Why do Asians from asia don't see any point to Language Learning except if they plan to travel or work?

I've talked to many Japanese and tell them that i study Japanese and they always ask why. When i ask them why they learn english, they always say "For travel", "Because i need it for my job", and stuff like that. Then when i tell them why i study , i say " to become smarter and learn about other culture". They think my answer is stupid and odd. And of course i dn't plan to travel ever, and i dont' work in any place where i need to use it.

But so what? i learn just to become more intelligent.. that's it. i dont have any other reasons...I dont watch animes in japanese, i 'm not going to Japan, i dont have japanese girlfriend, i dont have japanese friends. I just do it cause it's good to learn something i like to learn. is that stupid?

Chinese and koreans have told me the same thing also.

While I was reading, I was laughing away because you sound so much like me. You're not weird or stupid, I do it for the same reasons as you too, except that I'm an Asian who's got a mixture of Asian and British educational background. I'm currently self-learning and researching Japanese, Thai and German. None of these languages is useful in my daily life but I see language learning as empowering myself to become more knowledgeable and intelligent. Besides, I love to conduct my own research into languages for comparisons to satisfy my desire to know the distinct characteristics of each language and the interconnectedness among them.

Well, we're basically more linguistically-passionate people so we simply like to learn what we like to learn. In addition, we are the life-long learners who will always be dissatisfied with the depth and quantity that we learn because whenever we learn something new, more questions get fired from inspiration and thought-processing within our brains. It's ok, people all think differently. Those whom you have talked to are the more logical and practical people who need extrinsic motivation because they aren't interested in language learning in the very first place so we can't fault them either. It's just how amazingly different the dentrites in our brains are extended and wired.

It's common for most asians to think this way because in their societies, most people need the second language skill of English for survival and work prospect/advancement. If they learn English, it brings them a whole lot of benefits which is only exclusive to users in their countries. What I can say is, being proficient in English does provide an extra avenue for lucrative deals and big bucks if one has the talent and capability.

Keep on doing what you are passionate in. You know yourself best.

Well, most Americans don't learn Spanish or Mandarian except for the same thing. Most people don't see the point in learning a language unless it's got a set purpose. I'm a language person too, so I understand why you like it. I'm working on my Italian right now- Hungarian's next.

depends on the person.
im japanese and love to learn another cultures.
i know language is part of culture coz i majored in japanese literature and studied chinese literature too.
we know how difficult to learn another language. this is why they said why you're just learning language.
i think not only asian.
i know lots of people in the us. some dont learn even spanish. you know those people too right? spanish signs are everywhere and there are lots of spanish native people in the us. i know lots of spanish already and love to learn !!
what you want to do is very good thing.
keep goin'!!

I'm Japanese.
I don't think your answer to why you study foreign language is stupid or odd.

I guess why people might think it strange is the fact you chose Japanese to learn, not Chinese nor French nor Spanish.
As you know, Japanese is not a wide-spoken language in the world, compared to those.
If you ask some Japanese who study other languages (not English), you are more likely to get answers similar to yours.
I have studied Spanish and Chinese for the same reason as yours.

Or, another reason I can think of is some Japanese (especially people who are struggling to learn English for school or job) probably think you (English speaking people) don't need to learn any foreign languages, because English is understood in the whole wide world.