The Japanese programme in the School of Arts consists of Japanese language and culture papers. The language acquisition papers are designed for learners of Japanese as a foreign or second language. The cultural papers are taught in English and are also available to non-language students.

Japanese is available as a specialisation within the International Languages and Cultures major. Details of the requirements for the Japanese language specialisation can be found under International Languages and Cultures.

Japanese may also be taken as a minor in other undergraduate degrees, subject to approval of the Division in which the student is enrolled.

The point of entry into the Japanese language papers depends on previous experience. Those with no previous experience of Japanese, take JAPAN131 followed by JAPAN231 in the subsequent year. Students with 14 credits at Level 3 in NCEA Japanese or equivalent, will gain direct entry into JAPAN232. Students with excellent results at Level 2 in NCEA Japanese or equivalent, may, at the discretion of the Convenor of Japanese, begin with JAPAN232. Native speakers of Japanese may not enrol in JAPAN131, JAPAN231, JAPAN232, JAPAN331 or JAPAN332. Students whose heritage language is Japanese and who wish to enrol in a Japanese language acquisition paper should contact a lecturer in the subject to determine the appropriate level. Please consult with the Programme Convenor for general advice on entry point into Japanese language acquisition papers.

Note:

Students are encouraged to contact the Division of Arts, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences Office for programme advice.

Enrolment into the PGCert, PGDip, BA(Hons) and MA in Japanese will be suspended from 2022 onwards.

Other qualifications

Prescriptions for:

Japanese papers

Code and paper titlePoints
JAPAN131Japanese for Beginnersright arrow

This paper assumes no previous knowledge of Japanese. It takes an integrated approach to the four skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

1525B (Hamilton) & 25B (Secondary School - Unistart)
time

2025 Catalogue of Papers information current as of 3 Apr 2025 01:00am