The Time to Register for the JLPT Japanese Test is Now

If you're studying Japanese or plan to, there's a good chance you'll need to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), the primary test for students of Japanese. Taken by 500,000 applicants each year, the test was begun in 1984 in response to the increase in interest in Japan by people all over the world, and is held each December. There are five levels to the test, starting with N5 (the easiest, covering hiragana, katakana and basic kanji) and goes all the way to N1 (the hardest, needed for entrance into a Japanese university), and it's set up so that someone studying the language could theoretically advance one level per year. The sign-up deadline is September 27, which means that you should register right away to avoid the agony of missing your registration. There are just 93 days before this year's test -- if you need study supplies, textbooks or other products to help you learn, J-List has you covered! Click here to visit the JLPT registration site, and good luck!

If you're studying Japanese, it's time to prepare for the JLPT!

Places to Stay in Japan: Ryokan, Minshuku, etc

There are many types of lodging available in Japan, from Western style "city hotels" to capsule hotels that let you stay in the heart of a bustling city for under $40. If you're looking for lodging while on a business trip choose one of the no-nonsense "business hotels" that can be found near any train station, and when it's sexy time, look for one of Japan's legendary love hotels, where you can rent privacy by the hour or night. One of the best experiences you can have in Japan is staying at a ryokan inn, which is a lot of fun. You're provided with a traditional tatami room and given a yukata (cotton kimono), fed a beautiful meal of foods you won't be able to identify (but no matter, it's all delicious), and shown to an elegant bath to relax in, as seen in anime series like Hanasaku Iroha and games like Tokimeki Check-in! Sometimes a person visiting Japan doesn't want a lot of foreigners around them disrupting their wa. If so, trade in the Western-style youth hostel you found in the Lonely Planet guide for a traditional Japanese minshuku, a kind of traditional budget ryokan or bed-and-breakfast that's extra cool because most foreigners don't know about them. You'll have a more authentic experience in Japan and will meet some really friendly people there, and lodgings are very affordable, usually around $50-60 including meals.

Staying in a Japanese ryokan inn is always a treat.

Strange Things You'll See In Asia

Japan, of course, is located in Asia -- though sometimes it seems the country would rather be part of Europe instead -- so naturally there are certain strange things you're going to encounter here. Like funny Engrish everywhere, from bizarre signs ("SPLUSH is not the problem of age") to meaningless messages on T-shirts ("I feel happiness when I eat a potato"). While visitors to Japan won't see a family of six riding precariously on a 50 cc Honda Cub motorcycle (these are everywhere in Bangkok), there are some interesting toilets which require some practice before you can use them with confidence. Westerners are a rarity is most of Asia, and it's not uncommon for us to find ourselves the center of attention, though to be honest I found I was stared at a lot more in Malaysia than in Tokyo or Gunma. Another thing you see in Asia is known as "pair look" fashion, when a couple wears matching clothing to show the world how happy and in love they are, quite a thing in South Korea and Japan. Don't they make the cutest couple? Or is it a little too much?

An example of "pair look" fashion in Asia.

Yumina the Ethereal Finally Ships!

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More Fun with Japanese Gestures

Living in a foreign country means more than just learning that country's language. It also means subtly taking the local culture inside you, something that can really sneak up on a person -- one day you're shunning natto and forgetting to take your shoes off when you enter a house, and the next you're serving "coffee jelly" to foreign guests for dessert. An interesting yardstick for how much of this culture a person has internalized are the gestures that we all use every day, since unlike spoken language, gestures are something we don't consciously think about. A big part of body language in Japan involves bowing, and Japanese are known to bow out of reflex even when talking on the phone -- and nothing is funnier than seeing a gaijin do this too. Another common gesture is 手刀 te-gatana, meaning hand-sword, made as you move through a crowd while simultaneously bowing and cutting an invisible path with your hand, karate-style. You can communicate some complex concepts using a simple gesture: for example, one salaryman might pantomime throwing back a sake cup to his friend ("Do you want to stop for drinks on the way home?"), while his friend might make little demon's horns with his forefingers and shake his head ("I can't, my wife would be really angry"). Perhaps the biggest litmus test to see if a gaijin has been in Japan too long is, whether he refers to himself by pointing as his chest (as is usually done in the West) or whether he points to his nose.

This gesture means, "I'm married to Lum from Urusei Yatsura, help!"

A Toyota for Gundam Fans

Otaku, of course, is a word that's come to describe aficionados of anime, manga, visual novels and cosplay, although it's possible to become an otaku for just about anything. I've got a Japanese friend who describes herself as "the queen of perfume otaku," and there are Japanese "tower otakus" who love visiting Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo Tower and Yokohama Marine Tower and collecting goods you can only buy there. While most things otakus love is usually considered subculture, not accepted by everyone, one exception is the Mobile Suit Gundam, the hugely popular SF franchise that tells the story of humans emigrating into space and developing "newtype" esper abilities while doing battle in mobile suits. As usual the villains of the Gundam universe are far more interesting than the whiny heroes, and the most popular is the Red Comet Char Aznable, famous for his flamboyant style and signature red mecha. Toyota decided to tap into the popularity of this character by releasing a limited edition version of its Auris hatchback. The car comes in red complete with Char's signature spike, plus a custom interior with GPS designed to track enemy mobile suits.

A limited edition Toyota for Newtypes.

Anime For Girls

One of the more welcome changes over the last two decades has been the Rise of the Fangirl, which has certainly made anime conventions more fun than they would otherwise be. The shift was helped along by hybrid shows like Sailor Moon with characters both girls and guys could get equally excited about, while innovations like "BL Gundam" (Gundam Wing) and Kaworu from Evangelion brought new girls into fandom by the truckload. As with most moe anime and games enjoyed by guys, content creators are good at coming up with fun stories for girls to get swept away by. The new anime Brothers Conflict centers around a girl named Ema whose father gets remarried...and suddenly she finds herself with no fewer than 13 incredibly handsome stepbrothers who all look like they could work at a "host club" in Kabukicho. Which handsome oniichan will she fall in love with? Another show I've been watching is Free!, Kyoto Animation's first attempt at bringing its expertise in creating strong moe characters to the fujoshi side of fandom, and I've been impressed with the story and drama so far. If you're a fan of awesome girl-centric anime and games, we've got some products you might like to see.

Free! is a popular anime starring these cute guys.

New Ero RPG: Yumina the Ethereal Ships Friday

Yumina the Ethereal, an outstanding RPG with great graphics and gameplay, will be shipping Friday, but there's still time for you to preorder. This fully translated RPG has excellent gameplay players to enjoy, including "debate battles" in which Yumina must fight her way to being voted student body president, dungeon exploration, battles with monsters and more. We put up a great new official site at http://jastusa.com/yumina/ complete with demo you can download! All links are NSFW.

We Love Popin' Cookin' Snacks from Kracie

J-List carries the entire lineup of awesome "do it yourself" gummy products from Kracie which are so popular these days, from the legendary Popin' Cookin' Sushi Candy Making Set to those Happy Kitchen miniature doughnuts to the popular Neru Neru Nerune series. Not only are these candies delicious to eat, they're really fun to make, and you'll find measuring and mixing the proper amounts of water and gelatin powder is really awesome.

The Japanese Are Better at English Grammar Than You

There are many approaches to studying a foreign language, including the Communicative Method, stressing verbal communication with other students, the Natural Approach, which tries to imitate the way children acquire language, and the method I used, Read Lots of Manga and Translate JPOP Songs and Always Do Your Homework for University Japanese Class. When the Japanese study English, they do it with lots of grammar and translation, attempting to understand the mechanics of the language analytically, with functional use being less important than passing the all-important University Entrance Exam. While no one can accuse the Japanese of being the best linguists in the world, my old students were known to teach me a thing or two about English grammar back when I was a teacher. For example, they are consciously aware of when to use 'the' (rhyming with 'uh') and 'the' (rhyming with 'three'), and how words like record, present and suspect are always stressed on the first syllable if they're nouns, but on the second when used as verbs. And 'whom'? The Japanese have it down, even though I haven't used the word since the third grade. Since Japanese people always expect native speakers to know every vocabulary word and bit of grammar that exists, they're usually disappointed when they see that native speakers rarely know the rules of language as well as they do.

The Japanese often know more English grammar than you or me I.

The History of Eroge and Visual Novels in Anime

J-List has been involved with translating and selling visual novels, alternatively called VNs, bishoujo games, dating sims and "gal-games" since 1996. Visual novels have been a popular genre of games ever since the first computers with color displays arrived in the early 1980s, and they've become a huge part of Japanese popular culture, with games like Fate/stay night, Clannad and When the Higurashi Cry forming the cores of media empires. There was much less awareness of these games back when we first started, and I remember having long discussions with fans at conventions, explaining that, no, these are not anime DVDs but interactive games for Windows computers in which you could choose the girl (or guy) you wanted to pursue romantically and try to reach their game ending. Things are much better these days thanks to the long trend of visual novel elements being featured in mainstream anime such as Excel Saga, Welcome to the NHK and Genshiken, and today whole series are built around de-constructing the themes in eroge, including Date A Live, I Can't Believe My Sister Is This Cute, and The World God Only Knows. Another series I like is Watashi no Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!! (No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!!, conveniently shortened to WataMote). It's the story of fujoshi (a female otaku) who's spent 50 years in high school and dated more than 100 handsome guys...all inside otome games, girl-centric romantic games, and now she lacks the social skills to make any normal friends.

"Gal-games" have really gone mainstream in anime culture.

Finding Entrepreneurial Spirit in Japan

Over the weekend I went driving in the mountains of Gunma, and stopped at a P.A., which is a Japanese abbreviation for a "parking area" or rest stop inside the freeway system. These are pleasant little islands of convenience where you can stretch your legs, buy various foods that are famous in that area or just get some coffee. I was on my way to the canned coffee vending machines when I happened to pass by a lady running a small coffee stall with a unique business: for 300 yen she'd pour you a cup of coffee using the "manual pour-over drip method" with what appeared to be Starbucks coffee beans. It was an interesting business idea -- no fancy espresso machine yet better coffee than I'd get in the too-sweet Japanese canned coffee -- and I was happy to support her unique business model. Among the many challenges Japan faces, including its low birthrate, zero immigration and high national debt, is the lack of entrepreneurial spirit, with very few people being inspired to start a business. There are many reasons for this, including a general tendency towards risk aversion plus that old standby 出る杭はうたれる deru kui wa utareru or "the standing nail is driven," the tendency for Japanese society to react negatively to anyone attempting to do anything radical like, say, start a new company. I certainly encountered my share of that when I started J-List, including my mother-in-law who predicted disaster at the very mention of trying something new. I believe the number of people willing to work hard and create new businesses is an important factor in whether a nation will be successful in the future.

Finding entrepreneurial spirit at a Japanese "Parking Area."

2014 Japanese Calendars Posted to J-List

Announcing the start of 2014 Calendar Season! Every year about this time, J-List starts taking preorders for the outstanding calendars from Japan, which are printed exclusively for the Japanese market. While we already posted some excellent calendars by Japan's top moe artists, today we put up the popular traditional, cultural, art and photo calendars that bring out the beauty of Japan. (In a couple weeks there'll be another big volley of calendars as the main anime and idol calendars are announced, so stay tuned.) Browse the amazing calendars we've got on the site for you now!

English Eroge & Visual Novels In Stock!

Remember that J-List is dedicated to helping the Japanese visual novel genre grow in fun and interesting ways. There is a huge number of these games to choose from, from all-ages titles with uplifting stories, games that can affect you deeply, eroge with full animation, games with dark Cthulhu mythos themes, and even great titles for BL and yuri fans. Click to see the most popular English-translated visual novels and other games now!