The International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken) makes use of several programs offered by Japanese and international organizations, such as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science or the Japan Foundation, that support research by providing foreign scholars with opportunities to conduct research at academic institutions in Japan. This Center receives foreign scholars as Visiting Research Fellows in the following categories:

I. JSPS Research Fellow (Postdoctoral Fellowships for Foreign Researchers) 1. Contents: Purpose, Targeted Academic Specializations, Criteria for Eligibility, and Duration of Research:
Please refer to the JSPS's website, where you can also download the application forms:
(in Japanese) www.jsps.go.jp/j-fellow/main.htm
(in English) www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-fellow/fellow.html


2. Terms and Conditions at Nichibunken: (1) The Center's library, computers, and other facilities including office space to be shared with other researchers will be made available for the use of the JSPS Research Fellow, in the same way as for a staff researcher at the Center.
(2) Housing accommodations will be available on the site of the Center. (There are charges for the use of these facilities.)

3. Application Procedure: Applicants must submit the designated application form of JSPS, the necessary certificates and a letter of request to a specific host professor whom you wish to look for guidance.

4. Application Deadline for Nichibunken: For those who arrive Japan between April 1 and September 30: August 1 of the previous year of the research year
For those who arrive Japan between September 1 and November 30: April 1 of the research year

5. Other Information: Nichibunken will apply for assistance from JSPS after selecting several candidates from among all those who applied to Nichibunken

6. For details, please contact: Office of Research Exchange International Research Center for Japanese Studies
3-2 Goryo Oeyama-cho, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 610-1192
Phone: +81(0)75-335-2046 Fax: +81(0)75-335-2043
Email: yokita@nichibun.ac.jp

II. JF Research Fellow, Visiting Research Fellow (fellow of other supporting organizations, or researcher supported by a foreign government)

1. Purpose: To provide opportunities for highly qualified foreign researchers to conduct research at Nichibunken, allowing them to advance their own research while participating in at least one of the Center's team research projects. Please refer to the JF's website, where you can also download the application forms:
(in Japanese) www.jpf.go.jp/j/program/intel.html
(in English) www.jpf.go.jp/e/program/index.html

2. Targeted Field: Japanese Culture (Human/Social Science and Natural Science)

3. Eligibility: Applicants should meet the following criteria:
(1) Citizens of nations with which Japan has diplomatic relations
(2) Researchers employed by a university or other research institution
(3) Those whom the Director-General deems to have qualifications equivalent toresearchers employed by a university or other research institution

4. Research Period: In principle, up to, but no longer than, twelve months

5. Terms and Conditions at Nichibunken: (1) The Center's library, computers, and other facilities including office space to be shared with other researchers will be made available for the use of the JSPS Research Fellow, in the same way as for a staff researcher at the Center.
(2) Housing accommodations will be available on the site of the Center. (There are charges for the use of these facilities.)

6. Application Deadline and How to Apply: By a date one month prior to the deadline for application to the organization that will provide financial assistance, the applicant for a Visiting Research Fellow appointment must apply to Nichibunken. Please send a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, the title of your proposed research, and a description of your research plan to the member of the Nichibunken faculty who will serve as your counterpart. The application will be submitted to the Director-General of this Center.

7. Other Information: Nichibunken will consider applications for Visiting Research Fellow case by case as it receives them.

8. For details, please contact: Office of Research Exchange
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
3-2 Goryo Oeyama-cho, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 610-1192
Phone: +81(0)75-335-2041
Fax: +81(0)75-335-2043
Email: nkotoura@nichibun.ac.jp

In order to broaden and deepen research on Japanese culture, and bring together re-searchers in a variety of specialized fields, The International Research Center for Japanese Studies has adopted the format of the “team research project” (Kyodo Kenkyu).

The Center is seeking a visiting research scholar to plan and organize a one-year team research project starting from the Japanese academic year 2013(April)-2014 (March) fo-cusing on some imaginative and significant research theme.

• Call for Applications (PDF file : 120KB)

1. Role of the Project Organizer The project organizer will be appointed as a visiting research scholar at the Center. He or she will be responsible for: selecting and organizing the project participants, drawing up and implementing research plans; chairing research meetings; collating research results for publication.

2. Participants in the Project Participants in the project must be either researchers residing in Japan or members of the Center’s faculty. A faculty member of the Center will assist the project organizer.

3. Venue of Research Meetings Research meetings will be conducted at the Center.

4. Eligibility Any researcher under 65 years old as of 1st April 2013 who is attached to a foreign university or other foreign research institution, or whom the Director deems to have equivalent qualifications.

5. Number of Openings Not more than two project organizers will be selected each year.

6. Research Period The project organizer is expected to arrive in Kyoto between April 1 and August 31, 2013; the project runs for one year after arrival.

7. Application Procedure Applicants should submit the following:

(1) Completed application forms, with a list of prospective participants.
In principle, all project participants should reside in Japan. The list must include at least one faculty member from the Center. (See the accompanying list of faculty.)
Before applying, please contact the relevant faculty member(s).

(2) Sample of Work
Copies of up to three major publications by the applicant relevant to the proposed project.

(3) Deadline for Applications
The application form and copies of publications should reach the Center by January 14, 2011.

(4) Applications should be sent to:
Research Support Section
Research Cooperation Division
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
3-2 Oeyama-cho, Goryo
Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 610-1192
Japan

(5) Contact information
Research Support Section
Research Cooperation Division
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Tel: +81-75-335-2044(direct)
Fax: +81-75-335-2092
E-mail: kyoudou@nichibun.ac.jp

For clarification regarding the preparation of the application form, please inquire by letter or fax.
Alternatively, the application form may be downloaded from here :  application form as a PDF file (139KB) or application form as a MSWord file (74KB).

8. Results The successful applicant will be invited to the Center by the Director on the recom-mendation of the Center’s screening committee. All applicants will be notified of the results by June 30, 2011.

9. Research Funds As a visiting research scholar, the project organizer will be provided with individual research funds and domestic travel funds. These funds may be used for ordering library books and purchasing necessary supplies. (They may not be used, however, to hire re-search assistants.) Participants in the team research project will be provided with the necessary travel expenses to attend research meetings.

10. Stipend As a visiting research scholar, the project organizer will be paid a monthly stipend roughly equivalent to that of a Japanese faculty member of similar experience. This will be calculated based on the number of years the applicant has spent engaged in research since obtaining an undergraduate degree.

11. Results of the Project The project organizer will be responsible for collating research reports and submitting the manuscripts for publication within one year of completion of the project.

12. Use of the Center’s Facilities The center’s library, computers and other facilities will be made available for the use of the project.

13. Accommodation The Center will help to arrange housing for the project organizer.

The International Research Center for Japanese Studies is one of the constituent institutions of the National Institutes for the Humanities, which was established as an Inter-University Research Institute Corporation under a law effective April 2004. Founded in May 1987 as an inter-university research institute of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, this Center seeks to promote comprehensive, international, and interdisciplinary research on Japanese culture, and to foster cooperation among researchers in Japanese studiesworldwide. In order to broaden and deepen research on Japanese culture and bring together researchers in a variety of specialized fields, the Center regularly appoints a number of scholars from around the world as Visiting Research Scholars.

The Center invites applications from scholars who wish to conduct research while in residence here. Visiting Research Scholars are expected to engage in collaborative activity with the Center's permanent faculty by, for example, participating in at least one of our team research projects ("kyôdô kenkyû").

1. Number of Openings: Several positions.

2. Obligations: The Visiting Research Scholar will be free to carry out his/her individual research, but must join in at least one team research project.The Visiting Research Scholar will contribute at least one article to either of the Center's two periodical publications, Nihon Kenkyu (in Japanese) or Japan Review (in European languages). Submission is expected during the visitor's stay at the Center or after his/her return to his/her home country.

3. Qualifications and Eligibility: Researchers of any nationality under 65 years old when the research period begins, who live outside Japan, are eligible to apply. Others whom the Director-General of this Center deems to have equivalent qualifications as a researcher may apply, provided that they meet the age criteria.
Applicants who meet the following criteria are preferred.
(1) Researchers employed by a university or other research institution.
(2) Researchers with a doctoral degree.
(3) Those whom the Director-General deems to have equivalent qualifications as above (1) and (2).

4. Research Period: The Visiting Research Scholar is expected to arrive in Kyoto between April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2013 then to stay for a period between three months and one year.

5. Salary and Conditions:
(1) The Visiting Research Scholar will receive a monthly salary on the legally appointed day each month, the amount of which is approximately the same as the salary of a regular full-time employee of the same age at the Center.
(2) Roundtrip travel expenses will be paid according to a rate stipulated in the regulations.
(3) A research allowance (including a domestic research travel expense allowance) will be disbursed to each Visiting Research Scholar.
(4) The Center's library, computers, and other facilities, including an individual research room, will be made available for the use of the Visiting Research Scholar, in the same way as for a regular full-time employee of the Center.
(5) Visiting Research Scholars have opportunities for presentation of research findings in seminars, public lectures, and the Nichibunken Forum held by the Center.
(6) Housing accommodations will be available on the site of the Center. (There are charges for the use of these facilities.)

6. Application Procedure: Applicants must submit the designated application form. You can also download the application form from here: PDF file (24KB) or MS Word file (141KB)7.

Application Deadline: The application form should reach the Center by November 30, 2010.

8. Address for the Application: Office of Research Exchange
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
3-2 Oeyama-cho, Goryo, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 610-1192, Japan
Phone: +81(0)75-335-2041 Fax: +81(0)75-335-2092
Inquiries: nkotoura@nichibun.ac.jp