My Interest in Japanese: Origins
What started my initial interest in Japanese was like many others’: a tryst with the cultural. My personal introduction came with a copy of Kenzaburoo Oee’s A Personal Matter. The novel concerned a character by the name of Bird who had to deal with the issue of his son having a brain hernia, and the mental problems afterward, and the underlying issue of what Bird sought for in life. My paltry, informative words could not communicate the sophistication I saw in Oee’s writing. The sophistication lied in the respect I had for his ability to write in a way that was modern for our times and without mediocrity. Kooboo Abe supplemented the thrill I got out of Oee’s realistic negativism with his Woman in the Dunes. Niki Junpei’s character had the same existentially-tinged mentality of Bird; they were both borne out of eras that succeeded the ‘Old-World’ ending bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These two characters coalesced together as one in my mind and reminded me of the mental character I had of myself: forever brooding, but forever searching. Even if Niki Junpei doesn’t leave the dunes, he is still self-discovering. I want to breathe into the literary world of Japan beyond translation, perhaps interpreting a concept all together new.
Japanese as a language, at first, was a challenge to be honest. I am not a naturally talented speaker and the transition to a first year schedule was a little daunting-it is a tad difficult with two literature classes. In all, though, Okamoto-sensei has been a wonderful teacher and I definitely feel the class will become more enjoyable as I become more disciplined.
