Bachelor in Community and Regional Policy Studies Major

Tuition fees for Bachelor in Community and Regional Policy Studies Major are 13,515 USD per year.

The Community and Regional Policy Studies Major is a four-year bachelor's degree at Ritsumeikan University, taught in English with intake each September on the university's Osaka campus. Ritsumeikan is a comprehensive private university in western Japan with more than a hundred years of history, selected to lead the internationalization of Japanese higher education under the government-funded Top Global University Project; it enrolls around 36,000 students across four campuses in Kyoto, Shiga, and Osaka. This major focuses on the policies and institutions that shape communities and regions, drawing on public administration, urban and regional planning, sociology, and local governance. Students typically examine how national, prefectural, and municipal governments design and implement policy on issues such as housing, local economic development, public services, and civic participation, often using Japanese case studies alongside comparative material from other countries. Coursework commonly progresses from foundational courses in policy analysis and social science methods toward more specialized seminars, fieldwork, and independent research projects connected to specific communities or regions. Because the program is delivered in English, it is structured for international students who have not yet studied in Japanese, while still situating them within a Japanese university and giving many the option to build Japanese-language skills alongside their major coursework. Graduates of community and regional policy programs are typically prepared for roles in local and national government, urban planning agencies, nonprofit and community development organizations, and research institutes, as well as for further graduate study in public policy, urban studies, or related social science fields.