I’m talking about this in length because I feel it’s
very important for people to understand. Let’s be realistic, it doesn’t work
that way.
If you decide to go visit Japan only for the reason
of liking anime you will most likely be very disappoint. It's okay to like anime, I love anime, but it can't be the only thing. The reason for this is
because your expectations are on a different level. Your journey to Japan won’t
be like an anime. Anime is a work of fiction set in Japan. These characters you
watch from your favorite anime have lives in Japan. You don’t. You live in your
home country and you want to go visit Japan. Some of you may not even have
Japanese friends to visit. You will either be traveling alone, traveling with a
friend or spouse, or you will be meeting up with a friend who moved to Japan.
It will be more comforting to travel with someone or to meet up with someone
but some people aren’t that fortunate.
Your mind set will be a big factor for whether you
enjoy Japan or not. Japan has a lot to other. It’s a country filled with history
and a unique culture. Liking anime will not be enough for you to fully enjoy
Japan.
Now, this doesn’t apply to everyone but I’ve seen it
happen before.
Story time!
I made a friend in my Japanese 1001 class. She
really liked anime, and still does. We became really good friends and we both
had the desire to travel to Japan. I was fortunate enough to be able to study
abroad in Japan. I had a great time and I’m positive that it was due to my interest
in the Japanese culture.
My friend swore that she’d go to Japan one day, and
she made it happen before she graduated from college. She planned a two week
trip to Japan as her graduation present to herself. She worked all the details
out knowing where she was going to go, what she was going to visit, and who she
was going to stay with. She thought she’d have a great time in Japan because
she would be staying with a friend of ours and that he would be able to take
her around. She was terribly wrong! Our friend was an English teacher in Japan
and had already started a life in Japan with his new friends. He had no time
for her, and I don’t blame him. There are a lot of expectations when you're working in Japan (I'll discuss this in a later post).
She luckily got to see a few of the sights but came
home a week early from her trip. She claims it was because she missed her
boyfriend at the time. That sounded really suspicious to me and my friends
because we all knew she never had an attachment to him. I felt her trip was cut
short because Japan wasn’t what she expected. Her hopes were probably too high
of it being like an anime. I think I even heard her complain once that Japan
didn’t have nachos.
My friend wasn’t mentally prepared to go to Japan.
Now that I look back on our friendship I never did hear her mention anything
about Japan except for anime. That was probably the flaw in her trip. Now she ruined her
whole image of Japan and will most likely have no interest to go back. It’s sad
to see that happen to her because I know she has dreamed of going to Japan
since high school. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone else. It’s sad to
see someone’s dream just crumble like that. That’s why I’m advising anyone who
is an anime fan to please give the Japanese culture a try if you haven't already. Research Japanese
culture from books or going on YouTube, both are great resource. If you need
any recommendations I recommend: Rachel and Jun, Sharla in Japan, Tomoko Tomoko, Micaela, and Texan in Tokyo.
I hope this helped you out and made you think a
little bit more about Japan as a whole.
Until next time!
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