How exploring Japanese culture on Netflix will help you break the ice with her

          The internet did not exist for much of my early adult life.  Learning about Japanese culture required visiting the library to look up books via the card catalog index and watching Kurosawa films.  

Nowadays, Netflix brings Japan right into your living room with a wide variety of genres to choose from: food shows, traditional artisan crafts, modern dramas, historical dramas, romantic comedies, action, anime, documentaries, and yes, Kurosawa films.

Most of the shows have English subtitles and are a great way to learn some Japanese phrases.  If you don’t catch a phrase the first time, simply hit pause and replay it.  It’s incredibly convenient, and a lot more fun than thumbing through a card catalog index.

Watching current Japanese programs will expose you to modern Japanese phrases. This is a good thing.  Because while it may make a good impression to say a Japanese phrase when meeting your date, it’s less impressive if you use a phrase in ancient Japanese that you learned from a samurai film. 

However, if all you have learned are Edo era phrases, don’t let that stop you! Your date will most likely find it endearing, and either way it’s a great conversation starter! 

One thing you will notice immediately is there are a lot of shows about food.  Japan is a huge foodie culture. It is no surprise that Japan holds the record for the most Michelin stars awarded to any country.  Be forewarned that after watching these shows you will experience hunger pangs.  But on the up side, you will have learned enough to be able to ask your date where the two of you should go in Japan to try that certain dish you’ve been dying to try since seeing it on Netflix. 

 Some shows with a main food theme also cleverly address human relationships within the story.  Shows like Samurai Gourmet and Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories do this very well.  You may want to watch some of these shows with your date.  The inevitable conversations that ensue after watching these shows are sure to be interesting and enlightening for both of you.

Where to start? Just dive into whatever interests you, there’s plenty to choose from. There are also many “best of Japanese Netflix” lists on line if you want to narrow it down further.  Happy watching!

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