Hi this is Siliang(Jamie) Chen. I’m a freshman this year at College of William and Mary. I want to major in Mathematics and finance.
My reason for enrolling Japanophilia is probably a little different from most of the other students. I took this class not only because I am interested in Japanese culture, but also because that I want to give up the prejudice I used to have against Japan and learn about it more objectively.
Having spent my childhood in northeast China where the Mukden Incident took place, I have heard many stories about the cruel invasion of the Japanese soldiers and the damages they have done to my city. Even my middle school history teacher emphasized on the Japanese slaughter and the tragic stories that happened to the Chinese victims. All of these, which led to my dislike of Japan as a young child despite the fact that I watched sailormoon almost every day after school and always dreamed to have a robotic cat like Doraemon.
After spending my high school years in the States and meeting people from all over the world, my attitudes towards many things have changed, including my dislike of Japan. I have gradually learned to appreciate and respect the Japanese culture and the more I learned about it, the more fascinated I became with it. From the Japanese TV shows, movies, pop music to the Japanese products Sony, Casio and even the delicious Japanese food Sushi, I’m turning into a big fan of Japan. Now I just wish to learn more about its development in the previous centuries and I am really glad to take Japanophilia as my freshman seminar class:)