My wife's new respect for Johnny Depp, 15 minutes of fame for Baby Gorilla and Pyupa, and High School Baseball in Japan

Something odd happened while I was in the States: my wife decided that Johnny Depp was the neatest thing since pre-molded sushi. She didn't come to that conclusion by watching his many films, which are of course entertaining, but because of an interview he gave to two fifth-grade students from my son's school, which teaches the standard Japanese curriculum but with most classes in English rather than Japanese. Since the experimental school started, it's gotten quite a lot of attention from the mass-komi (the Japanese media, from the English word "mass communications"), and over the summer they were visited by members of V6, one of the more interesting Japanese pop singer groups from the Johnny's Entertainment talent agency. After trying and failing to follow some of the classes in English, the V6 guys chose two students -- whose nicknames were Baby Gorilla and Pyupa, don't ask me why -- for a special task: they would interview Johnny Depp in English and try to make the usually serious actor burst out laughing.

As the Japan release date for Pirates 2 approached, Mr. Depp came to Japan to promote the film. Like many a Hollywood star before him, he was accompanied by Natsuko Toda, the famous movie subtitle translator who is so in demand that her personal schedule can affect the worldwide release dates of major films. (Her unfamiliarity with Tolkien caused much rending of garments by fans when she messed up the subtitles for the Lord of the Rings films.) When the time came for the sit-down interview, the kids asked various questions, then put on a show employing various gags about pirates with smelly socks in their treasure chests. They got their laugh, and Mr. Depp told them that was the best interview he'd ever done, which thrilled the kids no end. While my wife was a little disappointed that our son wasn't chosen for the interview -- he's way too shy, and has an unfair advantage over the other kids when it comes to speaking English -- she was impressed by the actor's kindness with the boys. It was an experience Baby Gorilla and Pyupa will never forget.

(Oh my! It's already on YouTube. Click here to see the interview.)

There are many popular sports in Japan, including pro baseball, soccer, judo, volleyball, and the official national sport of the country, sumo wrestling. But for millions of Japanese sports fans the most thrilling game on TV is high school baseball. Every August, teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures fight for the right to go to the national baseball championships held at the legendary Koshien (koh-SHE-en) Stadium near Osaka, Japan's oldest baseball stadium, dating back to 1924. To go to Koshien is the dream of every young ball player, and it has a positive effect on the future careers of thousands of young men every year, whether they go on to play professionally or not. All games are televised and get huge ratings as baseball fans, especially middle-aged men reliving their youth, closely follow all the action. This year our prefecture of Gunma is represented by Kiryu First High School, but they got eliminated early on (oh well). (Of course, any discussion of Koshien should involve Touch, the best manga and anime on the subject. Here's a link for you to check out if you want to know more about this show, which has done so much for me over the years.)

Everyone loves the DVD movie format, but we don't love Hollywood confusing things with their region code system. America and Canada are region 1, but imported films from Japan and Europe are often zoned for region 2, meaning to watch these films you'll need a special player. Happily, J-List carries excellent region-free players that are great for any use. We're happy to announce a new addition to our DVD player lineup, the RJ800 from Rjtech, a sleek DVD player that will handle any discs you want to throw at it, including PAL discs, discs from any region, DVD-R/RW media and more. This player is extra cool because it also plays all versions of DIVX/MP4/AVI, allowing you to burn your favorite movies onto DVD-R media and watch them on the big screen. In addition to this great new player, we've lowered prices on all our other players, including our top of the line DVD7050 (also DIVX capable) and the outstanding portable M280 (complete with battery and 7 inch screen).

J-List strives to bring you cool things from Japan every day. One category of product we love are the pre-painted anime figures that are so fun to display, perfect 3-D versions of Japan's amazing anime style, and already painted and ready to show off. Today we've got one of my all-time favorite series, the Mecha Musume line from Fumikane Shimada, which joins incredibly cute "bishoujo" female characters with World War II mechs, including RAF planes, Wiermacht tanks, you name it. Full sets in stock!

Nice to be back in Japan. Oh look, what does that sign say?

Oh, black currant and vinegar juice! I must be back in Japan!

This is a "regular" drink cup in Japan, for what it's worth. In this case it held "soft cream" (soft serve ice cream), which I love to eat when I get off the plane and into hot Japan.

I was surprised to find corn flakes in my cup. It was a pleasant twist on my ice cream.

Next up...Peter goes to Washington!