Trace sixty years of hiring patterns in Japanese literary studies (1966-2025): boom years, contraction periods, evolving job requirements, and the relationship between PhD production and available positions.
Start with the comprehensive view: 4,280 job listings over sixty years.
Identify boom periods (1970s expansion, 1990s growth) and crashes (2008 recession, COVID-19).
Compare PhD production against job openings to visualize the supply-demand imbalance.
When did the field start producing more PhDs than available positions?
Analyze job descriptions to see how requirements have evolved: language skills, theoretical training, secondary fields.
Are jobs becoming more generalist (Japan + Korea + China) or more specialist?
Follow PhD-to-employment trajectories to understand placement outcomes.
Which programs place their graduates most successfully? Has this changed over time?
See generational turnover: when did the Founders retire? When did Contemporary scholars enter?
Job market conditions shape generational cohorts—who faced the toughest markets?