It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanese language, history, culture, literature, philosophy, art, music, cinema, and science.
The historical roots of Western Japanese studies may be traced back to the Dutch traders based at Dejima, Nagasaki during the Edo period (1603–1867).
The foundation of the Asiatic Society of Japan at Yokohama in 1872 by Western scholars such as Ernest Satow and Frederick Victor Dickins was an important event in the development of Japanese studies as an academic discipline.
[3] In Europe, the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) is also funded by Toshiba and the Japan Foundation.
The database indicates that the country with the most institutions of Japanese studies outside the United States and Japan is China (121), while other countries containing a significant number of institutions include South Korea (85), England (69), Germany (64), Canada (61), Australia (54), and France (54).