So I'm thinking about going to graduate school back in the USA and studying Japanese. I haven't really done much research about it yet, but thought that somebody here might have some good comments about going. So what do you think? Is getting a graduate degree in something like Japanese Literature or Politics something that could get me a job. Im kinda thinking that itd being a prof at a university would be a pretty good gig, but im not set on any one course at the moment. My Japanese isnt the best, but its getting better everyday. Im passionate about learning it, and I think I'll be a competitive candidate for any program. Unfortunately I didnt study it in college, so i really don't have any feel for the graduate field at all, nor do i have any real connections to ask questions.

If you have been to graduate school for something similar, what is your take on it? Is it worth the time and money, or is it a waste?

If you were going to go where would you go?

let me know what you think

If you want a degree in Japanese Lit or Politics, wouldn't it make more sense to do a graduate degree there? The resources and the immersion would be much better.

I have graduate degrees in art and psychology, did them both in the US but if I wanted a degree in Japanese I'd apply to Japanese grad schools instead. I'm currently a prof at a US university (in psychology) so would be happy to answer specific questions about what an academic job entails...

Whether or not graduate school is worth it is going to depend mostly upon your career goals (of course you can enroll in graduate school simply because you're passionate about the subject and want more knowledge in it). If you want to become a teacher then yes it's a necessary step, and well worth it. Funding the studies isn't too much of a problem as long as you involve yourself in research and assistant teaching, which will cover a lot of your tuition fees. Private universities with high endowments will sometimes pay for your studies, though being admitted into those programs can be extremely difficult.

It's a good idea to decide what level you'd want to teach as well. For those who already speak the language fluently often they just get an MA in teaching Japanese as a foreign language, which allows them to teach at mostly nearly any university. All the higher-end universities usually require you to work towards your Ph.D. (you can earn an MA while striving for your Ph.D., but the doctorate needs to be your goal). San Francisco State is the most used program for just earning the MA in teaching Japanese as a foreign language (which won't necessarily limit your job options. Harvard hired one or two people with their MA from SFS, for example).

Many universities WILL require you to have a Ph.D. though. For this there are many superb progrms, and usually you just apply to all the ones you can. The Japanese program here at Stanford is really great, and I am hoping to go into the graduate program after I finish my BA next year. Here in California UC Berkeley and UCLA are also both great (UC Berkeley's East Asian Library is absolutely amazing).

Last summer I went looking at all the different graduate programs here, and my personal top list would be: Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley. A lot of other schools have great programs, but those are the ones that stuck out to me the most.

Regarding doing your studies at a Japanese university, that's definitely a possibility. It mostly depends on your situation and which option appeals to you the most. I want to continue my studies at Stanford rather than in Japan simply because I really like California and all my friends live here, though my family lives in Japan.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the teachers in Japan are necessarily more knowledgable about the language than the ones in the states either. I've met an American professor who can write 50,000 kanji...none of the teachers I've had in Japan would be able to come close to that.

A few problems for you specifically might be that you didn't do an undergrad program. You WILL need at least three letters of rec for any Ph.D. program. Those might be hard to come by in your situation. Also, make sure you meet the language requirements: you'll need fluency in modern Japanese, and at least a year of classical Japanese coursework simply to qualify.

Another school with a good Japanese department is the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Anyone besides me thought that this topic was about studying in a Japanese University?

If the OP's Japanese "isn't the best, but its getting better everyday" then going to graduate school in Japan is out of the question. You need to be fluent and then some (and then some more) to even consider enrolling on a social sciences or arts course that isn't in your native language. Japanese literature, for example, would require at least 15,000 words of work to be submitted over the year. And the work in question doesn't just have to be comprehensible - it has to be of post-grad standard.

Getting a job as a professor would first require a PhD in the relevant area. Are you prepared to dedicate three years of your life toward something which "would be a pretty good gig"?

It's also important to note that a graduate degree in Japanese Literature or Politics would not make you a better candidate for any particular job, unless you wanted to go for something incredibly specific like working for a publishing house which specialises in Japanese books (and even then, it'll only give you a slight leg up on your CV). What matters is your degree level and interview performance.

Graduate study is also extremely expensive. If your financial situation is at all iffy then think very carefully about what you're doing and what your end goal is. Most graduate students have rich & generous parents so the idyllic image of studying for the sake of studying is overemphasised and make to look more desirable than it actually is. The truth is that normal people (for want of a better word...) simply can't afford to wake up one day and decide to go back to college. The last thing you want to do is start taking out loans without really knowing what you're doing.

People here are doing their best to learn Japanese. I believe some of us will soon reach this mythical level where you can enroll in a Japanese course.
Maybe not Japanese literature, but how about engineering?

I'm an engineering graduate student in Japan and there are plenty of programs at Japanese universities that do not require Japanese language experience. I have fairly good experience, but I am far from fluent. Engineering schools in Japan are moving towards a primarily English curriculum since most prestigious science journals are written in English today. However, my department is not in English (yet) and thus I have to take most of my classes in Japanese which has been tough, but next semester is my only remaining required course. Its all research from there on.

If someone found other courses (departments/majors) that were lax in Japanese language requirements, I would not be surprised. Your main objective should be to consider possible research topics (and the implications of those projects). If your language skills are low, you may want to have a good idea of your (possible) future path in research and implications of such. However, I have a weak understanding of liberal arts graduate schools, so I may be entirely off base here in that case.

Good luck to anyone else interested in graduate education in Japan

thank you all for your helpful responses, I think they really have made my decision that much easier.