I highly doubt i am, Michael, were you intersted in Japan before or after you watched anime?
no need to lie.
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Yes. Yes you are. I started learning Japanese a good year before I saw any anime whatsoever. I didn't even like my first tastes of anime (Akira and Ghost in the Shell), and I disliked them while still maintaining an active interest in the country and the language. And I'm about as 'Japanese fanboy' as people come.
Besides which...who cares if people become interested in Japan after watching anime? You act like it's a bad thing that people want to learn another language. If people want to learn another language, and if they have the determination to do so, I say more power to them, even if it's only to help them with a hobby. If Yasunori Mitsuda started learning English, and came to live in Scotland, I wouldn't go 'O LOL, HE ONLY STARTED LIKING SCOTLAND AFTER HE HEARD CELTIC MUSIC!'. I'd just be happy that something had encouraged someone to want to learn more about our culture and country. ^_^ Even if it was something that only really appeals to a small quarter of our population.
Besides, it's not like fantasies of Japan as a wonderful fairyland will outlast any amount of research into the truths behind the country anyway. Anyone with half a brain cell can see that Japan is a far cry from the Japan of anime, just as America is a far cry from the America of Hollywood.