Japanese is a means to an end.
No one sane studies Japanese for over a dozen years, becomes a professional translator, and learns all the complexity and nuance of this language because the language is fun. Yes, it is a great challenge, and it is very interesting, but that wasn’t the point.
The language is purely important as a bridge to Japanese Culture.
Japan has a very rich and distinct culture. While most places do, Japan’s has a flavor that is quintessentially Japanese. Yet in more modern times, Japan adopts influences from vast swaths of the Earth and integrates them into anime, manga, music, and popular culture – and mixtures of all of these things.
I have revamped my Japanese blog, renaming it The Japanese Culture Blog, in honor of this principle.
A Modern Approach
This blog’s approach to learning is quite simple: focus on the experience.
The magic of blog post categorization is that browsing a blog is the ultimate act of Internet democracy: the user votes with his or her mouse clicks. Interested in sukiyaki and other Japanese food? Click on that category, or look via the internal search function. Interested in anime? Try that. Want to see what’s popular? Look at the amorphous cloud of tags.
It’s actually quite easy and simple.
This way, I can address a wide variety of topics of great interest to people, provide what language angles exist, but mainly, to educate through exposure and depth.
I hope you enjoy what is essentially a completely new website now. Thank you very much.
