History of Japanese Studies in Novosibirsk in the 2nd half of the 20th century

This article focuses on the problems of the formation and development of Japanese studies in Novosibirsk in the 2nd half of the 20th century. The paper shows the prerequisites for the emergence of Japanese studies education and the introduction of a Japanese language course at Novosibirsk State University. The emergence of Japanese studies in Novosibirsk was due to the development of Soviet-Japanese cooperation in the 1960s, the formation of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, and the development of Oriental linguistics at Novosibirsk State University. Special attention is paid to the contribution to the formation and development of Novosibirsk Japanese studies by Olga Pavlovna Frolova, who became the first and, until the end of the Soviet period, remained the only professional Japanese studies scholar in Novosibirsk. The first scientific article on Japanese linguistics in Novosibirsk was published in 1970; in 1971, the teaching of the Japanese language for students of the humanities at the NSU was introduced. Since the late 1980s, Novosibirsk Japanese studies have gone beyond the boundaries of the NSU, as students at various universities and secondary schools began to study Japanese. In 1995, a department of Oriental studies with a specialization in Japanese was opened at the Faculty of Humanities, and, in 1999, the Department of Oriental Studies was established at NSU. In Novosibirsk, along with Japanese linguistics, the study of archeology, literature, art, and traditional culture of Japan has been developed. At the beginning of the 21st century, many students of Oriental studies from Novosibirsk became leading Russian Japanese studies scholars.