Grodence Here: I have been watching Anime over the past year and a half.  The shows are fun and enjoyable, which is something I would have never imagined saying in middle or high school.  One of the reasons that I watch it currently is because it is a great distraction from what is going on in the country that I live in, the United States.  However, in addition to being a source of great entertainment, it is educational.  I have learned more about Japan from watching Anime than I ever learned in a classroom.

In school, I learned about the actions of Japan in World War 2 and the various battles that occurred during that period.  I also learned about the different empires and dynasties that governed Japan during the past several centuries.  While my classroom education about Japan was decent enough, I could have learned more about the role Japan has played in the world.  I also knew barely anything about current Japanese culture, or what life is like for the average Japanese person.   Short of visiting a country, it is known that best way to learn about another place is to watch it’s entertainment.  Many foreigners have learned English by watching T.V sitcoms such as Friends.  It is a similar dynamic for me and Anime.

One of the shows that I watch currently is called “Okitsura: Fell in love with an Okinawan girl but I just wish I knew what she was saying”.  I bet the only thing most Americans know about Okinawa is that there is a large Air Force base, and that there were famous battles there in WW2.  But it is also an island where Japanese people live.  The Anime is about a teenage boy named Teruaki who moves from Tokyo to Okinawa.  He befriends two girls, Kyan who speaks in a native Okinawan dialect that is hard for Tokyo people to understand and her best friend Higa who acts as the “interpreter”.  Okitsura shows Teruaki experiencing life in Okinawa and learning about its culture.  For instance, most people in Okinawa drive as there is only one train line, the Yui Rail there as opposed to the numerous routes that crisscross mainland Japan.  When Okinawans sneeze, instead of saying “Bless You”, they say Kusuke which means “Eat shit”. They say that because it is believed that when you sneeze, your soul comes out of your mouth and “Kusuke” is uttered to prevent the soul from being eaten by an evil spirt¹. There are special shirts that are worn by residents called a Kariyushi which look sort of similar to a Hawaiian shirt. Originating in 1970 as part of a campaign by the Okinawa tourist federation, they slowly grew in popularity and are worn as a summer time attire for white collar businesses as well as for every day use. Personally, I found the idea of an Okinawan dialect to be the most interesting.  It reminds of the Scottish or Welsh dialect in the UK, where it is English, but the average American person could have a hard time understanding it.

I watched an Anime several months ago called “My Deer Friend Nokotan” which is a comedy about a new transfer student at a high school who is a hybrid deer girl.  While most of the show is about her ridiculous antics, there are many references to the city of Nara and how deer are held in high regard in that place.  It was believed that centuries ago, a priest rode into Nara on the back of a deer.  As a result, people there see the deer as messengers to the Gods, so they are allowed to roam the streets of the city at will.  There is a park where most of the deer reside, and tourists can get close to them and feed them special deer crackers.

In addition to those two, I have seen many other Anime shows by this point and have learned various aspects of Japanese culture that I did not know before in almost all of them.  I found out that the biggest island in the north of Japan is called Hokkaido thanks to the show “Hokkaido Gals are Super Adorable”.  It gets very snowy in the winter and is the location of Sapparo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics.  I have learned about the special Japanese public baths called Onsen’s and how Japanese people traditionally visit a shrine on New Years where they clap their hands together and make wishes for the New Year.  In almost all the Anime that I’ve watched, there are scenes involving the characters relaxing in an Onsen and them visiting a shrine.  I know that in addition to the Okinawan dialect, there are many various dialects spoken across Japan like the Kansai dialect spoken in the Kyoto and Osaka areas.  It reminds me of the southern accent or old-style New England accent in the U.S.  Watching Anime not only shows me glimpses of Japan, it makes me curious enough to research more about the country through other means, such as Youtube videos.

I find it extremely satisfying that the Anime that I watch helps me learn in addition to providing me a source of entertainment.  Feel free to tell me what T.V shows or movies have helped you learn more about a different place.

1. For more interesting Okinawan superstitions, click here ↩︎