In 1956, a movie titled "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" was released in the United States. Although it was a dubbed English version of a Japanese monster movie, it became a smash hit and has spurred 28 sequels, including the 1998 American-made film "Godzilla," starring Matthew Broderick.

This has not been the only Japanese influence on American pop culture, however. In more recent years, "Power Rangers" and "Pokemon" have become childhood obsessions, generating billions of dollars from merchandise sales and television shows. Lately, Japanese comics called manga have gained popularity, as well as animated TV shows using the same artwork, known as anime.

Japanese culture appeals to Americans for many different reasons. Young people in particular are drawn to its exotic imagery and inscrutable content.

About 120 students are enrolled in Japanese language classes at North Central High School, which also will offer Advanced Placement Japanese next school year. Four students -- Elliot Robinson, 18, Pat Stoffregen, 18, Emma Sharp, 17, and Allison Crooks, 18 -- said they became interested in Japanese culture in middle school, when all but Allison started to learn the language.

"In seventh grade, I had the option of taking Japanese as an alternative to Spanish and French, which I thought were going to be terribly boring. So I decided to take it, and I ended up really enjoying a lot of the culture," Elliot said.

Danielle Winters, 18, and Katie Jenkins, 17, from Columbus, also are learning the Japanese language. Danielle, like many others, says Japanese television and books first attracted her to the culture. Katie, however, was intrigued by a Japanese girl she met in first grade.

"Through that friendship, I learned more about movies and the language and the culture, like taking off shoes before you enter the house, different foods that I got to try," she said.

While all of these teens are kept busy in their Japanese classes, they also manage to get their Japanese "fix" in other, more commercial ways.

It is not difficult to find Japanese products in Central Indiana. Japanese movies, video games, food and clothing are readily available, and if you can't find it in town, you can check out such Web sites as www.yesasia.com.

In recent years, it has become easy to spot Japanese influences in American pop culture, particularly in Hollywood. Most recently, "Memoirs of a Geisha" took home three Academy Awards. Also, remakes of Japanese movies have done well in the box office here. Both "The Ring" and "The Grudge" -- remakes of Japanese horror movies -- grossed more than $110 million each, and that's just in the United States. Even last year's "Shall We Dance?" starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, is loosely based on the Japanese hit "Shall We Dansu?"

Most of these students are quite critical of the American remakes of Japanese films. Says Elliot, "May I just say that the American version of 'Shall We Dance?' just cannot even hold a candle to the Japanese version?"

Pat added that "Ringu," which spawned "The Ring," is quite different from its American counterpart, although it wasn't clear which one he preferred.

"I saw 'The Ring' before I saw 'Ringu,' and so I was expecting 'Ringu' to be pretty intense like 'The Ring' was, but it just really wasn't. It was sort of funny to see a watered-down version after the really scary one," he said.

In addition, Japanese video games are plentiful and popular here. Nintendo, which created such popular video games as Donkey Kong, Mario and Final Fantasy as well as its own gaming hardware, is an international company originally founded in Japan.

Pat says he's been a longtime consumer of Nintendo products. "That for me marks the Japanese invasion of American culture," he said.

The teens also are fond of Japanese food, which can be found in stand-alone restaurants as well as in food courts in many malls. "One thing that I've always really liked about Japanese food is the fact that it can be so good and healthy for you and not taste like nasty flax," says Elliot.

However, not everyone likes sushi. "It doesn't settle well with me. But their oodon noodles and soba are really good, so I like that," said Danielle.

Asian candies such as Hi-Chew and Pocky also are popular with students. Hi-Chew comes in multiple flavors and is a chewy candy similar to Starburst, while Pocky is a biscuit stick dipped in chocolate. Both can be found in some local Asian markets and online.

Japanese fashion also seems to be getting a foothold in the United States, due to recent movies and American celebrities like singer Gwen Stefani. While the majority of Japanese youth dress somewhat modestly, as many American kids do, they do have some extremes exclusive to Japan.

For example, there is the "Gothic Lolita" look, which Allison describes as "elegant gothic aristocrat." Gothic Lolita is popular with young women and involves wearing fancy Victorian dresses. The end result is that the women resemble porcelain dolls.

Kogal, another Japanese fashion, is often characterized by platform boots, a miniskirt, copious amounts of makeup and hair coloring (usually blond or red).

Both styles have been copied by Stefani and the "Harajuku girls" who sometimes perform with her. "Harajuku" refers to a fashion neighborhood in Tokyo, but Allison says Stefani does not do justice to true Harajuku fashion.

"When I see things like Gwen Stefani's Harajuku girls -- which are completely her own designs that she then labels as from that area of Japan -- it kind of irritates me," she said.

"She's like so darn fake," added Emma.

Asian music also is popular with these teens. Pop artists such as Utada Hikaru, Ayumi Hamasaki , BoA and Kinki Kids are known worldwide, as is the rock band Orange Range.

While most of the teens like at least some of the bands, Allison tries to steer clear of those with female singers, many of whom she describes as "very high-pitched and bouncy."

Pat is fond of the Kinki Kids. "They are a Japanese pop duo that have been around for over 10 years," he said. "It's cool to be able to find one group or one artist and sort of chart their career in Japan rather than in America."

Most of these students have had the opportunity to travel to Japan and experience the culture firsthand. Pat enjoyed the mix of traditional and modern influences found on the streets. "One of my favorite things was the juxtaposition of an ancient shrine on one side of the street and the Sega arcade tower on the other side," he said.

While in Japan, Emma noticed how teenagers handled the mix of the old and the new. "I love how the youth can go out and party and live like the Western American lifestyle, but at the same time they can come home and be totally respectful to their family and have all the traditional morals," she said.

Both Emma and Allison were amazed by the well-mannered Japanese, marveling at their gracious behavior on trains and around town. "When I was in Tokyo, which is this huge metropolitan city, I never saw a piece of trash," Allison said. "It was amazing to me that they could keep it that clean and have that much respect for their stuff."

Interestingly, the exchange of pop culture seems to flow in both directions. Many Japanese movies, music and fashion display a level of U.S. influence, too. In addition, many U.S. television programs and movies are exported to Japan, as is much Western music.

Pat also noticed American influence in fashion. He says Japanese teens are similar to Americans who sometimes wear shirts with Chinese characters on them without knowing what the characters mean. "My favorite shirt that I have ever seen in Japan -- I actually bought one -- said, 'The giraffe that fights has a corner even a worm will turn,'" he said.

These students have managed to immerse themselves in Japanese culture while living in the United States. Katie, in particular, is devoting her senior project to sharing her interest in Japan and promoting the relationship between Columbus and its Japanese sister city, Miyoshi, which she visited last year.

Like Katie, all of these teens expect to use their Japanese language skills in some way in the future, either by pursuing a college degree in Japanese or working in Japan after college.

But don't expect anyone to ever admit to being fluent in Japanese. Pat explains why:

"One of the first things we learned is that when someone asks you if you're good at something, in Japanese culture you're supposed to say, 'No, not really.'"

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Lauren Bruns, 15; Maria Srour, 18.

REPORTERS: Keenen Brannon, 12; Lawrence J. Pennington, 11.