Let's just say I don't get to enjoy New Orleans as such as others do, but that doesn't mean I can't call it home. I've lived my whole life here, made friends, and started a family. I can't just pick up all of my things and leave to go live in Japan. That's just not realistic to me, even though I'd probably enjoy living in Japan. This brings me to my reasons of why I'm starting this blog.
A good friend of mine encouraged me to start blogging about Japan. He thought it would be good for me since I want to be a writer, and because he knows how much I love to share my knowledge and interest of Japan with others. Hence why I say it's therapy. I'm getting all my Japan craziness out of my system while sharing my experiences with other people who might also like Japan.
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| Garden of Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto, Japan and the skyline of New Orleans. |
1. For Therapy
I've had an interest in Japan since middle school when I got introduced to manga and anime by a classmate. In high school I increased my interest when I came across J-pop and Japanese dramas. College is where I drove into the culture and language, and took the big leap of studying abroad in Japan for one month in the summer. Ever since that study abroad trip my love for Japan has escalated; I study Japanese when my life schedule lets me, I watch YouTubers who are living in Japan to get the latest on trends and insights, and I even welcomed a Shiba Inu into my family. But none of this is enough! I want to do more things related to Japan when I'm not taking occasional vacations over there. Just being home in New Orleans makes me anxious. I always have Japan on my mind.A good friend of mine encouraged me to start blogging about Japan. He thought it would be good for me since I want to be a writer, and because he knows how much I love to share my knowledge and interest of Japan with others. Hence why I say it's therapy. I'm getting all my Japan craziness out of my system while sharing my experiences with other people who might also like Japan.
2. To Share with Others
Like I said before, I watch a lot of YouTubers who live in Japan. They have good information and advice to share about their life experience. Some of them even seem really nice and down to Earth, people I could totally see myself hanging out with in real life. The only problem I have is that they live in Japan. No one is vlogging from a tourist point of view. All they're doing is making people anxious to go live in Japan when it could be a really bad idea for some people or even not possible for others like myself. Some of these YouTubers put in the effort of mentioning to viewers to go visit Japan first before making such a big decision like moving permanently. I applaud those who made a video on this topic because it's true. Just because someone else is doing fine living in Japan doesn't mean you're going to have the same experience. It's a completely different culture and lifestyle from any other country. Not everyone is going to adjust to a new environment easily.
That's where I come in.
I've already experienced Japan from the perspective of a study abroad student and as a honeymooner. My goal is to experience Japan in as many different ways as possible and to share that experience with others who are trying to get their own taste of Japan. Moving to Japan is not for everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't go to Japan. I want to help people discover Japan in a way they are comfortable with.
3. Preparing People
I touched upon it a bit earlier but I want to emphasize on it more. People will always have expectations! If they don't take the effort to learn more about whatever it is they're interested in they may be very disappointed in their outcome.
Story time!
When I had to pick my foreign language credits for college I already had it set in my mind that I'd take Japanese, and so did the 45 other people who were in my Japanese 1001 class. My reason for taking Japanese was because I was amazed by the culture and language and I knew at some point in my life I was going to Japan. I didn't know everyone's reason for taking Japanese but I suspected it involved anime since that's what most people seemed to talk about before class started. By the time the middle of the semester came by a quarter of the class dropped to save their GPA. It wasn't what they suspected and they were failing. I finished the class with a B average and went on to Japanese 1002 with a few new friends I made from the previous class. We were surprised on the first day of Japanese 1002 that only 23 students signed up. More than half the class from Japanese 1001 did not go on to 1002! I was astonished to find this out, but was not surprised. They could have thought since they love anime learning Japanese should come naturally and should be easy. It doesn't work that way at all. You have to work really hard to learn Japanese and be dedicated in learning it.
The same could be said about traveling to Japan. It's not enough to love anime. You should learn to love all of Japan and what it has to offer. If you go to Japan just because you like anime you will be very disappointed. Remember, anime is a work of fiction set in Japan. Your adventure/life in Japan will not be like an anime. I'm not saying liking anime is wrong because it's not. I love anime. I'm the person all my friends come to for recommendations or anime related news. I'm saying you can't relay on anime only. Just give more aspects of Japan a try. I promise you won't be disappointed.
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| The city of Tokyo taken from Tokyo Tower |
And those are my reasons for starting a blog about Japan. I hope you stick around to see what I have to offer. I will be trying to post two-three times a week, hopefully. Like I said before, the topics will range from all aspects of Japan and I will even tap into New Orleans. If you have any requests please let me know at any time. I hope to gain your support. I look forward to writing.