Excellent Service in Japan

Without a doubt, one of the best things about living in Japan is the excellent service you receive on a daily basis here, and if I were in the restaurant business I'd look to Japan for ideas about how I could improve the customer experience at my restaurants. One thing I love is the custom of handing out hot towels (called oshibori) to customers who've just sat down to order -- nothing feels better than cleaning your hands (and face, which is bad manners but everyone does it) with a steaming hot towel, and it'd be great if restaurant chains in the U.S. adopted this practice. Another innovation I'm a fan of are electronic buttons on your table which you press when you're ready to order. The staff sees your table number light up on a board and instantly appears to take your order, avoiding stress about how to get your server's attention. While I'm making recommendations to the U.S. restaurant industry, why hasn't any chain latched onto yakitori (Japanese teriyaki chicken on a stick), or flamboyant drinks like "grapefruit sour" (a shochu-based drink that comes with half a fresh grapefruit that you wring out yourself, adding the juice to your drink)? I'm sure there are a ton of potential ideas from Japan, just waiting to be popularized.

Here's a hot towel for you, sir. Have you decided what you want to order?

TV in Japan

The Japanese are big fans of television, and watch 2-6 hours of TV per day on average, depending on their age group. There are three categories of TV in Japan: public broadcasting by NHK, Japan's clone of the BBC, which has no commercials; minkan or "civilian" broadcasts made by for-profit companies like Fuji TV or TBS; and pay channels like WOWOW or Fox Japan, viewed through "BS" (broadcast satellite) antennas or cable TV. Popular categories of programs include modern TV dramas from Japan and Korea, samurai period dramas, reality programs that follow the lives of families with an unusually high number of children (since there's so rare here), and anime of course, which is usually shown at 2 am for some reason. There are also many variety programs that do random things like seeing how fast a go-cart can go propelled by PET bottles filled with pressurized carbonated water, and a fun show in which contestants who can't answer trivia questions fast enough are dropped into a (CG-enhanced) abyss. As in most countries, the Japanese are experiencing テレビ離れ terebi-banare or the trend of moving away from watching so much television. My wife's elderly parents leave the TV on all day in their liquor shop, while my son prefers the Internet and watches much less TV.

TV in Japan is random and entertaining.

Japan, Kanji and Perception: We Have to Go Deeper

Are French people Buddhists? Are the Germans lonely? Are the British particularly heroic, and do Americans eat lots of rice? These are impressions the Japanese might conceivably have about people from around the world, thanks to the way certain kanji were arbitrarily assigned to different countries back during the Meiji Period, before katakana started being used for expressing foreign-derived words and place names as it is today. The kanji phonetically assigned to France, Germany, Britain and the U.S. are 仏, 独, 英 and 米, which happen to mean Buddha/Buddhism, alone/lonely, heroic, and rice, and while these are largely archaic today, they're still convenient for writing compact newspaper headlines like 日米韓首脳会談 ("a summit between heads of state from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea"). The kanji for Australia is 豪 goh which means "gorgeous" or "of high quality," and this character is used by the shabu shabu restaurant near my house to promote their imported Australian beef. The kanji for Russia (露) might make Japanese think of an outdoor onsen bath (露天風呂 roten buro)...or possibly a person who exposes themselves indecently in public places (露出 roshutsu). Random word associations can come from anywhere, of course, like the linguistic accident that causes the English word "fillet" to have the same pronunciation as a shark's fin (ひれ), which must cause some bizarre misunderstandings when eating a steak and shark fin soup (the fin is definitely not the "fillet" part of a fish).

(If you're as fascinated by kanji as we are, J-List has a lot of cool kanji-related products for you to get lost browsing.)

Analyzing how language affects our perception.

Are You Ready for the Summer Anime Conventions?

Summer convention season isn't far, and J-List is ready to help you make this year's cons extra special. In addition to selling authentic shikishi sign boards for getting autographs from Japanese artists this summer, we've got great cosplay products like anime glasses and those Japanese eye patches as seen in dozens of anime series, plus our world-famous anime T-shirts and more. Why not browse J-List and make your pre-con order now?

Some Questions About The Japanese

I've been a student of Japanese since that first day in 1987 when I started Higurashi-sensei's class at SDSU. (There were more students who wanted to take the course than would fit in the room, so the teacher gave us an ultimatum: learn hiragana within one week or we'd have to drop the class.) In addition to studying the language, I've spent many years observing the Japanese people, too. Today I decided to do an "Ask Me Anything" on J-List's Facebook page, and here are some of the questions I got.

How Westernized are the Japanese?

The Japanese definitely consider themselves a Western country, as indicated by their lumping both Europe and Japan in the same DVD area (region 2). When Japanese visit other countries in Asia they have culture shock that's similar to what Americans or Europeans might experience.

Are clubs in high school as important as they seem to be in anime?

It seems so. My son is in both the Light Music and English clubs and does a lot of stuff with both. Students who don't join a club in high school belong to the 帰宅部 kitaku-bu or "going home club."

Do most Japanese act in what would be considered a 'gentlemanly' manner here in the West? i.e. holding doors open for ladies etc.

In general not much, and one reason some Japanese women idealize Western men is the idea that we'll be perfect gentlemen at all times, though my wife would laugh herself silly at that. The word for a man who is polite and considerate of women is a "feminist."

How important is politeness to the Japanese?

Definitely an important thing, and there are subtle rules about politeness that people must follow based on your TPO ("time, place, occasion"). These rules are actually "baked" into the language, and you'll use different verb forms when addressing a senpai (which would require formal verbs) compared with a classmate or a kohai (which would call for informal verbs). I'm sure a lot of these politeness rules come from having 120 million people living in an area the size of Montana, in houses with paper doors.

Are they fascinated with the USA like we are with Japan?

Japan is the most pro-American country there is, as a rule, and nearly all Japanese have a positive image of the U.S. Older Japanese are especially thankful for the smart policies of the U.S. military during the Occupation, and of our positive "can-do" attitude, which helped Japan rebuild more quickly. When the U.S. military launched "Operation Tomodachi" after the 3.11 earthquake and tsunamis even the most cynical Japanese burst into thankful tears.

How are the British perceived in Japan?

Japan loves the U.K. and when the country was modernizing it took most of its ideas about the West from England, creating a Parliament-style legislature and government officials based on Her Majesty's Civil Service. You could argue that World War II was Japan taking its respect for and desire to emulate Great Britain and its Empire way too far.

Why is Japan so cool?

Haha, not sure, but it might be related to the country being shrouded in mystery during the Edo Period. Our collective fascination with Japan is not new. When I went to the Netherlands I was surprised to see that Vincent van Gogh had been fascinated with Japan, and had copied ukiyoe in his own style, right down to the kanji.

Can you really buy girls' pantsu in vending machines?

These existed, but in very small numbers 10-15 years ago, and anything you hear about today is pure urban legend. Remember, the "lens" of the Internet highlights only the strange parts of Japan, presenting a distorted image.

Why the Tentacles?

Good question. While the genre got its start with the famous shunga image Dream of the Fisherman's Wife [NSFW] nearly 200 years ago, the modern association with tentacles comes from the popularity of the Urotsukidoji / Legend of Overfiend hentai anime from the 1980s. Most Japanese don't realize their country is famous for tentacles.

Why do the Japanese like maids so much?

It's just a meme, really, like shimapan or the Anna Miller's waitress costume boom from the 1990s. Supposedly some of the earliest eroge from the PC 98 era hit on the idea of maid characters calling the player "master" and maid culture took off from there.

What are their views on sporks?

Yasu, J-List's artbook and manga buyer, says, "I never thought deeply about them, but they remind me of eating convenience store bento."

Your questions about the people of Japan answered.

The History of Anime Snacks

We like to think of our little company as a "wonderful toy box of things from Japan" where various products will pop up randomly, from traditional Lucky Cat statues to legendary cosplay products to your favorite anime figures. Another thing we enjoy is finding Japanese snacks or drinks featured in anime and selling them on the site. There's a long history of tying food products to anime series, going back to the Sakuma Drops from Grave of the Fireflies, the Yebisu beer Misato drinks in Evangelion and the Pocky and Pretz seen in Please Teacher! and Please Twins! The idea grew into full meme-hood soon after, and these days everything from Taiyaki fish-shaped cakes and takoyaki Osaka-style octopus-filled batter balls to star-shaped Kompeito candy and Dr. Pepper have become famous fixtures in anime. As the industry has evolved in a world where they can no longer sell $600 boxed sets of laser discs to fans, companies have turned to licensing their characters in new ways, and now you can buy everything from official Totoro milk caramels and Pokemon candies to otaku-friendly pizza from Domino's ("Have fun with Miku!!").

"It's dangerous to go alone. Take this!"

Horse Head Masks + More at J-List

Remember, we carry lots of fun random cosplay products that are fun to have on hand, like that Horse Head Mask that's great for creating your own Internet memes or getting on the local news broadcast. Click to see these fun items now!

How To Search for Information in Japanese

Like everyone, I'm a big fan of using Internet search to artificially raise my IQ, finding information or verifying it before putting it in these J-List posts. There are certainly some some limitations to search -- looking for how to repair or hack a popular personal electronic device always seems to send me to shops offering to sell me a new one instead, and there's a marked lack of attention paid to the classic Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side comics by search engines, in my opinion -- but by and large it works pretty well. Japanese users use Google, too, enough that ググる guguru has become a generic verb meaning "to search for via Google," though searching in Japanese is a little more involved. First, you generally need to know the kanji name of the person you're searching for, and using the wrong kanji for your favorite AKB48 idol will probably give you very different results. For this reason, many Japanese first search on Wikipedia, where they can grab the correct kanji from the article that pops up, and do a second search to find specific information. I often find myself searching for information in both English and Japanese, often in side-by-side-windows, since the results can often vary wildly.

Searching for information in Japanese can be a little involved.

Tatemae, Honne and the Hentai Prince

Two important concepts related to Japan are 建前 tatemae (tah-teh-mah-eh) and 本音 honne (hon-neh), which essentially mean "the facade or illusion that everyone pretends is real, the way we pretend things to be," and "the way things really are, or one's true intentions" There are many examples of how tatemae works in Japanese society: the little white lie you tell spare someone's feelings, the opinion you express only in front of others, the subtle pressure employees in companies feel to not use their vacation time (because it means more work for their coworkers), or the way gambling for money is illegal, so pachinko parlors let you win "prizes" which you can conveniently sell back to the company for cash. Of course, there's always a difference between what we say and really think -- every baby picture we're shown is automatically "cute" even if we secretly think the kid looks like the baby from Eraserhead -- but the Japanese have elevated this to an art form. In the popular anime and manga The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, the main character Yoto is frustrated because his personality is such that he always utters tatemae (socially acceptable statements) rather than saying what he really thinks, so he makes an offering at the statue of an "un-smiling cat" that's said to grant wishes. His wish is granted, but now he can only say exactly what's in his heart, which gets him into lots of trouble.

There's plenty of subtlety in Japanese society

Would You Pay 120 Yen for a Hamburger?

It's been an eventful few months for Japan's economy, with the return to the conservative pro-business and oh-so-oddly-named Liberal Democratic Party to power last December. Now the task at hand is to jump-start Japan's economy to get it growing again, but to do that they need to conquer the problem of deflation which has dogged the country for nearly two decades and kept wages flat. As a result of the bursting of the Tokyo Asset Bubble in 1991, prices in Japan have essentially stayed the same or slightly declined in the 20+ years I've been here, and while it's nice to pay the same price for Teriyaki Chicken Bento in 2013 that I did in 1994, healthy economies are supposed to experience a small amount of inflation. The problem is, how can companies ever raise their prices after customers have been "trained" to expect stable or even falling prices after so long? McDonald's is going to find out, and has raised its hamburger prices for the first time in years, from 100 to 120 yen. This has resulted in a lot of criticism by Japan's snarky online users, who say things like, "Oh, are they going to start charging for the smile now?"

Raising prices is a challenge for companies in Japan.

J-List Loves Nyanpire

We're big fans of Nyanpire, the popular Gothic Lolita vampire cat character that's the star of his own anime show, and our customers love his incredible cuteness. Today we posted never Nyanpire plush toys, with the little guy wearing cute kigurumi full body costumes. Click to see our stock of these kawaii products.