My Wanderlust for Japan

Alex Mathew Mendoza
Sep 3, 2018 · 2 min read
A city in Kyushu, Japan

I’ve never been to Japan before. But I’d like to go.

I was born in 1994, and like many twenty-somethings I’d grown up watching English-dubbed DBZ in the afternoons. This would later turn into the phenomenon of Toonami, something that I argue was the single most important catalyst for turning American kids into anime fans, or at least aware of anime.

By the time I entered the thick of middle school in 2006, I was becoming familiar with series such as Naruto, Fooly Cooly, Samurai Champloo, and others. Not every single anime that I watched took place in some fictional representation of modern Japan, but many of them did.

Now I don’t categorize myself as an otaku in the more derogatory sense. But as I grew into my late teens and twenties, I developed an affinity for the charm of Japanese living.

I love their approach to housing and home life, their architectural aesthetics and choice of design, the way that many of their schools are laid out in such beautiful uniformity. Of course I also love the rich history and culture that this country has. Their festivals of celebration, cultural traditions that date back centuries that still live vibrantly, their food and way of life. All of it fascinates me, and as someone who’s grown up in the suburbs of Texas, it of course is foreign to me, but also familiar. Even if indirectly.

My friends and I have been talking about traveling to Japan since high school, and I still believe that we’ll do it sooner or later. We’ll likely scrounge our money for a small tour of Japan and at the very least see Tokyo for a week or so. I just want to be able to say that I’ve actually done it, seen it, experienced it.

I know my inlet to Japan isn’t the most unique, but I’m happy that this dream of mine still lives in my heart. I’ll be able to say when it’s all said and done that I saw Japan with my own eyes.

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I use this page as a means of providing personal commentary on music, life and beyond.

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