Looking for young, curious and talented people who will breathe new air into a stimulating forum of intellectual exchanges where the spirit of innovation that led to the development of the Kyoto School remains vibrant

Nurturing a new breed of researchers competent for international engagements

The overarching goal of Kyoto University Faculty of Letters is to nurture researchers. However, those days are gone when you were recognized as a researcher solely based on your domestic reputation. Such is the case regardless of your field of study－whether it be Japanese literature and culture or those of any other country or region. You must be able to compete and work as an equal with researchers from around the world and communicate the value of your research so it can be recognized globally. At the same time, you must strive to help raise the international level of research and create an environment where, by overcoming nationalism, researchers from around the world can stand on a common ground of mutual understanding. Thus, we are seeking to nurture a new age of researchers who are competent to work in an international setting.

Setting clear targets that will lead to a higher level of expertise

At Kyoto University Faculty of Letters, we seek to theoretically elucidate human activities by systematically studying lines of thought, languages, literature, history, behavior, and contemporary culture in their respective academic disciplines. Moreover, with the aim of guiding students to a higher level of expertise as researchers who re-examine the value of these studies in an ever-changing environment, we set the following learning goals:

• To acquire basic academic knowledge in the fields of philosophy, history, literature, and behavioral science; to nurture the ability of cultivating an in-depth understanding of a specialized field; and to develop, through the process of writing a senior thesis, the ability of delving into, analyzing, and describing problems
• To nurture the ability of discovering and solving problems by tackling issues head-on in the fields of philosophy, history, literature, and behavioral science, and thereby acquire an attitude of working on problems creatively
• To understand the meaning and significance of the humanities, and acquire abilities by which to act, with a high sense of morality, in a way that contributes to the development of the humanities
• To develop a good sense and spirit of free and critical thinking, to look directly at the challenges facing humanity, and to develop the ability of proactively contributing to problem-solving

Four years to build up layers of specialized learning on the groundwork laid with an education in the liberal arts and sciences

First year: In the first year, you take liberal arts and science courses, which are university-wide offerings centered on liberal arts education. Being exposed to a broad spectrum of academic fields in this period of time will prove to be a plus for you in the long run, as the scope of learning is to be narrowed down and more specialized as you move on to subsequent years. In addition, you should take a foreign language course, choosing the language you will need in the field of study you plan to pursue starting in the third year.

Second year: You take primer courses offered by the specialized departments of your interest, such as introductory lectures on research and basic seminars, in preparation for departmental affiliation.

Third year: Full-scale learning in a specialized field begins. You take specialized classes, such as seminars and special lectures, in addition to regular lectures in your specialized field of study. These include classes that are also attended by graduate students. At first, you may feel overwhelmed by the intelligence of graduate students, but it is typically the case that you begin to see a path to becoming a researcher yourself while watching their sincere dedication in pursuing their academic interests. Courses offered by the Faculty of Letters tend to center on the reading of literature, including works written in a foreign language, but there are also classes involving experiments and field work.

Fourth year: Thesis writing becomes the center of your learning. You need to decide on a theme, collect and analyze materials, and compile your findings into a thesis on your own. This process is not easy and may involve significant hardships. However, the experience of overcoming hardships will serve you well when you move on to the real world. On the other hand, if you go on to graduate school, writing a senior thesis is the first step of your journey to becoming a researcher.

The Faculty of Letters consists of six divisions and 31 specialized departments.

Division of Basic Philosophy
Departments : Philosophy, History of Western Philosophy, Japanese Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Christian Studies, Aesthetics and Art History

Division of Literature (Eastern)
Departments : Japanese Language and Literature, Chinese Language and Literature, History of Chinese Philosophy, Indological Studies, Buddhist Studies

Division of Literature (Western)
Departments : Classics, Slavic language and Literatures, German Language and Literatures, English/American Language and Literature, French Language and Literature, Italian Language and Literature

Division of Basic History
Departments : Japanese History, Oriental History, West-Asian History, European History, Archaeology

Division of Behavioral and Environmental Studies
Departments : Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Geography

Division of Basic Contemporary Culture
Departments : Philosophy and History of Science, Media and Culture Studies, Contemporary History

Guidance on specialized departments　

Of the 31 specialized departments within the Faculty of Letters, only the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Ethics are open to application.

Department of Philosophy

Philosophy has a history of more than two millennia since ancient Greek, making it simply the oldest of mankind's scholarly pursuits. Today it is not clear, however, how we can pursue and develop this long-standing discipline in the entirely new circumstances of the 21st century.

But we have a clue in the tradition of our department. This department was the home of a distinctive philosophical movement in the 20th century Japan; Kyoto school. The founders of the school, Kitaro Nishida and Hajime Tanabe, served for decades as professors of this department, rearing a host of original and creative philosophers. They were open minded to such diverse intellectual milieu as Western classical and contemporary philosophies, Eastern traditional thoughts, religious experience, science, mathematics, logic, art, practical matters etc. Against those rich and wide intellectual and cultural backgrounds, they attempted to construct dense and daring philosophical edifices of their own.

In the age of globalization and under the dominance of science/technology, we are in more need than ever for the open-mindedness to various intellectual fields and practical issues. So while researching classical and contemporary Western philosophy, we are always paying serious attention to such other fields as mentioned above, and seeking to make unique and original philosophical contributions to today's various problems.

We are also very keen to establish international networks of scholars and students of philosophy and many other disciplines. Through corroborations with newly established institutions in Kyoto University and Graduate School of Letters such as Center for Applied Philosophy and Ethics (CAPE) and Kyoto University Asian Studies Unit (KUASU), we are organizing numerous international workshops, symposiums, exchange of scholars and students, and other research and educational activities. Our emphasis is particularly placed on the establishment of cross-disciplinary intellectual networks in the region of Asia and Pacific.

Department of Ethics

Created with the foundation of Kyoto Imperial University's College of Letters in 1906, the Department of Ethics is one of the six oldest departments within the Faculty of Letters. Professor Kokichi Kano, the first chair of the department who served concurrently as the first dean of the College of Letters, built the foundation for the unique academic culture of Kyoto University's Faculty of Letters, inviting prominent intellectuals from outside of the academic establishment, such as Konan Naito and Rohan Koda, to serve as professors.

The aim of the department is the contemplation of human behavior from a philosophical perspective, or the study of "social philosophy" in the broader sense of that term. Research themes of students may be categorized largely into either ethical theory or applied ethics, but in choosing either one, students must nonetheless maintain an awareness of the other. Also, historical studies providing an overview of the entire spectrum of ethical thought are also important, serving as a filter to separate genuine scholastic study from arbitrary ideas or mere statements of opinion.

Within the department, study sessions and reading circles, organized mostly by graduate students, are held on a regular basis. Students can receive great intellectual stimulus by availing themselves of the opportunity to participate in these activities. During the summer vacation, students and faculty members together attend an intensive study camp focusing on a specific theme － an important annual event that also strengthens friendship and communication. Publications from the department include Jissen Tetsugaku Kenkyu, a journal with a history of forty years, as well as compilations of source materials produced through several projects and collections of research papers, which serve as references for students in deciding their own research orientations.