I have had interest in Japan for many years now.

I was interested in studying abroad before, but now I’m actually trying to fulfill my childhood dream of going to Japan! Hopefully, this summer, I will be floating around Tokyo and taking in as much as I can before I leave. Going to a place that’s so different from what I’m used to is such an exciting thought, and I can’t wait to go! If all goes well, my dream will become a reality.

When I was a little girl, probably before I even started school, I would sneak into the living room and watch cartoons on a channel that became Adult Swim/Toonami late at night. I knew I wasn’t supposed to watch the channel because it would say that it had mature content. 

I never quite understood what the stories of the cartoons were about, but the openings and the animation of the shows drew me in. I later found out that the first cartoon I watched on that channel was called “Big-O,” and it wasn’t a cartoon — it was アニメ, anime or Japanese animation. I started to watch a lot of anime shows like “Case Closed” and “Inuyasha.” I even got into anime movies like “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke.”

The internet opened the door for tons of new anime for me to watch, and it also opened the door to the culture of Japan. I only found out that these shows were called “anime” after technology advanced and we no longer had the dial-up computer. After we upgraded, I started watching anime online. Since they weren’t on TV, some of them were in their original Japanese language, and they had subtitles at the bottom of the screen. I also found out about manga, Japanese comics, and that most anime started off as manga first. 

Through anime, I would notice mannerisms and gestures that we don’t do in the U.S., like bowing, for example. I noticed the beautiful scenery and traditional clothing in some anime. Some scenes used in anime are real places, and their traditional kimonos and yukatas are very beautiful. Learning about another culture and country really excited me as a kid, and I remember always telling myself that I would go to Japan someday to see what it’s like for myself instead of just researching the country and seeing pictures through a screen. I even tried to teach myself Japanese, but that didn’t work out so well.

Through elementary, middle and high school, my anime list grew, and I met people who had the same interests along the way. Unfortunately, I could not learn the language in any of my schools because they were not offered. Foreign language classes weren’t offered until I was in high school. Even then, the only choices I had were Spanish and French. When I got to college, I finally started taking Japanese language classes.

I hope this trip will get me a step closer to becoming fluent in the language. I will be in a country where the primary language is Japanese, and I hope immersing myself in it will show me what it feels like to have to know the language and be familiar with the culture to have a mostly smooth day-to-day life in Japan.