become another source of industrial disruption. 
Observations mentioned above force us to ask a lot of questions for Japanese economy. What is the impact of monetary policy under a new governor of BOJ? Do we have reliable economic-fiscal scenario to deal with fiscal burden increased by the massive spending to respond to the pandemic as well as the need to sustain social security? 
What policies can improve the prospect of economic growth for Japan? What are reforms most urgently needed? Are they labor market reforms, immigration reforms, or strengthening assistance for families to have more kids? How can Japanese private sector grow more vigorously – more risk-taking by corporations or more fast-growing startups, for example? Can we upgrade Japanese manufacturing sector? Is export-oriented agriculture sector possible? 
These are urgent and crucial issues of our day. Drawing on lecturer's experiences at government, international organization as well as in business, the course tries to deepen our understanding of today's economic problems with the help of economics and through interactive discussion based on data.