Hitotsubashi University

Skills needed to write on various themes in appropriate styles in Japanese are taught. The course covers writing at an advanced level, writing in various styles for different times, places, and occasions; and expressing opinions and giving feedback in Japanese.

Reading comprehension skills for interpreting difficult texts are taught . The aim of this class is to polish and deepen students' understanding of Japanese language in order to create a firm foundation of Japanese comprehension for Hitostubashi students who learn social sciences.

This course deepens understanding of Japanese past and current international relations. Struggling toward becoming the ”first-ranked" nation in the West-centric world order, Japan fought many wars, colonized its neighboring countries, and was finally defeated in WWII. Through understanding Japanese past international relations, the course provides deeper insights into Japan's contemporary challenges including improving ties with China and South Korea, strengthening its alliance with the United States, building of a harmonious social space across borders as well as within borders.

This course focuses on vocabulary and idioms used in economics and the social sciences. The course relies on various texts and articles from Japanese economic newspapers and journals. Students also improve listening comprehension through watching excerpts from TV news programs that are relevant to the articles they read in class. Assessment: class attendance and participation, midterm exam, final exam.

This course concentrates on the theory and practice of effective Human Resources Management (HRM) from a global perspective. The course examines HRM in the Asia-Pacific region, an important player in the global economy accounting for almost 37% of the world GDP, home to about half of the world's population; China, the second largest economy; and India, the third most important destination for global foreign direct investment (FDI). The Asia-Pacific region as a whole remains diverse in terms of standards of living. Mature economies, such as Australia and Japan, other countries with large numbers of consumers and investors, such as Indonesia (with a population of over 200 million) or the Philippines and Vietnam, whose populations (around 90 million). The ASEAN countries as a whole represent more than 500 million inhabitants. As a result HRM in this region has become of significant importance to organization and management across the globe.

The emphasis of this course is to improve vocabulary and kanji knowledge, in preparation for advanced level classes. In order to increase the knowledge of kanji, students are tested on kanji list given during the previous class (70-100 kanji per list) and attempt to accurately define the meaning of kanji and kanji compounds. Through this methodology students both increase the number of kanji they know and gain a clear understanding on the meaning of a word and when and how to use it, by explaining the meaning of words in Japanese. Assessment: attendance, class participation, quizzes, a midterm, and a final exam.

This course has two main purposes. The first is to develop a comparative understanding of the education systems between Japan and other countries. The second is to examine contemporary Japanese education processes, along with related policies and practices, and to recognize their impact on Japanese society. To accomplish these purposes, each student is expected to share their knowledge and experience about the success and failure of their home-countries' education systems with other students and contribute to active discussions in class. Special attention is given to an examination of comparative and contrasting policies, practices, and issues in education as they unfold in Japan and students' home countries.

This course first gives a background in the medieval time of world history. The roots of many present conflicts lie in this era, the beginning of nation states, and the rise of modern economic methods such as international trade, banking, and bureaucracy. Having the Crusades as its center, this course geographically covers from western Europe to the eastern edge of the Islamic world, as well as Russia to Ethiopia from north to south. While many eras histories are ‘written by the winners', in the Crusades events were seen from multiple perspectives, allowing the student to judge a range of views from the time and in the historiography in order to answer questions of historical, economic and social value as a starting point.

This course analyzes the different forms of speech used in various settings. The course also aims at improving Japanese conversational ability, while correctly grasping the level of speech required for various interpersonal settings. Goals of the course are to enable students to accurately express themselves to others in Japanese and to raise their ability to have continuous and natural Japanese conversation. Assessment: attendance (20%), homework (30%), quizzes (30%), final exam (20%).

This course provides basic economic information. Specifically, the theme of microeconomics is to deepen understanding of demand and supply curves. This lecture is an introductory lecture on economics for business students who have never studied economics. In particular, focus on the basics of microeconomics that are important for understanding the market environment surrounding companies. Text: Microeconomics (3rd edition) (in Japanese) by Motoshige Itoh, Published from Nippon Hyoron sha. Assessment: Midterm exam, final exam, and quizzes.