[nonfiction]

i'm new. this post is all about me. so if you don't want to know about me, look away. if you're still here, chances are you want to know about me. so this is where i will share stuff in relation to the subject.

mostly i like to experience japan through its media:

1. japanese movies! my gateway into japanese culture. at the end of the 12th grade i started watching movies from akira kurosawa, takeshi kitano and shunji iwai. for the last four years probably about 40%+ of the movies i've watched are japanese, and 30% from other asian counties. it's probably closer to 75% japanese now. although i'm starting to run out.
some favourites: noisy requiem, whisper of the heart, bright future, tetsuo, carnival in the night

2. japanese books! favourite japanese author is probably haruki murakami; his first novel hear the wind sing is definitely a fav. also ryu murakami's almost transparent blue

3. japanese music! sunny day service, keiichi sokabe, nagisa ni te, quruli, tsuji ayano, flipper's guitar, pizzicato five, fishmans, chara, curly giraffe, happy end. pretty much anything keiichi sokabe touches, though.. genius!

4. japanese anime! i didn't watch anime until much later into my obession with things japanese. cartoons are for children, right? well i guess being a child isn't so bad. right now i'm finishing up the series ping pong club. it is quite zany.
some favourites: kino's journey, golden boy, gto, planetes, nieA_7

5. japanese dramas! not quite a dorama connoisseur just yet, the only series i've watched in full are ikebukuro west gate park and kisarazu cat's eye. both penned by kankuro kudo. he is a silly man.


WHY JAPAN?
japan seems to me like an odd* country (*tried to think of another word here, gave up. the japanese probably have a word for it). the japanese concept of honne and tatemae interests me. the fact that japanese language has single words for these two concepts interests me even more. maybe the word i was looking for earlier is inconsistant-- or "a country of inconsistencies" (probably not). a country of varying ideals. or characters: the salaryman, hikikomori, arubaito, female office temp, housewife, gaijin, schoolgirl. convenient stereotypes. but what interests me is the novels these characters write. where they connect. overlap. you know, like society. unfortunately this is beginning to sound just like every other country. so much for my romanticized vision of nippon.

decided i'm going to go back to university to learn japanese. would learn it on my own but i learn better in a classroom environment. i'm lazy. no self motivation. not the best characteristic for learning a language. but i don't see anything for me in my own country anymore.