The "United States-Japan Foundation Scholar" Dissertation Award
| The "United States-Japan Foundation Scholar" Dissertation Award is a new annual competition recognizing the best social sciences doctoral dissertation on Japan produced in the U.S. A committee of distinguished Japan specialists will review dissertations from U.S.-based research universities. The Award committee defines social sciences broadly to include anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, and related fields such as demography, finance, and global/regional studies. An honorarium of $2,500 will be awarded to the author who best uses Japanese sources and social science methods to provide fresh insights and innovative perspectives that have implications for Japan’s contemporary politics, economy, or social relations. The recipient will be honored at a public event at the March 2026 annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in Vancouver. The committee will review doctoral dissertations accepted between January 1, 2024 and June 13, 2025, and submitted by the PhD recipient’s department head or academic dean. The submission deadline is June 15, 2025. The winner will be announced by Sept. 2, 2025. Nominations should be emailed to the USJF at and include a cover letter from the nominating university dean or department head. Self-nominations will not be accepted. No more than two dissertations can be submitted by a single academic department. The United States-Japan Foundation is an independent philanthropic organization working to strengthen bilateral ties and address shared challenges. | ||