This advanced Japanese course develops high-level language competence through engagement with authentic materials drawn from diverse sources including media, literature, academic texts, and real-world content spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Students develop and demonstrate advanced proficiency by working with genuine Japanese materials that address contemporary societal issues, cultural themes, and literary works from multiple disciplinary perspectives including linguistic, anthropological, sociological, and psychological viewpoints. The course emphasises developing advanced literacy skills, critical reading abilities, listening comprehension, and presentation skills while students learn to navigate complex texts independently. Through careful reading, discussion, and analysis of these authentic materials, students gain deeper insights into modern Japanese society, culture, and literature while mastering the language skills necessary to engage with sophisticated, real-world Japanese content across various genres and formats.
Students can take this course up to four times, where the class topic is different. Individual class topics will focus on the following broad themes as decided by the relevant staff in the Japanese language program. These include
- Issues in contemporary Japan
- Japanese language in context
- Readings in society and culture
- Readings in literature
Each class topic will have different delivery formats and assessment selected to best suit the content and support and assess your learning. The indicative assessment given elsewhere on this page should be understood as indicative only, and represents the commonalities between the different topics. Please consult the relevant class summary for specific information or contact the relevant staff member.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Demonstrate advanced Japanese language proficiency through mastery of complex vocabulary, grammatical constructions, and literary analysis skills
- Critically analyse and interpret authentic Japanese texts and materials from multiple disciplinary perspectives
- Communicate effectively in both written and spoken Japanese through collaborative group work and academic discussions
- Present academic arguments fluently and with confidence on complex topics related to Japanese society, culture, history, and literature, contextualising issues within broader cultural and historical frameworks.
- Compose sophisticated academic work across written and oral formats, demonstrating advanced information gathering skills, persuasive writing abilities, and the capacity to integrate multiple sources and perspectives in original academic discourse.
Other Information
Proficiency level: Students who successfully complete this course will typically achieve a level of proficiency roughly equivalent to JLPT N2 to N3, depending on their performance and degree of engagement.
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On successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to engage at an Advanced level of Japanese.
Students with native speaker proficiency (may include cognate languages and dialects) must review the language proficiency assessment site and contact the CAP Student Centre for appropriate enrolment advice. Students with previous “language experience or exposure” are required to undertake a language proficiency assessment to ensure enrolment at the most appropriate level.
Relevant past experience includes:
- Previous study of the language (both formal and informal, for example but not limited to, at school, or, home, or through online activities, etc.)
- Being exposed to the language in childhood via a family member or friend
- Travel or living in a country where the language is spoken
- The language being spoken in your home (even if you do not speak it yourself)
Students who are not sure if they need to undertake a language proficiency assessment should seek advice from the course or language convenor. Students who intentionally misrepresent their language proficiency level may be investigated under the Academic Integrity Rule 2021 as having failed to comply with assessment directions and having sought unfair advantage. This may results in a penalty such as reduced grades or failure of the course.
Students are not permitted to enrol in a language course below one that they have already successfully completed, except with permission of the language and/or course convenor.
Indicative Assessment
- In class activities (20) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Preparatory written work - character (word count) varies according to topic (20) [LO 1,2,3,5]
- Project Development - character (word count) varies according to topic (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Presentations (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Summative written work - character (word count) varies according to topic (20) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
This course requires a total of 130 hours of work on the following activities: three hours per week in class-activities, online activities and independent study.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Will be made available on Canvas.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 to 24 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
| 7.00 | 0.14583 |
| 8.00 | 0.16667 |
| 9.00 | 0.18750 |
| 10.00 | 0.20833 |
| 11.00 | 0.22917 |
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
| 13.00 | 0.27083 |
| 14.00 | 0.29167 |
| 15.00 | 0.31250 |
| 16.00 | 0.33333 |
| 17.00 | 0.35417 |
| 18.00 | 0.37500 |
| 19.00 | 0.39583 |
| 20.00 | 0.41667 |
| 21.00 | 0.43750 |
| 22.00 | 0.45833 |
| 23.00 | 0.47917 |
| 24.00 | 0.50000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $750 per unit |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $970 per unit |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Japanese: Readings in Literature | ||||||
| 9059 | 27 Jul 2026 | 03 Aug 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 | 30 Oct 2026 | In Person | N/A |