Anime and the interest in Japanese culture...

[RineyX21]

Hmm... I was thinking about this while reflecting my time as an anime fan: Do you guys think anime has an almost subtle way of "jump starting" an interest in the Japanese culture?

Since I guess most of you here began watching anime with some or little knowledge of the culture, it's probably safe to say that you would have more of a glimpse of it through anime itself.

I guess for me, I never really thought I'd learn so much about the country when I started becoming an anime fan - it was more or less watching anime without attempting to understand the culture. My continued watching of anime had eventually led me to start eating Japanese food, listening to J-Pop, or learning tidbits of the language. It's almost as if anime and Japan had grown on me!

Though while it's true that anime doesn't exactly define the culture as a whole, certain areas within anime/manga were able to help me get a better understanding of Japan and their society.

[Sami_jane]

i know taht anime jump started my intrest in japan. lol ever since i started watching it like you i have been listening to j-pop, eating more japanese food, trying to learn some of the language and am now planing on going there this summer. so ya i have to say since i started watching anime i have become just as obsessed w/ japan as i have the shows themselves

[dyzzispell]

Same here. I had the chance to go to Japantown in San Francisco, and I got to eat probably the closest thing to real ramen that you can get outside of Japan. I never thought about REAL ramen noodles till I watched Naruto.
Then I got an ice cream filled crepe, which I don't think I'd have paid much attention to, if I hadn't seen that in Azumanga Daioh (at least I think that's where I saw it).
I've started learning the language, and I know bits and pieces about their holidays. But the coolest thing is being able to read their language! I know hiragana and katakana, and about 110 kanji. Although most of the time I can pronounce what something says, it doesn't mean I understand what it's saying. Unless it's in katakana anyway.
But yes, if it weren't for anime (and video games/game music too), I never would've gotten this interested either.

[Kkun]

I wouldn't care one iota about Japanese culture if it weren't for anime....just to be perfectly frank.

[eva-boy7985]

Out of alot of the different cultures, Japanese culture has pretty much always been at the top of list in terms of interests; having been an otaku for nearly 8 years now though, has most certainly been a key contributor to the growing interest :-) In fact, I took a class earlier this spring at college called Japan Today which was something along the lines of a giant study/overview of Japanese culture including environment, politics, culture, media, etc. I loved the class :-) But yeah anime and video games have been key players in my getting to be more famliar with the different aspects of the culture

[Radical Dreamer]

I'm pretty much like the rest of you, except I (barely) discovered Jpop before I really got into anime. XD I had always found the Japanese culture interesting beforehand (I wrote reports on Japan in 6th and 7th grade), and I loved some Japanese foods (like rice and teriyaki sauce), but I don't think that had as much to do with Japanese culture as it had to do with how awesome teriyaki on rice is. XD I never became interested in memorizing Hiragana and Katakana until sometime after last year, and that was mostly due to all the words and cultural facts I had learned about Japan. As interesting and rich their culture is, I'd rather admire it from afar. XD It's so crowded over there! o_o But yeah, even though I heard Jpop before I watched anime, I'd say that it was anime that got me interested in the Japanese culture.

[GrubbTheFragger]

I kinda have to say the same thing Jamie said. But i got interested also because of Last Samuria

[Kkun]

I got interested in stuff like Last Samurai and Akira Kurosawa films because of anime, so yeah, my statement still stands.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Well, aniem DOES have a heavy thing of the culture in it, of course^^ Food, mythology, customs, etc. For me, yeah aniem taught me ALOT, but when I took 3 years of JPN classes in high school, the Japanese exchange students showed us alot too (we have a sister city in Japan, so always exchanging students back and forth). It's where I learned about things like Pocky and stuff^^ Heh and within a couple years, might even be LIVING in Japan, quite truthfully^^ Always nice!

[Ashley]

My interest in anime is what originally sparked my interest towards career missions work in Japan 2 years ago, so yeah, I'd say it's had a very profound impact on me as well. I can literally say that anime changed my life. (how otaku/sad is that )

[Kawaiikneko]

Anime sparked an interest in Japanese culture for me, but honestly I'd never want to go live there or anything because of how they treat foreigners and... well, just the general way the country thinks. It's not my thing. I'd much rather go live in Italy... so pretty!! And they have gelato which is the best ice cream in the WORLD.

[RineyX21]

Anime sparked an interest in Japanese culture for me, but honestly I'd never want to go live there or anything because of how they treat foreigners and... well, just the general way the country thinks.

I guess I too have my reservations about visiting Japan as a gaijin. Though there are certainly other countries in the world that would probably hold a similiar, more cautious attitude towards foreigners. Having not been there myself, all I can say is that somebody I know had traveled to Tokyo on vacation and said most of the locals were actually quite nice to him (a Japanese businessman went out his way to show my friend a good hotel for him to stay at, having walked a mile to get there). So perhaps the attitude varies among certain people there.

I'd love to visit Tokyo just to experience the urban atmosphere. Not to mention the various points of interests within and outside of the city, including Mt. Fuji.

[Riyo-Chan]

It definitely sparked my interest. I'm not only into anime, but also somewhat into the old Edo period paintings and all of its culture. Almost half my music is J-pop. I want to visit sooo bad.

[Kaligraphic]

And they have gelato which is the best ice cream in the WORLD.

Gelato is not ice cream. Or so says an Italian guy who owns a gelateria.

[Rhenao]

For me it was video games, then anime, and then general Japanese popculture. I got into video games about 5 years ago and I didn't know much about Japan or even that most video games came from Japan (I thought Mario was American. Man, I was stupid. XD). I decided to give the video game Kingdom Hearts a try and I liked the art style so I decided to give anime a try. That led to an obsession with JRock and Japanese movies and the language. I'm learning the language now and I'd love to visit Japan sometime.

In short, the game Kingdom Hearts pretty much changed my life. I feel like such an utter geek... yay...

[martinloyola]

I would have to say that my other otaku friends have a much higher and involved interest in Japanese culture than I, I will pick up a few things but that is because I am too eclectic and love learning about other cultures too, like this summer I went to Russia for a week, a year ago to Germany, a year or two before that to Spain, and I've been to Canada and Mexico somewhere before and in the middle of all that. God is an artist and he paints with a very colorful palette, I like to view all the colors, (De Colores) of the rainbow, Japan is beautiful and so is America,....I mean, where would Nintendo be without us gobbling their games up like candy, and where would anime be without American otaku's like you and me going bezerk over the next release of our fav series,? We help make anime the awesome thing it is just by watching and we build a culture of anime by participating here at CAA, An attraction to another culture is another way of saying "thank you" to God for His wonderful gifts of one another


*whew*
ok I'm done lol

[Puguni]

Yeah, at one point, I was interested in Japan because of anime. And now that just kind of faded, probably because along the way I rediscovered my Korean heritage and thus sparking a certain dislike for Japanese. XD Oh I'm such a hypocrite. XD

But really, the people who are obsessed over the country need to realize a few things. Japan isn't that awesome a culture that it deserves all the attention of the world. Just because it produces anime doesn't make it the pinnacle of human society either.

I'm probably taking this too seriously, and it's probably lessening in drive, hopefully, but there's always some people out there who take things out of proportion; no amount of indulging in Japanese culture makes you a full blooded Japanese. Not that I'm suggesting that anybody here might think it. Unless you think so...then yes, I'm talking to you. XD

[martinloyola]

hahahahaha, see, me half the time my mexicano friends joke about me really being brown and what not, but I talked one of them once and he said that he may not like everything in his own culture (he deplores tejano music-which he plays with his father at church sometimes...he is full-time music/youth minister now) but he still knows who he is and he knows that it will be a part of him as long as he lives and he likes that,

[ShiroiHikari]

Anime definitely turned me on to Japanese culture. My first anime was Sailor Moon, and I remember thinking, "Man, I wish I could read the signs on those buildings in the background..." It took off from there. I'm not fluent in Japanese, but I did memorize hiragana and katakana while I was in highschool (sometimes during math classes XD).

I'm actually more into Japanese rock now than anime. But I'm still fascinated by the culture. However, that's not to say I want to live there, or even visit. I think I'd be too scared to actually go there. I mean, we've all heard horror stories about how they treat foreigners.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Hmm... I was thinking about this while reflecting my time as an anime fan: Do you guys think anime has an almost subtle way of "jump starting" an interest in the Japanese culture?

Since I guess most of you here began watching anime with some or little knowledge of the culture, it's probably safe to say that you would have more of a glimpse of it through anime itself.

I guess for me, I never really thought I'd learn so much about the country when I started becoming an anime fan - it was more or less watching anime without attempting to understand the culture. My continued watching of anime had eventually led me to start eating Japanese food, listening to J-Pop, or learning tidbits of the language. It's almost as if anime and Japan had grown on me!

Though while it's true that anime doesn't exactly define the culture as a whole, certain areas within anime/manga were able to help me get a better understanding of Japan and their society.

First off. MAD PROPS TO YOU! Good choice for an avatar. Are you a Urasawa Naoki fan? And have you seen/read Monster?

To your question. I'll be perfectly honest. A lot of japanophiles just annoy me. A lot of otaku just seem to be all "omg japan = <3" and stuff and they go "OMG POCKY IS THE BEST SNACK IN THE WORLD" and it seriously bugs. me.

(Shameless plug. My livejournal entry covered a bit of this topic. See it here http://excel958.livejournal.com/10890.html)

Maybe I'm biased because I'm Korean, and I perfer Korean Culture (music, food, movies) over Japanese ones. Nobody can deny that Korean Kalbi is the best type of meat in the world. And Kobe Beef is nothig compared to Kalbi. I'd rather listen to Lee Jung Hyun over Ayumi Hamasaki. I'd rather watch Oldboy or Dalkomhan Insaeng over Battle Royale of Cromartie High (Not saying Kobe Beef, Battle Royale, Cromartie High, or Ayumi Hamasaki are bad. I just like to be in touch with my own heritage.)

True my anime hobbym (I will never consider myself as an Otaku. I refuse to label myself as soething like that. I find it very degrading on myself) Has gotten me to know more about Japanese culture. But I will not obsess over it. Like Puguni said. Japan isn't that great nor is it something to obsess over. And I personally think that Japan gets overglorified by many anime fans. (otaku if you will) And I think that's just plain silly. I like things like Japanese Rock (Mainly Polysics and Asian Kung-Fu Generation) and things like Monster, Azumanga Daioh, etc. But never will I be a fanboy/fangirl who runs around screaming "I WISH I WAS JAPANESE! I WANNA VISIT JAPAN! AND LIVE THERE!"

[RineyX21]

First off. MAD PROPS TO YOU! Good choice for an avatar. Are you a Urasawa Naoki fan? And have you seen/read Monster?

Haha, thanks. Actually Master Keaton is the only series I've seen by him, but I've been very tempted to check out Monster after having seeing Naoki's work in MK (as different as both of the series are).

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Haha, thanks. Actually Master Keaton is the only series I've seen by him, but I've been very tempted to check out Monster after having seeing Naoki's work in MK (as different as both of the series are).

Heck yeah. You totally gotta check out Monster. It is a must see!

[Miso_Chan]

tottally! I really have become interested in Japan and Japenese things ever since i started watching anime and reading manga!!! I'm so interested that i'm going to start learning Japenese! I really like the language, i think its beautiful!

Baka Inuyasha! Osuwari!

(Kagome saying:idiot Inuyasha! Sit!)

[avidrkfan]

I've definitely eaten more Japanese food and learned more random Japanese words and phrases than I ever would have if I'd never started watching anime.

I also read a newspaper article last year that said universities were seeing a huge upswing in the numbers of students taking Japanese language courses, and it was mostly due to anime, so I think it's safe to say that anime has renewed interest in Japanese culture.

[Kawaiikneko]

Gelato is not ice cream. Or so says an Italian guy who owns a gelateria.

True, true... but most Americans would classify it as ice cream even though it's not reaaalyyy ice cream. It's more like a glorified, heavenly version of ice cream XD

And I should mention that I agree whole-heartedly with MSP! I would really NOT want to be labelled as an otaku. I want to be a really well-rounded individual XD;;

[Puritan]

To a certain extent anime did start an interest in Japanese culture, although I have to say that I am interested in many different cultures and ideas. I would heartily agree that blind love for any culture is silly as all of them have their faults. Blind fans of any culture can get under the skin pretty easily (illustrated nicely by a scene in Endo's novel "Wonderful Fool" which showed a group of pitifully crazy Japanese Frankophiles, and stands as a reminder to me that bizarre fans of foreign culture exist in any country), but I think a balanced interest in other societies and cultures is a good thing. Of course, my interest in Japanese culture is also motivated by the knowledge that Japan is a major participant in my field and a knowledge of their language and culture could prove very beneficial in the future, so I do have practical ideas in mind as well, along with a desire to see the Church grow in Japan and a sadness that it hasn't made major inroads as of yet. But a healthy balance is most certainly necessary, and I haven't lost my appreciation for my own heritage or my country (even extending to some of the less usual aspects of this culture like polka, hotdish, and limburger cheese).