How did you get into Japanese Culture?

General
#1

My grandfather graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo a long time ago.

When I was young, I use to collect trading cards from a Japanese card game. I was pretty much obsessed with these. Since I couldn’t read it, my grandmother would translate the Japanese for me. My Japanese uncle introduced me to Videogames, and naturally following along was anime…

Then came Japanese food. I mean who doesn’t like Japanese food? Takoyaki, TONKATSU, Sashimi, Sukiyaki, the list goes on…

Ultimately, my interest in Japanese culture stems from food, anime, videogames and music.

I forgot to mention J-pop. Man those songs are catchy.

I later realized that Japan had more to offer than anime and games.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO JAPANESE CULTURE?

#2

It’s funny, I can’t remember. I think it must have started with samurai and ninja back in the day. After that, all the great video games started to emerge from there and everyone was talking about how great quality stuff from Japan had. It was kind of glorified. Today I watch a few anime from time to time but have not really adopted their food culture except for eating sushi every monday. Speaking of which, that’s today yay :smiley:

One thing that has always inspired me from Japanese games and anime is when you have some guy with a drum going “yoooooooOOOOUUUU!!1!”. I don’t know, that stuff is just great.

#3

haha I totally know what you mean with “YooooooOOOUUUU”. I hear it all the time

#4

Judo course and Stephen Hayes’ Ninja books on the shelf at the local supermarket of a village on the countryside among other books on fishing and knitting :slight_smile:

since they were all from the same publishing house that specialized in books about all kinds of sports and hobbies it must have been a package deal :slight_smile:

and later a couple of Masaaki Hatsumi’s books with several inspiring stories and cultural and philosophical insights I enjoyed contemplating so I got the first Ninja book out of couriosity not expecting anything other than exotic sinister bullshit but got to appreciating Ninjutsu very much

also I fell in love with some of the countryside landscape I saw on pictures and in a couple of movies and sushi and got into the music and found this site after I built a three stringed instrument and someone called it jokingly a shamisen . . .

so some attraction to and interest in Japan developed from those bits and pieces over the years and I am looking forward to exploring and discovering a lot more aspects of japanese culture and would really like to visit sometime . . .

#5

I was born. The rest is history.

Seriously though! :wink: I got introduced to Japanese culture from Papa, who lived in Japan for 5 years. He taught us JKA shotokan karate and shakuhachi when we were young. Then, just like Berhard, I got more interested by reading Stephen Hayes’ books. I was really stealthy. And when I was 12, it was socially acceptable for me to sneak around the neighbors’ yard at night, dressed in black. (Can’t really do that anymore)

Anywho! Until I was 16, I was also interested in traditional Chinese culture and was learning Mandarin with my family since I was 11. At 16-ish, I started leaning towards Japanese culture. I started official karate trainings (before, we practiced at home with Nakayama and Nishiyama’s books) and connected with Kevin on tsugaru shamisen in the same year. I met Masahiro Nitta the next year, and soon after started learning Japanese. I think that’s when my interest in Japan was solidified.

In 2010, I had my first taste of Nattou… and actually enjoyed it! End of story! :stuck_out_tongue:

One thing that has always inspired me from Japanese games and anime is when you have some guy with a drum going “yoooooooOOOOUUUU!!1!”. I don’t know, that stuff is just great.

Truth! :slight_smile:

#6

Kyle how do you learn everything so quickly. T-T.

#7

Espresso. :wink:

#8

I’m intersted to know many of them is from budo.Japanese culture is not so common even in Japan, I was also raised in western music,because my grandpa was a music teacher.I don’t know shamisen at all before university time.But when i entered hiroshima city university(majaored in IT) club, and I join shamisen club just because I want some cultural activity. After that, I started sanshin, koto, sanshin,tea ceremony. I really get into it.I use chopstics so well ,I love sashimi, they call me “Japanophile Japanese” Steven, I now go to waseda univesisty to teach shamisen in tsugaru jamisen club. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdugLTXajW4

#9

and i have a question. how many people in bachido community?

#10

and i have a question. how many people in bachido community?

You can see this in the main forum page at the top. Right now it’s 382 members. Not all are very active though. I think we are around 20 people who write actively.

#11

As for myself, I have always been in love with the beauty of Japan for as long as I can remember.

Throughout University I spent almost every day with Japanese friends to the point that I was living with them.
After 4 years of that, moved out to Japan, and fell in love with everything
But Japan can be a pretty rough country for anyone who wants to stay any length of time. You have to remain open-minded and flexible.
Actually if you check out (www.thejapanrants.com) you can see some pretty good examples of how Japan can drive you crazy lol.
So after my first year living in Japan, a lot went down the tube, and I kind of lost my passion.
Ended up back in North America, and a buddy handed me his iPod one day and told me to check out what he was listening to.
This was my first time hearing the Yoshida Brothers.
My passion for Japan… was back.

Within a year and a half I was back in Japan, and living the life I should be living.

The other day, a friend asked me, “if you had to live somewhere else, where would it be” (meaning another country)
I honestly couldn’t answer.
I still don’t know.

Japan.

The word alone is enough to make my day better!

#12

Thanks Karl! I was introduce here from English speaking student.

#13

When I was younger I used to watch late-night anime with my father on PBS every Sunday. That was sort of an introduction. He also liked action figures and he always had some Japanese plants or decorations around/in the house.
Otherwise there was of course Video Games but I never really became interested in samurai or ninja.
Ironically I never really had intention of going to Japan or learning Japanese until I met Kevin and started playing Tsugaru Shamisen. And even then it wasn’t until I had been playing for a year or so and he suggested that I come with him that it started to become a reality to me.
I fell in love with Japanese culture after my first trip in 2006.
And in 2009 I started training in Bujinkan, the martial art that Masaaki Hatsumi created based off of the 9 schools of Ninjutsu.
So now I’m pretty much a lifer and have made a tradition of coming to Japan every year to study Shamisen and Budo.
I’m not sure if I could live here more than a few months. Maybe if they got some decent espresso out here I would reconsider though.

#14

Well long story as for everyone :smiley:
Started a long time ago when my swedish friend who is 4 years older than me was visiting finland and showed me Trigun (anime) and ninja scroll and ghost in the shell and others :DD Anime that’s what started it all…
Then later i got into Budo and started Sogobudo (means we train more than 2 kinds of budo at the same time and we had 5) and so i ended up watching Naruto someday and that’s where i got the seed to Shamisen … And yeah i’ve loved japanese culture since a kid and grew up kind of around it… I also own a Katana because in Sogobudo we had Iaido and when we got far enough they made us get our own swords…

I have the feeling that i’ve forgotten something but yeah :smiley: that’s pretty much the story to japanese culture :stuck_out_tongue: ( and i am SO going to japan someday)

#15

It was a combination of things for me. I’m half-Chinese, and in learning about my Chinese heritage I became interested in the rest of Asia too. Largely thanks to the Ninja Turtles, I got really into martial arts when I was little, so my mom found a karate school for me to go to. Then in 3rd grade we spent the whole year learning about Japan, and at one point we took a field trip to see a taiko group perform. (That was probably when the Japanese music bug bit me.) As I got older I got into Japanese cinema and watched a lot of Kurosawa with my mom. Later, friends introduced me to anime and manga, and then finally in college I was able to study the language and the culture seriously. I spent my junior year abroad in Kyoto, and then went back for two more years after graduating to teach English as a member of the JET Program.

I’m not sure at what point I started getting interested in shamisen, but my first lesson was actually a bit of a fluke. You know how people are always passing out flyers in Japan, whether they’re full pieces of paper or just notes stuffed into into packs of tissues? Well, one day I actually decided to take one of those, and lo and behold, it was an advertisement for a new shamisen class that was starting up. They were offering a free trial lesson (the first taste is always free, isn’t it?), so I figured what the hell and signed up. 2 and a half years and a ton of broken strings later, here I am, still going strong.

#16

I’m loving these stories!

#17

Oh man, I didn’t even mention how I’ve been playing video games forever. They’ve also been a big factor, especially considering how a lot of my wanting to learn Japanese was so I could try to break into the game industry.

#18

I’mmmm a gamer tooooooo

#19

Of course you are, gaming is the soul of mankind. Maybe you two will be two of the first to try out my ninja game once it’s out? Graphics are of course just temporary but at least I’m making progress:

http://www.filfyren.se/338039Untitled.png

#20

Hmmm…
My American name is Marvin,
but my Japanese name is Masahiro…
So, I’ve had the culture kind of built in since I was young.
But I first studied Japanese culture in school , an assignment on my heritage, and was was mostly interested in the Martial Art and Samurai.
I really enjoyed Chushingura and Hakagura and The works of Miyamota Musashi…
It has been awhile since I have enjoyed these books…
I may have to read them again, soon…
Hopefully I got the titles right…
It has been awhile…

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