Japanese Careers
Your future career
Graduates can expect to find employment in a wide range of areas as you develop transferable skills that can be applied to a great variety of professions in both the public and private sectors. For example:
- Teaching (Professional Master of Education required)
- Diplomacy
- Interpreting & Localising
- Translating
- International Business
- Media
- Tourism
- Coordinator for International Relations (JET Programme)
Student Profile
Lily Nox
I’m in my fourth year of BA Applied Languages, studying French, German and Japanese. Although I did not take the new Japanese stream on the Bachelor of Arts, my experience should be helpful to any student considering Japanese, regardless of the course.
Japanese was the first language I chose purely for myself, something exciting that I shared with a few friends. It opened me up socially and academically in a way I didn’t expect.
Studying Japanese at UL is very supportive. The classes are small, meaning you get real attention from lecturers and plenty of opportunities to practice. The programme builds skills gradually in kanji, conversation, grammar and listening. We are supported by great facilities. Cultural learning is very important too; one of my favourite modules covered the full history of written Japanese. We also have weekly meet‑ups with Japanese exchange students, with games, quizzes and cultural activities scheduled around our timetable so everyone can join.
I spent both my Co‑op and Erasmus in Japan first working in a hotel in Saitama, then studying in Nagoya. Co‑op threw me in at the deep end with formal customer-facing Japanese, but it was exactly what I needed to grow. Erasmus gave me time to immerse myself, self-study, and experience a completely different side of the country.
My biggest advice? Japanese isn’t “too hard”; your mindset matters far more than your starting level. If you’re curious, motivated, and willing to put in the time, UL gives you everything you need to thrive.
