Greetings from J-List July 26, 2002

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Greetings from J-List July 24, 2002

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Greetings from J-List July 22, 2002

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Greetings from J-List July 20, 2002

[Apologies if you are receiving this message twice. We had a problem with our mail server and have had to resend last night's J-List update.]

Greetings from Japan, where they love to invent words like "amenity communicator."

Well, the existence of God has proven -- we have our very first Starbuck's in Isesaki. Ever since the company entered the Japanese market five years ago, Starbuck's has quickly become a household name, bringing their coffee beans and delicious beverages to all corners of Japan. They're so popular in Japan that it's uncommon to wait in a line for 30 minutes in Tokyo just to order, and it's very rare that you can sit down and relax in a Starbuck's. Actually, in more crowded restaurants, they have "standing tables" that have no chairs -- you just lean against the table as you drink your matcha frapachino. Starbuck's are by no means rare or special in America, so I'm sure no one gets excited by yet another one opening. But to a foreigner living in rural Japan, it's great news. We were also fortunate enough to happen by the store during their "open house," where they gave out free coffee to everyone that wanted some. Incidentally, Japanese Starbuck's drink sizes start with "small," a small 8 oz cup, which would be far too small for Americans to drink.

Often, when products from America or Europe are marketed in Japan, they are sold by Japanese companies who license the brands from their owners. I can enjoy drinks like Canada Dry Ginger Ale or Bireley's orange drink, but they don't come from Canada or the UK -- they come from the good old Asahi Beverage Company, and you can see the little Asahi corporate mark, hidden somewhere in the packaging. Nabisco goods are popular in Japan, but products like Ritz crackers are really made here by Yamazaki Bread Company and sold under the Ritz brand name. Recently, Tic Tacs (a word which sounds like "tick tock" to the Japanese) have appeared in Japan, courtesy of the Morinaga Confectionery Company. Oh well, they taste the same.

For the new pre-weekend update, we've got an extra special volley of items for you, including:

• First and foremost, we're happy to announce that the film that sunk Titanic as the top-grossing film in Japan's history, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, is in stock! A great 2-DVD set featuring English and French subtitles and much more, this is a wonderful film we hope you will not miss!
  
• Speaking of Studio Ghibli, we've got extremely limited stock of a super item: the Studio Ghibli DVD player, a beautiful compact region 2 DVD player that comes with many extras, including a copy of Spirited Away -- you have to see this thing to believe it!
  
• Everyone in Japan knows there are some cool Hello Kitty items made in Japan, like Kitty refrigerators and even a limited edition Hello Kitty car made by Daihatsu. Well, we're happy to announce that we've gotten in two excellent Hello Kitty toasters that brighten your kitchen toast your bread with Kitty's face on it
  
• We have some nice new hardcover photobooks for fans of Japan's lovely swimsuit idols
  
• We have some great new snack and food products for you, including a giant box of delicious Morinaga milk caramels, CC Lemon vitamin C candy, and cold Matcha drink mix that is just great
  
• Also, restocking of many items, including our popular mugi tea deluxe set, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, Shigekix sour "hard gummi," Meiji's Banana Choco, and more!
  
• Also, we've got stock of Wata Gum, a great Japanese gum that is like cotton candy (wata means "cotton" in Japanese), but when you put it in your mouth it turns to gum
  
• We have some cool toys in stock for, including toys based on Kellogg's cereal's characters, a positively cool Kubrick Bible, and a cool deluxe "The Dog" ashtray
  
• Other Hello Kitty items include Hello Kitty straws, more of those popular Kitty mayonaise cups which have so many uses, a Hello Kitty mechanical pencil, and more Kitty bento boxes
  
• Also, fresh stock of Hamster Club chopsticks, more bento related items like the fish soy sauce bottles, little cutters that turn sausages into cute little penguins, Buddhist incense, a handy little shaver, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, we're happy to announce that our best-selling Hentai Anime Poker, a game in which you take on lovely girls of anime in five games of strip poker (including Texas Hold 'Em), now comes with all 12 expansion pack girls free (a $25 value) -- so you can enjoy everything about this great game!
  
• We have new magazines for fans of Japan's lovely ladies, including the new Chibikkuri, devoted to short girls (under 5 feet or 150 cm), which is a major fetish in Japan
  
• We have new erotic photobooks, including a great item from Aida Garo, the famous Japanese nude photographer, and more
  
• For hentai manga collectors, enjoy the new works we've got in stock for you, including new "dick girl" comics (always a popular theme), a great game girl parody manga, and more
  
• Also, a great new yaoi manga featuring the works of 14 different talented artists -- great for fans of Japan's famous homosexual comics
  
• For fans of U-Jin, perhaps the single most famous Japanese hentai artist, we have more copies of that excellent Candy art book
  
• In San Diego, we've gotten in fresh stock of the popular Blue Eyes English-language manga, all ready for you to order
  
• We have more of the cool plastic paper protectors and shitajiki (plastic paper underlays) that have beautiful bishoujo game images on them
  
• For DVD fans we have many new items for you, starting with the "younger sister" of Kurumi Morishita, the lovely Ringo Kihara, age 19, who appears in her debut production (region free)
  
• The lovely and experienced Yukari Sakurada stars in "Endless Semen," a very erotic new festival of bukkake by Dogma and Tohjiro (region free)
  
• From Soft on Demand, a great new exploration of "obscene kissing of amateur girls," great for fans of Deep Kiss (region free)
  
• Also, yet another cool "Amateur Bukkake" DVD release, in which naive girls learn about bukkake and semen and more (region free)
  
• Finally, the lovely Sayaka Tsutsumi is an erotic ninja in a great new offering Natural High (region free).
  

J-List is very happy with the popularity of our wacky Japanese message T-shirts, which are selling very well. We get questions from customers regarding the T-shirts, some of whom are afraid that the T-shirts come in Japanese sizes. Happily, our T-shirts are all printed in the USA, on 100% cotton T-shirts (6.1 weight, the same as Hanes Beefy-T). To better serve you, we now stock all sizes of shirts, from size S all the way up to XXXL, and T-shirts ship out daily from our San Diego office.

Greetings from J-List July 15, 2002

Hello again from the land of the rising sun!

The war for control of Japan's beer market continues to rage. The two biggest companies, Asahi and Kirin, keep taking the lead back from each other, as each tries to come up with new ways to steal market share from their rival. Currently, Asahi has 39 per cent of the market, and Kirin 35 per cent. The market has undergone many changes since the emergence of happo-shu, a kind of beer that is made slightly differently than normal beer, although I don't understand the difference at all (happo-shu just tastes like beer to me, although it's not terribly good). Because the taxes on happo-shu are much lower than on beer, it's much cheaper for consumers, and this has sparked a price war that has brought the prices of virtually all alcoholic beverages down to as much as half what they were a few years ago, contributing to Japan's deflationary spiral. The current price leader is Suntory, though, with their new "Ad Draft Happo-shu." To lower the cost of the beer, other companies can advertise right on the front of the can. It's about $1.10 a can.

Do you have a cat's tongue? If so, it means that you can't eat hot food or drink hot drinks, just like a cat. The Japanese say that anyone who avoids hot food has a cat's tongue (neko jita). What is you have lazy eye? If so, then you are "rom-pari" which is Japanese for "Rome, Paris" -- i.e. one eye is looking at Rome and the other is looking at Paris. If you're thinning on top, you might have "bar code hair," as the Japanese say. Opening a bag of chips along its spine, so that the bag is spread out with the chips sitting on top, is called "omanko ake" (oh-MAHN-ko AH-kay), which literally means "to open so that it resembles the female private region." And if you sneeze, the Japanese say that someone must be gossiping about you (this comes up in anime quite often).

First of all, we're happy to announce that we'll be carrying U.S. release hentai DVDs in our San Diego office. We've got a few nice items in stock now, and will add more and more as time goes by. All DVDs will be stocked in San Diego for your ordering convenience. Feedback on the new Hentai DVD (USA) category is welcome.

Also, we've located the last remaining stock on the earth of our best-selling game Season of the Sakura, a very detailed love simulation game from the DOS era in which you interact with eight different girls (who look suspiciously like the characters from Evangelion, Rayearth and St. Tail). As a service to our loyal fans, we are making the last stock available at just $5. Also, look for an announcement of interest to fans of the early JAST USA games in week or so.

For the new update, we've got a lot of very nice wacky and bizarre items, starting with:

• First, our very popular T-shirt line continues to sell well, and we've got a new one for you: a famous Japanese insult ("Your mother has a protruding navel") captured in one of our unique and bizarre T-shirts
  
• We have some nice items for fans of beautiful swimsuit idols, including a gotta-have hardcover photobook for fans of Yuko Oguro, the charming 18 year old lovely idol
  
• We've been bowled over by the popularity of the only-released-in-Japan items like the deluxe Light Saber and Star Wars lighting necklaces, so we've gotten more -- everything is now in stock, ready to go out to you
  
• We've got some excellent new toy items, including a cool Gundam posable figure and cool toys from a popular manga in Japan, Gio Gio's Bizarre Adventure
  
• Restocked toy items include the Reservoir Dogs Kubrick sets that sold out so fast, fresh stock of the popular Totoro Doll Collection, new figures and other items from Spirited Away, and more
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, we've got fresh stock of the Hello Kitty Ping Pong set, along with many new items, including Kitty chopstick holders, Kitty hand mirrors, and much more
  
• Also, we have fresh stock of the very cool Cup Noodle coffee cups that so just so cool
  
• New snack items include delicious "Beer Pretz," spicy pretz that are made to taste extra good when eaten with beer
  
• Also fresh stock of many items, including the long gummi strings called Himo-Q, tasty fried rice from Japan, Hamutaro onigiri mix, new miso soup, and more!
  
• We've got the excellent trading cards of a super cute idol group called "Last Alive" too
  
• We've got a cool "fortune egg," a egg that you break to reveal a different "lucky cat" inside that tells your fortune
  
• Finally, new "wacky things from Japan" include a large bento box, cool sakura rice bowls, a dandy keychain which will keep you from losing your keys, more wacky erasers, and more!

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, we have the new Urecco, and it's a great issue, filled with Japan's top AV idols and models for you, including Megumi Osawa and Misa Nishida!
  
• We have some nice rare older issues of magazines in stock, including a great item for Natsuko Tohno fans (very rare)
  
• Also, cool new love hotel and kogal magazines for you to check out
  
• We have great erotic photobook items for you too, starting with a new photobook in the bad-assed Yinling of Joytoy series, featuring Yinling, the knock-down gorgeous Taiwanese Race Queen
  
• For manga lovers, we have a bunch of great new manga volumes for you, including fantasy erotic manga from Akane Comics, an incredible "dick girl" offering from Angel Comics, fun with cosplay, and much more
  
• Also, for fans of bishoujo games and anime, see the dynamite paper protectors, beautiful plastic sleeves which you can keep important papers inside, but printed with incredible bishoujo artwork
  
• For DVD collectors, many more items, starting with the erotic "The Idol" series release from Kuki, featuring three full video productions on a single DVD for you -- 180 minutes! (region free)
  
• For fans of anime cosplay erotica, see the great new Cosplay Hunter from Big Morkal, with Capcom game cosplay sex, elevator girl costumes, and more (region free)
  
• Kurumi Morishita has had one of the most amazing careers of any Indies AV idol, and you can see the best of her works from 1998-1999 in a new 120 minute release by SOD (region free)
  
• See the lovely Sayaka Tsutsumi be teased and bullied by everyone around here in another great offering by SOD (region free)
  
• For indies DVD fans, enjoy the incredibly sexy and bold "hip and vagina" performance by Mai Kuramoto, just dynamite (region 2)
  
• Also, a really cool "Erosty Dance" DVD featuring incredibly sexy girls who do nothing but dance erotically for 90 minutes -- it's one of the coolest concepts we've seen in a long time (region 2)
  
• Finally, Tomo has added a bunch of new-in-stock DVDs for you, including Lesbian Girls' School, Ayaka Fujisaki's excellent Bondage DX, Love Shake with Mirai Hoshizaki, the best-selling DVD by busty Kimiko Matsuzaka, and more!

J-List sells many cool things from Japan, including the low-priced boxes anime toy and snack sets like the Captain Harlock and Thunderbirds toys. Availability is always very limited on these items, so please hurry lest we run out before you can get the items you wanted. The full sets of the Harlock toys are running out fast, so we recommend you get them soon if you're interested.

Remember that until the end of the month, or while supplies last, you will get a free DVD present from us for every $100 in DVDs you spend at J-List, as our way of saying thanks. Each free DVD will be worth at least $10. Thanks for your support and enjoy your gift from J-List!

Greetings from J-List July 10, 2002

Hello from a very wet Japan. We're about to be visited by Typhoon No. 6, a big, mean storm that's set to touch down in the Kanto region (where Tokyo and Gunma are) sometime during the night. Hope we don't get washed away!

You may be familiar with the word "otaku." A formal word which really means "you" or "your family," it's come to describe people who get carried away with their hobbies. The most famous otaku are the anime otaku, fans of Japanese anime who fill their rooms with anime goods in an attempt to get "the perfect collection." There are many other kinds of otaku, from military otaku to perfume otaku to train otaku, and so on. There seems to be something about the Japanese psyche that opens them up to going all-out in the pursuit of their hobbies. Unfortunately, while foreigners are often happy to use the word otaku to describe themselves, I really have to advise against using the word in front of Japanese people. In Japan, the concept of people getting carried away collecting doujinshi, Zippo lighters, and little stuffed dogs is cute, but the idea of being an otaku is really not a positive one to the Japanese mind -- just as you might not know what to think about a person who boasted about what a "Trekkie" he was. My advice is to hide your otakuism from Japanese people until they know you better, to avoid misunderstandings.

One thing I admire about the Japanese is their single-mindedness and ability to stay focused on a goal. When I married my wife and moved to Isesaki, I noticed a man in a nearby field, spending his Sunday afternoon with his RC helicopter (one of the expensive ones), flying it around the field and landing it. (He is an RC otaku.) Well, it's been eight years since then, and that man is still in that field every Sunday afternoon, playing with his RC helicopter (sometimes his friends bring various airplanes, too). Over the past eight years I've gone through many changes, but I have to respect that man for his steadfast adherence to his true love. Likewise, this steadiness can be seen in Japanese TV, with anime staples that have been on the air for decades and thousands and thousands of episodes -- mainly Doraemon (the "robot of cat type" who comes from the future to be with his friend, Nobita-kun) and Sazae-san (which follows the happenings of the Isono family every week, brought to you by the Toshiba Corporation). The longest running movie series in history is also from Japan -- "Otoko wa Tsuraiyo" ("It's Tough Being a Man") followed the traveling salesman Tora-san around Japan year after year, for a total of 48 installments (it's in the Guiness Book).

We've got good news for bishoujo gaming fans: we are going to be carrying the great new games from G-Collections. A new company translating some of the best games from Japan, the first four titles are going to be excellent, with superb graphics, compelling and emotional game stories and more. You can preorder "Kango Shicyauzo ~ I'm Gonna Nurse You", "Kana ~ Little Sister", "DOR" and "Chain ~ The Lost Footprints" now and get free shipping when the games come in!

For the new update, we've got lots of nice items for you, including:

• First, we're happy to see the reaction to our newest wacky Japanese T-shirts, "I want to be Japanese" and "Sexual Power" -- we've posted a white version of the Sexual Power shirt for you, too
  
• We have a very special item for Hello Kitty fans: the very cool Hello Kitty ' Daniel "Wedding Kitty" plush sets, with several versions available
  
• Also for Hello Kitty fans, several new items, including new mayonnaise cups (use them in bento boxes, or to store just about anything), as well as more of the beautiful kimono-clad Kitty toys we posted last time
  
• We have a great new My Neighbor Totoro music box in stock, featuring all three Totoros doing their "dance of the acorns"
  
• We have new items for your kitchen including new adult-sized chopsticks, a great item for fans of Ojamajo Doremi, and more
  
• Newly posted snack items include super spicy Japanese potato snacks, delicious Japanese Ramune candy, herbal throat candy, and more popular chocolate covered sun flower seeds
  
• Also, fresh stock of Kitty hot cake mix, and an item we recommend to everyone, delicious Japanese barley tea (mugi cha)
  
• For fans of Japanese Race Queens and swimsuit idols, see the new photobooks and other items we have for you, including a great photobook for Morning Musume fans
  
• Also in stock, a funky and wholly Japanese way to clean your ears
  
• We have fresh stock of the deluxe Hamster Club bento box and related items, always popular with J-List customers, and other bento items as well
  
• Finally, find soft and fun things to hold, a new Japan-only Hot Wheels Mach 5 version for Speed Racer fans,
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. Check out:

• First, see the above-mentioned new bishoujo games which you can order right now!
  
• For fans of beautiful Japanese AV idols, see the new Cospet, a fabulous all-cosplay magazine by the makers of Urecco that's got 20 of Japan's top gals for you
  
• Also for cosplay fans, a very special "sexy cosplay" photobook that features top gals like Megumi and Yuko Ogura, and comes with little paper dolls you can play with!
  
• For photobook fans, enjoy several new nude photobooks, including the lovely hardcover offering of Sayaka Yoshino and some new "petite eros" series books (very small all-color photobooks that are pocket-sized)
  
• Japan is always interested in "new half," e.g. chicks with dicks, and we've got a nice new photobook of authentic dick girls in stock
  
• We have an excellent lineup of great manga for you, including top-quality works by Angel Comics, Mujin Comics and more
  
• Also, yaoi fans, check out fresh stock of several items posted for you
  
• For fans of KITE, the hentai anime, we've restocked the popular art book for you, as well as the Bishoujo Anime Catalog RX
  
• There's a top-quality series of adult trading cards posted, too, based on the Rhythmic Gymnastics bishoujo game
  
• For DVD collectors, we have many new items as usual, starting with a "graduation AV debut" of a girl fresh out of high school (region free)
  
• Naive rich girls engage in "penis study" in a great Soft on Demand DVD, seeing and touching a man's penis for the first time -- their reactions are great to see (region free)
  
• For Ai Nagase fans, a super 2-DVD powerhouse release, that comes with an extra gift: a piece of fabric cut off the actual uniform she was wearing (region free)
  
• For fans of lesbian themes, two gorgeous ladies star as "The Sensual Sisters" in a new erotic release from HMP, and this is subtitled in English, Chinese and Korean! (region free)
  
• Enjoy the sweet costume play of Asuka Ozora, as she wears many great anime costumes for your fantasy-fulfillment (region 2)
  
• Finally, we've got a large update several DVD titles for you, including the excellent DVDs of Mai Hagiwara, Maiko Kazama, Kaori Kuraishi, and many more!
  

Remember that J-List is the only place you can get the excellent and authentic high school uniforms from Matsukameya of Nagoya. These are extremely well made uniforms that are famous all over Japan, and they're just beautiful. They're not cheap, unfortunately, but we know that you will be totally satisfied with the high quality of Matsukameya's products. And coming soon! By customer request, we'll soon be offering men's high school uniforms!

My kids and I are currently enjoying the excellent Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts DVD series by the BBC, which are "documentaries" of animals that lived long ago. If you've got kids who dig dinosaurs, the DVDs are very educational, and really fun to watch as well. I recommend them 100%!

Greetings from J-List July 8, 2002

Hello and Happy Monday from all of us in Japan!

Summer has arrived, and that means that one of Japan's twice-yearly gift-giving seasons is here again. In July and again in December, people all over Japan buy gifts, called Chugen (in the summer) and Oseibo (in the winter), to give to certain people. Students and the parents of students give gifts to teachers to foster goodwill, for example, and companies give gifts to the companies they do business with as a way of saying thanks for the past year of business, and "korekara mo yoroshiku" (a phrase that is difficult to translate, it basically restates the hope that they continue to help you in the future). Selling the boxed gift sets is big money in the downtrodden Japanese economy, and Japanese companies compete to make the most attractive packages of cooking oil, detergent, canned drinks, vacuum-packed hams, to attract consumers' attention. Starbuck's Japan has started selling its much-renowned coffee beans in handy Japanese gift sets in its stores, and even HagenDaaz is getting into the act: you can send a box of delicious ice cream to anyone in Japan, and it will be delivered via Yamato Transport Company's "cool" delivery trucks, which keep the contents at a frosty temperature.

Another aspect of the Japanese "kokumin-sei" (their "national personality") is the Japanese attitude towards seasons. First, the Japanese are keenly aware that Japan has four very distinct seasons and (as humorist Dave Barry has pointed out) are likely to stop you on the street without warning to tell you about them. The Japanese are finely tuned to their seasons, and naturally know when to dress more or less warmly depending on the weather, unlike the poor gaijin living here, who are always dressing out of season and sticking out. The Japanese only do certain things in certain seasons, too. After August 3st, when summer vacation officially ends, virtually no one goes to the beach because "summer is over." I remember taking a trip by train to Enoshima, a beach near Yokohama, to take in the waves in early September. For some reason, what I was doing seemed to be crossing some invisible line to the Japanese, and several people tried to stop me from going. In a similar fashion, there is a very narrow window from September to November or so, when really cool anime, JPOP and idol calendars are available in Japan (and through J-List, too). Outside of this very small "calendar season," it's nearly impossible to find a calendar for sale in Japan for love or money.

Announcing the J-List Summer DVD Gift Sale! Until the end of the month, or while supplies last, we'll be giving away free DVD gifts for every $100 in adult DVDs you buy. It's our way of saying thanks for supporting J-List!

For the new update, we've got a bunch of interesting items for you, including:

• First, we have two great new wacky Japanese T-shirts for you, which say "Completely Confident in my Sexual Power" (a great item for guys looking for Japanese girls), and "I Want to be Japanese" (for anyone who secretly wish they were born in Japan) -- in stock now!
  
• We love the beautiful swimsuit models Japan has to offer, and have several new photobook (and a magazine + DVD item!) for fans of Sayaka Uchida, May Iikubo and more
  
• For anime and toy fans, we've got a major restocking of some of our most popular items, including the Totoro tin toy series, all the Love Hina SkyLuv dolls, and the oh-so-popular Japan-only Star Wars items (including the Light Saber)
  
• Also, a restocking of the popular Love Hina bilingual comics which allow you to read both the English and the Japanese
  
• We love the series of character goods and plush toys called "The Dog" and do our best to bring these great items to you all. There's a new line of very nice coffee mug, saucer and spoon sets for dog lovers, in stock
  
• For Macross fans, stock of the very cool transforming VF-1A Valkyrie from Bandai (Rick Hunter/Hikaru Ichijo Skull-1)
  
• For lovers of Gamera, we have a nifty "Gamera Special Graphix" book filled with pictures and behind-the-scenes shots of the Gamera films
  
• Also from Bandai, two really cool female robots from the Mazinger Z (Tranzor Z) universe, with extra-cool breast missiles that really shoot
  
• Also, we always carry lots of only-found-in-Japan Hello Kitty goods, and we've got a cool new series of kimono-clad Hello Kitty stuffed toys that will brighten any room!
  
• Also, other cool Hello Kitty items for you, including new fork and spoon sets, a cool "holder magnet," and fresh stock of the very popular Hello Kitty Collector's Mascot series, featuring little Kitty characters from all over Japan
  
• Also for fans of My Melody, the popular Sanrio character, we've got a suntanned "Hawaiian My-Melo" that's so cute
  
• We've got new snack items, including new miso soup, fried rice mix, tasty rice crackers, more onigiri, furikake, and more
  
• Also: fresh stock of delicious mugi tea, the #1 drink of the Japanese during the summer
  
• For collectors of music boxes or fine Snoopy items from around the world, we've got a very rare and special item, a beautiful Snoopy leather music box that is just too cute!
  
• Finally, look for cool items for your kitchen, a great cloth and wood shopping bag, traditional Japanese green tea cups, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. The new items include:

• For magazine fans, we have several new items for you, including new amateur items, kogal magazines, and new bargain magazines for you
  
• For photobook lovers, we have some great new erotic photobooks for you, including the dynamite new Rio Sannomiya release for you, and more
  
• Also, a unique item for fans of female nude tattoo photography, however stock is limited (if our stock sells out, we'll be able to order more)
  
• We've been receiving more requests for new manga from Japan, so we're posted a nice update today, with several new volumes from several different artists and manga studios
  
• For DVD fans, we've got many new items, including the new Deep Kiss and "Would you like a hand job?" DVDs that were accidentally not posted on Friday (sorry about that) (both are region free)
  
• If you love the sweet face of the new "good girl of Japanese AV," Hitomi Hayasaka, enjoy her new DVD release (region free)
  
• By Tohjiro and Dogma, there's a new White Sexual Desire, a great exploration of bukkake themes by one of Japan's best indies studios (region free)
  
• Nao Oikawa goes back to the love hotel where she first lost her virginity to relive those memories again in a great new production from Moodyz (region 2)
  
• And forfans of the bold and erotic Wanz Factory, there's a new "Super Angle of Manko" release which is shot almost entirely with a fish-eye lens positioned between Ruu Hoshino's legs (region 2)
  
• Finally, various new in stock DVD items posted by Tomo!
  

J-List customers tell us that the #1 way they hear about J-List is through word-of-mouth. We're very glad to hear this, and we're always happy to accept referrals! If you've got a friend who might be interested in our unique brand of Japanese pop culture, why not tell them about J-List, or ask them to sign up to our J-List updates? Thanks! Hello and Happy Monday from all of us in Japan!

Greetings from J-List July 5, 2002

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Greetings from J-List July 3, 2002

Hello again from all of us at J-List!

With all that's different between Japan and the West, you can bet that there are some toilet-related differences, too. When Japanese women use a public toilet, they're very nervous about others hearing the sound of their tinkling, so some Japanese public bathrooms often have machines to make white noise that drowns out the sound. My five-year-old daughter went into one of these restrooms and was too afraid of the sound to do what she had gone in there to do, so I had to help her. Similarly, Japanese women don't want others smelling the toilet after they've used it, so they often carry portable cans of air freshener to spray the area and make it fresh and clear. Conveniently, we happen to have gotten some of these in stock for you today.

When learning Japanese, it's always fun to learn the "gitaigo," a group of words similar to onomatopoeia, which describe a certain situation (and because they consist of repetitions of words, they are cute and fun to use). If you're really hungry, the Japanese would say that you're "peko peko," a word which describes the way you feel when your stomach is very empty. If you get soaking wet in the rain, you're "bisho bisho." If you get indigestion, your stomach is "muka muka." If your skin is especially smooth and clean, someone might say it's "sube sube" (a word which comes from suberu "to glide"). And if you're a little on the plump side, you might be described as "puyo puyo," a word which sounds cute to the Japanese, but if you're really fat, someone might say that you're "buyo buyo," a which wouldn't be very nice of them at all.

Some of the coolest products J-List sells are the Japanese DVD releases of Hayao Miyazaki's popular anime films, like My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke. The DVDs are region 2 (so you need special hardware to watch them, such as a region free DVD player, which we also happen to stock), but since they're subtitled and/or feature English soundtracks as well as many extra features, they're really the best way to enjoy the anime movies of Hayao Miyazaki. By customer request, we've posted screenshots of all menus from the Studio Ghibli DVDs we stock, with translations, (since the menus are in Japanese), as well as screenshots and information on the special features in the DVDs.

Also, we've made some changes to the organization of our DVD pages, basically simplifying the layout so you can find items more easily. The new categories are Adult DVD Main (for general adult DVD releases), DVD $30 and under (for lower-price releases), Soft on Demand (all SOD, Deep's and Natural High releases), Indies DVD (all region 2 DVDs), Lesbian DVD (all DVDs with lesbian themes), and Soft Porn (the popular Bauhaus titles). Indies DVDs that are region free (such as Dogma titles) can be found on DVD page 1. Also, in a J-List first, we now no longer have a VHS video section -- we've moved all our VHS titles to a single section of the DVD master category. With the quick ascent of DVD in Japan, helped along by the popularity of Playstation 2, almost no new titles are being release on video. Tomo has asked me to let you know, though, that we can often special order titles on VHS (and DVD) if there's something you're looking for.

Well, for the new update we've got a bunch of excellent items for you, including:

• First, a very cool series of soft vinyl anime figures based on Dirty Pair, with six different figures capturing three eras of the lovely anime characters -- and full sets of the figures are available
  
• We've been pleased by the popularity of the very advanced magnetic light-up Star Wars necklaces made by Tomy for sale in Japan (we actually sold out of all we posted), but we've got more for you: R2D2 and Boba Fett (the ones that sold out will come in tomorrow)
  
• Also, a Japan-only deluxe light saber that glows, and has extra-cool sound and gyro effects as well as many special effects (including "deflect the laser blasts" effects on demand), which I personally recommend as a Star Wars fan
  
• Also for only-from-Japan-toy fans, we've got a major restocking of Hot Wheels, as well as more popular Kubrick Evangelion figure sets
  
• A very nice set of collector's books of toys sold in Japan 100 years ago
  
• For fans of Japan's lovely swimsuit idols and Race Queens, we've got new items, including Rie Miyazawa's rare Pour Amitie photobook
  
• We have a nice item for people with sore feet, a good way to massage all the sensitive pressure points on your feet
  
• Cute items in stock include a Hamutaro child's bath sponge, a super Hello Kitty train pass case (which you can use for many purposes), and more
  
• We have some nice luncheon mats that match the i.Kotoba line of bento boxes, as well as fresh stock of authentic Japanese chopsticks for you
  
• We have fresh stock of Japanese snack items, including delicious miso soup, traditional "hakka" candy and delicious "Pucca" (chocolate and caramel filled little fish thingies)
  
• Also, more of that really Hello Kitty "heart candy" in the cool container and "soba meshi" (yakisoba and rice) snacks
  
• Also, even more only-available-in-Japan gum products, Bourbon's tasty peach gum and Natchan, a delicious orange sugarless gum
  
• We've got more unique Hello Kitty products for you, as well, including pocket tissue
  
• Finally, we're happy to announce that one of our most popular T-shirts ever is in stock, the red "I am Hentai" shirt -- back by customer request, and in all sizes (small through XXXL)!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• New magazines, including the very bold and very, ahem, detailed, Shuffle
  
• For fans of indies productions, we've got the new Video Indies magazine, along with other great amateur sex-in-love hotel magazines for you
  
• New photobooks, including a very special item for Nao Hirosue and busty idol Ayu Okakura
  
• We have some excellent new manga in stock for you today, including very erotic "tentacle sex" manga that is always popular, and many more
  
• Also, a major restocking of popular books, with fresh stock of the Pururun Seminar series, Chataro's Nami SOS and many others
  
• The Japanese Blue Eye vol. 5 is shipping, and in the U.S., we've got stock of issue 5 of the English Blue Eyes, ready for your order
  
• We've got some great new DVDs, too, including an excellent new lesbian production by the excellent new Movie Castle (region free)
  
• From Dogma, a great new item for bukkake fans, a new "White Sexual Desire" release featuring Sayaka Hijiri (region free)
  
• We love the pure face and sexy body of Shizuka Ichii, and now we have her DVDs in stock (region free)
  
• One of the brightest stars in the Japanese adult video world is Megumi Osawa, who entered the world of hardcore AV a few months ago -- see her newest release (region free)
  
• Finally, we just love the bold and erotic sassiness of Taiwanese Race Queen Yinling, who stars in a great new Yinling of Joytoy DVD release (region 2), highly recommended by Peter and Yasu.
  

J-List stocks delicious gum from Japan, like the popular Black Black caffeine gum, or the delicious Blue Berry delicious chewing gum. With every piece you get chewing satisfaction, but you also get funny English! In each pack of Lotte chewing gum, there are sticks that say "Yes, Chewing!" on them. Amaze your friends with funny stuff from J-List!

Greetings from J-List June 28, 2002

Greetings from J-List again, on this lovely Friday evening. This update is coming to you from Tokyo. I'm here on business, but wanted to complete the day's update on time, so I'm sending it via my iBook.

In Japan, there's a famous chain of restaurants called Anna Miller's. A great American-style establishment serving "Boston style" food that's really good, and their pies can't be beat by any restaurant in Japan. But Anna Miller's is famous for another reason: their sexy waitress uniforms, which feature very short skirts and, er, support for various parts of a woman's anatomy. As part of the general Japanese boom in "cosplay" (costume play, i.e. dressing up in various uniforms or costumes), the Anna Miller's sexy waitress uniforms have become famous throughout the country, and are as recognizable to Japanese as the Playboy Bunny is to Americans. To see what the uniform looks like, just search for "waitress cosplay" on the J-List site and see what comes up -- the bishoujo game Viper M1 also features a girl wearing this famous costume on the cover. Supposedly, the best place to experience Anne Miller's is the restaurant in Meguro, Tokyo (the girls are supposed to be the prettiest there, according to Tomo, who is an expert). I'm heading there for dinner tonight with a friend, so I'll check it out. The official homepage of Anne Millers can be seen at http://www.imuraya.co.jp/annamillers/index.html . (It speaks volumes of the company that they don't have their own .com or .co.jp site in the year 2002.)

Tomorrow is the official unofficial opening of Star Wars: Attack of the Cones in Japan, and all around the country theatres are showing special sneak-previews. I'll be waiting in line with the rest of the fans, despite the fact that I saw the film in the U.S. last month -- it's sort of a "fan thing" to want to wait in line and see the movie on the first day. One thing I will not do is pay to see the film in a "standing room only" showing, though. In Japan, they cheerfully continue to sell tickets to movies even after all the seats are sold out, although more modern theatres are slowly switching to an assigned seating system, where you are pre-assigned to a certain seat as on airline flights. You can generally buy beer in most modern Japanese theatres ("I'm talking about a glass of beer"). Movies in Japan are unfortunately very expensive -- $18 for adults in most showings, but better theatres in Tokyo charge $24 for an event like Star Wars. Of course, we willingly pay these prices.

If you've ever wondered why Japanese people may seem to have a thicker accent than people from some other countries when speaking English, the fault lies with Japanese being a relatively impovershed language phonetically. In the various dialects of American English, there are 12 phonetic vowels which we pronounce, but in Japanese, there are just five, and all sounds in the language are limited to a strict syllable-based sound system. Also, the Japanese have only one set of sounds that corresponds to L and R, which causes much confusion for them when learning to pronounce some words. As a result of these incompatibilities, some English words just don't work very well when imported into Japanese. As I've said before, most Japanese think the film "Lord of the Ring" is really "Road of the Ring" because the words lord and road are the same when said in Japanese. There's an anime called Bubblegum Crash, but I'm not really sure it's "crash," since "clash" and "crush" would also be the same when pronounced in Japanese. One of the most famous problems caused by incompatibilities in the Japanese phonetic system is the word "election," a word whose meaning changes quite a bit if you get the L/R wrong.

For the update today, we've got many nice new items for you. Our anime, snack, wacky and other items include:

• For fans of Japan's lovely swimsuit idols, some new items, including a great card series featuring the beautiful Yumiko Shaku
  
• Various snack items, including new fried rice mixes from Japan that are delicious, new miso soup, and more
  
• A new bento set, perfect for fans of Japan's boxed lunch culture
  
• For anime and toy fans, several new items, including a fabulous recreation of Astro Boy with a high-quality case, new Japan-only Hot Wheels, and more
  
• J-List loves the high-quality pre-painted anime statues produced in Japan, and we've gotten stock of two positively incredible items from Final Fantasy VII
  
• We have new Hello Kitty items, including Hello Kitty wet tissues perfect for removing your makeup at the end of the day (great for carrying with you, too), a deluxe Hello Kitty dish, cup and chopstick set that makes a great gift, more Hello Kitty onigiri (rice ball) maker, and more!
  
• Many other wacky items that could only come from Japan.
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, new magazines, including the new Gal's Dee, the popular magazine for fans of Japanese women of "D" cup or larger -- the new issue features the lovely Yui Morishita and many more
  
• Also, for fans of our bargain priced magazines on page three, we've got new discounted items for you
  
• We have some nice photobooks for you, too, including Do Ero, a very interesting fetish photobook
  
• For fans of manga, we've got new volumes for you, along with several back-in-stock popular items -- also, the excellent volume 5 of Blue Eyes has finally been released!
  
• Also, a nice new doujinshi item that's all in English, a very interesting work for fans of Japan's unique fan-made doujinshi comics
  
• For DVD collectors, we've got some nice new titles for you, including "Itsuki Kinoshita Answers the Flagrant Requests of Semen Maniacs," an excellent new bukkake/semen fetish title from SOD
  
• Also, a new release in the best-selling No Cut!! DVD series, which gives you three full video releases over three hours on one DVD -- this one features the lovely Asuka Ozora
  
• Also, a new release from M's Video Group's famous president Kazuhiko Matsumoto and Soft on Demand, the first tie-in of a famous manga story with an amazing bukkake AV production
  
• Many more items!
  

Remember that J-List carries a wide variety of snacks from Japan, with about 100 different items in stock at all times, with everything from Pocky (popular chocolate covered sticks) to Shigekix (super-sour "hard gummi") to Japan's famous spicy caffeine gum, Black Black. All items have a "freshness date" printed on the packaging, and we guarantee that all the items we sell are within the date when the items are sent to you. So check out our fun snacks section!
--

Greetings from J-List June 26, 2002

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Greetings from J-List June 24, 2002

Hello again from all of us at J-List!

We noticed many differences between Europe and Japan while we were there, but one area was very familiar to us: they use the Metric system, just as Japan does. Unfortunately it hasn't taken root with Americans, but the Metric system is very easy to get used to, as all gaijin who come here to live can attest. Instead of miles, you use kilometers (1 mile = 1.6 km, or about half again as long). Instead of inches, you use centimeters (1 in = 2.5 cm), so just divide by four, which makes a distance of 4 inches into 10 cm. (Through some fluke, TV screens are measured in inches in Japan.) And liters are not hard to get used to -- a liter is a little less than 1/4 of a gallon. Unfortunately, I don't think the U.S. will ever be able to adopt the Metric system without some sort of benevolent dictatorship being imposed.

The oldest known settlements in Japan are in Iwakuni, Gunma Prefecture, which happens to be about 20 minutes from our house. We were bored on Sunday, so we decided to take the kids to the museum there to show them the stone tools of people who lived as far back as 50,000 years ago. (They also have a full skeleton of a mammoth, too, a great things for parents wanting to entertain their kids.) Although Western Japan, with great former capitals like Kyoto and Nara, may had a greater influence on Japan history in the last 1500 years or so, the Kanto region was a very culturally active region in Japan's prehistory. During the Jomon Period (the age of pottery) and Yayoi Period (when the Japanese first started cultivating rice), the area where Gunma Prefecture now occupies was settled by many ancient people. Also, the region was very active during the area of the Mound Builders (from the 4th through the 7th century AD), and throughout Northern Japan you can find thousands of burial mounds.

At J-List, we always strive to make rare and unique products available to our customers. We're happy to announce that J-List is teaming up with Matsukameya, a famous maker of Japanese high school uniforms, to make them available to everyone around the world. Matsukameya is a maker of top-quality high school uniforms, with a variety of styles and colors. Each uniform is hand-made for you when you order it, and a wide variety of sizes are available for fans around the world (actually, Matsukameya designs their female uniforms so that even men can wear them, if they are so inclined). They're great for cosplay at anime conventions! See the new School Uniforms page for all our uniform tops and skirts, and be sure to check the size chart before ordering.

For our new update, we've got many nice items. Our anime, snack, T-shirt and wacky items include:

• First, the aforementioned Japanese school uniforms that we're so proud to be able to carry
  
• We have some very nice new sexy idol and swimsuit/Race Queen photobooks, hardcover and softcover
  
• For fans of sexy idol trading cards, we've got the very nice "trading card bible" of Natsuki Kato in stock
  
• In Japan, they have these killer eyedrops that refresh you and wake you up --- and we've got them in stock now (both for guys and for girls)
  
• For Kubrick collectors and Evangelion fans, we've got all three of the brand-new Kubrick figures sets in stock now, and they are really great
  
• Also, we've finally gotten in fresh stock of the Castle of Caliostro 2-DVD release that features both English subtitles and dubbed tracks, along with many valuable extras for Miyazaki fans (region 2)
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, many new items, including two great bento box cloth bags (but you can use them for anything), cute facial oil wipes, and a very spiffy Hello Kitty item for your car
  
• Fresh stock of the incredibly-popular Hello Kitty vibrators (we had 500 in stock when we went to Germany, but had almost sold out of all of them by the time I came back)
  
• Also, fresh stock of our unique and authentic Japanese loose socks (both 80 cm and 120 cm sizes)
  
• For Star Wars fans, a very cool item indeed: a 1/7 scale pre-painted soft vinyl model of Darth Vader, created by the famous Kotobukiya and ArtFX just for the Japanese market (you must see it to believe it, it is so cool)
  
• Finally, more cool items such as a great Japanese wooden coin bank, cool accessories for those who want to imitate the kogal way of fashion, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new items, too. They include:

• We have several new magazines for you, starting with the very nice new Bejean, the excellent oversized adult magazine from Eichi Publishing (featuring one of my favorites, Yuko Oguro, on the cover)
  
• For fans of all things anal, we've got limited stock of the popular Shake Hip for you, too (it's, ahem, rather detailed)
  
• We have an excellent selection of new photobooks today, with great new hardcover books by the sexy Yinling, the first nude photobook of Yuka Suzuki, and many more
  
• Also: a nice "Accidents" photobook by Kishin Shinoyama, featuring the lovely Ai Kurosawa (!)
  
• We've got the new CD Indies Deluxe in, featuring a full color magazine and two full Video CDs for you to enjoy viewing
  
• For manga fans, we've got more new volumes in stock for you, including the excellent Heaven or Hell Advanced by Blue Blood, a 2-volume set of Bomber Girl, and much more (also many back-in-stock books)
  
• For yaoi fans, we've got two great new yaoi comics in stock, too
  
• If you love Japan's adult DVDs, we've got several new ones, starting with a great "Sentai" production (fighting team, like Power Rangers) from Soft on Demand, with 210 minutes of footage on 2 DVDs (region free)
  
• SOD's "Best Selection" series DVDs give you the best moments of their thousands of productions -- now you can enjoy the best AV performances of Rin Tomosaki (region free)
  
• From Dogma, we've got an excellent new production with Kurumi Morishita and Shinobu Kasagi, a very artistic and erotic "dangerous drama" that features lesbian performances and more (region free)
  
• The sweet and charming Mai Satoh has been a regular in Japan's top magazines lately, and now we've got her DVD in stock (region free)
  
• Emily Yoshikawa (aka Emirie Yoshikawa) is Japan's first "Latino" AV idol (she's half Japanese, half-Dominican Republic) -- now see a great 3 hour "3 in 1" with her (region free)
  
• For region 2 fans, we've restocked the popular "Twice" featuring the elegant Kaoru Tsunoda (region 2)
  
• Finally, in a great new release from Moodyz, the beautiful Kaori Shimizu goes to America to find some great, big black men and have sex with them, in a "yellow cab" DVD that is spectacular (region 2).
  

Remember that J-List carries virtually all English-language bishoujo games that are in print, so you can find all the best games in one place. Peach Princess, Hobibox Europe, JAST USA and Milky House, we've got them all and all are in stock. Japan's bishoujo games are an interesting kind of interactive love-simulation game that's unique to Japan, and we hope you'll try out some of them. If you're unsure which games you think you'd like, feel free to email us for a recommendation!

Greetings from J-List June 17, 2002

Greetings from the J-List team!

We enjoyed out last days in Germany, taking the train to see the bustling city of Frankfurt, which is a very nice place, an interesting mixture of commerce, history and greenery. We also got to see some real soccer hooligans, driving through the street, mostly Turks boasting of their victory over Japan, and later and Koreans who were happy at defeating Italy. The hooligans were loud and surprising to us -- the only people who drive through the streets making noise in Japan are street gangs with bikes modified to be extra annoying, and right-wingers who play war songs about how great the Emperor is -- but it all seemed harmless for the most part. We had the bad luck to be in Germany on the hottest day in 15 years. Because it's not normally so hot, German air conditioning is far weaker what we're used to in Japan. We had fun in Frankfurt, but we did not solve the nagging Frankfurt/Frankfurter question (in Japan, a frankfurter without bread is a "frankfurt" and a hamburger without a bun is a "hamburg").

So now we're back in Japan, and find ourselves experiencing subtle instances of "reverse culture shock." Since my wife and I discovered the Joy of Beer in Germany, we got some from our shop (remember that, among the other blessings of my life, the first floor of our house in Japan is a liquor shop that my wife's parents run) and drank it...but it wasn't quite the same. Although Japan has a very developed beer industry, with some of the largest beer producing companies in the world such as Asahi, Sapporo and Suntory, nearly all Japanese beers contain rice in their ingredients (even Budweiser, which is sold by Asahi here). Perhaps the rice, or some other factor, gives Japan's beers a certain taste which is good, but not anything compared to what we had in Germany. Incidentally, the beer we decided suited us the best was Schneider Weiss, a semi-dark, slightly cloudy beer that is supposedly of Bavarian style. If you can ever lay your hands on some of this, we heartily recommend it!

We're glad to see our funny Japanese T-shirts are such a consistent hit, and to help you choose the shirt that's right for you, we've added a much-requested feature: the ability to choose your shirt color! Now you can choose most of our shirts in one of two colors (for example, the "I'm a strange foreigner" shirt now comes in dark blue or attractive brown, and the "American Devil" shirt now comes in orange or black). Of course you know that we now stock a huge range of sizes for you, from size S up through 3XL. As before, our funny Japanese T-shirts are 6.1 lb weight 100% cotton T-shirts printed right in the USA, so you never need to worry about Japanese shirt sizes ^_^ Remember that all our J-List shirts are 'signed' on the sleeves with our slogan ("Do you love Japan?") and our website logo.

This update is going out a little later than normal, since I had to go home and watch the World Cup game. Sadly, the U.S. was defeated by the excellent German team. It was a good game though, and we salute the German players. Good luck with the rest of the games!

For the new update, we've got a bunch of cool items for you. Our anime, snack, "wacky" and other items include:

• We've got some nice new anime and toy items in, including new Love Hina "SkyLuv Project" figures that are just too cool
  
• The "The Dog" collectors, a very cute plush Welsh Corgi that is soft and very cuddly
  
• For fans of our Japanese snacks, try our new items, including Bisco, a popular cookie for kids that's been made for nearly 100 years
  
• Also, stock of delicious "soba meshi fried noodle" snacks, Strawberry Milky candy, tart ume (OO-meh) candy, and more
  
• New and back-in-stock idol photobooks, including the sweet and sexy May Iikubo's hardcover "Secret" swimsuit photobook
  
• More Japanese food erasers
  
• New bento boxes, including a deluxe set we've posted
  
• A super item for Ultraman fans (you must see it to believe it)
  
• A great way to massage your feet and maintain health
  
• Several new Hello Kitty items, including Hello Kitty & Felix the Cat gum, Kitty wet tissues for use in many situations, and other items
  
• Cute rice bowls for children, and much more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products, including:

• First, some new adult magazines, including the new issues of Video Boy and Best Video, the great "all purpose adult video magazines" of Japan
  
• Also, new amateur magazines for fans of amateur girls and "kogals"
  
• Many new and back-in-stock photobooks, including the lovely Rika Uesugi's "Female" hardcover photobook, the excellent Cherry Bombers nude photobook and more
  
• For manga collectors, a great update of new and restocked manga volumes, including new ones from Angel Comics, Kyun Comics and World Special Comics
  
• Also: fresh stock of some nice yaoi manga for fans of Japan's homosexual comics
  
• We've got a boatload of great adult DVDs for you today, starting with a great Gachinko Cat Fight from Soft on Demand, featuring tough girls who don't mind fighting (includes the lovely Nanami Nanase) (region free)
  
• We love Megumi Osawa, and now that she's a popular adult actress we're all the more interested in her -- see her newest erotic release from Kuki (region free)
  
• Atlas has had an incredible run of adult video releases in its eight years, and now you can enjoy the best of those eight years, in a new 2 DVD release featuring 48 actresses and 6 hours of footage! (region free)
  
• The "Do Lesbian" and "Do the Lesbian Act" DVDs from Soft on Demand and Dogma are always some of our most popular releases, and now you can enjoy one of the best lesbian performances ever (region free)
  
• For region 2 DVD collectors, Mayu Koizumi performs in one of the most incredible DVDs we've ever seen -- she has sex with 100 horny amateur men, one after another, as a digital counter counts them off (region 2)
  
• Maiko Yuki is one of the most popular AV idols of the past ten years, and now you can see her perform in an excellent new DVD release from Moodyz (region 2)
  
• Go on an erotic "Black Date" with Mirai Hoshizaki, and spend your time having your way with the lovely AV queen who will do whatever you say (region 2)
  
• Finally, a huge restocking of our best DVDs, including fresh stock of soft porn DVDs by Mai Hagiwara, Kaori Kuraishi and Maiko Kazano, Lesbian Maniax, Super Violent Shoot, The Kageki (subtitled in English!) and No Cut!! with Arisa Maki.
  

Well, that's all for now. The steady weight of jet lag is pulling be slowly downward, so I'll sign off. Hope to see you on the site!

Greetings from J-List June 17, 2002

Hello and guten tag from Germany!

The convention is over, and as usual, we are dog-tired after hours and hours of standing, talking to anime fans and explaining about J-List. We brought a few thousand of our popular Japanese pocket tissues, with our J-List URL and information on it, but many fans who received it had no idea what we were pressing into their hands. Pocket tissue is a staple of life in Japan -- when you walk down the street in Tokyo, you see girls handing out huge boxes of advertising tissue with company's messages on them. Japanese pocket tissue weren't very well known to fans in Germany, but thanks to us, the "tissue awareness" bar in Europe has been raised a notch. (Incidentally, every order from J-List comes with a free package of our tissue.)

We continue to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Old Country. Last night we had a delicious dinner in restaurant located in a famous 19th century Prussian fort with my sister and her husband, who live in Germany (we're a very international family). I'm typing this update from my iBook while cruising up the Rhine with Chiharu. Germany is a beautiful place, and the Koblenz and Rhine area especially lovely, with a great mixture of Roman ruins, beautiful castles, beautifully designed streets and parks, and more.

We continue to notice "little differences" (to use a Pulp Fiction phrase) between our home countries and Germany. All shops seem to close too early, and practically nothing is open on Sunday at all (just restaurants), which is quite different from the States, with its Super Walmarts that are open 24 hours. Taxis are nearly all Mercedez Benz, and are beautifully maintained by their drivers. We have yet to see a single McDonald's (so I can't have a "Royale with Cheese" experience), and we've yet to see a single policeman in any capacity, at least that we've recognized. There appears to be very little German music (apart from folk music), and all the radio we've heard has been American, mostly oldies and eighties hits. The food is very good here, and of course the beer is absolutely delicious. You never seem to get enough ice in your drink, though.

Happily, the J-List server shift is going well. The bug which kept new customers from checking out has been clipped (we think, anyway), and the problem with images not displaying was also fixed as well. The new server is much faster, and there are many "under the hood" improvements which will make things much easier for you and us. For starters, it's now easy for you to update your on-file shipping and billing addresses, and credit card on file too.

And we have a new update for you, too, a whole slew of new products from Japan, courtesy of our staff in Japan. There are many newly posted items, including magazines, photobooks, several new volumes of manga (along with fresh stock of previous posted issues), a large number of new and back-in-stock DVDs, and more. We've also got new anime and toy items, several new Japanese snack and gum items, fresh stock of snacks, new "wacky things from Japan," and more. We hope you'll check out the site -- thanks in advance!

Well, we're off to Frankfurt tomorrow, after a wine tasting tour in the morning. We'll be back in Japan by Thursday -- we'll see you then!