1. Playing Final Fantasy series in their native language (my initial reason for learning Japanese, now not so much)
2. I like how Japanese sounds and looks when written
3. Since I'm in IT it would look nice in my CV if I worked in most technologically advanced country in the world
4. Don't know why nobody mentioned this: Japanese girls

Evil_Dragon Wrote:5. People usually assume I'm smart as **** when they find out I speak Japanese.

Don't you know what yellow fever is thurd?

thurd Wrote:4. Don't know why nobody mentioned this: Japanese girls

uhh...yellow fever is a slang term for being "sick" by an uncontrollable attraction to asians. It doesn't necessarily mean "girls" but since most people that use it are hetero males (the term is slightly derogatory) it usually refers to asian women. others correct me if I'm mistaken.

interests changed over time yadayadayada...

1. Yellow Fever
2. I like the way that girls talk in Japanese
3. My wife is Japanese
4. Japanese movies/magazines/books/music/media
5. It's cool to speak another language so different from English

bizarrojosh Wrote:

thurd Wrote:4. Don't know why nobody mentioned this: Japanese girls

uhh...yellow fever is a slang term for being "sick" by an uncontrollable attraction to asians. It doesn't necessarily mean "girls" but since most people that use it are hetero males (the term is slightly derogatory) it usually refers to asian women. others correct me if I'm mistaken.

I did not know that. Thanks for the explanation.

1 - The language itself, other than beautiful it is challenging
2 - Business (were I live not many people speack japanese)
3 - Videogames, music, and I would like to start reading manga and watching anime
4 - Kanji
5 - Now that I'm enrolled in it, leaving it would just be weird.

1. Anime / Manga
2. Huge amount of books, movies, tv, music, video games being produced in Japan
3. General interest in language learning
4. All the best stuff is made in Japan
5. 囲碁 and 将棋

Reasons for wanting to learn Japanese
1) Media, mostly anime, VN and manga, but I guess video games too
2) Yellow fever
3) To get a job in Japan so I can move there

Reasons for wanting to move to Japan
1) Can move in with my girlfriend without having to marry her just so she can come here
2) Food is better than here
3) Internet is better than here
4) Hard to find stuff like raw manga here
5) Safer than here late at night
6) Feel a bit out of place here anyway
7) Other Japanese conveniences

Originally started studying Japanese on a whim, since I needed foreign language credit for my major and anything would have worked. Now I'm studying Japanese because I'm in Japan and not being able communicate effectively is super-frustrating guys.

I don't really have much in the way of reasons, I guess. It's sort of a tautology; I'm learning Japanese because Japanese is the thing that I'm learning.

1) Women. Incidentally, women were not part of the reason that I came to Japan. But now that I find myself in Japan, whenever I look at Facebook pictures of girls from back home in America I get a little less motivated to go home. Woooo, I'm shallow.
2) I like to read stuff that makes me angry. A big genre of things that make me angry are those which are based on ridiculous cultural assumptions (in America it's usually religious things or American exceptionalism, in Japan it's nihonjinron). Another language completely opens up a whole world of things to piss me off and criticize.
3) I've decided to take some time to figure out my future, and in the time I decided to live abroad, and the country I chose was Japan.
4) When I was a kid I played through FF7 and watched through Evangelion too many times.
5) Because I've been failing miserably at doing what I actually want to do in life (science).

1. Literature. I like Kawabata, Oe, Endo, etc. I'm looking forward to being able to read them in the original.

2. Academic interest. (Don't get me started. ^_^ )

3. Kyogen. Definitely Kyogen. To a lesser degree: Noh, Bunraku and Kabuki.

4. I've studied this long, it would be silly to give up now.

5. The food. i.e. Being able to go to restaurants in Japan beyond the ones where you buy your 定食 voucher from a vending machine and then give it to the waiter. Or only being able to order items whose names are written in katakana/hiragana because you can't pronounce the kanji.

1. Business- I figured it would look good on a resume
2. Video Games- the kind of business I want to get into
3. Drama/Anime/Manga/Magazines/Internet
4. To impress people at sushi restaurants in America
5. To increase the number of foreigners who can speak and understand (and especially read!) Japanese fluently, and eventually diminish the intensity of racist patronizing in Japan

I never intended to come to Japan, but it seemed necessary when I started studying it. Now that I'm here I've found new motivation in that nobody seems to expect me to speak any Japanese. America would be a confusing place if we never encouraged foreigners to learn our language.

I just realized that this might set off a protest of "English is not the national language of the United States", but everyone knows what I mean.

1. The language
2. Books
3. media like anime, music, art, and games
4. Access to things that are only in Japanese
5. Future possibilities...

I'm not going to say I'm learning Japanese for the people, since I don't know any Japanese people at the moment, and I'm pretty shy and introverted.

1. Reading for professional reasons -- newspapers, magazines, books, government documents.
2. Reading manga and novels for fun.
3. Anime.
4. I love kanji!
5. I enjoy the sound and look of Japanese.

I don't have any plans to live in Japan, but I have visited and enjoyed it a lot. Mostly I am studying so that I can read.

1. Just wanted to waste my time with something totally useless to me...mission accomplished, so now, moving on

1. I live in Japan, so I figured I should learn Japanese.

That's about the end of it. Hard to pin down why I still study... combination of stubbornness and genuine interest. Been generally disappointed with Japanese books I've read, Japanese TV and movies I've watched, and Japanese anime is (by and large, with a few exceptions) not really up my alley.

Something about it is alluring, though. Who knows... mostly, I just like living here and when you live in a place, you should speak the local language.

Also, Japanese women are incredible. So that's probably most of it. It's amazing how many very beautiful women I see every day.

1) Everyone keeps telling me it's impossible
2) Japan is paying me to do it
3) More options upon graduation
4) Always wondered how the HELL can they remember all those symbols???

ems573 Wrote:1) Everyone keeps telling me it's impossible
2) Japan is paying me to do it
3) More options upon graduation
4) Always wondered how the HELL can they remember all those symbols???

for me, not much people really cared. But a lot of my friends are like, you want to turn asian or something? lol.
Anyhow, the people who say you can do it, probably mean you can do it. But when it goes into their time. Then it can get dirty.
Keep on going and wait till you can blaze through j-novels like there nothing. People will be like wtf, how did you do that!!! lol

Okay, I ain't gonna lie...
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Manga

I could say I like the language and the culture, but I like lots of languages and cultures. There are other interests and benefits I gain from learning, such as being able to read more literature and web pages, potential to communicate with more people, looks good on the c.v etc, etc, but these benefits are the same with any language. For me manga is where Japanese wins. If manga had originated from Russia, Greece or Poland, I would be learning Russian, Greek or Polish instead

1) The language is so damn cool. I mean, come on, do you know of a cooler language? It's sounds awesome, it looks awesome, it functions in an awesome way. I love it.

2) Literature. It doesn't have to be good literature. Hell, I don't even like 夏目漱石 that much. I love written Japanese. It's wonderful.

3) Comedy. I love Japanese comedy. I can sit and watch an American comedian and not laugh at all the entire time, but whenever I watch ガキの使い or a good 漫才 group, I'm dying the whole time.

4) RPGs. I love RPGs. I love Japanese. Japan makes a lot of RPGs. The reason goes no deeper.

5) Women. I have to be honest and say at first it wasn't for this at all. In fact, there are many other types of women I like before Japanese. However, it's amazing what a few really bad relationships can do, huh?

1) In the year 2053, the great 日中 war wipes out mostly all civilization except Greenland, Antarctica, Japan, and the former neutral state India. For the same of humanity and a prosperous future, I learn the holy language.
2) The Toyoda "Uchuu" line of civilian space cruisers only takes commands in Japanese.
3) Try explaining to the regional heretical procurator that you dont speak the holy language. Its not funny. My brother died that way.
4) Female companion robots can only be programmed in Honda's proprietary IDE or assembly.
5) Mistaking mov ax,bx for mov bx ax might cause your companion robot to misbehave in bed.

sikieiki Wrote:5) Mistaking mov ax,bx for mov bx ax might cause your companion robot to misbehave in bed.

Hehe! x86 assembly == the sex

That's a pretty funny thing to ask me, because I can't think of too many interests...
Maybe literature? I want to read good books, the classics, from every (or most) languages, I guess reading them in their original language makes much more sense.

1. Literature
2. Entertainment (Movies, TV, Games, Music)
3. Communication
4. Culture
5. General knowledge about the world

EDIT: I forgot one important interest, which is Japanese women. I don't know why, but I'm really attracted to japanese women. Sounds crazy, but I prefer the shorter and flat-chested ones, they are so damn cute, a lot different from the "hot" occidental girl, that most of the time just looks like prostitutes.

Mine are more reasons why I'm learning Japanese, but I guess they're interests too

1. I'm Japanese but grew up with English as my first language.. lived my first 6 years in Japan and always wanted to go back.
2. My sister and I have had the idea for a surprise vacation back to Japan for our whole family once we're done with college (not sure how realistic/possible our savings for it will be)
3. I live in Iowa, and it's nice... but there isn't that many asians compared to some states and the ones here are usually foreign exchange students or very american (like me T_T)
4. I love the language/culture/people etc, and admire people who are bilingual or more (I hope to be fluent in both some day)
5. I like anime/reading (not into manga's though)
6. Since I am Japanese.. if/when I go back to Japan, I want to be able to fit in there (speaking etc) since it'd be more expected of me that I know it... when you're white at least it's obvious you most likely speak English as your first language, instead of a Japanese girl with horrible grammar and language skills (me... lol)
7. some personal reasons I'd rather not say, but yeah, it means a lot to me that I'm at least getting a little bit closer to knowing the language ^_^ and it's my motivation to keep going.
8. oh yeah.. I guess the comedy vs. respectfulness? of the culture is another reason. They have such crazy hilarious game shows etc, but then a side that's so reserved lol - I just love that.

and I bet many of you have seen this, but it's one of the funniest things I've ever watched, that I can recall. Japanese Spa Prank

1. MUSIC
2. I like learning languages
3. I like reading
4, 5 I don't know, sushi?