Current Students
Along with working to gain the necessary credits to graduate you will need to schedule time to work on your own research project and write you graduation thesis; this is due at the end of your second year but there are a number of intermediate steps designed to get you there. This section outlines those steps and offers some brief advice on how to approach them.
Scheduled tasks
Once you have been accepted to GSIR you will go through the two-year masters program along with your fellow students. There are a number of submissions and presentations that you will prepare along the way, this is what the two-year flow looks like (if you’re starting in April), more details and advice below.
| Y1 | Semester One |
April | End of April – Research Advising Plan (for year one) |
| May | |||
| June | |||
| July | |||
| August | Summer Break | ||
| September | |||
Semester Two |
October | First week of Oct: Progress Report I (M1 Kenkyu Report) (2000 words) | |
| November | Mid-Nov: Oral Presentation of Thesis Proposal (Shinchoku Hokokukai) (30mins) | ||
| December | |||
| January | Mid-Jan: Progress Report Ⅱ (M1 Ronbun) (10,000 words) | ||
| February | |||
| March | Spring Break | ||
| Y2 | Semester One |
April | End of April – Research Advising Plan (for year two) |
| May | |||
| June | |||
| July | |||
| August | Summer Break | ||
| September | |||
Semester Two |
October | Mid-Late Oct: Final Oral Presentation (Saishu Hokokukai) (30mins) | |
| November | |||
| December | |||
| January | Mid-Jan: Master’s Thesis (Shuron) (15-20,000 words) | ||
| February | Early-mid Feb: Oral Defense Examination (Koto Shimon) (60mins) | ||
| March | Graduate! |
You can download the spring start and autumn start schedules as PDFs here:
• Spring Start Schedule
• Autumn Start Schedule
Year One: First Semester
Research Advising Plan (1)
This is submitted on a form that you and your adviser both need to fill in. It is generally due quite soon after the start of the semester so make sure you stay alert.
This is a fairly short piece of work but you should use it as an opportunity to set yourself some goals for the year ahead.
- What do you actually want to achieve this year?
- How much of your thesis do you plan on writing?
- When will you do these things?
- Are there important time-dependent elements of your project (conferences, cultural events, government data releases etc) that happen at certain times?
Whether you manage to stick to it or not, it’s important to have a plan. If you have a plan then at least you can know whether you are on schedule, or behind, or maybe even ahead!
Towards the latter half of the semester you need to think ahead and make sure you are prepared to hand in ‘Progress Report I’.
Year One: Second Semester
Progress Report I (M1 Kenkyū Report)
Due near the start of this semester, this is a larger piece of work, about 2000 words. It summarises and elaborates on your research proposal. Probably there will be quite a bit of overlap with the ‘Research Plan’.
Oral Presentation of Thesis Proposal (Shinchoku Hōkokukai) (30mins)
This is a formal presentation of your research project to your adviser and another faculty member (known as the 副査 fukusa) who acts as co-adviser. You will have about 15 minutes to present your work, you can use slides and other visual aids, and then there is 15 minutes set aside for Q&A. Generally this will focus on making sure you understand what you are doing, identifying potential problems and areas for improvement, and getting input from you co-adviser, who may be able to offer a new perspective or point out alternative materials and concepts that you might find useful.
It is a good idea if you can identify a faculty member you would like to act as your fukusa as you take your various courses; maybe there is a sensei with good regional, or theoretical knowledge who you think will be able to offer you useful advice.
Year Two: First Semester
Research Advising Plan (2)
At the start of the second year you will need to hand in a ‘Research Advising Plan’ for this year. Again, try to set yourself some goals, and put forward an actual plan that says what you will do (in concrete detail, not just ‘read some books’) and when you will start and end doing these things. Also try to identify any resources that will be needed, and think about their availability. Submit on the usual form.
Towards the end of the semester, or over the break, start to prepare for the ‘Final Oral Presentation’ which you will need to give near the start of next semester.
Year Two: Second Semester
You will graduate (assuming everything goes to plan!) at the end of this semester. This is quite a busy semester for you. There are a couple of things you will need to be prepared for.
1. Final Oral Presentation (Saishū Hōkoku-kai)
30 minutes; 15 mins presentation summarising your work, 15 mins for Q+A with your adviser and sub-adviser.
This is a final chance to run your work past the eyes of your adviser and another faculty co-adviser. Ideally, by this point your thesis will be 80-90 per cent finished and this is an opportunity to check that you are on course to graduate at the end of the semester.
2. Thesis Submission; 15-20,000 words
See here for advice.
3. Oral Defence
This takes place a couple of weeks after the submission of your thesis. It is officially speaking an exam and the rules for this presentation differ from previous ones somewhat; there are no electronic aids allowed, though you are allowed to create handouts for your adviser and co-adviser. And of course everyone concerned will have your thesis so you can refer to that too.