Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan
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The Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan program is a joint activity of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Awards support research on modern Japanese society and political economy, Japan's international relations, and U.S.-Japan relations. The program encourages innovative research that puts these subjects in wider regional and global contexts and is comparative and contemporary in nature. Research should contribute to scholarly knowledge or to the general public’s understanding of issues of concern to Japan and the United States. Appropriate disciplines for the research include anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, linguistics, political science, psychology, public administration, and sociology. Awards usually result in articles, monographs, books, digital materials, archaeological site reports, translations, editions, or other scholarly resources.
The fellowships are designed for researchers with advanced Japanese language skills whose research will require use of data, sources, and 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. Projects may be at any stage of development.
As soon as you know you're ready to apply for this grant, make sure you register for a grants.gov account as this is vital to the grants process. If you already have registered for an account, make sure it is up to date.
Begin by reading the full grant guidelines and studying the application. The files are linked below. You want to ensure you understand all the expectations and restrictions for projects delivered under this grant and are prepared to write the most effective application.
Download Application Materials
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan Guidelines (PDF)
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan Guidelines (DOC)
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan Grants.gov application package
Program Resources
Fellowships Frequently Asked Questions, 2018 (PDF)
List of previously funded projects in this program
Sample Application Narratives
Geopolitics and Geopieties in Twentieth-Century Nagano
Japan's Preferential Trade Agreements
Be sure to follow the instructions outlined in the guidelines and in the grants.gov instructions.
You will receive a confirmation from grants.gov when you've successfully submitted your application.
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NEH requests letters of reference from your recommenders approximately seven to ten days after the application deadline. You will be notified by e-mail when each of your letters of reference has been received. After you have received the fifth message from Grants.gov (confirming that NEH received your application), you may check the status of your letters by logging in to the secure area of NEH’s website. Enter your NEH application number and your Grants.gov tracking number. You will be able to see the names and e-mail addresses of your letter writers and whether their letters have arrived. If necessary, you may send reminders to your letter writers (including the upload link) from this site. You are responsible for ensuring that your letter writers have received the solicitations from NEH and submitted their letters.
