When foreigners arrive in Japan for the first time, they are full of wonder. Many of us aren't familiar with the Japanese language or kanji and have only read about Japanese culture in magazines or books. We all start out with a "white belt" in things Japanese.
You earn your yellow belt after you've experienced Japan up close by living here a year or two. You've studied enough Japanese to be able to read the kanji for "bookstore" and you can even carry on a half-way decent conversation with a Japanese person, as long as he or she speaks fluent English. You've read some Lafcadio Hearn and Basho. You have a big collection of Japanese trinkets people have given you, such as fans and origami paper you don't know how to fold. Some people you hardly know took you to see kabuki or a noh play. You haven't seen them since.
You've considered taking a class in martial arts or traditional Japanese culture such as tea ceremony, calligraphy or flower arrangement. You're beginning to watch sumo on TV.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.