I was wondering about this question… Because Ik when I started learning Japanese my motivation was anime Honestly most generic answer- But it’s true I think I started because of that but then it became wanting to continue my education in Japan. I hate school so why would I want to make more trouble for my self by studying all my school subjects in another language…The reason is I’m not quite sure .I think it’s because I can and could never be part of the school community in England.I think I was trying to find a reason to be interested in something.That’s what my motivation is ,I don’t exactly what it is but what is yours?
Pretty similar reason here, except it’s just reading in general* and having more free time to indulge in my hobbies now. Studying Japanese has done a lot to help add some regularity to my life since I’m somehow better at following a gamified SRS schedule than any other kind.
A few years back I did the anime → manga → LN → Web Novel progression that’s still got its grip on me. There’s other works I’m interested in as well, but I want my comfort food most of all. Speaking of comfort food…
I honestly forget at this point, but I’m too deep in now that it’s kinda been ingrained as like a hobby I guess and I don’t know if I could get myself to stop if I wanted to
Started out due to video games mostly. Back in the PS2 days, I imported a ton of games. Also when I started learning (and stopped and started countless times) Plus just enjoy lots of other Japanese entertainment, so figured, why not?
Now, like Dawn, its just part of my routine. It would be weird not to be studying Japanese. Still play video games, but much less than I used to. Don’t really have time for much in the way of hobbies actually.
Like many others, I once had the dream of moving to Japan. Tried, and failed, once. Now, its no longer possible.
i’d say just loving japanese things since i was smol. when i was 8, i got a little hello kitty chest of drawers and honestly, that was that. it’s ages ago now!
i have watched anime without ever stopping since i was a kitten as well.
4th time trying for meow. but thanks to WK, this time i’m sticking to it. i have a family now and i think learning something my brain needs new wiring for is a great way to keep those (the) brain cells in shape heh.
I got hooked on manga and some of my favorites stopped getting translated and at some point I thought the hell with it, I’m gonna learn Japanese so I can read what I want. And I’m very glad I did
I honestly don’t know where it started other than a very generic “hey this anime thing is kinda dope” sentiment when I was… I think about 14?
Right now though, it’s just various types of Japanese media along with finding the language very interesting to learn. I started really finding my motivation when I watched the Monogatari series and thought “man, I really ought to learn Japanese properly to understand more of the wordplay in here” but it spiraled from there and now there’s VTubers, manga, anime, and who knows what else
I guess that’s a good thing, really. With a whole bunch of interests that make Japanese relevant, I’m probably gonna stick with it to some extent long-term, and I’ve got plenty of opportunities to practice.
I generally enjoy a lot of Japanese things. Anime, manga, video games, music, food. The country seems like a fun place to visit someday and I think it’ll make it more enjoyable to be able to communicate in Japanese. Also, I usually drop things I start learning and this is the only thing I’ve stuck with so far so I kind of feel like I need to keep sticking with it so I can say I’ve accomplished something lol.
I started learning Japanese so I can eventually conduct research in Japan. I’m currently pursuing a PhD in criminal justice and find the (relatively) new lay judge system in Japan extremely interesting. There are a few English-speaking researchers who have published research done in Japan but I can’t read research that is currently Japanese-only until I get this language down.
I enjoy anime, manga, and JRPGs a lot too, of course. But being able to enjoy these in Japanese is kind of a bonus for learning the language.
I began watching anime for a few years, and then all of a sudden remembered the 5 rangers sketches by Gaki no Tsukai (or probably Gottsu Ee Kanji actually) I saw during high school when a friend showed me. It was funny then, but with a little background even more. That’s the moment I decided to actually study, although it’s been on and off. Downtown as a comedy duo still is my favourite. Gaming (Osu! initially, later other games as well) also helped.
That said, I learned quite a bit in a non-serious way while watching anime before doing any serious study. I remember in the first episode I ever saw, Bleach #1, that a ghost said ‘samu’/‘sabu’ as a version of samui. That’s the actual first word I learned after looking it up. I’ve recently reset, but when I was at the higher 20s I still recognised words/expression from anime, embarrassingly.
As a sidenote, there are some less predictable results of this route as well. I’m now a treasurer at a (very small) Dutch Mahjong club as a result of once starting my japanese journey.
When I started self studying in 2020 it was to get ahead in class. Then I just kept going, and at this point language learning has become a hobby as well as simply part of my day. Too late to turn back now
I’ve always had an interest in Japanese culture since I was younger; Nintendo games is probably where it started. Then as I was growing up I researched and indulged myself in the culture via the web - I’m dying to go and I even want to live in Japan someday. Recently, I’ve gotten into anime and I LOVE it. I’m still in school, and quite like OP I want to continue my studies in Japan if possible (despite having to learn a whole new language) because I don’t particularly want to stay at home to study for much longer - I really want to explore the place I’ve been looking up to for many years in my life. Also, I just like language learning haha.
just for recreational activities like anime/novels and ext.+ I want to work in the UN, preferably in the Asian region, and with the knowledge of chinese+japanese, I can present myself as a valuable narrow specialist. International relations degree is a very interesting career path but sadly ultra competitive.
plus ego boost. My friend managed to learn Chinese and Korean on a decent level and almost in every job interview people always mention it with some praise, even if languages skills are completely irrelevant for the job position. They usually say it like- "if you managed to tackle 2 of one of the hardest languages in the world, then that ( company name) trivial thing you should handle with ease.
A couple of years before Covid hit I attended a summer camp at my zoo (not gonna specify where obv but it’s not a small zoo at all ) and one of the people in my group was an exchange student from Japan!
You can probably see where this is going but one of my main reasons for learning Japanese is to be able to communicate with her and her family when I’ll (inevitably) go to Japan one day hahah
I also like reading a lot so that’s kind of another bonus with learning Japanese for me (^_^)
My parents said I could get a cat if I learned Japanese.
I also want to practice because I might go to Japan for my mission.
I am also part Japanese, so I would feel wrong not learning my language.
It definitely started off with anime. But after learning about the sentiment “to learn a language you have to learn the culture and lifestyle of the country” - I started doing just that. And when I did I realized there was so so much more and I fell in love with the peculiarity of Japanese culture and how it’s both so relatable but also extremely foreign at the same time. Not many things in life make me as perplexed as they make me fascinated, the way Japan, the Japanese culture, the Japanese language - the Japanese everything does. I just simply want to know everything about Japan, but I want to be able to do it in Japanese as well. That’s definitely the biggest motivation outside of things such as possible job opportunities in translating and such in the future.
I also want to learn more East Asian languages at some point. But I want to be at least somewhat fluent in each one before I start a new one. My next target - in a couple of years - is Korean and I’d love to try some Japanese text books for learning Korean at that point.
Honestly most generic answer- But it’s true I think I started because of that but then it became wanting to continue my education in Japan. I hate school so why would I want to make more trouble for my self by studying all my school subjects in another language…The reason is I’m not quite sure .I think it’s because I can and could never be part of the school community in England.I think I was trying to find a reason to be interested in something.That’s what my motivation is ,I don’t exactly what it is but what is yours?
) and one of the people in my group was an exchange student from Japan!