The Japanese Studies programme is intended for all students at the University of Oulu. Studies can be started even in the middle of a semester and no specific registration or enrollment is needed. There is no strict rule defining the order in which the individual courses should be studied. It is, however, worth notice that Japanese language courses start at the beginning of Autumn semester. Introductory course to Japanese studies (called Portti Japaniin, in Finnish) is usually given in January-February.