Japanese Expectations

As an American living in Japan, I know how surprised Japanese can get when foreigners internalize the society around them too much. At J-List, the Japanese staff have gotten used to me doing things like bowing while speaking Japanese on the phone to someone or pulling out a kotowaza (Japanese proverb) to make a point. According to an interesting online poll, some other things gaijin do that surprise Japanese include speaking using dialects like Osaka-ben, singing enka songs at karaoke, giving dates in the Japanese calendar system (e.g. Showa 43 instead of 1968), drinking fruit-flavored milk with a hand on one hip after a bath (it sounds odd, but I do it most every week), and sitting seiza, or in proper Japanese kneeling position. Another thing that surprises Japanese people is when foreigners are polite, or when they line up properly in crowds -- it seems sad to me that this kind of behavior be the exception and not the rule. When Japanese go drinking with a foreigner, they always seem to expect him to order a Budweiser, since that's what all foreigners drink, right? But I'm much more likely to ask for atsukan, or hot sake, which always seems to surprise Japanese around me. The holy grail of a foreigner living in Japan is when a Japanese person temporarily forgets how to write a difficult kanji and you casually jot it down for them. That's only happened a few times to me, but it was glorious, let me tell you.

Arumikan ni aru mikan is another thing the Japanese don't expect you to say.

We Love Necomimi

We're happy to be carrying the Necomimi brain-activated cat ears, the most excellent cat ears we've ever seen. These are brain-activated ears which constantly move this way and that as you wear them, sensing changes in your brain patterns and blood flow. They really work too: when customers wearing them would come up to the oppai mouse pads we display at conventions (really as a trap to make people come over to our booth, since they can't resist "squeezing the Charmin," and when they do, we love watching their electronic cat ears perk up sharply.

Me and My Son in the USA

My son has flown over from Japan to relax in San Diego and practice his English before heading back east with me to visit some university campuses. (Yes, it's nearly that time *gulp*) I enjoying hearing his observations on the U.S., like yesterday when I was trying to find a smaller carton of grapefruit juice than the half-gallon container he was holding in his hand. "This is America, Dad, where everything is huge. Of course this is the smallest size they're going to sell." And sure enough, we couldn't find a smaller container of juice to buy. We wanted to do some "San Diego" things together, so we went on a bicycle tour that takes you down Mt. Soledad through some of the most beautiful parts of San Diego and La Jolla. This being California, the tour guide spoke in an extremely informal and friendly manner -- "Hi, where're you guys from? Are you checkin' out our tour for the first time?" -- because that's the way we do things here. This was quite different from the extremely polite facade worn by tour guides in Japan, though, and the "cultural gap" between the two countries was very interesting to my son.

Doing fun things in the U.S. with my son this week.

Hot Summer in Japan

It's certainly a nice time for my son and me to be outside of Japan, which is sweltering with summer heat right now. Yesterday J-List's home city of Isesaki was the second hottest place in the country, at 37 degrees C/98.6 degrees F, with 100% humidity of course. The one good thing about being in Japan is, at least homes and businesses are equipped with strong air conditioning that can keep things livable when it's super hot out. Unless the terrible electrical storms in summer cause lightning to strike the J-List building, knocking the power out and frying our air conditioner, which has happened several times in the past (including yesterday, though the air conditioner wasn't damaged this time). At least summer has traditional Japanese festivals and fireworks to take your mind off the heat.

It's very hot in Japan right now.

Cool Products Friday, July 20, 2012

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Dengeki Hime Aug 2012 The July issue of the magazine for Japan's eroge world is here -- Dengeki Hime. Coming with a nice waterproof shower poster! You get to experience the cutting edge of Japanese anime and gaming culture, and enjoy lots of free stuff, too. (The magazine is slightly ecchi so please see it on the "R" side.) View products »
	Dengeki Maoh Aug 2012 An outstanding new issue of Dengeki Maoh, the magazine with over 500 pages of original manga plus a Tokage no Ou free gift.
	Dengeki G's Magazine Aug 2012 Catch up on all the latest anime and game news and manga, then enjoy a fantastic omake figure of the ultra-cute Kuroyukihime.
	E2 vol. 35 Fans of moe moe artwork will love E2, a thick quarterly magazine that brings you only the most kawaii anime girls, incl. Kantoku!
	Drift Tengoku Aug 2012 Fans of Drift racing and import cars culture will love this new issue of Drift Heaven, filled with Japanese customized Drift vehicles.
	Inori Yuzuriha Nendoroid Figure ~ Guilty Crown One of the cutest and most awesome Nendoroid figures has been released -- C.C. from Code Geass, I mean Inori from Guilty Crown!
	Docolla Hatsune Miku Doll Mini Size This gorgeous Pullip doll of Hatsune Miku has just landed at J-List World Headquarters, and we have posted it to the site. She will sell fast...
	Other Figures In Stock We got some other fun figures in stock, including the sexy Subaru from Mayo Chiki! in "Beach Queen" mode, plus something special for Yu Yu Hakusho fans.
	More Touhou Keychains, Figures Posted We posted even more gorgeous Touhou keychains and figures, which are normally only available at doujin events. Don't delay!
	Moko Moko Rabbit Lingerie set Become a cute and sexy bunny with some fun cosplay loungewear from Japan. You would never have thought underwear could be this kawaii.
	Japanese Bosozoku Biker Jacket ~ White Become a true concert going JPOP fan with an authentic Bosozoku style jacket, now in white. A fun and random cosplay item!
	Gothic Lolita Blue Ribbon Mini Hat From the streets of Harajuku comes a fun Gothic Lolita mini hat, as seen in fashion magazines like KERA. Please don't say lazy!
	Other Fashion Items Restocked We've got some popular items , including our Moco Moco Room Over Knee Socks, Caution T-Shirt One Piece, Mitten Wear Zip-Up Parks and Skull Romantic T-shirts.
	Authentic 'Socks Glue' From Japan We love selling wacky things like "socks glue" which hold up high over-knee socks. We naturally have a full selection of amazing Japanese socks.
	Popular School Book Bag, Other Cosplay Items People buy our Japanese high school bookbag so fast we keep running out, but we got more in stock today. Click to see our selection.
	K-ON! The Movie ~ First Limited Edition (Blu-ray Disc) Fans of the gorgeous moe-kei anime K-On! (Keion) will be glad to get the limited edition HD Blu-ray release of the movie.
	ROBOTICS;NOTES ~ Limited Edition From the team that brought you STEINS;GATE and CHAOS;HEAD comes a new science fiction adventure that we are sure you are going to love.
	Onsen Manju Mini Pouch  Carry around with you a tiny friend that will remind you of kawaii Japan. It's a little cake heated with the warmth of hot springs!
	Rilakkuma Happy Picnic Plush Rilakkuma is the relaxing Japanese bear character from San-X whose name means "Relax Bear." No relation to that other bear from Japan.
	We Love Japanese Pens We love to sell interesting pens from Japan, and today we have a huge restocking of our most popular highlighters, ball-point pens and more.
	SUMIHIME ~ Black Charcoal Soap Use the traditional cleaning power of charcoal which dates back to the age of the samurai. A fun and random product from Japan.
	Lotte One Touch Cold Pack Lotte, the creator of many fun candies and gum, now gives us an instant cool for summer. Stick this in your freezer and you'll be chilling all summer.
	Throw CAUTION To The Wind Let yourself be wild and slap on some wacky CAUTION tape onto everything you touch, warning those not to mess with you.
	Delicious New Snacks from Japan We have great new snacks from Japan, including new Glico Cheeza snacks in bold flavors, plus Morinaga Nama Ramune cola candy!
	Restocked J-Snacks Too See Japan-made Oreo cookies (incl. Banana Milk flavor!), plus Uranaikko Gum that tells your future, Country Ma'am Cookies, DIY Microwave Panda Treats and more.
	Men's Slim 2 Tier Bento Box Set A highly stylish bento box that disguises its huge capacity inside a tiny portable space. Bento is great for weight loss, since it forces you to eat a set portion.
	Red Rabbit x Moon Bento Box Set Red With this extremely adorable bento your children will be saying Okasan, oishii yo! (Mom, it's delicious!) Many others available too.
	'Baran' Fake Grass for Bento Give your bento lunches a touch of elegance with "baran" food separators, now available in various colors. No Japanese bento is complete without it.
	Extra Long Cooking Chopsticks from Japan J-List carries a lot of chopsticks from Japan, like this nice double-pair set of high quality traditional chopsticks with great art.
	Owl Noren ~ Door Curtain Bring home a little piece of Japan, with a traditional noren (door curtain), that is often seen at restaurants and ryokan inns.
	Awesome 'Hachimaki' Headbands Channel the spirit of Japan or use these to focus your concentration in study or in life -- these headbands will put you in the right frame of mind!
	GANBARE NIPPON Lucky Cat, Others Restocked Enjoy our popular Fujin and Raijin Lucky Cat Displays, the "Don't Give Up, Japan!" Lucky Cat, a fun sake cup and other traditional items!
	Random Restocked Products See some random and nerdy products, like our Star Wars Stormtrooper Ice Cube Trays, Bath King fizzing bath tablets, Cup Noodle coffee cup and more.
	Bakemonogatari Figure *Preoder* Do you love highly styled anime figures? Do you love the girls of Bakemongatari? If so then we have some figures you should browse now.
	Ichika Takatsuki 1/6 Cast Off Figure *Preorder* For fans of hit ecchi anime series AnoNatsu, here's a beautiful cast-off figure of cute alien heroine Ichika.
	Momo Hime 1/8 Figure ~ Oboro Masamune *Preorder* We see a lot of gorgeous anime figures at J-List, and it takes a lot for us to really be impressed. But this figure has what it takes.
	Lisa Silverman 1/8 Figure ~ Persona 2 *Preorder* FREEing presents a fantastic preorder figure of Lisa Silverman, the beautiful American girl from the popular Persona 2 series. Wow!
	The Best Magazine Original Aug 2012 NO. 176 Another outstanding issue of The Best Magazine, featuring erotic photography that can only be called The Best.
	Mo Mo ~ Momoka Nishina (3000 Limited) AV actress photographer Tomoaki Hosoi takes on the girl with the most beautiful tits in the industry: Momoka Nishina.
	Lovers Ten ~ Moeoh Selection Picture Moe fans don't miss this new amazing artbook made in collaboration with the best ero-moe artists out there, featuring 120+ pages of sexy 2D art.
	SOD Female Employee ~ Aya Sakurai SOD delivers novelty toys for adults, carefully engineered for realistic rendition, and based on one of SOD female employees, who agreed to let herself be replicated in soft latex!
	Amazing Parody Onahole Toys: Oreimo, Haganai Enjoy super-realistic onahole toys of your favorite OreImo girls, plus I Have Few Friends and other famous shows. Fun times and stress relief!
	Fighting Girl Onaholes, Too We all love strong girls, and here are some stress toys featuring some of the best female fighters from Ikki Tousen. There are two ways to relieve stress, too.
	Stress Toys for Trap Fans In the "what has science done?" category, we restocked our most popular stress toys for fans of otokonoko, aka "traps."
	Hatsukoi 1/1 ~ First Love From Visual Arts and Tone Work's comes a new story of youth and romance in a beautiful school setting. I love the art in this game!
	Restocked Import Eroge from Japan We have restocked H-games from Japan too, including MajiKoi and MajiKoi S, the 3D game Love Girl, vampire eroge Draculius and more!
	S Class Actress Virtual Sex 8 Hours (Blu-ray Disc) An awesome 8 hours compilation in Blu-Ray HD, featuring the best virtual sex scenes performed by popular actress from the S1 label.
	Hitomi's Delivery Soapland ~ Hitomi Tanaka The Delivery Soapland series, which aims to deliver to the door of lucky males, the ecchi services of an AV actress, gets a new chapter feat. HITOMI!
	Minako Komukai Complete **3 Discs & 6 Hours** The 3 hot hardcore movies featuring Minako Komukai, in their original uncut version, packed in a single box by Alice Japan. A must.
	School Lesbian Battle The battle is on between hot school female students Hinata Tachibana and Ren Azumi, and you get to witness it all in this new movie by Deeps.
	Hitomi Kitagawa the Best Finally, see some of the most beautiful women in Japan, including Hitomi Kitagawa (shown here) and Momoka Nishina's "The Best" works, S Class Actress HD 8 Hours, Sora Aoi 12 Hours, Otonyan Idol, Futanari Bible 8 Hours, School Swimsuit H the Best, Deep Lesbian 8 Hours Special, plus The Complete 50 Works of Yuma Asami and Amazing Paizuri and more of Hitomi Tanaka. View products »