Princeton Program: Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies
Kyoto, Japan
Program Overview
Golden Pavillion, Kyoto, Japan
The Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS) is an academic program for undergraduates who wish to do advanced work in Japanese language and Japanese studies. The program helps students strengthen their Japanese skills by providing intensive language training and regular interactions with host families and the local community. An understanding of Japanese society and culture is enhanced by the integration of the historical and cultural resources of Kyoto into the academic curriculum and student life. KCJS examines the significance of Kyoto's past and explores its present as well as Japan's place in today's global world.
Students may choose from a broad spectrum of social science and humanities courses on pre-modern and contemporary Japan, taught in English.
Applicants must have completed at least two years of college-level Japanese for the fall semester and five semesters for the spring semester (or the equivalent).
Participating institutions are Boston University, Brown University, Columbia University/Barnard College, Cornell University, Emory University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University, in association with the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia.
The University
KCJS is based at the Imadegawa campus of Doshisha University located just north of the Imperial Palace in the center of Kyoto. The KCJS has program offices, classrooms, a student lounge, and a library, and its students have access to other Doshisha facilities.
Founded in 1875, Doshisha University is renowned as a prominent private educational institution with a long history of tradition in Japan. It is comprised of 11 faculties, 31 departments, the Center for Japanese Language and Culture, and 13 graduate schools including two professional graduate schools, and has a student body of over 26,000 students. Because of its commitment to internationalization, Doshisha has been designated as one of 30 national centers for global education by the Japanese government.
The Setting
Kyoto served as Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868 when the capital was moved to Tokyo. It is now the country's seventh largest city with a population of 1.5 million people. Kyoto is home to 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than 1600 Buddhist temples, and over 400 Shintō shrines, making it one of the world’s most culturally rich cities.