This course provides initial research training and, in most cases, aims to develop students' linguistic skills as well as methodological sophistication. This MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies by Research (Japanese Studies) is only offered by dissertation only, and is not a taught course option. During the year, MPhil students attend various training opportunities offered by the Department in codicology, text reading, fieldwork and other skills. They are also encouraged to attend fourth year undergraduate lectures and Faculty seminars, where relevant. They also attend graduate work-in-progress seminars where they have an opportunity to present their own work to their peers for feedback in a supportive environment. In consultation with their supervisor, students will also, where relevant, be encouraged to attend appropriate courses and seminars offered elsewhere in the university in subject areas related to students' research interests. At the end of the MPhil programme, students will be expected to have: acquired the ability to read, interpret and translate primary sources in Modern and/or Classical Japanese; acquired a good knowledge of the general scholarship on Modern and/or Classical Japanese culture(s); acquired an in-depth knowledge of the secondary literature relevant to the subject of their dissertation; developed the ability to formulate original research questions and produce a well-constructed, argument to answer them, in the form of an independent piece of research based on the use of primary and secondary sources and acquired the skills to use library and internet resources independently.