I have spent the past several days rewatching some classic Japanese film and current film about Japan because I've missed the culture. I have studied Japan, it's culture and language for seven years and plan to continue once I'm back in a real University. I've often wondered if I could integrate my love of Japan with my love of writing. I have turned out many small stories and fanfictions written in Japanese but I am by no means looking for someone who has taken years of Japanese. I am only looking for someone who is also intrigued by their traditions, fashion, cuisine, landscape, language, etc. My mind keeps traveling to the idea of a foreigner meeting a local. There are some ways I already want to stay away from because they're far too cliche to work with unless a bright idea can freshen them up. For m role, it seems most likely I'd be playing a local Japanese male or female and you would be playing an America or German or what have you. The things we should discuss are theme, the idea of alienation, the need to belong, etc.

Some of the cliches I wish to try to avoid would be:

A high school exchange program. I could be swayed for college but you'd have to present your case well.

A doe eyed girl getting off the plane whose parents died, she was dumped or some sad story...and a male sweeps her off her feet.

An Otaku (big anime fan) finally comes to Japan so he can geek out...finds love in an expected place.

Those are the big three I cringe at. Anything with stupid chance or sorrow or an over zealous thing with anime/manga. While anime and manga played a part in my studies and premature interest, I don't really want this RP to be all about the latest chapter of Bleach or Naruto because a fandom RP would be more suited to that kind of dedication. You might be wondering what is there left to think about if we can't do an exchange program, well I want our characters to be young adults (20-25) so our setting could range from a store or a bar to a workplace or apartment complex. We could possibly add in fantasy elements but don't confuse fantasy with supernatural. I want this to be character and culture studies while having a good plot. Will there be romance? Probably. Will it happen over night? It better not, or our RP is over. Might we have to OOC chit chat about our research in Japan? Likely, yes. I'm asking you give a raw minimum of three paragraphs. Nothing less unless you have a brain fart but I trust many advanced writers can deal with that sort of thing while communicating and brainstorming instead of being a quiet rock about their pain.

If you need instant inspiration, The Ramen Girl isn't a terrible movie. Babel might be too mature for some people here but it does give a glimpse into a crazier more modern life in Japan. My character will speak some English of course, for the sake of the RP, but I will be using Japanese for sure, over time it will dwindle though I expect you to try as well and we'll see what happens.