The world is changing rapidly under the influence of globalization. At the same time, the political, economic and even academic environment surrounding Japanese studies outside Japan has changed a great deal. Traditional motives for studying Japan, such as curiosity in the exotic, the perception of Japan as a menace, and anticipation of political conflicts with Japan, have largely been replaced by other incentives.
Grant-making organizations and Japanese academic and educational institutions should reorient their policies to respond to the new trends in Japanese studies abroad. In attempting to reorient their policies, the organizations concerned should first of all recognize the new trends surrounding Japanese studies around the world, particularly in the United States.
One such trend is the decline in the importance of area studies as opposed to interdisciplinary studies. Amid the growing conviction that comparative studies are necessary for analyzing and understanding Japan, scholars in political science, economics and even literature are increasingly placing Japanese studies in a global context.