The main emphasis of the course is on economic and sociological aspects. In addition to a knowledge of Japanese and the subsidiary at least a passive command of English is indispensable. A welcome contribution to the centre has been made by the Kobe food company MCC, which, each semester for a period of five years, will be sponsoring a visiting professorship for the Siebold chair set up for visiting professors by the Rector's office. When the diploma course in Regional Studies is up and running, students will be able to choose, during Part I of their studies, between this diploma course, a diploma course in translating and the M.A. course. There are currently 350 students enrolled in the M.A. course.
Research too is top priority.
At the Research Centre for Contemporary Japan five junior lecturers are working on a study of social pluralisation in Japan. It is eventually planned to include the results in the diploma course.