JEA Background Knowledge

Applicants to the Japan in East Asia program are expected to have a wide range of educational backgrounds. Successful candidates will be required to engage in in-depth and critical academic investigations of humanities and social sciences subjects, for example, Modern History of Japan, History of International Relations in East Asia, Analysis of Contemporary Japanese Society, and Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, to complete the PEAK degree program. Although we do not require the applicants to have specific subject qualifications, candidates should demonstrate a high level of literacy, numeracy and critical thinking in their past academic records across traditional subjects such as English, Mathematics, History, Politics and Economy (this list is not exclusive*), while showing a strong intellectual appetite for understanding historical and current affairs.

During the selection process, the ability of candidates to cope with our courses based on their background knowledge will be taken into consideration. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of our program and a wide range of courses offered in the PEAK program including statistics, it is desirable that PEAK students be equipped with good grounding also in science subjects. The University of Tokyo will not provide any revision or "catch up" classes to fill knowledge gaps. So it is the responsibility of students to ensure that their knowledge is at an appropriate level.

If you have any questions about your background knowledge and admission to the PEAK Japan in East Asia program, please contact us through Contact Us.