Interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary programmes like Asian Studies can be found in many universities, particularly those located in Western societies. This is, by and large, a result of a curiosity over Asian “exotic others” and a reflection of colonial tradition to a certain extent. By contrast, Asian universities that have not inherited a Western colonial legacy have no strong tendency to maintain Asian Studies as a separate discipline. However, in part due to the influence of the United States (on the development of area studies) and the colonial legacy in other countries, area studies by region and country exist in Asian universities. In Japan and South Korea, for instance, East Asian area studies by and large started with Chinese language and literature and later embraced regional social sciences. Area studies ([chiki]) in Japan started to appear in the 1950s, and the discipline expanded in the 1980s and 1990s. Tokyo University of Foreign Studies was the first university to offer such programmes (Takeuchi 2012, p. 10). In Korea, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has language- and area-based departments. Later, the Kim Young Sam government (1993–98) of South Korea, which rapidly embraced a globalization discourse (sekyehwa) as an important state agenda, established a set of nine graduate schools of international or area studies in 1997. In addition, the shortage of experts on trade and international political economy provided the impetus to establish more area studies programmes.

There is a rationale for comparing the development of Chinese Studies in Japan and South Korea. First, as neighbouring countries in East Asia, China, Japan and Korea have cultural proximity and shared histories. Second, the region is facing issues of sovereignty over Dokdo/ Takeshima Island, which has an impact on relations between South Korea, Japan and China. Japan has been in conflict with both China and South Korea over sovereignty issues involving Diaoyus/Senkaku Island in the South China Sea and Dokdo/Takeshima Island in the East Sea/Japan Sea. Third, relations among the three countries are inevitable; they are economically interdependent. China is the largest trading partner for Japan and South Korea. Fourth, the human flow of Chinese international students and tourists to Japan and South Korea is larger than to any other country (Lee 2014). Therefore, there are strong motivations for Japan and South Korea to know about China.