The Japanese are Good at Humility

I write often about the concept of 国民性 kokumin-sei, a word which can be translated as "national character," and one thing I like about the Japanese is their tendency towards 謙遜 ken-son (pronounced with a long second syllable, rhyming with "bone"), meaning "humility." I've been rushing to get through the previous anime season because a new one is starting already, and one show I wanted to finish was Outbreak Company, about the discovery of a doorway that leads from Japan to a fantasy kingdom in another dimension, and the government of Japan's attempts at winning over the hearts of the people there by introducing them to otaku culture. In one scene, the half-elf maid Myucel, also known as "the main reason to watch Outbreak Company," says to the main character, "I'm really stupid and have no education or culture...but I know that you are a kind person, Master." I don't know about your country, but I haven't met many in the U.S. who were capable of describing themselves as being stupid or lacking intelligence, despite occasionally strong evidence to the contrary. I have, however, encountered quite a few Japanese (students, friends, etc.) who went out of their way to describe themselves as baka (stupid) and apologize ahead of time for any inconvenience their stupidity and slow-wittedness might cause me. This tendency for the Japanese to be self-effacing and humble is one of the most unique things about living in Japan, though it takes a little getting used to.

The Japanese are very good at humility.

Back from the Philippines

My family and I are back from our trip to the island of Cebu in the Philippines. We had a great time, snorkeling in warm waters and recharging our batteries sitting by the pool doing what's known in Japanese as ゆっくりする yukkuri suru, meaning "take it easy and do as little as possible," which is always a good thing to do if you can get away with it. We learned many things about the Philippines, including that they enjoy playing Christmas music until February, and we discovered many unique foods such as chicken inasal, spam, egg and grilled cheese sandwiches plus something called "banana ketchup." Last year we visited the island of Penang in Malaysia, which is a Muslim country, so naturally we were prepared to see things like women wearing headscarves. We didn't particularly expect to see religious imagery in the Philippines, which is why I was surprised when the store we were in (the department store inside the SM City mall) played the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary over the store speakers at noon, which would be quite surprising in the U.S. Anyway, Cebu was great fun, and we recommend it if you're looking for a wonderful vacation destination in Asia.

As usual with visiting another country, there's more to see than just the country itself, and I found myself having fun people-watching the other tourists, which included visitors from Australia, Northern Europe and Russia along with Japan and South Korea. I was surprised to see quite a few people swimming in the pool while wearing long-sleeved hoodies and hats, something I'd never noticed before. "They are Koreans," my wife explained. "Maintaining perfectly white skin is really important in Korea now, and they're making sure they don't get any sun at all, even while at the pool or beach." Because there were visitors from so many different countries, the hotel offered a wide range of cuisine, including local Filipino dishes, kimchee (spicy Korean pickled vegetables), Indian curry and flatbread and Vietnamese noodles. It was hard finding room for it all.

We had lots of fun relaxing in Cebu, the Philippines.

Mountain Dew Cheetos and More from Japan

At J-List we use the phrase "a wonderful toybox of things from Japan" to describe out little company, and we think it sums up what J-List is pretty well: a magical portal where random things from Japan will pop out without warning. Some of these things are delicious, like the rare flavors of Japanese Kit Kat, Japanese Oreo cookies or Japanese Doritos we stock. The biggest hit product to come along in a while is Mountain Dew Cheetos from FritoLay Japan, which manage to taste exactly like that. We've been selling about 500 per day, so if you want to try some hurry and get your order in, lest they disappear like good old Morning Rescue did. Click to browse the top Japan snacks, as ranked by our intelligent, attractive customers.