What can I do with a Japanese major or minor?

While at UM:

Live in the Japanese cluster of the Language House (right next door to Jimenez Hall!)

Participate in the Language Partner Program and receive academic credit

Study abroad at top universities and programs in Japan, often by paying your UM tuition but enrolling through our exchange arrangements. Options include:

• Keio University or Waseda University in Tokyo (exchange arrangement with UM; these institutions are often referred to as the “Harvard and Yale of Japan”)
• Kobe University (exchange arrangement)
• Kwansei Gakuin University or the Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies (through the University Study Abroad Consortium, or USAC)
• The Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (separate enrollment) (academic year, semester, and summer programs)
• Tohoku University (exchange arrangement with UM, including options specific to the Engineering program)

Obtain practical skills through a local internship, for example through the Japan Information and Cultural Center, affiliated with the Japanese Embassy, the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C., or the National Cherry Blossom Festival

Pass Level 1 (top level) of the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Language Proficiency Test

After graduating from UM:

Enroll in graduate school

Participate in the Japan Exchange Teaching Program (JET) to teach English in Japan

Apply your Japanese skills to a variety of fields, including academia, business, government, international relations, law, and translation.

Please click here for recent graduate school, job, and internship placements as well as scholarships and fellowships awarded to UM Japanese majors and minors!

Questions?  Contact Dr. Lindsay Yotsukura, Associate Professor and Director of the Japanese program, at ly@umd.edu. We can arrange a day and time for you to sit in on one of our classes!