A sentence in any natural language consists of a basic structure and a higher one involving discourse-level information. The two structures are analyzed as vP and CP phases respectively in the minimalist program proposed and extended in Chomsky (2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2013). A phase is not only a unit in semantic and phonetic interpretations but also the locus of many movement phenomena. Specifically, v is a 'light' verb with impoverished semantic content, and suru in Japanese is its example, which productively forms verbs by combining with Sino-Japanese verbal nouns. As for another phasal head C, it expresses a type of clause, and is exemplified by the question particle ka and the clause-introducing particle to in Japanese. Analyzing phasal heads like v in East Asian languages represented by Japanese, and Germanic/Romance languages such as English and French will contribute to theoretical linguistics and the teaching of Japanese as a foreign language. Specifically, the light verb construction in Japanese poses theoretically and empirically interesting problems on the interaction between morphology and syntax. The internal structure of Sino-Japanese verbal nouns like dokusho (reading books) appears to reflect the Chinese word order of V(erb)-O(bject), although words are generally right-headed and Japanese has the head-final OV order in syntax. We will analyze light verb constructions in East Asian languages in this respect among others. A related issue is the semantic status of the subject in the light verb construction. It has become a standard assumption in the minimalist program that a transitive verbal root is selected by the light verb that ensures accusative Case on its object and introduces an agentive subject argument. Suru in Isha-ga kanja-no i-o shujutu-suru (the doctor operates on the patient's stomach), for instance, has the two properties, but introduces a non-agentive subject in Kanja-ga i-o shujutu-suru (the patient has an operation on his stomach). We will argue that this duality is attested in other morphologically bound heads like passive rare and causative sase in Japanese, assuming that they are light verbs, and present comparative studies of those heads in East Asian languages. As for CP, where various movement operations like passivization and wh-movement take place, it differs from vP in that it need not be embedded; it can be a root. If Richards (2007) is correct, a whole root CP is transferred to the phonetic and semantic interpretive components, and no feature-inheritance is possible. We will examine in this project whether this prediction is borne out. We will also investigate the scopal interaction among wh-phrases and other operator phrases in the CP phase. This project will be concerned with various phenomena at vP and CP phases, and Yasui will be in charge of both. Asayama will mainly analyze the light verb construction with Sino-Japanese verbal nouns with suru in modern Japanese based on his expertise on the Japanese reading of Chinese texts, and explore a way to apply the results to the teaching of Japanese as a foreign language. Tanaka and Hwang will mainly analyze the light verb constructions in Japanese and Korean, as well as scopal interactions observed in various languages at the CP phase. Mizoguchi will be in charge of phenomena at the CP phase, especially asymmetries between embedded and root CPs. Chonan will examine various light verb constructions in Japanese, English, and Indonesian.