The morality of learning Japanese using media

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I am learning Japanese as a hobby by reading and watching things like anime, manga, games, dramas, etc. The way I would find them is by downloading on the internet for free or I would stream shows from websites such as “animelon”.

Is it immoral to download said media without paying for them?
Using legal methods is expensive and time consuming for example importing manga and dvds from japan can go well into the hundreds of American dollars for only a few days worth of material.

But I will start using said legal methods if it means not committing sin.
 
Can’t you just watch them on something like Crunchyroll or VRV (or any similar legal services) for pretty cheap? For example, Crunchyroll is only $8/month or you can use it for free if you’re willing to put up with ads.
 
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You can find all that stuff online legally, but I wouldn’t think it’s a good primary source to learn a language. Far too much slang.

Try Duolingo or other free teaching resources…
 
That is a good idea, does Crunchyroll or VRV give the option to turn off subtitles?
 
Have you checked with your local library? Have you spoken with the reference librarian? They can get a LOT of stuff in, even from other libraries. Some libraries give you access to language learning apps and software, even from home by plugging in your card number. And speaking of libraries, there are countless language-learning resources out there, not just Japanese films.

Film only gives you a narrow piece of a language. You also need to learn the Kanji, Romaji, and Kana, as well as the complex grammar. To whatever extent is possible, you need to practice pronunciation and conversation, ideally with native speakers.

Editing to add that I didn’t answer your question. Where there’s so much out there for language-learning, streaming these films is unnecessary, illegal, and probably at least a venial sin. But do talk to your priest for a definite answer.
 
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kdwz said:
I am learning Japanese as a hobby by reading and watching things like anime, manga, games, dramas, etc. The way I would find them is by downloading on the internet for free or I would stream shows from websites such as “animelon”.

Is it immoral to download said media without paying for them?
Using legal methods is expensive and time consuming for example importing manga and dvds from japan can go well into the hundreds of American dollars for only a few days worth of material.

But I will start using said legal methods if it means not committing sin.
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If they are licensed and are intended to be viewed with having paid for them first, you should indeed be paying for them.
Theo520 said:
You can find all that stuff online legally, but I wouldn’t think it’s a good primary source to learn a language. Far too much slang.

Try Duolingo or other free teaching resources…
Click to expand...
Actually, using popular media is a very good way to learn a language. You get a lot of idiomatic expressions and slang that way. Purely academic study of a language can lead to learning a very stilted and unidiomatic version of it. For instance, most Japanese learn some English along the way, but generally, they do not speak it well, because they have only limited exposure to the culture and the “real-life” use of the language. There are websites that highlight the comical, awkward use of English by (usually Asian) non-native speakers — they understand the mechanics but end up saying things that you would never hear a native English speaker say. At least they know it to some extent — the typical American approach to learning foreign languages is abysmal. Many if not most Americans simply don’t — in some less cultured circles, there is an undercurrent of viewing it as disloyal and unpatriotic to learn or speak anything besides English, or to pay credence to any culture other than the American one. Your typical halfway-educated Swedish or Dutch person is entirely capable of conducting a decent conversation in lightly accented English. That’s how we need to be (the second language probably being Spanish for most people), but alas, we are not.
 
kdwz said:
That is a good idea, does Crunchyroll or VRV give the option to turn off subtitles?
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They do for most shows. If you click on the little gear in the lower right corner (the “Settings” button) while watching a show, then click “Subtitles/CC” it’ll pop up a list of languages you can use for Subtitles–choose “None” to turn them all off. A few shows don’t have the option to turn off subtitles, but they tend to be older ones–if you really want to see one of those shows without subtitles on those sites, one possible workaround is to cover up that part of the video window with something.

Manga is tougher. If you you’re looking for digital, it seems access is pretty limited if you’re not in Japan. shonenjumpplus.com does have the first three chapters of their various series available for free (and often the three most recent chapters), but buying access to other chapters, based on the FAQ on their site (thank you, Google Translate, for letting me read it) looks like it requires a credit card issued in Japan. Still, if the goal is to learn/practice Japanese, access to even those 3-6 chapters could be useful.

The other option is to get the physical copies. There are sites like Yesasia, CD Japan, and Kinokuniya (note the last one’s US online store is currently unavailable, it says it’ll be back around Spring) that let you order the Japanese volumes for what seems to be reasonable prices–even counting shipping it’s actually less than the English volumes a lot of the time. It’s possible your library may have copies, though the collection would probably be fairly limited if they do.
 
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Thank you, all of you for giving answers, I have been doing this for slightly over a year without thinking of the morality of it.
Getting things legally seems a lot easier than from what I have first expected.

Looking online I also found out that Comico is a good, legal, and free app to read japan’s equivalent of Webtoons. Also using Netflix with a VPN would allow me to get on the Japanese version of Netflix.
 
I do have to say, I struggled with listening to music on YouTube and a priest assured me it was fine. I don’t personally believe in copyrights as a form of property.
 
Okay, so here’s a site where you can buy Japanese manga digitally outside of Japan for fairly cheap:
bookwalker.jp (English site is global.bookwalker.jp)

The process is a little convoluted, though, because while you can read them outside of Japan, the Japanese versions are only listed on the Japanese site. So here’s what you do: Make an account on the English site, then while signed in, go to the Japanese site; you should still be signed in. Find the product(s) you want, add them to your shopping cart (not too hard to do, just click on the cart icon), then go to your shopping cart on the English site; they should still be there. Then check them out and you can read them. You do have to still pay for them, but they’re cheaper than physical copies, costing only about $4 each after converting them to US dollars. (note: Your credit card may charge a small fee for buying something in a foreign currency, though it’s normally only 1-3%) They also have an explanation here; it seems slightly old because the images look slightly different than on the site but it’s close enough to the way it is now one can figure it out.
 
kdwz said:
That is a good idea, does Crunchyroll or VRV give the option to turn off subtitles?
Click to expand...
You might be interested in trying Animelon, if you want to stick to just anime. It’s free, and you can pick whatever you want out of 4 subtitle options, speed up / slow down the playback, highlight a word and look it up, mark and copy off the transcript, etc.

D
 
There are copyright attorneys who defend the copyrights of authors and others. I bought a book to learn Japanese. I could get a legal file to teach me spoken Japanese. It’s not hard to get.
 
That’s okay. I still don’t view it as a legit form of property. Read Against Intellectual Monopoly by Michele Boldrin and David Levine.
 
It is a legitimate form of property. No one can take it without permission. Marvel/Disney makes money licensing Intellectual Properties. And they have an army of lawyers. People who are against I.P. should create their own I.P.
 
There are zero counter-arguments. I understand copyright law. Condoning illegal activity is wrong.
 
just go to YouTube and assume the uploader has permission because the user agreement says they must to upload.
 
Why should anyone assume that? The Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives youtube a “safe harbor” provision. That means when unscrupulous people upload something without the copyright owner’s permission, youtube must allow the filing of take-down notices and take that upload down. This shields youtube from prosecution. And take-down notices get filed all of the time. And unscrupulous people keep re-uploading. On the site where I am a moderator [not this one], I have to delete a lot of junk almost every day.
 
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