Research Topics
Graduate students will find research environment conducive in the Department, which is fast developing a reputation in the areas of Japanese-Chinese studies and Japanese-Southeast Asian studies.
In the field of Japanese-Chinese studies, there are staff working on such topics as Japanese-Chinese cultural interactions in the early twentieth century; the popular beliefs and ethnic politics of the Chinese communities in Japan; Japanese colonialism in Taiwan, Japanese-Chinese intellectual relations in early modern times; and Chinese text and Chinese learning in Japan during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
In the field of Japanese-Southeast Asian studies, staff research on such topics as Japanese cultural interactions with Southeast Asians before 1945; comparative aging, women, work and mass media issues in Japan and Southeast Asia; Japanese regional dynamics and business enterprises in Southeast Asia; comparison of the Japanese and Malay languages; and studies on the teaching of Japanese as a foreign language in the Singaporean context.
Current graduate students research in areas such as Japanese literature, wartime history, education, gender system, media and politics, environmentalism and religion, and trading companies. The tables below list our graduate students, both past and present, and their research topics.
| Student | Thesis Topic | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Karl Ian Uy Cheng Chua | Indoctrination of the Filipinos to Japanese Culture through Comics (1942-45) | Assoc Prof Teow See Heng |
| Ng Suan Kee, Judy | Environmentalism and Modern Shinto | Assoc Prof Tsu Yun Hui, Timothy |
| Posadas Baryon Tensor Santiago | A Comparative Study of the Themes of Alienation and Estrangement on Japanese, Filipino and Singaporean Postwar Fiction from a Postcolonial Frame | Dr Lim Beng Choo |
| Soong Lai Yee, Juliana | The Modification of Japanese Culture for Foreign Consumption: The Reconstruction of Festivals in Japan | Dr Thang Leng Leng |
| Tan Ban Chong | Japanese Conceptualisation of Privacy | Dr Elizabeth MacLachlan |
| Tan Chee Kuan | Media and Politics in Japan | Dr Elizabeth MacLachlan |
| Tan Chyn Ngian | Japanese Education in Singapore from the Aspect of Learners' Intrinsic and External Conditions | Dr Guo Jun Hai |
| Zheng Yu | Japanese General Trading Companies in China | Dr Hendrik Meyer-Ohle |
| Student | Thesis Topic | Year of Degree Conferment |
|---|---|---|
| Guo Jun Hai (PhD) | Motivations and Attitudes of Singapore's Japanese Language Learners: A Socio-linguistic Study | 2002 |
| Chua Geok Lian | Watching Japanese Television Dramas in Singapore: Relevance, Cultural Proximity and Asian Modernity | 2002 |
| Lee Chee Keng | Negotiating "Culture", Re-presenting "New Asia" – A Case Study of Japan Foundation Asia Center’s Production of Lear | 2002 |
| Lim Mui Leng, Jasmine | Recreation in Singapore Under the Japanese Occupation 1942-45 | 2002 |
| Tam Wai Lok | Japanese Video Games in Hong Kong: A Study of Subordinate Males as Consumers | 2002 |
| Ikeda Yuko | Perception of Japanese Accent and Features of Pronunciation by Singaporean Learners of Japanese | 2002 |
| Miyazaki Yumiko | Polite Expressions in Japanese at the Japanese Overseas Operating Companies: The Study of Japanese Companies in Singapore | 2002 |
| Michiko Goto | An Analysis of Learners' Verbs based on Lexical Categories of Verbs (Kudo 1995) | 2001 |
| Hu Yi-ling | Ikebana in Singapore: Changes and Continuity | 2001 |
| Lim Tai Wei | The Political Economy of Information Technology (IT) in Japan and Singapore: A Comparative Study | 2001 |
| Loo Tze May | The Radicalisation of Protest: Kotokushisui and Anarchism in Late Meiji Japan | 2000 |
| Tan Shih Ming | The Asian Monroe Doctrine: Tokutomi Soho's Concept of a New Asian Order | 2000 |
| Wu Xiao Jin | The Boom of Karamono Adoration in Muromachi Japan: A Study of Development of Kanga | 2000 |
| Ng Mien Woon | Price Destruction and Its Implications for the Japanese Economy | 1997 |
| Chong Hoi Kiew, Kris | A Study of Ugetsu Monogatari - From the Viewpoint of Honan Shosetsu | 1995 |
| Toh Chia Wey, Jane | The Element of Perceptive Skills in Literary Translation | 1995 |
| Thang Leng Leng | Ikigai among Elderly in Okinawa | 1992 |
| Lim Beng Choo | Writer on the Merbius Truck - A Study of Abe Kobo's Novels | 1989 |
| Neo Chuan Choo | Akutagawa Ryunosuke: The Inner Strength | 1988 |