Hi, I'm Marjan and am new here at this lovely forum, I'm glad to see how many non-Japanese people are here like me, they have Japan in their hearts.
Yesterday on TV I watched a National Geographic documentary (made about 10 years ago) about the Sumo yokozumas, I was intrigued by the fact that at that time the best sumo fighters were not Japanese, but Mongolian. They were born in Japan though. They said, they are 100% Japanese, which I find to be great:)
I found out that Sumo has its roots in the Japanese mythology. There were two gods who fought eachother and the winner was the first Japanese. I also found out that Sumo is very much connected with the Japanese official religion, Shintoism. I appreciate that religion principles very much, myself being a religious person as well.
I posted a thread in the Japanese Art part of this forum, in which I tried to explain something about the Christian Orthodox religion. I didn't put the religion itself as the main issue there, but I wrote more about the Orthodox Icons, the ''Holy Pictures'' of the Orthodox religion, which I love and treasure very much.
Those pictures are images of the acting force of the Saints on Earth, they are two-dimensional, and around a Saint's pictured head there is the Aureol, similar to the Asian Holy Pictures. I find this fact wonderful; it symbolizes the commonness of the Religion and Spirituality, the fact that God is One...
I've been professionally drawing My Orthodox Icons for quite some time now, and if you would wish to get introduced to my work, please conntact me ba either sending me a private or not message here at this lovela forum, or you can reach me at my Email address which is: [email protected]
I hope to have some interesting conversation with some of you here:rheart:
Thanks, bye,
Marjan:rheart:

Hello guys!
I'm 16 years old and a student of an middle school in Germany.
It's the same like many others here: I'm here 'cause I want to learn more about Japan, the cultur, the language,...
I have never gone to Japan. But in some years...

Hello everyone, My name is Diana and I taught myself Japanese at age 12 :) I hope to improve it... that's about it.
I love the colour red and I am pretty good at adding to video games. I don't really have much to say.

I'm a ratscallion
 

Hello :~D
My name is [][]⅓[][]%¼[]@ but please call me Naemi, ham pants(no not really [ ; w ; ]), or something of the sorts u0o
I'm an American whom partakes in American activities such as eating and reading and sleeping and whatnot c:
I'm...a youngster @-@ so please don't hurt me (( o—o ))

I've studied Japanese for a while now, but I'm still only so-so (u-u ;;
I can also read hangul...(just not understand anything \(.__.)/)
I like snail mail and Skype and J-Rock and not using commas so y'all should get to know me!
: D
Well...that seems to be it, no~~? UwU

OH AND ALSO ...I love you (´；ω；｀)ｳｯ…
Don't forget to stay fancy (^３–)ミ☆

Hi
Im new here my name is Björn. Im 23 years old, love manga, love anime, love warhammer, love fantasy, love games, love art, love martial art and I love everyting involving swords and polarbears! Couse Im swedish! I am curently looking for friends who shares my intressts and stuff like that.

here is a picture of me, but dont let my asian face decive you I can only talk swedish and english! They say a picture says more then thousand words so heres a picture of me. I was kinda choosing from a normal picture where I look sane, but my inner viking said I should upload this pic on my 2012 zombie apocalyptic "costume"!

Introduction
 

Hello! Konnichiwa!

My name is Yukisoba and I reside in USA. I'm currently studying Japanese as my second language since I wish to (hopefully) someday live and work in Japan. I won't lie and I'll be honest to say that Japanese anime/manga got me interested in the country the first place. I still like and watch a couple anime/manga here and there but now I am more interested in the culture and history.

I've been studying Japanese for two years now... but I still need to work on a lot of concepts (such as keigo, haha). I am hoping this forum may help me but I'm here for the most part to learn MORE about Japan and hopefully make Japanese friends!

I love japan
 

Name: Ian
Coming to you from: USA
First Breath: Jan 1990
Intentions and whatnot:I just saw this website in google ads, and thought I would check it out. It looks cool so far! I also like Japanese manga and i love the country.
Why do you want to go to japan:I really love Japanese music and it is my passion. And because of this, I've become invested with learning the language. Before discovering some music I really love, I actually thought I /didn't/ like music (with the onslaught of "popular" American music). I'd love to go to Japan to see my favorite bands live (many don't leave Japan) and also, it'd be great to buy various cds and stuff without obscene shipping costs!

Name: Ryley
Coming to you from: Canada

First Breath: April/1993

intentions and whatnot: Just wanted to people to chat and hangout online with people who share an interest in Japan

why do you want to go to japan: Been interested in Japan and it's culture since I was 12. Used to be heavily into anime and manga. Nowadays I am interested in Japanese Music (Their Hip Hop. They have lots of awesome rappers) I also enjoy their variety tv shows.

Anyways I hope to become an active member of this forum.

Name: David

Age: Approaching half a century so I'm older than most of you.

Intentions and whatnot: I started studying Japanese 8 years ago because that was the language my oldest son was interested in. I've since been to Japan and a bunch of anime cons. I love sushi. My oldest son has become quite fluent and is in Japan now. I code software as a hobby and I'm working on Japanese language learning software now.

Nice to meet fellow newbies here.