Dear colleagues,

Many of us have received good Japanese language training and can use primary Japanese resources.
However, when it comes to the preparatory stages of a new research project, we might still find it challenging to find the right words in our communication with potential informants, research institutions, funding bodies, specialist libraries or for things like copyright or ethics clearing. Writing good Japanese letters and emails is somewhat of a science in itself, which explains the numerous Japanese books which are available on the subject.

I have recently been granted a small grant from the British Arts and Humanities Research Council (as part of a larger bid for language-based area studies). The grant will finance the efforts of Sheffield-based postgraduate students in creating language templates for the needs of non-native Japanese speaking researchers. At the completion of the project, the templates will be made publicly available on our website, so that the entire Japanese studies community can benefit from them. The idea is that all templates will be bilingual (English-Japanese).

You would be of great help to us, if you could send us sample letters in Japanese and/or English which you might have used in research contexts to navigate access to informants, institutions, and resources. We are currently at the brainstorming stage and would appreciate any ideas on what Japan researchers might find useful for their research communication.
Naturally, any templates published on our website will be kept anonymous.

We are aware that such templates can only be standardized to a limited degree and will thus not be able to meet fully the very specific requirements of an individual research project. However, we hope that a good number of well-structured templates and phrases will make it a great deal easier for many of us to communicate in Japanese research contexts.

Please send any materials to my email account:
h.conrad[at]sheffield.ac.uk

With best wishes,

Harald Conrad
--

Dr Harald Conrad
Sasakawa Lecturer in Japan's Economy and Management National Institute of Japanese Studies and School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN UK
Tel: +44-(0)114-222-8431
Fax: +44-(0)114 -222-8432
School of East Asian Studies:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/seas/
White Rose East Asia Centre: http://www.wreac.org/

Editor, Japan Forum
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09555803.asp

Please take a look at my latest publications:

UK Fund Managers and Institutional Investors' Attitudes

towards Japanese Equities. In: The Japanese Economy,
39(1)
http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/results1.asp?ACR+AD0-JES

Economic System and Welfare Regime Dynamics in Japan Since the Early 2000s - The Case of Occupational Pensions.
In: Journal of
Social Policy, 41(1)
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid+A
D0-JSP+ACY-tab+AD0-firstview

Change and Continuity in Japanese Employment Practices:
The
Case of Occupational Pensions since the Early 2000s.
In: International
Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(15) http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09585192.asp

>From Seniority to Performance Principle: The Evolution
of Pay
Practices in Japanese Firms since the 1990s. In: Social Science Japan Journal, 13(1) http://ssjj.oxfordjournals.org/