Baka no Tabi [バカのたび]

So there I was, feeling depressed after watching that damned movie and breaking up with my GF. But hey, at least I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and that is to travel to Japan and live there until I die. That was it. Anyways, I was kinda in a depression marathon after that. I watched a lot of feels anime like Angel Beats!, The Garden of Words, Toradora!, and what not until I couldn't handle all the feels anymore. So I searched for some good comedy anime where the setting was again, real-world Japan. And then I discovered K-On!. Man.. this anime really cheered me up. The comedy and general lighthearted feeling was really great, and I loved the characters. And since it was set somewhere in Japan (although Sakuragaoka High School was fictional, the setting was still in Japan, so yeah) it kinda reinforced my goal about going and living there someday.

Moe solves everything.

After becoming a K-On! fanboy (wheres my season 3 damnit!!), I was on a roll after that. Series after series I watched, and all of them were set in real life Japan. I was hooked. I was slowly progressing as an 'anime enthusiast neophyte', learning about the whole culture from my friends. But until then, I didn't know what to do in Japan if I got there. Like, If I was ever to set foot on the land of the rising sun, what would I do to sustain myself and hopefully, prosper in all its glory? That changed when I watched Non Non Biyori.

I went to a rice paddy once. Boy was it fun.

Non Non Biyori is a slice of life anime set in the Japanese countryside, or inaka as the Japanese call it. It's basically about four girls living their day to day lives. I won't talk much about it here since I'm planning on reviewing it, but this is an awesome show and I recommend you watch it. Anyways Non Non Biyori exposed me to the whole inaka thing, and I LOVED IT. The whole living a really simple life in the countryside appealed to me since I'm quite a romantic and minimalistic person. It doesn't take much to make me happy. The mere act of sitting in a field listening to calm music (like Non Non Biyori's soundtrack) while the wind blows a gentle breeze already satisfies me. Then one day while browsing the web for jobs in Japan, I found one for a farm somewhere in Nagano. I almost qualified for all the requirements, the only thing I lacked was the ability to speak Japanese. I realized that I could really make my dream come true. So once again I set my sights, and this time it was on living in the inaka.

One other reason why I also want to go to Japan are the cars. I might dedicate a separate post about the whole Japanese car culture, so I won't talk about it here. But as a teaser, here's what the Japanese normally do with them:

Choo choo! All aboard the drift train!

So if I'm able to fulfill my dream, what would my days in the inaka be like? Well then, that folks deserves another post since this one has already gotten quite long without me realizing it. Tehee ;3