What I look for:

I advise student research in all aspects of modern Japanese history, and am particularly interested in advising research projects that on political history, diplomatic history, empire and decolonization, war studies and military history, and transnational and international history. In supervising M.Phil theses and doctoral dissertations, I look forward to working with students who adopt fresh approaches, reimagine traditional historical narratives, or look at neglected actors, themes, topics, or connections.

Before you apply:

Things to consider even before applying to graduate school for the doctorate, in particular (this applies less to prospective M.Phil students).

  • Think Twice. There are no guarantees that you will be able to land a rewarding job in academe in Hong Kong, Japan, or much of the English-speaking world. In fact, there are increasingly limited tenure-track or tenured positions available in Japanese history, but a glut of recent Ph.D. awardees worldwide. Many truly capable people who have doctorates in history or similar fields end up working in positions as contingent or temporary faculty members, and others are forced to leave academe altogether. When professorial positions become available here in Hong Kong, they tend to go to people with doctorates from Ivy league or similar institutions. It is difficult to find a job when you do not graduate from a top-five program (and even if you do, you may fare no better). So my first piece of advice is this: think twice before applying for a doctorate.

  • Think Thrice. Reread the above statement. No matter how capable, how brilliant, and how hard working you may be, getting a position in the professoriate these days requires a great deal of luck. Pursuing a Ph.D. comes at a huge potential opportunity cost, so you should not do so without keeping in mind some type of exit strategy.

Still interested? If so, then below please find some specific advice on the application process.

  • Research topic. If you are still excited to apply despite the limited opportunities in academe, then the next step is to craft a careful proposal for our program. Your proposal should not be a simple statement of what you want to study. It needs to have a clearly defined research question and an appropriate research method, and should show an awareness of the past historical research and historical sources available on your topic. Your proposal should also highlight why it is beneficial for you to study Japanese history in Hong Kong. Why do you want to come here? What resources does the Chinese University of Hong Kong (or Hong Kong universities, more broadly) have that are relevant to your long-term academic interests?

    Most importantly, pay attention to the research interests of the faculty members with whom you would would like to work. Do your due diligence. Don’t apply to study ancient Japan in a department with only modern historians; don’t apply to a program in literature in a department with no literature specialists; and don’t apply to study a sociological topic in a department with no sociologists.

    Finally, choose a topic that you are truly passionate about. My advisor once told me that I will be spend around 10 years working on my first book project (incidentally, he was right—the process from Ph.D. student prospectus to book publication took almost exactly 10 years). So make sure, he told me, to choose a topic I truly want to do or am passionate about. I give you the same advice.

  • Language abilities. Our Ph.D. program is only 4-years long (or 3 years if you come in with an M.Phil or equivalent degree), so it is important that you arrive with a high degree of fluency in Japanese. This means that you should come to graduate school already able to read academic Japanese articles and books. Please do not assume that you can “pick up” or “improve” your Japanese once you begin your graduate studies. That may be possible in longer Ph.D. programs in the United States, but it simply isn’t feasible in a Hong Kong program. Doing so would detract from the already onerous burdens of being a graduate student. You ideally should be able to hit the ground running, so any time spent in language training (unfortunately) would detract your ability to complete the Ph.D. in a timely manner.

    I do from time to time consider students who are not as fluent in Japanese as they should be, but this depends on the nature of their research proposal, linguistic abilities, the strength of their ideas, their track record, and the enthusiasm they bring to their topic.

  • Reach out. If you still think a doctorate is right for you, then do feel free to reach out. I am not able to read and give advice on your specific proposal before you apply, but I am happy to learn about students who would like to work with me, and am happy to give pointers on how to write a good proposal.

  • The Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. If you hope to continue your studies in our program, I urge you to apply for the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. This fellowship is extremely competitive, but if successful it provides a much larger stipend than we can offer and makes it unnecessary to do extra work for the department. For details, please view the Hong Kong Ph.D. fellowship scheme website.

Ph.D. Advisees

  • WU Ziming, Simon. Ph.D. Candidate, 2022-2026.

  • LEUNG Ming Tak, Ernest. Ph.D. Candidate, 2019-2023. Dissertation Topic: Economic Planning in Northeast Asia.

  • LAU Tsui Shuen, Chris. Ph.D. Candidate, 2019-2023. Dissertation Topic: Notions of Homeland in Modern Japan.

  • JIANG Keyi. Ph.D. (2023). “Clashing Asianisms: Li Dazhao and Yoshino Sakuzo in China-Japan Relations”

MPhil Advisees

  • GUAN Yingyin. MPhil. student, 2023-2025.

  • LEUNG Ming Tak, Ernest. MPhil. (2019). “The Role of State Socialism in Early Developmentalist East Asia: Nishihara Kamezō’s ‘Strategy for Economic State-Building’ and Beyond”

  • TOMSOVIC, Philip Devin. MPhil. (2017). “The Emergence of Men’s Magazines in 1960s Japan”

Ph.D. and MPhil Theses (Reader)

Ph.D. Dissertations

  • ZHU Jiageng. Ph.D. (2023). “Industrial Heritage Conservation and Construction of Collective Memory in Postwar Japan: A Case Study of the City of Kamaishi”

  • SKUTLIN, John Michael. Ph.D. (2017). “Japan, Ink(ed): Tattooing as Decorative Body Modification in Japan”

  • WONG, Yee Lam Elim. Ph.D. (2017). “Inheritance and Transformation of the Cantonese Migrants in Yokohama Chinatown from the 1860s to the Present: A Case Study on Shantenki and the Xie Family”

MPhil. Theses

  • Alexander CAIRNS-DORAN. MPhil. (2022). “Journey to the Clouds: The Practical and Ritual Dimensions of Mountain Use in Japan” (Reader and committee chair)

  • WU Zeduan. MPhil. (2021). “A Contrastive Study on Chinese and Japanese Degree-Modifying Strategies in Complaint”