Department of Japanese, Tamkang University was founded in 1966. It is the second oldest and has the largest number of students and faculty members among the Japanese departments in Taiwan today. A large number of graduates are active both in Taiwan and abroad. Graduates who have made outstanding achievements in society are honored during the Homecoming Day, every year in November.
The department was the first in TKU to initiate a Junior Abroad Program for third-year students in 1993. Today, together with the university-wide program, many students from the department are sent to partner universities in Japan and other countries every year. We also offer internship programs at workplaces both in Taiwan and Japan during the summer and winter breaks, as well as the first semester of the fourth year. Short programs at Japanese universities are also available. Through these opportunities for exchange and practical experience, we hope that students will deepen their contemplation and envision their own and the society’s future.
In the fourth year, students are required to complete a capstone program. Students can choose one of the following themes: Dissertation, Report, Creative work, Translation, Film, Theatre performance, Tourist guide, Magazine editing, or Teaching Japanese as a second language, each shall be completed under the guidance of a faculty. Some of the works are available on the Chinese version of this website.
The research interests of the faculties are wide-ranging, literature, linguistics, language education, sociology, history, thought, media, and so forth. Joint researches among the faculties are also actively conducted. They include several projects by Center for Murakami Haruki Studies commenced in 2014 and studies of AI on Japanese learning.