Why I Study Japanese

I'm a first-year graduate student in East Asian History focusing on Modern Chinese history. Learning Japanese--at least a fluent reading knowledge--is a requirement for the program, a legacy both of Japan's empire and China's Cold War seclusion (until the normalization of US-PRC relations, American scholars only had access to primary sources located in Japan).

Japanese grammar is less intuitive than Chinese, but pronunciation is easier! Otherwise, never wish learning Chinese or Japanese as a foreign language on your children. Or your enemies.