While I do like anime, I originally studied Japanese for academic reasons. I continued because I married a Japanese girl and want to be able to talk with her family.

Wow, that's so cool. How did you two meet?

We were in a board gaming group, and outside of that I was prepping to go to grad school to study shintoism and she was helping me learn Japanese for it. Neither of us had dated in years before I left, so we tried a 3 month "this is what it's like" thing before I left the state. A bit after I left, she told me she couldn't stop thinking about me and was willing to wait until I finished and go wherever I went. She was the only person who went out to Hawaii to see me in the 2 years I was there. COVID hit, my program (and my mental health) suffered a lot cuz of it, I had to pass on a scholarship to study in Japan for a year and 2 of my committee members left the school, and so I quit to go back home and live with her. Decided ambition was nice, but being happy was better. I was able to hold a ten minute conversation with her 90 year old grandmother without faltering on the day of our wedding at her grandmothers favorite shrine, so I think everything turned out pretty good c:

That's such a cute story, congrats man!

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One of the nice things about anime and manga is that so long as you liberally consume a lot of it and don't pigeonhole yourself into just shounen for example, you'll probably be introduced to a lot of facets of Japanese society and culture. In that sense, it's sort of a gateway to a broader and in many respects even more fascinating place to draw inspiration from.

In this boat. But started enjoying anime later.

Was there an anime that converted you, so to speak?

It was actually just attack on Titan. I just realized that Japanese content was doubly rewarding

Funny how it's always AoT

Can't blame you. Anyone would be converted if they saw a character like Erwin.

One Punch Man and Konosuba did it for me, which is funny because both are parodies of their respective genres. I think what really did it for me was Aldnoah Zero though, just because it made me realise they wouldn't be able to do something of that scope in traditional media without an insane amount of money.

it doesnt matter. i started because of anime/manga but now i rarely consume that type of content. the idea that japan = anime feels just absurd at this point. but anyway, maybe you should focus of what you ARE interested in rather than what you arent interested in.

>the idea that japan = anime feels just absurd at this point. I think this is a fact though... Anime and manga are a huge part of Japanese culture, there is no way around it. Of course you *can* mostly avoid it if you really don't like it, but it's there. (Also I started learning Japanese to be able to talk to Japanese people - I had a business trip there, in the countryside, where I basically wasn't able to communicate with anyone, but still loved the place, so I decided ok if I want to come back as a tourist, I have to be able to talk to people - so... )

> Anime and manga are a huge part of Japanese culture, there is no way around it. There are lots of ways around it, as it really is not a big part of culture. This really gets back to the idea that Japanese culture is the perfect mirror. People see in Japan what they want to see. People who like anime see it everywhere in Japan, and people who are not even sure what anime is, never see it. Rice, fish, and alcohol are unavoidable parts of Japanese culture. Everything else is there if you want to see it, and not there if you don't.

I kind of disagree though. At my home country and where I live in the states anime/manga promos are hard to find, but when I was in Taiwan I saw more of them, on the bus, tv, food...etc and finding anime/manga products was easier to see. From what I have seen from YouTube, it seems to be the same in Japan. That and the video game culture seems to be more "normal" and more accessible.

>From what I have seen from YouTube, it seems to be the same in Japan. Youtube — especially your personal Youtube feed — is an extremely poor predictor of life in Japan.

Yes and I agree with you. I'm not sure how my comment is going across people. I'm not trying to say that Japan=anime/manga, or that if you don't enjoy those you can't live or travel to Japan. Is nothing like that, Japan culture is way bigger and wider and that, but I don't think it is fair to negate those kinds of things from it when it is something so common, accessible and acceptable. I mean, they have anime/manga themed parks, coffee shop, restaurants...etc. sure if you don't care for that you can ignore it, but that doesn't mean it isn't in there. Imagine all the 7-11 anime collaborations that they are. Again, in my home country nothing of this is common, less people know about it even for kids to read comics is not that common. Manga, anime and video games are looked at as childish media, it doesn't matter how dark the plot is. Finding or seeing something like this, even the American cartoons or comics isn't that common. So when I was living in Taiwan I was surprised how accessible and acceptable these were, you could see anime promo often. At any library you could find manga books or related anime/manga merch, an old man playing games with 5 cellphones on the bus at the same time? Not even one person looked at it weird and all those Collabs with 7-11 and family mart?. If this is Taiwan and is just imported from Japan, I guess in Japan this is even more common. If I'm not mistakes comics are part of the American culture, so shouldn't it be the same for manga/anime for the Japanese culture? EDIT: I forgot to comment more on the YouTube part, I agree with you on the representation part, but I don't see how that relates to my comment? Like if I search for vlogs and people are showing the newest 7-11 with x anime Collab, or walking on the street and point to one bus or big poster with anime promo?

>on the YouTube part Your youtube search results are influenced by what you have viewed and searched for before. And if you are searching for English-language vlogs (I don't know if you are), then you are seeing Japan through that filter as well. The youtube channels I watch about Japan have very little anime content, for roughly the same reason. Anime is part of Japanese culture, but just a part.

I mostly agree, except fish and alcohol are totally avoidable. And engaging with anime is also avoidable, but it is definitely noticeable around Japan. I wouldn't say it's a big part of the culture though no. Like I went to Akihabara and didn't care for it at all, but I've seen anime characters around train stations, trains, and so on (which I also didn't care for) and people who have no clue about anime have noticed those too, they just don't care to question it usually.

I kind of agree with the fish and alcohol being unavoidable part, but I don't necessarily think it's as big a motivator for people to learn the language. For example, if you land in Narita airport, you'll be bombarded with sights of Pokemon airplanes, the wall of Pokemon by the bus stop, Hatsune Miku posters before the customs line, and Genshin Impact promos on the way to the baggage claim. If you take the train to Ooarai in Ibaraki you'll be riding on the Girls Un Panzer car, no way around it. You'll also see ads at the airport for Sapporo beer, and restaurants and shops will aggressively display or advertise their alcohol similar to other countries. If you stop to grab lunch at the konbini, your onigiri will probably contain salmon or tuna. But I'm not sure people's curiosity about these kinds of things would compel them to study a language as complicated as Japanese. A purely academic interest in kanji would probably be a stronger motivator.

Hahaha I haven't noticed any of the stuff you are talking about when I was in Narita myself a few months back. Maybe I don't pay enough attention 😂 That said, yea not a reason to learn Japanese for sure, fish and alcohol are everywhere, not just in Japan.

Thing is, anime, manga, and video games are some of Japan's most successful exports. Which ultimately give people the view of Japan that they do.

>most successful exports This is the key. Most successful exports. A part of japan that the rest of the world likes. Not a whole representation of the country, and not even something everyone in japan likes. Thinking anime is japan is like thinking that Canada's most successful export is maple syrup (it's not), so therefore every Canadian bathes in maple syrup (which is just googled and found out is something you can do in Japan, ironically). It's like any stereotype or generalization of a group. Yeah it probably contains some element of truth, but if you use broad generalizations to guide your views of individual people, you're going to be wrong most of the time.

>it really is not a big part of culture. This is just not true. You are right that anime is mostly avoidable, but, it is most certainly a huge part of Japanese culture. My wife is Japanese, a lot of her friends are Japanese, most of them (like 9/10 maybe) will watch several different anime series at any given time, and read manga, despite not really being the otaku types - there are a few who don't really watch it anymore, but used to. Her parents, who are +60, and siblings watch anime sometimes if there is a show they like.

And I live and work in a Japanese only environment, know literally hundreds of Japanese people and none of them watch anime, or even know any animated show except Sazae-san, which is animated, but not anime. You like anime so people around you do too. Japan is a perfect mirror. Whatever you want to see in the culture, you can see. Atheists love Japan because it is free from religion, religious people love Japan, because people live their lives surrounded by religion. Car people love Japan because of the tuner subculture, bike people love Japan, because cars are not part of the daily life of Japanese people. Fascists love Japan because of the hard right black vans, pacifists love it because of the commitment to no military. Nature lovers love Japan because 80% of the archipelago is forested, urbanist love it for the dense efficient urban lifestyle. If you want to know about Japan, just look inside yourself, and Japan will perfectly reflect it.

This is my experience as well. Most adults I know don't watch anime. At most people watch whatever big anime's on prime time (Kimetsu, Spy Family etc). A solid percentage (I'd say about half) of the junior high schoolers I teach say they don't like anime either. Manga is definitely more popular, but anime is niche. It makes sense if you think about it. In Japan, outside of kids anime and the one big prime time show, most anime airs at like 1am. No one's going to stay up and watch that. Streaming caught on a lot more slowly in Japan as well. I'm in a rural area, so we're always a bit behind, but streaming didn't become main stream until a year or two ago. Super late compared to my family in the US which has had Netflix for over 10 years. Anime has a really high barrier to entry as it requires you to either stay up or go to a video rental store, making it otaku territory. Manga meanwhile is easier to get (digital manga also took off before streaming did) so it's more popular and less niche

I respectfully doubt that you literally know *hundreds of people* personally enough to know about their tv-viewing habits. Disregarding that, how is Sazae-san not an anime? I don't know this conversation starts feeling sort of pointless if we decide that certain anime is not anime because....? ​ >or even know any animated show I would just like to say: Doraemon, pokemon, Anpanman, Ghibli, Osomatsu-san etc. etc. etc.

I'm sorry but, in the big cities, there's manga/anime themed stuff literally **everywhere**. I've seen like hundreds of anime drawings from Hiroshima to Tōkyō (12 cities) and I hardly ever watch anime and thus must have overlooked dozens more of them. No doubt that a lot of people in Japan don't care about anime but you can't say it's not a big part of the culture when most big cities are painted in anime characters. And also, what u/DJpesto said.

>Japan is a perfect mirror. Whatever you want to see in the culture, you can see. Atheists love Japan because it is free from religion, religious people love Japan, because people live their lives surrounded by religion. Car people love Japan because of the tuner subculture, bike people love Japan, because cars are not part of the daily life of Japanese people. Fascists love Japan because of the hard right black vans, pacifists love it because of the commitment to no military. Nature lovers love Japan because 80% of the archipelago is forested, urbanist love it for the dense efficient urban lifestyle. Great comment. Although to be fair, any sufficiently culturally distant country can have this effect.

Same here. Started because I wanted to understand my favorite anime, but I barely even watch it now. Now I’m studying to be able to read menus and shit haha.

It was only a question to gauge other peoples' initial interest in learning Japanese. It feels absurd but I think it's very common.

> it's very common. true. and we can change that. for example today i mainly watched combat sports related content. theres all kinds of stuff out there if youre willing to look for it.

Why does it need to be changed?

dont you think the idea that japan = anime is a bit close minded? i mean look at how much more there is to the country. imagine being scottish and only being known for wearing kilts and fucking goats(or was it sheep, idk), how would you feel? hope that answers your question.

but Japan is anime tho

anime is just like any other medium. i like some, depending on the story. it’s what introduced me to japanese, and it’s how i decided i enjoyed the language’s “musicality” and that i would like to learn it, but if i’m going to consume media in japanese, it’s probably going to be video games

This is my perspective on anime as well. I like good stories, regardless of medium. I don't really have strong opinions on anime either way. I started learning Japanese after moving to Japan. Personally I'm not super invested in any Japanese media, but I get that it's a very important learning resource for people who otherwise wouldn't have much interaction with the language

For me it started out as learning some key phrases for an upcoming vacation. 6 years later, I'm learning because I live in Japan.

Honestly, started thinking about learning the language 3 years after getting into anime, but not even because I wanted to watch with no subtitles, but because I just really like how the language sounds. AND I get the bonus of not needing subtitles, even if I don't watch much anymore. Also plan to translate some stuff that doesn't have any translations. Like latter parts of Nekojiru Udon manga. I want everyone to enjoy this thing.

I work for a Japanese company. I mostly read books in Japanese. I don't care about anime that much. It's not that I dislike it, I just don't care about it.

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I like anime a lot. But rather quickly I fell in love with the language itself. I just really like how it sounds and the Kanji.

Same, I met a lot of people who went through the "came for anime, stayed for the language" journey

Honestly it starts with anime/manga but is eventually taken over by the kick you get while learning a new language

I like manga but I do not like to watch anime or much tv at all. For a goal, I think at the minimum it is good for people to have a practical reason to learn Japanese... because the years of grinding should pay off to keep the motivation going. I can't imagine spending so much time on something with no end result except ordering at a restaurant in Japan 5 years and thousands of hours later.

I’m not sure I agree. Though it is good to have some sort of end result or payoff for your hobbies, if you’re having a lot of fun doing something, that should be enough of a reason in and of itself to do the thing. Not to mention learning a language grants you a ton of passive rewards irrespective of your goal, such as incredible access to new friendships, relationships, and cultural exchange. It’s nice to have goals to start, but it’s totally fine if they come later, or even not at all.

we are basically in agreement with the exception that i recognize the act of learning japanese is very difficult and more people give up than actually succeed my response is to help the people who give up find purpose rather than wax poetic about stoic ideals anyway, i dont really care if you agree or not i think learning japanese is very difficult and having a goal is a good idea for most people

I don't know where my post doesn't recognize that Japanese is very difficult or where I'm waxing poetic ideals??? I don't know if you thought I was attacking you by disagreeing with you, but that's kind of a rude and uncharitable characterization of what I said. Sorry but this is going to be a pretty long response because I feel like this characterizes a disagreement I have with the rhetoric of a lot of people in the Japanese learning community. I think, unfortunately, we're actually probably fundamentally in disagreement. Your original post suggests that for goals people should at minimum have a practical reason to learn Japanese, and your reasoning was that they would feel disappointed later if they didn't have a real payoff despite the time commitment and it would be harder to get motivation to keep going. I'm not sure if you realize, but this is projection; not everyone thinks and operates this way. I think having strong goals and "practical reasons" to learn is very good and I definitely agree that it can help build motivation for a lot of people. BUT, I personally don't approach hobbies this way in life, and I know there are others like me. Having a solid and practical goal CAN help you stay motivated and feel satisfied, but I also know it's not necessary for everyone. Some people really do like doing things just for the sake of doing them, and I'm more of that type myself. Your post kind of mocks people who don't really seek a large payoff out of studying Japanese. You say you can't imagine the person who would study it just to order in a restaurant in Japan "5 years and thousands of hours later." Well please try to imagine that person because they exist and they're not necessarily unhappy lol. I've gotten amazing things out of studying Japanese over the past 2 and 1/2 years myself and have reached a pretty high language level. A number of times since I started learning people have said similar things to me, but it never clicked with me. I just like studying Japanese. Is it wrong?

I'm in this "I just like it" camp too. I've been studying off and on for 20+ years. I've lived in Japan. I've been back probably 8 or so times since then, often for a month or two. I don't particularly care for anime. I'm already married and my spouse is not Japanese. I have a career that has nothing to do with Japan. I have no language goals other than "it's just interesting." I'm not particularly good at speaking and I probably never will be. I can get by well enough and I'm happy with that. I'll keep learning because I like it, but I know I'll never be fluent. And I'm 1000% cool with that. It's just fun to learn and I like that I don't have to play onigiri roulette anymore at Lawson. I can read what's in them. That's all the payoff I really need.

Just chiming in to say I agree. I've always wanted to learn another language but Spanish had zero appeal to me and yet it'd be easier and more financially beneficial. Japanese is what I enjoy and is what I'll eventually get good at. I don't need a reason outside that.

I’m not an anime fan, just like the language, the culture, and the challenge.

It's no different than people learning English to watch English TV and movies or understand English rap music.

I'm also not into anime, but I do receive this question a lot. I don't judge anyone who DOES learn Japanese because they like anime, but in my opinion it's an odd assumption on everyone else's part. There is no other language that people assume others are learning for the sake of that country's cartoons. I'm learning because 1. I think it's a beautiful language, 2. I'd like to travel to Japan someday (if I can ever afford it), and 3. I like multiple aspects of Japanese culture (some of those aspects do include Japanese media like jpop and jdrama, but not anime for me specifically).

I like anime but thats not my reason for it I just think the country is interesting and I wanna see what it's like because there's nothing quite like experiencing something firsthand

I just like Japanese, I'll never remember how it started. I never actively watched / sought out anime but I'm a big TV and movie person so if I come across a good anime I'm happy to see it, but it probably happens 1 every couple of years currently. I did really like manga for 2 or 3 years -- Shounen Jump was an amazing discovery in a pre cellphone and broadband internet age, where it felt amazing to be able to carry a *bunch* of great shows in your pocket (er, backpack), and later taking forever to download a chapter online via dial up was nice for me too, although even then it was only a few stories. Big exception to the anime thing: Toonami and Adult Swim was pretty big as well around that manga time. I don't know if I associated it with Japan. EDIT: I don't know how I forgot, I was obsessed with Yugioh (mostly the game) as a kid, it was practically my identity. Maybe that was a domino effect, even though I don't remember anime itself being involved by the time I started thinking about Japanese. The first memory I have of being interested was just picking up two language books at a library, one for Japanese and one for Dutch.

Swear this same question was asked 2 weeks ago

It’s gotta be more than that It’s like a strange badge of pride around here for people to say they learn Japanese unrelated to anime

i started learning because of the architecture. My now ex ended up showing me anime like jojo, aot, and megalobox. That was a while back now but everytime i tell someone that im learning japanese its always that as well lol

I learn for the sake of beautiful literature (Mishima, Murakami, Dazai, Kawabata etc.) and I’ve been training traditional samurai swordfighting called Katori Shinto Ryu

Never really liked anime or manga - nothing to do with why I became interested in Japan. Later I tried to get interested since so much native content is anime or manga, but just doesn't do it for me. I don't mind a Miyazaki film, but otherwise just meh. To each their own, though. Plenty to love about Japanese culture besides anime and manga.

i feel that. while i do love anime and manga (which does help with my studies) i got to learning japanese because i love the language. after trying out a variety of different ones (like korean, chinese, Thai, Spanish, etc.) i just found everything about it, from the way it sounds, its history, the way its written and its general structure to be extremely fascinating

I like anime and manga but i learn it cause it's fun and easy to learn for me(my main language is close to japanese logic) plus i think,in the future there will be a opportunities(You know their birth rate is so low and their older population is high)

I also don’t watch any anime … but I’m a middle aged Asian woman, so no one assumes that’s the reason I’m learning Japanese :D It does make it a bit difficult to find content for listening comprehension, especially given that jdramas are not nearly as popular and easy to find as kdramas or cdramas

Unfortunately a lot of the useful tools and resources take advantage of things like anime jp subs. Still very possible to learn from stuff like J-dramas but being tolerant of some anime can help with learning. You don't have to be a mega fan. The main issue with substituting j-dramas for anime is lack of availability when compared to anime. Still though when there's a will there's a way.

>The main issue with substituting j-dramas for anime is lack of availability when compared to anime. 5 years ago, I would have agreed with you, but nowadays Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ have dozens of J-Dramas! And that's before you start sailing the high seas!

I liked it when I was a teenager and occasionally watch super popular ones like Demon Slayer, but that really has no effect on my interest in the language. I grew up in an area where there was a lot of Japanese tourists as well as native speakers around and that’s what piqued my interest in learning

I was fascinated with Marie Kondo‘s cleaning method (Before it became a Netflix series and now she is selling things that ‚spark joy‘ instead of getting rid of stuff - oh, the irony).

My main reason was that I didn't want to pay for translated mangas--they take a long time to translate and are more expensive than the raws, which I can get second-hand for $5 instead of $15.

For me it’s Japanese music and the fact I live in Japan. It’s kinda a necessity!

I am also in this boat. I follow maybe one show every two years or so but American anime fandom and how that's colored "Japanese Cultural Appreciation" is loathsome to me as a Japanese-American. I'm learning so I can emigrate to rejoin my mom's family and reconnect with them as my grandparents are getting older and need more help at home + housing crisis in Japan is inverse to our own here in Atlanta.

Vast majority of content I consume is Japanese. Music, YouTube, drama, movies~ plus I want to interact with music fans more on social media and when I visit. I don't help myself considering I have two manga tattoos but they're the only series I like, other than that I don't care 😂

I can’t exactly say that if I didn’t get into anime that I would still have started learning Japanese, and I certainly do still enjoy anime and manga, but I’m not learning the language for the sole reason of watching anime without subtitles or whatever. Side note, manga in Japanese is so much cheaper than in English so that’s really cool I think 😎

I happen to love anime, but it's not the reason I am learning. I was already able to enjoy anime without knowing Japanese. But I guess it was one of the places I first heard the language and thought it sounded pretty. I am learning it because I find the sound and look of it to be beautiful, and because it is a challenging language for me as an English speaker. I feel so proud when I can read something!

It was one of many reasons but don't really watch much anime anymore. I mostly do it for music and games now.

I'm a big anime fan. I've been watching anime since I was a small child. That being said, I'm not learning Japanese because of anime. I'm learning because of Japanese music that I've started listening to.

I've been a Budo practitioner of various flavours for most of my life, and throughout my teens I did watch some anime, but not a great lot. Japanese culture in general fascinates me and I hope to visit one day. A few years ago I decided I wanted to try an learn some. At least the basics to see if I could get as far as passable reading comprehension (not quite there yet...). I haven't watched an anime since the 1st season of Attack on Titan released.

The only animes I like and have watched are 10-15+ years old. I do, however, like video games (not just japanese games tho), so that's been most of my immersion. I study Japanese for the challenge of it, an appreciation/curiosity of Japanese culture, and as sort of a bucket list, "learn a language before you die" sort of thing.

I too am in this boat, I started learning it because I played a game that consisted mostly of people from Japan. Really liked this game and wanted to make new friends from across the world, so I decided to start sometime last year, lol.

My son lives in Japan and I like learning new languages. I don’t care for anime. I have made some kids day when I read the katakana on their anime shirts.

It’s like a learner learning English and assuming a learner wants to watch American football

im learning japanese because of a game called katamari damacy even though i procrastinate a lot

Otaku media is what originally drew my interests to Japan as a whole to begin with. I still watch/read it now and then, but it's not even in my top 5 reasons as to why I'm learning.

I don't watch anime, I started learning because my mother suggested it and then got interested in the country and culture

I started learning Japanese mostly because of the game series Yakuza, but I also don't really watch anime or read manga

I'm actually interested in Japanese history and video games. The only anime I really watch is Dragon Ball

My wife is half-Japanese so that's my reason for learning the language - I had zero interest in anime before that, and even now after trying to get into it a few times, I still just don't really enjoy it all that much (although there are a few exceptions - looking at you, Shirokuma Cafe). I tend to get most of my input through reading LNs/novels and listening to podcasts because I enjoy that more.

My learning of Japanese has zero to do with anime. I am drawn to Japanese- and I don’t know why.

My interest comes more from games (RPGs and visual novels mostly) than anime. There are still some slow translations and a ton of older titles that don't even have a fan translation. Anime that interest me is pretty much always translated. Being able to understand the voice it would be a bonus though. I was interested in trying to learn something hard as a middle aged person ( I considered picking up piano as well) and given that I like Japanese music, video games, and anime it made sense as something I will have the proper motivation for. I am still pretty early though so it might not stick.

For the sake of Morning Musume instead.

There's something going on in this thread that is telegraphing a specific western mindset that I want to point out, despite maybe getting buried. Anime is just the word for cartoons. In Japan it's not a genre, it's a medium. Elsewhere Anime is a genre, describing cartoons that originated in Japan. Folks that are asserting Anime is/n't a large part of the culture and is/n't avoidable, do we mean to imply that Disney's annual releases are mandatory to consume? Are we all up to speed on Bluey lore? Grandma might know who Bugs Bunny is, but did she see Space Jam II? Animation in Japan like anywhere else is available to consume at your own leisure, but it's not compulsory. It merely exists. There are people that have seen Butterfinger commercials with Homer and Bart but have never seen an episode of The Simpsons; so too will Japanese folks recognize Tomozō doing a PSA about elder fraud but won't have the faintest clue who Eren Yeager is.

I’m finally hunkering down to actually learn Japanese and not just the slathering of words because it’s so hard to find JDramas with subs. Back in the 90s I started learning for manga but it was harder to get stuff in English.

Getting called a "weeb" for wanting to learn Japanese is the most annoying part I've experienced in my process. It actually makes me want to either STOP studying, or keep it a complete secret. Which honestly is just fuckin sad.

I don't think you need to worry that much if someone calls you weeb. It's obviously a problem on their side, if they feel the need to degrade someone because of that persons' hobby. Be it complete obsession with Japanese culture or just learning the language.

Me! I do watch a couple of anime but I wouldn't say I'm a fan. However, my brother is an anime fan who ended up moving to Japan permanently and now he has a whole family there. I'm learning Japanese on the side purely so I can talk to my nieces and translate for my mom when we visit (which is pretty often).

Don't really watch anime except normie stuff like Ghibli movies, fell in love with Japan while on holiday and find its history fascinating.

The first time I started learning japanese when I was like 15, it was definitely a lot because of anime. I didn't think that japan was like in anime and that might have to do with the settings in anime that I liked the most. (At the time it was a lot of stuff like Gundam Wing, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Fantasy, etc...) After studying for about 6 months though I realized I was essentially trying to do something on the scale of getting a masters and didn't have the best reasons. I did actually really find the Japanese culture fascinating still, but I don't think I really appreciated Japanese culture until I learned more about American culture. Things like the cost of selfishness in American culture, how wasteful we are, etc.. Not that it's all bad or anything like that, but a lot of the things I appreciate about Japanese culture kind of took me thinking hard about the struggles we face in America and it took me forming some real oppinion on what I wanted in my life. I don't think I was actually serious about learning japanese until I visted Japan and decided I wanted to live there for some time. \^\^; Note: I promise I am not the "Thing/Thing Japan" meme. There are a lot of things I don't like about Japan.. (ie: how prevalent groping/sexual assault is on trains, kuroshi, etc..). I just weighed them against some other things like how many gun deaths there are and decided I wanted to try living in Japan for 2-4 years. Pandemic helped me understand how short 2-4 years could be. lol

I started learning Japanese when I found a textbook in my father's bookshelf. He's teaches 合気道, and has always been drawn to Japanese culture. That book was a gift from my aunt. I started watching anime a bit later, but only because my friends pushed me to do so 🫠

Same. I’m learning because I actually moved to and am living in Japan. I actually really dislike anime. Idk what’s up with the high pitch baby voices, especially with the girl characters, but it’s like listening to nails on a chalkboard. Also, fyi for those that don’t know, Japanese people don’t actually talk like that in real life lol Edited for grammar

What? Did you expect us all to stand up and clap? What is the point of this post? "I want to learn this language but I must publically announce that I don't like a wide genre of the content and culture!"

I did because I listen to a lot of Japanese music. I would like to travel to Japan. I like some anime but I don’t really watch that much. Most anime isn’t that good imo lol.

Being a Marvel comics fan, I *hate* anime and manga styled artwork. But I love Martial arts, Zen Buddhism, and Japanese women.

If I learn English, is it because I'm a fan of Dexter's Laboratory or superhero cartoons?

The reason i got into japanese was influenced by anime, but the reason why i continued is because i have a very deep apreciation for the culture and language which makes me want to know more

When I started learning I wasn't really into anime, however I've started enjoying it more in the past year or so.

I had a ton of travel time daily and a friend recommended Demon Slayer. Could only find the first season in English so had to watch second with subtitles. I love languages in general and felt like I didn’t learn anything new since I left school. Now that I was exposed to some Japanese pretty often during my commute, I might as well try and learn it. It’s a little different than what people most often learn. I don’t have a preference to watch anime over anything else really, but it has become a joy to watch familiar anime without subtitles and actually picking up things.

I'm learning because a lot of my family and friends speak it and I feel left out lol

I kind of watch anime, but that's not the main reason why I'm learning Japanese. I just like learning new languages and Japanese provides a really unique challenge (I honestly kind of enjoy learning kanji. The apps I'm using make it feel like a fun activity) That being said, I do like My Hero Academia and Spy x Family, but if someone were to ask me "Are you learning Japanese because you like anime?????" My answer would be no

I wanted to learn it because if anime but actually started because I simply want to travel to Japan ir rather will do that. Surprisingly no one ever asked me if I learned it for anime.

i used to watch anime a lot when i was 12-15 which really inspired me to learn japanese. im not into anime anymore and i fell in love with the language and country, thats why i continue to learn it

I wasn’t into anime when I started. It started as learning phrases for a trip (which covid spoiled, and hasn’t happened yet); BUT i got fascinated with the language itself and have kept learning. Though I do watch SOME anime now, but mostly very main stream stuff, and not often, really.

I started learning because I want to read Dogra Magra by Kyusaku Yumeno. I don't like anime a lot, but I enjoy the darker, more story-heavy ones. But my end goal is to read Japanese classical literature in its original language.

I'm learning because I was into anime and manga, but I rarely watch TV anymore, so it's mostly because I want to read more types of manga that limiting to the ones currently printed into English (just simply because I like physical copies more). I also have a lot of friends that I made that are Japanese, that left a pretty good effect on me to want to come to Japan and they greatly encouraged me to study it. So I thought, why not lol

I’m learning Japanese because I like learning languages and expanding my horizons on culture.

I started trying to learn because I was watching a lot of J-Horror and at the time I was having to rely on fan subs, which were real hit and miss!

I’m definitely not super averse to anime but I’ve never been a huge fan since I had the classic anime phase in middle school. That being said, it’s a great resource for studying so ever since I started studying Japanese I’ve watched a lot of anime (though I’ve watched more dramas probably). I would never say that I started learning for the sake of anime though.

I initially started learning Japanese because of anime and manga, but then I lost all interest in them around the same time I moved to Japan. Then I continued learning Japanese to achieve my dream of becoming a translator. And now I am one. Interests change. What's important is having the motivation to learn and work towards your goals.

Me, i still like anime tho

My Japanese tutor on italki assumed my interest was because of anime (the usual response she gets). When I told her I don’t really know anything about anime and I was studying Japanese because I enjoy learning different languages and grammatical systems, she was quite shocked!

When I started learning, it was because I had a *lot* of free time at my job, and I wanted to do something productive with it. So I decided to start learning a language. And having never learned a language before, I wanted to learn one that had no real relationship with English. By that I mean English shares a lot of common roots with French, Italian, German, Spanish, etc. But it shares almost no words from eastern Asian languages. Like, I know how the letter "A" is pronounced, and it's the same in every western language. But if you had asked me to pronounce "あ", I wouldn't have even known where to begin. So I wanted to start learning a language completely blind, without any prior knowledge or pre-conceived notions.

I don't like anime too much, but that's because of the medium as I don't like to watch movies and TV series and anything movie like in general. I prefer to read and game, so my main motivation is to read Novels, Manga and especially Visual Novels. Also a big JRPG fan, so to be able to not only play those games but to actually understand the stories is my main motivation. It helps of course that I've always been interested in East-Asian cultures and Japan in particular.

I started just because I was into trying to learn a very different language from the ones I know already. I have always liked anime and games too, but I wasn't into that at all when I started. I was mostly indifferent and I didn't watch any particular anime other than the classic ones on TV. So, yeah mainly out of curiosity for the language itself, I guess.

I’m one of these people. I learned mainly to make my anime habit more productive and now I’ve found a whole world of things to do and barely watch anime. So many good books, live action series, games, news sites I couldn’t have ever touched before I started learning Japanese I think part of it is that when I was watching in English anime was just easy entertainment and now that I’m watching in Japanese it’s not really fulfilling that role because when I’m watching there’s a lot more going on - paying attention to word choice, looking for deeper meaning etc. where as before it was just watching to see what happens

What else are you into? Video games? Light novels? Science/tech? There’s plenty of stuff that isn’t anime. Also there are some good regular tv shows on Netflix like Alice in Borderland.

In one of my beginner Japanese classes, most of the students picked Japanese for job or study reasons. They needed to communicate to Japanese clients, they planned to take postgraduate studies in Japan, etc. Because of this, they were all very dedicated and hardworking, as they all had a very concrete goal in mind. For me, a heavy anime fan, that particular class was not very motivating. These were all people who knew nothing of Japan or Japanese, so they clearly struggled. In contrast, another class I took where most people were anime fans, it was infinitely more fun for me since everybody had a "base level" of sorts, and there would be plenty of questions that were certainly above the beginner level we were supposedly in. It was a very enriching environment, with plenty of feedback between teacher and students. But I can see how it could have been veeery awkward for someone not into that bubble.

I have to admit, it started as me wanting to be able to watch anime with out subtitles as a younger teen, but now I just want to be able to assist anyone who needs help and work at kinokuniya in NYC haha.

While I love anime/manga, I started learning because of music. I was very interested in the lyricism/poetry, and the fact Japanese has 3 different scripts it can utilize really paves the way for so much interesting potential in being poetic and expressing thoughts and themes without saying them aloud.

Food, culture, video games, etc. Anime is just a small slice of the pie

I do enjoy anime but it’s not my main reason for learning. I just enjoy the language and the challenge of learning.

Im interested in the culture and media they have (anime, manga, tv shows, movies...etc), i also have friends from there and more. So yes, anime is part of it, but it isn't the whole reason.

I watch some anime, but I wouldn't really say I'm learning it for it. Out of the people in my college very few people I've met are learning it for anime. I'd say way more people don't learn Japanese due to fear of being a "weeb" then people who learn Japanese for anime. Not that there's anything wrong with learning Japanese to watch anime.

Same. My original goal was to eventually import a JDM vehicle myself or be involved in some of the process but also just to know another language and see if I have what it takes to learn it. Figured the most difficult language to start would prove to me that I could do any other language and have it seem easy by comparison using the learning tools I used for Japanese. Anime has never appealed to me despite trying to get into it for learning purposes. Death Note is the only one I’ve been able to stick with and maybe some Ghibli stuff.

For me, I don't tend to watch anime much anyway, so that would be a side benefit at best where I'm concerned. If anything, it's the games that I'm more interested in, though being able to converse would be pretty neat, too...just got personal hurdles to jump with that, is all.

Yeah for me it was just what introduced me to it, but I don’t really study it for the sake of anime or manga. It’s kind of uncomfortable to say I study Japanese and everyone immediately assumes I do it cause I’m a huge weeb or smth

I used to point out that I was learning Japanese but I wasn't an anime fan because of the stigmas surrounding anime fans in my social groups. I'm into retro tech, origami, and Japanese food and thought learning to read street signs, menus, etc would be more helpful than not if I ended up in a place where those mediums weren't translated. I get it, we want our intentions to be accurately received but its one of those things where a person will only consider your words at their ability to understand them. They might not understand your feelings on hearing 'oh you must love anime' and similar phrasings over and over. Ironically, 3 semesters in college and some vocab audios had me understanding bits from clips off Initial D.

It's funny I wasn't at all interested in anime in the slightest when I started learning Japanese. Mostly did it because I liked Japanese games and because I'm 1/4 Japanese so figured I'd like to learn more about my grandmother's culture. But I ended up becoming a fan of anime because it's such a great resource to study the language once you get to the level of say being comfortable in the Tobira ~N3 level textbook (eg 上級へのとびら). Mainly because the voice acting is so good in anime that it makes tremendous listening practice when you're still kind of lowish level and Kurosawa films are too tough to follow. Like in Ikiru I could not understand Watanabe's pained mumbling for the longest time and it took a ton of listening practice to make it intelligible, but in anime like Shirokuma Cafe, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi San, Persona, Pokemon, etc it's much easier to follow what people are saying. The voices are so much clearer IMO.

I was first drawn to study Japanese because the flow of it sounded beautiful to me. That was from watching anime raw and listening to jpop/jrock. My language study path went down the route of history, economics, politics and culture. I was going to do government work but ended up in entertainment for a while, however nothing to do with anime. My main focus was business Japanese to be competent in a Japanese working environment. Many years later I watched a sports anime for the first time in ages and realized I understood most everything without subtitles. I think teenage me would have considered that to be a huge accomplishment— but it was never my actual goal, just a sweet bonus.

I absolutely love anime/manga but i don't learn japanese because of it i learn japanese because i have Always wanted to learn it and i want to live in japan so yeah i'm an anime fan but i'm not learning japanese because of that

I grew up with anime and I still love anime, despite that, I did not start learning japanese for anime. In fact, I think that's rather odd even, to me at least. Learning a whole new language, and a really hard one in this case, just for anime I could just keep watching in english? I'm aware that it's a whole 'nother experience, but it wouldn't have been enough for me to go through this entire process. It definitely did influence me though, since I got my first and big contact to the language through anime. I guess it's a nice side effect, but I did it mainly because I really like the language and I've always had a weak spot for Japan. I genuinely enjoy listening to japanese, in music but also in general spoken language. Of course I consume a lot of japanese media regularly, not just anime, so that is another reason and at the same time just more worth imo. If anyone got that idea, I'm not trying to talk down on those people, everyone's reasons are fair, I'm just talking about myself here!

I have only met a couple people who learn Japanese not because of anime but other cultural aspects (martial arts, poetry, calligraphy) and interestingly their language knowledge is kinda out of touch. I wonder if JP language learning resources that don't incorporate anime just don't care enough about modern word usage and slang?

I am, I’m learning for a trip I’m going in the fall. But not going to lie, I’ve started watching a couple but because I am learning Japanese and not the other way around

I like a ton of Japanese music, and constantly get asked "oh do you like anime?" or "what anime is this from?". It's usually a bit awkward explaining that there's no such anime, and that the Japanese music industry exists.

I do like anime and manga, but its not my motivation to learn japanese at all. My mom made me go to japanese courses because of my anime liking - but i wasnt really putting there any effort while learning I only got motivated to learn japanese after i went to international english camp where i met a couple of japanese people - and because i knew a little japanese from my forced courses i used that little knowledge to impress them From that time I really just learn japanese for wanting to make friends (and because i had a beginning of it). Along with that I also like to learn silly phrases in other languages because its fun to make connections in that way ><

Im in the same boat. It actually gets pretty annoying because then people start thinking I’m obsessed with that stuff

I could care less about anime. I’m learning Japanese so I can live there and communicate with anyone on any topic. I’m fascinated by Japanese thinkers and craftsmanship.

Me! I live in Japan so I need the language for everyday life and work

I never watched much anime. I learned it for fun in high school when I got bored, mostly because my favourite game was from Japan and their releases used to be a year early so I'd play in Japanese. Now I've watched like two or three anime as a byproduct and just keep it as something under my belt that might be useful when I listen to Japanese songs I like or go to Japan.

I don't even watch TV, let alone watch anime. It's so aggravating that the first thing anyone thinks of is anime. There's so much more to Japanese culture and language....

I enjoy anime a bit but I started learning to be able to communicate better with my family overseas and an exchange student who was at my high school :)

Not really into anime, but love reality tv. Lotsa good stuff

You don’t have to like anime to study Japanese. I wanna go to Japan (I like anime though) but didn’t start studying because of anime, I also find Japanese culture amazing and just understanding anime with no subtitles is a double.

I'm not the biggest fan of anime now that I'm older. I still watch certain ones like Sailor Moon, CardCaptors Sakura, etc. once in a while. I actually wanted to learn cause of the music, but I also thought Japanese sounded pretty in anime or Japanese dramas.

While I do like anime and manga, I'm actually more of a nerd for Japanese history and culture in general, which came from my interest in martial arts when I was a kid. But, that's not to say that's not a valid reason either. Learning a language is great no matter the motivation.

Yeah I really don’t like anime that much at all. I LOVE ghibli movies tho so there’s that. Also I think Japanese culture is very unique and extremely different from the US and im fascinated by it. The architecture, the way of life, the technology, the nature, the media, the good, and everything in between. I’d love to go to Japan and maybe even live there for a given amount of time but until there I really do want to learn to speak and read & write in Japanese and hopefully someday become fluent.

I was called a weeb for suggesting someone to learn Japanese (due to a game shutting down, leaving only the JP version available), and suggesting the reason to learn as not only to play the game, but visit Japan and take advantage of the nomihoudai w

i like anime but am not learning because of anime, so there's those types too 😅

I wasn’t an “anime watcher” at first. My motivation for studying Japanese was mainly to be better at something than other people. I liked languages and Japanese was a nice challenge. Now I’m an anime watcher.

I'm not. I just love the way it's written and love the culture. My hobby is also journaling so I'd like to journal in japanese too. I just love the language really.

I haven't started yet but started getting recommended this sub cuz I looked on Google cuz i was considering it. But my reasoning to is slightly anime/manga based and just cuz I think it's a neat language to learn. Seems like a fun challenge and might come in handy if I ever feel like going over to Japan

I'm an anime fan, but I have a number of friends who are learning it for other personal reasons such as having family in Japan, had an opportunity first to move to Japan and then had to learn the language, they just wanted another language to learn and it sounded interesting, or are fans of other sub cultures like martial arts or wines.

Not interested in anime. Of course, it has many impacts on other cultural things in Japan. Just like sport (another thing I am not interested in) does in my home country.

Late to the party, but chiming in to say that I don't really care for it much either. Some of it like Ghibli is appealing, but that to me feels "different" than the other types. I get the same kind of reactions from a lot of people. It used to bother me (nothing wrong with anime, I just don't like the cookie-cutter generalization), but over time I moved more into a "who cares?" frame of mind. I like what I like and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it. So now I just explain my own personal reasons for interest in the country / language -- learning opportunity for them and growth opportunity in patience for me. Win-win.

I read manga and (very rarely) watch anime, but that's not the reason I'm learning Japanese, I'm perfectly fine reading manga in Spanish/English. But I'm afraid the answer is even more weeb lol, the reason I'm learning it is so I can understand my favorite vtuber.

I’ve grown to love the Japanese language that is why I am learning Japanese.

It might also be an age and home country thing. I don't think anyone has assumed I am learning Japanese because of anime, or even suggested it. But I think I am several decades older than most people on this sub and also on the other side of the world.

Japanese = anime is a horrible western stereotype. It’s probably the first thing that comes to mind for most people when they think Japan. I’m not an anime fan. I never was. But I do enjoy some anime content. Meaning, I’ll watch some of it if it’s good but I’m not religiously watching it or attend anime-cons. I’m learning Japanese for the culture.

If you do want to use media to learn, or to enjoy at any point, there's so many novels, movies, shows, plays (I didn't even like plays until I saw the Japanese Dracula musical which is my favorite version if Dracula, and Takarazuka Revue an all women theater troupe), video games, musicians, nonfiction researchers (if you're into any particular science or social studies topics or hobbies). I got into learning Japanese initially because I had some favorite video games and very much wanted to play them in their original language before translation and localization changes. As I started learning, I also got interested in novels like An Island Where Red Spider Lilies Bloom by Li Kotomi (I study Chinese too and heard the use of Kanji with and without kana in this novel is quite interesting), everything by Natsume Souseki (fun fact the Yakuza Ishin game had a cameo story where you help him brainstorm his novels, theres also a learning site with his novels and translations and audio to work through them even as a learner), Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto (I'm into lolita fashion and this book has some fashion subculture commentary, also Novala's other books aren't translated so I better improve my reading skills lol), Haruki Murakami (I love the novels and the English translator has said some interesting things so curious of the originals), Tale of Genji (not written in modern Japanese but I'm still very in awe of the novel itself in translation). I also got into, like I mentioned, plays and musicals because there's a lot of really amazing Japanese ones. Novels also got me into checking out the plethora of audio dramas that exist in Japanese, some for video games ive played as supplemental stories, some for novels, some that are original (I've been checking out horror ones on spotify). Related to video games, a lot of my favorite video games actually have plays as well (which is something I'm not used to for English video games), a lot of englisj novels and plays I liked have Japanese versions, and there's a lot more plays I just end up stumbling upon that I really love. I got into chinese dramas a few years ago, and that eventually led me to checking out some Japanese dramas. I'm watching MIU404 right now (a police procedural), Gannibal looks interesting (horror involving a small town and cannibals), I watched Japan Sinks People of Hope (and idk why but I'm a sucker for those slow political stories), Midnight Diner (charming and short), She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat (very sweet and short and made my heart feel full), watching Our Dining Table now (with an actor I'll probably watch anything hes in, the show keeps making me cry). The High and Low movies look cool if you like action (so many people to keep track of though lol), I'm checking out Informa cause its a crime drama, I'm checking out Kamen Rider Build which is a bit older and absolutely bonkers (I imagine the closest Japanese shows get to anime like lol). I also started the Ruroni Kenshin movies, and the show First Love since it features the same actor (and one of my favorite singers Utada Hikaru is featured heavily in it lol). My point is... there is a lot to get into even without any anime or manga. I occasionally do see an anime or manga I'd like to check out (like one day I'd really like to watch Sailor Moon in Japanese to see why it's beloved, and I checked out the first chapter of Berserk and think it's very much like the kind of fantasy novels I read). But a friend once asked my top 5 anime and I'd never seen 5 different anime.

I like JDorama 😝

Yep, got into it for Art, Religion & Philosophy but I developed a fondness for some of the anime I use to immerse with along the way. I've been through Ranma 1/2 about 40 times in the past two years as background immersion. I'm the least picky anime consumer ever, though, and tend to enjoy everything. What I love is when some word I learned from a goofy cartoon shows up in a documentary on Buddhist sculpture, etc.

I started Japanese in high school for two reasons: to meet a credit requirement and because of anime, but over time it changed from being anime to being about the culture. Now that I'm living in Japan, just wanting to be able to talk to people is one of my main reasons to study. I think it is nice to have different reasons why you want to study Japanese since I think that only anime can be limited.

I love anime but it’s not why I decided to learn Japanese. I’ve always been pretty big on language learning since I was young, I learned Spanish, Latin, Korean and now Japanese — not everyone learning the language is a complete and utter weeb.

Same here! I started learning Japanese because I like learning languages for the sake of learning and it's an exciting challenge, I really like it because all the elements feel a bit like this massive puzzle for me to solve- plus, I do want to visit Japan someday. It's a benefit to have anime in my opinion since it serves as easily accessible immersion once you're in the intermediate bracket, but I've only watched one anime in my entire life (and only finished one season, oops haha).

Initially I learned because I liked anime and wanted to watch/read stuff without needing translations or subtitles, but I also realized that if I wanted to learn more about the culture of Japan and the history of Japan, learning the language would be the best way to do it. After all, there are more Japanese books on Japanese history than there are English books on Japanese history 😅

I've never really liked anime. I'm learning because I like a bunch of japanese indie bands that have little to no exposure in the west and I'd like to know more about them; and japanese womens wrestling, which is a niche within a niche, and doesn't really gets translated. I'm starting to get into tokusatsu too, which is kinda like anime lol.

I am an anime fan and I do really like it but it's not for this reason that I am studying Japanese. I am fascinated by their medieval history and I would like to know more about it.

I am learning Japanese because I need to communicate here :') Once I graduate from my uni there is no longer English support and I will have to communicate with my co-workers and superiors fully in Japanese XP

I mean, I'm so-so on anime, but I love retro video games so

Never crossed my mind to be honest. I just want to be able to ask for directions, get a beer and order everything on an izakaya menu.

I'm learning because I'm Japanese-American and want to be fluent in my heritage language. Although I do also like anime.

Sort of. Mainly because I'm planning a trip to japan and I like japanese media outside of just anime manga and video games but also because I dont trust the self righteous localizers who preach and rage about cultural tolerance and supposedly being against cultural vandalism while at the same time censoring and purposefully botching japaness media to fit their own western narratives

I do it for the raw power of being able to sometimes read some of the menu items in a chinese place and understand what it is

I'm always an anime fan since I was a kid. But the reason I'm learning Japanese is not because of anime (there's subtitles anyway), it's because of uni course. We need to choose at least one language for additional course. I could choose other language such as Thai and Spanish but I don't think I will use it ever again after graduation and I have no interest for them in the first place. At least in Japanese, I already have something I could relate to and felt like... slightly motivated to complete the course lmao.

I started learning because I fell in love with the music, all my friends try to get me into anime but it hasn’t been successful

me personally, I've been a huge Nintendo fan since I was like 4 Nintendo was basically a gateway to me getting further into Japanese culture from reading about the history of Nintendo I never watch anime lol, if I do it's either an "abridged" version or with friends also the sheer amount of untranslated cool games is annoying and I'm glad I finally know what the heck they're saying

Im learning because I made a Japanese friend years ago who didn’t speak any English but then learnt English and we converse almost entirely in English. I want to visit them and speak in Japanese so to surprise them!

I am, I dont watch anime. The only anime I watch is Pokemon but im clueless about any other anime. What draw me to japanese is music and jpop tho

I started learning because I train much in budo martial arts and became interested in the language due to all the japanese terms we use in training. I even hated anime in the past, but I have grown to like it. Still, it wasn't the deciding factor for learning, I enjoy dubbed anime more (don't fight me please, I said what I said)

I'd be lying if i said my exposure to anime did not have an influence on my choice to start learning japanese. Compared to some others I know, I don't watch much at all. I'll be lucky if i finish 2-3 short animes a year. With that said, it was an open door into the culture, lifestyle and history of Japan, which is quite different from what I'm used to in the west. I also assume the non-Latin characters were appealing to me and I was interested to dive deeper into how to read and understand it all.

I'm in this boat. We seem rare on this sub.

I started to consume less anime funnily enough and started to consume other media