JPN 315 -2024

My name is Kento Moriyasu and I am a second year majoring in Cinema Studies and minoring in Japanese. I was born in Tokyo but raised in Beaverton, Oregon. I can speak conversational Japanese but have only taken 414-416 for reading and writing (I’m still not good at kanji). 

Things I like to do include skateboarding, playing soccer, and watching movies. I also did karate for a while before coming to college so I hope I can get back into it again soon. 

I’ve been into Japanese coming-of-age movies lately. Two in particular that I liked were「リリィシュシュのすべて」 by 岩井俊二 (Iwai Shunji) and 「怪物」by 是枝裕和 (Koreeda Hirokazu). Let me know if you have any movie recommendations! 

My name is Alena Utsuki and I am a first year taking the 30x classes. I am a double major for art (with plans to go into Arts and Tech) and Japanese (Language intensive). I’m born in Japan and grew up on Oahu, Hawai’i. I enjoy cooking, playing soccer, and drawing. I also enjoy animation like anime.

私の名前は宇津木アレナです。大学一年生で３０X のクラスをとっています。専攻は美術と日本語です。日本で生まれて、ハワイのオアフ島で育ちました。趣味は料理とサッカーと絵を描く事です。アニメや他のアニメーションも大好きです。

I have two dogs, Kai the german Shepard and Buddy the golden, but Miley, a black lab mix who recently passed away, is also pictured 🙂

私は犬を二匹買っています。ジャーマンシェパードのカイとゴルデンのバデイです。黒ラブのマイリーは最近亡くなったんですが、写真に写っています。：）

Hi everyone!

My name is Aimee and I’m a sophomore gen chem major and Japanese minor. In kindergarten I was enrolled in a Japanese immersion elementary school and have taken classes throughout middle school and high school. I speak Spanish and English fluently, and up to second year Japanese. Outside of school, I enjoy traveling, baking, singing, snowboarding, fashion, and painting! I don’t have any pet pictures to share but if I could I’d get a pet baby pig or cow. 

Hello, my name is Shane. I’m a Japanese major.

Recently, people have started to ask me why I’m interested in studying Japanese–I have a slightly complicated answer that I hope will make for a decent introduction.

As a child I found media items like comic books, anime, manga, dramas, and other pop-culture fascinating. Japan had an especially strong hold in the anime and manga industry. Through exploring it I became curious about other areas like J-pop/J-rock, idols, that aren’t as well-known around the world.

Following that period, in high school I took the first opportunity I had to take a few Japanese language classes. I finished high school here after moving, and with the expanded class level options I was able to complete 5th year.

Though anime and manga has reached English markets with dubs and translations, I think a lot of Japanese content is still aimed at a primarily Japanese audience; while English continues to remain a more popular international business language than Japanese.

Then, why learn Japanese if it seems to have such a narrow role? When it comes to Japanese, I’ve pretty much followed my passion. There are several pieces that I won’t elaborate on here, but there’s benefit to staying engaged with Japanese culture and content. Someday, I may be able to work in Japan. I hope to make some more Japanese friends also.

To grow as a human being, I think you have to want to develop your interests and connections. You don’t have to be the best, just be willing to keep trying when you fail.

I look forward to this term with you all.

Manga I hope to read soon: Blue Period

はじめまして！トレヴァー・アダムスです。大学生四年生です。専攻は経済学で、副専攻は日本語です。最後の日本語の授業を受けたのは秋学期で、日本語４１４（読み書き）でした。

去年の夏は日本に行き、東京の近くにある専修大学で留学しました。日本にいる間、日本語の授業を受け、大阪や京都や江ノ島に行き、ディズニーランドにも行き、たくさん本当に美味しい食べ物を食べました。

趣味はジョギングをするし、テニスするし、本を読むし, 映画を見ることです。例えば、スタジオジブリの映画が好きで、中でも「風の谷のナウシカ」が一番だと思います。犬が二人います。「クボ」と「コーア」です。

Hey Y’all! My name is Trevor Adams. I am a fourth-year student studying economics with a minor in Japanese. My economic areas of interest are transportation, crime, and health. The last Japanese language course I took was JPN 414, a reading and writing class, during the fall term.

During the summer of last year, I studied abroad in Japan at Senshu University, just outside of Tokyo. While in Japan, I took Japanese language courses, traveled to Osaka, Kyoto, and Enoshima, went to Disneyland, and ate a lot of delicious food.

Some of my hobbies include running, playing tennis, and reading. I enjoy watching movies. For example, I enjoy Studio Ghibli movies, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is my favorite. I have two dogs, Kubo and Koa.

Hi! My name is Hazel and this is my first year at UO. I’m currently in second year Japanese working towards a minor, and also majoring in computer science. I listen to a lot of Japanese music (off and on) and my goal is to get to a point where I can comfortably read things. I would also love to visit Japan in a few years. I’m also interested in photography and programming. Nice to meet you all!

My name is Sam, I’m a second year student currently in the 200 level classes, double majoring in Anthropology and Japanese. Some of my interests include human history and culture and earth science.

Some of my hobbies outside of class include cooking, video games, and music. I play trumpet in the UO marching band and basketball band, which takes up a lot of time in the fall and winter terms. Feel free to say hello if you ever see me at a football or basketball game. I have 2 dogs back home, Griffey and Theo, who would happily come to class and meet everyone if they could.

I’m looking forward to this class with all of you! よろしくお願いします！

To the incredible people in Japanese 315: Hello! My name is Simona. I’m new to both Eugene and the UO this term and I’m excited to be learning with everyone. I started taking Japanese classes in middle school, back in the ’07-’08 school year, and kind of never stopped. Officially, the highest level of Japanese class I’ve completed is 203, in the Winter ’17 term. Since then, I’ve been to Japan and spent several years working with a Portland, OR based Shodo-kai, under Kyoko Daigo-sensei, who has been featured on Oregon Art Beat.

While here at the UO, I plan to complete concurrent degrees, a BA in language intensive Japanese, and a BS in astronomy intensive Physics. My hobbies are reading and all sorts of arts, including drawing, painting, crochet, jewelry making, cooking and baking. If anyone ever wants a custom birthday cake (dietary restrictions are OK), I’ve a side business dedicated to custom cakes and you can find photos on Instagram under the handle @simona.makes.cake.

Below are photos of Naomi, the beloved calico I share with my mom, who is now an empty-nester and therefore gets to keep the cat in Portland.

I hope that everyone has a successful and, if not stress-free, enjoyable term,

Best,

Simona

Hey everyone, my name is Gonzalo! I was born and raised in Eugene and am a sophomore planning to double major in Japanese and linguistics. At UO I’ve completed the Japanese courses up to 201, but have also been self studying for about a year now. I like rock climbing, anime, manga, running, and am a hardcore coffee addict so if any of y’alls enjoy those then we should get along well 🙂

Cat (Name is Cali):

Hi I’m Aaron. 4th year Ad major and Japanese minor. They/them pronouns.

Recent interest: Pokemon Violet (just bought it, very good gameplay, bad graphics).

よろしくお願いします。