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It has been written many times that Japanese is the most difficult language for a native English speaker to learn. It has next to nothing in common with English and yet this strange forbidding language has always held a fascination for me. For the longest time I had convinced myself that it was too hard and inaccessible to even attempt. I had nearly failed French class in high school and dropped out of German after only three weeks in college. So my track record with foreign languages was bad to begin with, taking on something like Japanese seemed an impossible task.

However, I have always been intrigued by Japan, a country of hardworking and industrious people that rose from near medieval feudalism to an industrial giant in a little over 100 years. Their art, poetry and theater had always touched my heart in ways that still leave me breathless.

As a child television showed me a conflicting portrait of Japan. On the one hand there were the old movies made during the Second World War that show a vicious and sadistic people, hell bent on war. And then there was Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, stories filled with love and gentle kindness in the midst of life's struggles. Who were the Japanese really?

As Japanese anime has become more accessible in the last few years, through the Internet, my interest in Japan and its people has been renewed. And it was the Internet that ultimately broke down my conviction that learning another language was beyond me and that even one as remote as Japanese was actually possible. So with some trepidation I set out on a journey of discovery. One that is as much about discovering myself as it is about discovering a culture and people on the far side of the planet.