Why I've Started Studying Japanese for the First Time in Years 🇯🇵 (Patreon)

I'll admit, I've had something of a re-awakening this month. Somehow in the last few weeks I've consumed more Japanese related content, than in the entire previous year combined.

On Netflix, I watched ‘Age of Samurai’, an impressively produced show about the Sengoku period that ignited an interest in Japanese history. Then I watched the new Godzilla film (Godzilla Minus One) with an impressive and terrifying take on everyone’s favourite lizard, that likes to plod around Tokyo causing relentless insurance claims.

I watched a few episodes of Terrace House on Netflix (and quickly regretted it - my god, what an awful show).

Then of course I began the new series of Shogun and found myself blown away by the cinematography, acting and story - highly recommend it if you've yet to see it. Hiroyuki Sanada at his best! (Time to interview him next?)

And perhaps above all, I topped it all off by playing Ghost of Tsushima on PS5, completing a video game for the first time in 5 years, to name a few things I've watched or played.

I never seem to find the time to play games these days, but honestly, the game is a stunning revelation; a beautiful meditative play through experience, with jaw-dropping Japanese scenery, aesthetics, and motifs, punctuated with violent and explosive gameplay as a rogue Samurai armed with a sword and a plan to rid Tsushima of a cheeky Mongolian army.

If you’ve never played it, go and download it and thank me later. Even if you’re not into games, the most beautiful moments come less from swordplay and more from discovering a hidden crumbling temple on a cliffside, or an immaculate gushing hot spring nestled in a lush valley. It captures the essence of what makes travelling and discovering Japan rewarding.

I’ve now been living in Japan 12 years as of this year and much of the country and way of life here feels simply normal to me at this point. But through my recent binge of Japanese related TV shows, film, and video games, I’ve come to re-appreciate Japan in a way I’d perhaps lost in recent times.

Just yesterday I was trudging around Kyoto, grabbing some footage for an upcoming video, when I stumbled upon Kodaiji Temple - a temple I’ve not visited in many years. And as I was taking it all in, I discovered the history of the place.

While watching Age of Samurai, the documentary series covered the ups and downs of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, one of the three rulers who unified Japan, and after he died (spoilers!), I always wondered what happened to his legendary wife, Lady Nene, who he'd depended upon and who guided him through his turbulent life.

So imagine my delight to discover that Kodaiji Temple, nestled in the mountains over Kyoto, was actually built by Lady Nene, and I was standing in a bamboo forest overlooking the city, where she spent her final years after her husband passed away. It almost felt like a pleasant 4d conclusion to the show I'd been watching.

It was a nice moment and made me want to dig deeper into Japan's rich history, to help me appreciate the many places I end up exploring.

Over the years I've spent much time conquering Japan in terms of travel and locations in a quest to uncover the country. Travelling is somewhere between a hobby and an obsession at this point. Yet, for all that I've seen and done, maybe Japan has been right beneath my nose the entire time; it's not where you end up. It's the people you meet along the way. An interaction with a local teaches you far more than gazing at the scenery ever could.  

For sure, I’ve done documentaries on extraordinary people, celebrities, owners of businesses, and friends, but could I do more, could I dig in deeper and get to know the locals in these places. For all my journeys around Japan, I think I could have done more to chat with people and hear their story, and going forward, I hope to do better on that front.

The barrier to this has always been the Japanese language or rather my lack in using it in everyday life. How can I hope to meet interesting people if I don't use it - outside of eccentric, wacky individuals like Natsuki or my good friend Yuki.

With that in mind, starting here and now in March I’m going to resume studying Japanese for the first time in god-knows-how-long, so I have the confidence to speak the language in conversation again, in a way that I feel I’ve lost in recent times.  

It's not that I don't enjoy studying Japanese - it's very enjoyable as you can learn a new word or bit of grammar, and then find yourself using it the same day - it's simply a matter of time.

I've found it increasingly hard to justify the massive amounts of time spent studying Japanese, when I've been pursuing filmmaking vehemently in the last half decade. Once you can have conversations and get by in everyday life, going a step further and becoming truly fluent to a native level, is a goal that starts to almost feel unnecessary.

But it's clear that my lack of confidence and knowledge in Japanese has held me back from achieving the kinds of documentaries and even films I'd like to make here in Japan. Realising that recently, has been a very powerful motivator.

(Also the subtitles on Shogun are awful and want to be able to bloody listen instead, haha).

As to how I'll pull this off, I’ll be posting more about how I plan to study Japanese in a follow-up Patreon post. I know many of you guys are studying and maybe you’ll be able to get some ideas from my own methods. Today I simply wanted to explain my motivation behind restarting! And I welcome any ideas you guys might have on tools, techniques or media you use to study yourselves.    

The language learning journey begins!

In other news, we've got a new video out today :D

As we all know, the Akita leg of Journey Across Japan didn’t exactly go according to plan. And so I returned to make things right - we hit up Tsuru no Yu, a legendary onsen in the mountains, stayed overnight in a renovated accommodation in the samurai town of Kakunodate, and I rolled around in the snow with my top off and nearly died of cold.

All that in today’s episode!  

🍿 Watch: https://youtu.be/KuZ06cAwFLw?si=GHue5mcWaZ-4b3so  

Give it a watch and in the next few days, we have a great big episode dropping over on Abroad in Japan featuring Natsuki to look forward to.  

For now though guys, let me know any techniques you guys have uncovered for learning Japanese efficiently and I'll share my own in a follow up post to come.  

Chris