Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan

The Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan program is a joint activity of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The goals of the program are to promote Japan studies in the United States, to encourage U.S.-Japanese scholarly exchange, and to foster the next generation of Japan scholars in the United States.

Awards support research and writing on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan’s international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations. These fellowships are for individual researchers with advanced Japanese language skills whose research will require using data, sources, documents, onsite interviews, or other direct contact in Japanese. Fellows may undertake their projects in Japan, the United States, or both, and may include work in other countries for comparative purposes. The program is a joint activity of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and NEH.

The program encourages innovative research that puts these subjects in wider regional and global contexts, is comparative and contemporary in nature, and contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the general public’s understanding. Appropriate disciplines include anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, political science, psychology, and sociology. Awards must result in a product, such as an article, monograph, book, e-book, digital material, translation, edition, or other scholarly resource.

You should have advanced Japanese language skills and plan to conduct research that will require using data, sources, documents, onsite interviews, or other direct contact in Japanese. You may undertake your project in Japan, the United States, or both, and may include work in other countries for comparative purposes. Projects may be at any stage of development.

In keeping with JUSFC’s commitment to foster the next generation of leaders in developing and maintaining the Japan-U.S. relationship, NEH encourages applications from junior scholars (that is, scholars who have earned their terminal degree within the last seven years). NEH also encourages applications from independent scholars and faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).

Funding Information

• Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $5,000 per month for full-time work. The maximum award is $60,000 for a twelve-month period of performance.
• The minimum award is $30,000 for a six-month period of performance.
• NEH anticipates awarding approximately $120,000 to $180,000 among an estimated three recipients.
• Awards are contingent on the availability of funds from JUSFC.
• Duration:
  • Your period of performance must be between six and twelve months, and it must have a start date between January 1, 2025, and September 1, 2026. It must start on the first day of the month and end on the last day of a month.
  • Your period of performance must be continuous.
  • During the period of performance you must work full time on your project and forego teaching, administrative assignments, and other major activities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Citizenship
  • You must be one of the following to be eligible:
    • A U.S. citizen residing domestically or abroad
    • A foreign national who has lived in the United States or its jurisdictions for at least the three years prior to the application deadline.
  • Foreign nationals who take up permanent residence outside the United States any time between the application deadline and the end of the period of performance will forfeit their eligibility. Leaving the U.S. on a temporary basis is permitted.
• Organizations
  • Organizations are ineligible to apply.
  • If you, as an individual recipient, elect to have the stipend paid through your institution, your institution must remit all NEH funds to you. Your institution may not take an institutional allowance or claim indirect costs.

For more information, visit NEH.