The Department of Japanese Studies offers the Articulated M.Phil-Ph.D Programme in Japanese Studies in the academic year of 2014-15. The objective of the M.Phil.-Ph.D. Articulated Programme in Japanese Studies is to encourage the integration of teaching and research in Japanese studies at an advanced level. It aims to allow students to integrate different disciplinary and methodological approaches for the advancement of Japanese studies. The Programme will equip students with the necessary theoretical knowledge and research skills to allow intellectual development and critical scholarship on Japan, Japan-China and Japan-Hong Kong cultural studies. The Programme builds on the Department's proven track record in graduate training in historical and contemporary studies of Japan, thereby contributing to the field of Japanese studies. The integration of these skills shall be reflected in the Ph.D. course of study as well as in the students' theses.

Graduates of the programme will have acquired broad-based knowledge of Japan as well as expertise in one of the following fields of specialization: anthropology of Japan, Japanese popular culture, Japanese linguistics, history of Sino-Japanese relations, Japan-Hong Kong relations, or Japanese intellectual history. They will have developed the skills to conduct research at an advanced level, and will have produced a thesis based on original research that contributes to Japanese studies.

The programme emphasizes the historical and socio-cultural aspects of Japan-China and Japan-Hong Kong relations. The Division receives the first batch of Ph.D students in September 2014. One of these students has been awarded the HK Ph.D Fellowship Scheme Scholarship.

The Department of Japanese Studies provides a good learning environment for postgraduate students. Students can apply for subsidy from the Department to attend conferences or conduct fieldwork overseas.

In addition, the Research Centre for Comparative Japanese Studies proactively promotes inter-disciplinary studies and facilitates exchange and communications with top-tier Japan research institutes, thustherefore creating a platform for research students to explore research opportunities.

A group of postgraduates from the Department of Japanese Studies attended a conference on Asian Studies held in Binghamton University, USA in September 2013.