Welcome to Indiana Japan, a First Year Japanese blog!

こんいちは

…and that is the extent of my Japanese so far.

My name is Emily. エミリ, I suppose. The journey to my admitted infatuation with everything Japanese began two years ago when a friend invited me to watch anime with him. Sad to say, I knew nothing about anime – oh, those dreary, colorless days of ignorance. He started me on "Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu", which I have to say is the funniest filler season ever. Since then I have been a dedicated anime watcher, and if you want my opinion on subs versus dubs, definitely subs. I mean, come on. Anime is from Japan, so you should at least hear it in its original language, as it was meant to be. Not to say that there aren't good dubs, but nothing captures the spirit of anime like the Japanese language.

My mom and I went on a trip to Tokyo and Kyoto last spring. It was the most amazing trip ever. I bought a ton of CDs at Tower Records in Shibuya. I downed many half-liters of Kirin milk tea. Again, most amazing trip ever. I can't wait to go back, and hopefully when I return, I will actually be able to read the menus and not end up with a cheese pizza instead of an omelette! (Hey, the little pictures in the menu were almost identical.)

To close, here is a YouTube video of one of my favorite J-pop artists, angela. The anime isn't too bad, either, but typical to form, I didn't like the protagonist as much as an *ahem* certain secondary character.

We'll leave it at that – and just so you know, it's not who you think it is. But perhaps, through little hints, one day you may learn the secret.