When one of my fellow Japan-loving friends told me that he was “giving up on the dream of living and working in Japan” along with his enjoyment of the culture and related accoutrements, I was flabbergasted. I asked him to reconsider and reflect on what made him fall in love with Japan in the first place. He’s since rekindled his interest, much to my relief, but my supplication to him made me ponder my own passion for Japan. When did it begin, and how did a midwestern girl become intrigued with an Asian country in the far east?
I’m not a stranger to various fandoms and passions, and travel and exploring other countries definitely falls into a similar category for me. Up until early adulthood, I was uniformly an Anglophile with a decided taste for all things UK. I also liked the food, culture, history, and art of European countries. In college, my roommate introduced me to the fabulous Chinese cuisine of Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada, and my willingness to try new foods greatly expanded along with my travels and new friendships.
I can trace my early interest in Japan back to my encounter with two media influences: Final Fantasy, and Studio Ghibli films. I saw a cut scene of Yuna’s “sending” dance from the video game Final Fantasy X sometime around 2010 (date largely questionable as I just can’t remember…), and it immediately appealed to my aesthetic sense of beauty. I had to know where it was from, and ended up watching a complete FFX game walkthrough on YouTube. I had enjoyed watching my cousin play Legend of Zelda games on Nintendo growing up as well, and only later did I realize that both of these game franchises come from Japan.
My first Studio Ghibli movie was Spirited Away with the Wheaton College anime club. It was charming, but I was a bit put off by the mysteries of the spirit world, and some grotesque elements (like disembodied bouncing heads). It started a thirst to watch similar films, though, and I began to check off every Studio Ghibli film, and anything else I could find that Hayao Miyazaki had created, from my viewing list. I’m probably one of the few US folks to have watched every episode of Sherlock Hound. 😉 Howl’s Moving Castle (and the related 3 books by Diana Wynne Jones) and Whisper of the Heart remain my 2 favorite Ghibli films.
Studio Ghibli films led me to other films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Your Name, Wolf Children, etc. Naturally, anime shows followed along with the movies. I tore through Death Note, watched Full Metal Alchemist with a friend who also showed me other anime shows (and other FF game cut scenes), I asked for recommendations from other friends, and the list of “viewed titles” continued to grow in a variety of genres. I loved the diverse storytelling in anime, plots that I often couldn’t predict or knew how they would end, and fantastical settings. I loved “slice of life” anime that showed me what going to school in Japan was like, what kinds of foods are eaten, and views into the culture and customs (granted some shows were better at realism than others). The pacing of storytelling varied from western shows as well, and slower moments and scenes of beauty took a lot more screentime. I really appreciated that. I enjoyed meeting new characters, and saw a lot of “villains” or antagonists in the anime shows get a shot at redemption and reconciliation, something else I was also not used to seeing in western productions. I enjoyed a few anime well enough that I picked up their manga counterparts and continued reading the stories there.
Anime led to food. I wanted to try the foods I had seen in the media, and found a few things in Chicago’s Chinatown (where I tried my first mochi and tasted matcha for the first time). I browsed the international food sections in local grocery stores, and discovered the amazing Japanese grocery store, Mitsuwa, in the western suburbs of Chicago. I went to ramen and sushi restaurants, started cooking a few dishes at home, and got to try variations like Hiroshima vs. Osaka okonomiyaki, and different varieties of milk tea.
Likewise I discovered a host of YouTube channels with English-speaking vloggers from Australia, the UK, the US, and Canada who are living in Japan and show regular scenes from their everyday lives and post tons of interesting facts about Japanese culture, history, travels around the country, etc. I probably have close to 20 Japanese-related YouTube channels now that I’ve subscribed to and watch at least one Japan-related video per day. These vloggers intensified my desire to visit the country someday, and start a long list of places I’d like to go, food I’d like to try, and things I’d like to experience. Given the current travel restrictions, that dream has been delayed since 2018, but I do hope to go sometime in the not too-distant future. Meanwhile I’ll haunt Japanese gardens in the US, and keep looking for new food experiences and all-you-can eat sushi.
The one main category I’m lacking in, and probably won’t delve too deeply into, is the Japanese language. I think languages are fascinating, but lack a lot of the discipline and motivation required to study and learn them. Other than a few polite phrases and lines from anime, I still have a pretty big blank in my Japanese language knowledge. I’ll still gladly watch anime with English subtitles, though! 😊 Oh, and I’m not really into Japanese music either, outside of what I hear through anime and the occasional taiko drum performance. J-POP hasn’t been an area I’ve investigated much, although who knows…that could change in the future!
So to sum things up, WHY do I love Japan? There isn’t one simple answer to that question. I love the beauty of the country and its created art through various forms of media. I love the sense of peace and stillness that comes with a lot of its traditions and cultural sensibilities. I love the variety of food and amazing flavor combinations I’ve experienced. I love its respect for life, harmony, and for the greater sense of community it embodies. The richness of its cultural tapestry always leaves more to discover, and I love each new revelation as it adds to my own foundation of delight and admiration. It’s a joy to experience personally, and particularly when shared with friends. I look forward to more Japan-related adventures now and into the future.
Sunlit Fields 
I love Japan too! We lived there 2 years, and I returned for another summer of work. Japan’s my favourite!
Brenton, I remember you telling me about your time in Japan when we drove to the Taylor conference in 2016. So glad we share appreciation of this special place! 🙂
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