"Why Japanese?"
"I've had a fascination with the culture since I was a child"
"How did you come into contact with it at a young age?"
“Like any other kid I guess, watching cartoons."


It's been a cracking day and there was plenty of opportunities for street portraits but I had only a short time in Leeds before going across the Pennines to see a T-Rex by the name of ‘Stan’.

I caught sight of Philomena here (isn’t that a brilliant name btw?) across the street and the hair just called out. I ran across and asked while she walked past but I got completely blanked. I was taken aback initially but pursued her, asking again, thinking she didn’t hear and eventually had to wave my hands to catch her sight. Earphones, they do make (my) life difficult at times.

Philomena is in her final year studying Japanese, which is very unusual, I thought, so I tried to understand when her fascination started and how it had shaped her life up to this point. It was watching all those Japanese style cartoons. I assume it wasn’t the violent anime type ones at a young age, but most likely the fluffy, fantasy ones which she got hooked on.

She told me she was planning to move and work there, once she had finished her degree here - seeing her dream come true. I asked how her parents dealt with all this, and it was nice to hear that they were completely supportive about everything she had wanted to do, including moving there. "The best type of parents,” I said.


Humans of Leeds