This is a required one-year course for first-year IMAP students; a spring-term syllabus will be issued. In this seminar (also known as “RRM fall” for the fall term course and “RRM spring” for spring term), students will acquire and develop the knowledge and skills needed for research in Japanese humanities, including the fields of art and architectural history, cultural history, history, literature, and religious studies. Specific skill sets include learning the IMAP style and writing requirements, learning how to summarize and critique a lecture, analyzing an essay, creating an annotated bibliography, developing research presentation skills, and more. Students will be exposed to a range of field methodologies through seminar meetings, presentations by visiting lecturers, Working Words critiques, thesis-related presentations by second-year students, and readings. A central seminar activity is completion of the online course Japanese Research & Bibliographic Methods.