Why study Japanese?

I chose to study Japanese at Columbia for several different reasons. The first is that I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture. Something about the society, both modern and historic, has struck me as simply cool. When I went there 5 years ago, the trip was enough fun that I knew almost immediately I wanted to go back. I have also found Japanese ideas and philosophy to be incredibly interesting, as well as quite hard to understand. Zen and its conception of nothingness seem to have incredible depth. The Kyoto school also corresponded with Heidegger in the 1930's which makes that philosophy certainly worth reading, as Heidegger is a major interest of mine. I think that part of the barrier against my full understanding of these ideas may be that of language and culture. Thus learning Japanese is the first step to breaking this barrier. I've also always loved languages and literature in general, and Japanese is no exception. Finally I cannot learn Japanese in another context. Because it is so difficult, I need good teaching. Thus I hope to reach my goals and be able to engage in the culture through its literature, philosophy, and people.