Japanese-a-if-you-please-a - The Back Story

Hello みなさん! This is my very first blog and the purpose of it is to get me to Japan in 2012! My love for all things Japanese started eleven years ago, back when I was 14 years old. It was all because my best friend introduced me to a picture. Yes, that's right. A picture.

But was it really all just from a picture, you may ask? Well...kinda. To me, it was anything but just a picture! The moment I saw it, I was immediately inspired by its simple, but intricate beauty and the amount of emotion that it captured.

"What is this?" I had asked my friend. His reply was "It's from something called anime. It's Japanese."

That is the moment when I instantly fell in love with Japanese Art.

To me, it was the most beautiful art I had ever seen. He then later sent me a different picture, and right away, I grabbed my drawing pad (I had and still enjoy drawing) and immediately began drawing the art I fell in love with from first sight. I searched for other pictures like it online and when that wasn't enough, I learned that anime is actually short for Japanese Animation, which is serialized from Japanese Manga.

You mean, there is a whole industry just for anime and manga?! I had to find out more, and I had to see some anime for myself. I went to the local video rental store and picked out my very first anime! It was called "Ah! My Goddess" (on VHS of course - no anime on DVDs at this store back then). I chose this anime, because the picture my best friend sent to me was from that series.

Ahhh! It was great! I loved it - I had to have more and more. I constantly went back to the video store and would rent what I could. One particular anime movie that I kept targeting to rent was called "Ninja Scroll", however it was always out. I finally asked the employee when it will be returned, and to my great disappointment - the answer I got was never. Apparently, it was stolen =( Don't worry, I've seen it since then. =)

The selection at the video store was very very small, so I would try to buy what I could from stores that actually carried a good amount, such as Suncoast and F.Y.E. It wasn't cheap though, that is for sure. One time, I had begged and begged my mother to buy me the complete set of "Fushigi Yugi"...but...it was around $100, so of course her answer was no. It's okay mom, I have also seen this series since then ;)

Way before that incident though, when I bought my first anime on DVD (Kimagure Orange Road - Summer's Beginning) I discovered I could watch it in the original Japanese language unlike the VHS tapes which were only in English and - holy cow - what a freakin HUGE difference. What I already thought couldn't get more amazing, did by leaps and bounds. I have never, I repeat - never - watched anime in English (by choice) since. It is Japanese all the way for me and should be the ONLY way that anime should be watched. If you watch it dubbed (not subtitled) in another language, then you are seriously missing out.

So, this experience lead me to learn and speak Japanese. I was fascinated by the language, and the idea of not having to read the English subtitles. I tried to teach myself the language back then by cassette tapes and books. Wow, I certainly discovered how amazing Japan is and my love for Japanese art quickly turned to love for the Japanese culture itself. But, at the age of 16 when I got my first job, my time just didn't seem to allow the room for the devotion needed to learn a new language, and I unfortunately didn't keep up with it. My love for Japan never dwindled though!

I had picked up learning it again off and on through out the years since then, but last year I finally decided. I would learn Japanese. I learned how to write and read Kana shortly after, and even now I have never been more determined than ever to finish what I started eleven years ago - all in the hopes of going to Japan - my dream come true.

That is my back story, so please stick with me as I write about my journey as I continue my devotion to learning the Japanese language, and anything related to Japan, anime, or manga, and who knows - I might throw something in that has nothing to do with Japan if I find it interesting enough to share!

どうもありがとうござうます！！