CJS Overview
Japanese Studies at UH pioneered by Dr. Tasuku Harada
The University of Hawaiʻi pioneered the study of Japan in the U.S. starting with the appointment of Dr. Tasuku Harada as its first professor of Japanese studies in 1920. Since that time, UH has developed one of the most comprehensive Japanese studies programs in the country and offers courses unparalleled in breadth, depth, and variety. Masato Ota and George Oshiro's 1999 article, “Mediator between Cultures: Tasuku Harada and Hawaiian-Japanese Intercultural Relations in the 1920s,” provides a rich and extensive history of the origin of Japanese studies at UH.
The Center for Japanese Studies at UH Mānoa
The Center for Japanese Studies (CJS) is a coordinating unit at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM), the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) system, dedicated to fostering the study of Japan across academic disciplines. The Center is one of eight interdisciplinary area centers housed within the School of Pacific & Asian Studies (SPAS), in the College of Arts, Languages, and Letters (CALL). SPAS supports faculty and student development, instruction, research and publication in Pacific and Asian Studies throughout UHM.
Our Mission
Our mission is to promote a deeper understanding of Japan within a global context. The Center pursues this goal in the following ways:
- by supporting and encouraging excellence in research, teaching, and the language curriculum for the training of future Japan scholars and specialists with an interdisciplinary and international expertise;
- by providing opportunities for enrichment through publications, student exchanges, research grants and scholarships; access to special library collections and international conferences; and exposure to visiting scholars;
- by fostering a deeper awareness of Japanese culture overall through the Dr. Genshitsu Sen (Sōshitsu XV) International Way of Tea Center;
- by sponsoring the Review of Japanese Culture and Society (RJCS), a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the scholarly examination of Japanese culture in a trans-Pacific context;
- by maintaining on the UHM ScholarSpace repository, open access bibliographies and photo collections with usage instructions provided on the description pages;
- by reaching out to the local community, in collaboration with the Consulate-General of Japan in Honolulu, and other Japan-focused groups such as the Japan-America Society of Hawai’i and the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation; in close cooperation with the federally funded East-West Center; and in representation in national and international organizations and activities; and
- by supporting the study of Okinawa in partnership with the Center for Okinawan Studies at SPAS, UHM.
CJS also, for many years, administered on behalf of the UHM East Asia Council the federal Title VI Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowships for UHM undergraduates and graduate students until the program was closed in 2025.
Program Size
Japanese Studies at UHM is one of the largest programs of its kind in the country. We have 32 full-time faculty specialists in departments across the campus and 10 full-time instructors supporting Japanese language programs.
In the 2024-2025 academic year and summer 2025, UHM offered 30 unique Japanese language courses in multiple sections with an enrollment of 1,783 and offered 58 area studies courses focused on or related to Japan with an enrollment of 1,547. During this same period, courses on Japan or Japan-related courses were offered in 17 different subject areas, campus-wide, demonstrating the breadth and depth of the University’s Japanese studies expertise.
Last updated June 2026.