Discovering the Japan That I Thought Was Far Away to Be Close By

started to become interested in Japanese culture when I was in junior high school. I think it started when my father named the store he was running, The Japanese Toy Store.

The store sold Japanese video game consoles and toys, but I did not have any interest whatsoever in Japanese subcultures such as video games or anime, and I still do not. What I have always been interested in was Japanese martial arts. Among Japanese martial arts, I was especially interested in aikido, which is a rather minor martial art. I always dreamed of learning aikido one day, not in Turkey, but in Japan. However, I did not understand Japanese and I did not have a single Japanese friend, so going to Japan would have taken a lot of courage.

Eight years ago, I went abroad to New Zealand to study. It was the first time for me to live overseas. Furthermore, when I decided to go to New Zealand, I did not even know where New Zealand was. Only after I decided on a school and paid all the fees did I look it up on a map, and to my great surprise, I found out that New Zealand was on the other side of the world from Turkey.

While I was studying in New Zealand, I made many Japanese friends and it gave me the courage to go to Japan, which was closer to Turkey than New Zealand. I made up my mind that I would definitely go to Japan next. Half a year after I returned to Turkey from New Zealand, I was fortunate to have the chance to take a trip to Japan. It made me truly happy to fulfill a childhood dream. The two months I spent in Japan on my trip made me like Japan even more than before and I decided to study in Japan. After returning to Turkey, I convinced my parents and I was able to come to Japan to study.

For aikido, my biggest interest in Japan, my dream came true as well. I currently belong to and learn aikido at the Meiji University Aikido Club. Here in Japan, I also fostered a new dream for the future. One day I hope to spread the Japanese martial art of aikido in Turkey and further advance friendly relations between the two countries through aikido.