Monday, November 17, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 17, 2003
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Friday, November 14, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 14, 2003
Hello and TGIF from all your friends at J-List!
Hair loss is big business in Japan, and many companies provide services for Japanese who find themselves getting a bit of "bar code hair" on top. National chains like Adelance and Art Nature and Leave 21 use beautiful models like former Race Queen Miho Yoshioka to put a bright and happy face on the hair loss industry. Visit one of their clean locations and they'll use modern technology to investigate the reason your hair is thinning, and advise you on the best course of action (treatment, implants, wigs and so on). In Japan's aging society, treating hair loss is a booming industry, and I've even seen TV commercials advertising to women who experience hair loss in their later years.
Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, American companies struggled with the problem of how to do business in Japan. With its complex distribution systems and tendency to do business through shoukai (personal introductions), Japan was not an easy place for American companies to sell products. All that changed when Toys R Us entered the Japanese market, growing rapidly to 140 stores and changing the way toys were distributed in Japan -- and of course putting many smaller chains out of business in the process. Suddenly, American brands had a way to bring their products into Japan in large numbers, through the Toys R Us system, and dozens of products that would never have taken root in Japan, from Brio trains to Legos to Milton Bradley board games, are now quite popular. J-List has also had to deal with the changes brought about by Toys R Us's affect on the market -- in the seven years we've been in business, we've had several of the distributors we buy products from go bankrupt, forcing us to find other suppliers. Once, while driving in my Mazda Bongo Friendee, I saw a surprising thing: a small toy store that we had shopped at occasionally in the past went out of business, and was replaced by a store selling Buddhist altars and gravestones to elderly Japanese, a sure sign of the changes that are taking place here. As Costco and Walmart increase their interest in the country, Japan is probably in store for more changes.
Part of the reason why Japan can look so strange to outsiders is its tendency for them to do things as a group, something that's rarely done in America, a country that places importance on individuality rather than everyone working in harmony. One example of Japan's moving as a group is "koromo-gae" (koh-roh-mo-GA-eh, lit. "changing clothes"), when you put away your winter clothes and bring out the summer clothes you've got in storage. For Japanese school students, koromo-gae means the day you change from your winter uniform to the cooler summer uniform, or vice-versa in the autumn. For virtually every student in the country, the changeover takes place on June 1 and November 1 -- on those days and only those days, regardless of the actual weather or what part of Japan you live in. The prospect of millions of students changing from warm-weather to cooler-weather clothing on the exact same morning of the same day is vaguely unsettling to Westerners. Because Americans don't have a set day to switch from summer mode to winter mode, we tend to wear short-sleeve shirts fairly deep into autumn, and it's common for Japanese to ask "Aren't you cold?" to us even though it might still be a balmy October day outside
It's time for some "koromo-gae" at J-List, too. We're extremely proud of the success of our J-List trademark wacky Japanese T-shirts, and we thank all J-List customers for your support. Because not every part of the world offers T-shirt weather all year around, we've printed the first-ever long-sleeve crewneck and hoody versions of our most popular shirts, the classic "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend." Now you can don these wacky and bizarre message everywhere you go, even in the colder months! All shirts are printed in the U.S. and all sizes are standard U.S. sizes. For customers in other countries, we've got a convenient size chart so you can check the sizes.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
Looking for some really unique gifts to give out this Christmas? J-List stocks over 2500 different unique products from Japan, from bizarre things that you never knew existed to supremely cute items for your home or room, to products for adults, of course. Why not browse J-List's list and see what we have for that special Japanophile on your Christmas list? Note that if ordering items from Japan, SAL shipping should be avoided as it tends to slow down as Christmas draws near.
Hair loss is big business in Japan, and many companies provide services for Japanese who find themselves getting a bit of "bar code hair" on top. National chains like Adelance and Art Nature and Leave 21 use beautiful models like former Race Queen Miho Yoshioka to put a bright and happy face on the hair loss industry. Visit one of their clean locations and they'll use modern technology to investigate the reason your hair is thinning, and advise you on the best course of action (treatment, implants, wigs and so on). In Japan's aging society, treating hair loss is a booming industry, and I've even seen TV commercials advertising to women who experience hair loss in their later years.
Throughout the 1980s and early 90s, American companies struggled with the problem of how to do business in Japan. With its complex distribution systems and tendency to do business through shoukai (personal introductions), Japan was not an easy place for American companies to sell products. All that changed when Toys R Us entered the Japanese market, growing rapidly to 140 stores and changing the way toys were distributed in Japan -- and of course putting many smaller chains out of business in the process. Suddenly, American brands had a way to bring their products into Japan in large numbers, through the Toys R Us system, and dozens of products that would never have taken root in Japan, from Brio trains to Legos to Milton Bradley board games, are now quite popular. J-List has also had to deal with the changes brought about by Toys R Us's affect on the market -- in the seven years we've been in business, we've had several of the distributors we buy products from go bankrupt, forcing us to find other suppliers. Once, while driving in my Mazda Bongo Friendee, I saw a surprising thing: a small toy store that we had shopped at occasionally in the past went out of business, and was replaced by a store selling Buddhist altars and gravestones to elderly Japanese, a sure sign of the changes that are taking place here. As Costco and Walmart increase their interest in the country, Japan is probably in store for more changes.
Part of the reason why Japan can look so strange to outsiders is its tendency for them to do things as a group, something that's rarely done in America, a country that places importance on individuality rather than everyone working in harmony. One example of Japan's moving as a group is "koromo-gae" (koh-roh-mo-GA-eh, lit. "changing clothes"), when you put away your winter clothes and bring out the summer clothes you've got in storage. For Japanese school students, koromo-gae means the day you change from your winter uniform to the cooler summer uniform, or vice-versa in the autumn. For virtually every student in the country, the changeover takes place on June 1 and November 1 -- on those days and only those days, regardless of the actual weather or what part of Japan you live in. The prospect of millions of students changing from warm-weather to cooler-weather clothing on the exact same morning of the same day is vaguely unsettling to Westerners. Because Americans don't have a set day to switch from summer mode to winter mode, we tend to wear short-sleeve shirts fairly deep into autumn, and it's common for Japanese to ask "Aren't you cold?" to us even though it might still be a balmy October day outside
It's time for some "koromo-gae" at J-List, too. We're extremely proud of the success of our J-List trademark wacky Japanese T-shirts, and we thank all J-List customers for your support. Because not every part of the world offers T-shirt weather all year around, we've printed the first-ever long-sleeve crewneck and hoody versions of our most popular shirts, the classic "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend." Now you can don these wacky and bizarre message everywhere you go, even in the colder months! All shirts are printed in the U.S. and all sizes are standard U.S. sizes. For customers in other countries, we've got a convenient size chart so you can check the sizes.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for Hello Kitty fans, we've got a super item for you this Christmas: a "Hello Kitty Dancing Santa" that features Japan's most famous character dancing as she sings Japanese Christmas carols, so cool!
- We've got other cool Kitty stuff in too, including Kitty Monjayaki (a traditional Japanese food), Kitty Monaka (chocolate in waffle cone) and more
- For fans of our other Japanese snack foods, we've got fresh stock of the delicious Mont Blanc and Tira Misu Pocky-like snacks, new sugarless gum from Japan, and more
- If you didn't get enough Domo-kun last update, we've restocked even more cool Domo-kun items, including the popular plush Domo-kun cubes that turn any room into a great Domo-kun shrine
- Also, some great traditional Japanese green tea in easy-to-prepare tea bags -- just like being in a sushi shop
- Want something esoteric from Japan? We've got part 2 of the Shows Enamel Signs series, featuring real signs that are incredibly famous to all Japanese, advertising products that have been around for half a century or more
- Another cool thing from Japan, we've got a series of mysterious phenomenon from around the world, rendered in fun miniature toys
- For fans of wacky Japanese messages, we've got more wacky Japanese "pin badges" with super cute messages on them
- We've also got a great deluxe idol magazine featuring super cute and famous idols lke Yuko Ogura, Yumiko Shaku, Nao Nagazawa and more
- It's getting cold, so you should warm yourself with the popular heating pads that are so popular in Japan -- a pack of 5 large heating pads that last up to 18 hours is just $3.50, a great price
- Studying Japanese? We've got some handy pocket dictionaries in stock that are great for those with some Japanese
- For fans of cute things from Japan, we recommend the Ham-Chan cute hamster rocket pencils that are really fun to write with, along with cola-scented gum erasers
- For fans of Japan's high-end cold cast anime statues, which really take your breath away with their detail and beauty, we have a Guilty Gear X "Millia Rage" figure
- Do you like funny English? We've got more wacky notebooks with funny English printed on them
- For fans of our unique anime toys from Japan, we've restocked the popular Bluer Than Indigo figure, the cool Haro robot clock from Gundam, two often-requested items
- Look for fresh stock of Tsutomu Nihei's popular art book "Blame! and so on"
- For Shirow Masamune fans, fresh stock of the Ghost in the Shell bilingual comics as well as the last stock of the poster books which are one of the best-selling items at J-List today
- Finally, for fans of Japan's cool Gothic fashion culture, we've got fresh stock of the Homemade Gothic Lolita, which includes patterns to make the cool-looking clothes in the book
- Finally, various other cool toy and characters items in time for Christmas, including Jiji pencil cases, Hello Kitty pachinko (cool!), Sanrio Weebles-like egg toys, cute Nyanko Nabe cats, and fresh stock of the popular Hello Kitty USB hub!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- First, we've got the new issues of Video Boy and Best Video, two great magazines that are filled with the most famous professional adult video idols in Japan
- Also, a super erotic magazine featuring Kirari Koizumi and a host of other cute girls in fun cosplay
- For fans of our discounted $5 magazines, we've got a great volley of products that turned up in our stock room -- so you have the chance to buy these formerly unavailable books and save money too
- Super cute "campaign girl" (similar to a race queen, they promote products with their sexy bodies) Yuu Misaki looks great in her new hardcover photobook
- Also, enjoy the very erotic bondage photographs of famous Japanese pro wrestler Takako Inoue in her newest release
- Super cute swimsuit idols Sayaka Uchida and Sayaka Numajiri appear together in a super-cute double photobook, filled with great kogal style
- Then we've got fresh stock of several popular photobook items, including Yukari's oh-so-sweet Chance photobook and the dynamite Endless Race Queen photobook
- Yui Toshiki's full-color Yui Shop series set records for hentai art sales, and now there's a great remix, Yui Shop Mini Black, issued at a great new price
- We've restocked the popular Chichinoe Plus erotic art book, also
- For our hentai manga fans, enjoy many great new books, including the erotic Honey Angel Slave by Hashi Cube, Let Me Lick Your Stick by The Mikikazu, and a great new kemono manga by Masaki Kamitou
- Also, a major restocking of popular hentai manga including Private Teacher Miki, Leave it to Big Breasts, Comic Maker, Capricious of You and many more
- For our DVD fans, we've got some more great items for you, starting with a new Nao Oikawa's Bukkake Itassho, featuring wacky Japanese late-night television for adults, captured on a great DVD for fans all over the world (region free)
- Then we've got a new "roshutsu" (outdoor nude) offering from Dogma's Tohjiro, featuring nudity and sex in public places, starring four top-name actresses (region free)
- There's more "penis study" for fans of "tamakeri" or ball kicking/teasing from Soft on Demand, as inexperienced girls play with a man's testicles for the first time (region free)
- Also from SOD, enjoy the Super High Class Beautiful Legs Club, featuring erotic women with gorgeous legs, silky stockings, high high heels, and sexy mini-skirts (region free)
- Finally, we've got two great "Semen Champion Carnival" releases from Moodyz, in which top stars combat each other in teams or individually, trying to earn the Moodyz Cup for Scramble Semen Actress, directed by the father of bukkake, Kazuhiko Matsumoto (region 2).
Looking for some really unique gifts to give out this Christmas? J-List stocks over 2500 different unique products from Japan, from bizarre things that you never knew existed to supremely cute items for your home or room, to products for adults, of course. Why not browse J-List's list and see what we have for that special Japanophile on your Christmas list? Note that if ordering items from Japan, SAL shipping should be avoided as it tends to slow down as Christmas draws near.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 12, 2003
Hello again from all of us at J-List!
A bout of colder weather here in Japan has caused us to perform our "bringing out the fan heater" ceremony earlier than usual. Since there's no central heating in Japan, people use small "fan heaters" to heat rooms. A tank full of kerosene is burned to heat the room, while a computer inside the heater controls the flame to keep the room temperature where you want it, and beeps every three hours to remind you to open the windows for ventilation. There are two downsides to heating your home with these Japanese heaters, though. First of all, they can be quite smelly, especially when you accidentally kick your heater when walking past it, causing the unit to turn off and fill your room with partially burned kerosene fumes. Also, the fuel in the removable tank invariably runs out at the most inconvenient times, requiring someone (usually me) to go outside into the shivering air to refill the tank with a small plastic pump, all while trying to keep from getting kerosene all over his hands. You can see a picture of what these heaters look like here: http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/home/f_heater/ (page is Japanese).
It's not easy for a San Diego boy like me to live in a place like Japan. San Diego is, if you haven't been there in the winter, blessed with warm desert winds that keep the weather quite balmy when the rest of America is shivering with cold. Blessed, or cursed, I should say, since those same Santa Ana winds were to blame for turning huge areas into a tinderbox last month. Gunma Prefecture, right in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu, is famous for three things that start with K: konnyaku, aka conjac, a very firm gelatinous food made from boiled yam flour; kakaa-denka, particularly strong-willed women like my wife; and kara-kaze, the freezing winds that whip down from the mountains that run through the middle of Japan into the Kanto region, where Gunma and Tokyo are located. Despite the cold, Kanto winters rarely get much snow, which is kind of bummer for me, since if it's going to be cold I'd like some pretty snow for my trouble. To survive winter in Japan, I always wear my "momohiki" (Japanese for long underwear).
Oops -- earthquake! Right in the middle of my update, too. Like California, Japan is earthquake country, and it seems that every third day we're feeling one shaker or another, but the one that just ended seemed to be stronger than most. According to NHK's news site, it was a 6.5 magnitude quake centered somewhere around Izu Peninsula, about 150 km south of here. As with living in California, you just learn to be at peace with the occasional shakes. In 1994 a terrible earthquake in the Kobe/Osaka are killed over 5000 people. Because strong quakes don't usually happen that far south the building codes were much more lenient than the ones for Tokyo.
Because J-List is based in Japan we're able to get many products for our customers that wouldn't otherwise be available. We've loved the wacky character Domo-kun, the spokesmonster for NHK's "BS" (broadcast satellite) channels, ever since he came out, and we carry over 40 really cool products for Domo-kun fans around the world, including plush toys, towels, keychains, and Domo-kun objets d'art for your home. Since Domo-kun items are among the most popular for Christmas, we've stocked up on virtually all items for you, with over 20 items restocked. Enjoy the great items!
J-List sells our original wacky Japanese T-shirts with messages like "I'm Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend." We have so many designs in stock that we're always closing out older ones to make room for new shirts, so don't wait too long to get the shirt or shirts you want. Are you a big guy? If so then you're in luck: several of our closeout shirts are all sold out except for the larger sizes, 2XL and 3XL. Take advantage of the great prices and get a cool shirt, or give them for Christmas!
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
Remember that J-List stocks three great region-free DVD players that allow you to play DVDs from other regions, such as region 2 DVDs from Japan and Europe. They also support PAL/NTSC conversion and are loaded with spiffy features. We recently reduced our price on these players for people who want to order them for Christmas -- enjoy these three great ways to watch DVDs, which ship out of our San Diego location. Best of all, you can't beat the prices -- start at just $88 for the transportable Lasonic DVB-8092!
A bout of colder weather here in Japan has caused us to perform our "bringing out the fan heater" ceremony earlier than usual. Since there's no central heating in Japan, people use small "fan heaters" to heat rooms. A tank full of kerosene is burned to heat the room, while a computer inside the heater controls the flame to keep the room temperature where you want it, and beeps every three hours to remind you to open the windows for ventilation. There are two downsides to heating your home with these Japanese heaters, though. First of all, they can be quite smelly, especially when you accidentally kick your heater when walking past it, causing the unit to turn off and fill your room with partially burned kerosene fumes. Also, the fuel in the removable tank invariably runs out at the most inconvenient times, requiring someone (usually me) to go outside into the shivering air to refill the tank with a small plastic pump, all while trying to keep from getting kerosene all over his hands. You can see a picture of what these heaters look like here: http://www.mitsubishielectric.co.jp/home/f_heater/ (page is Japanese).
It's not easy for a San Diego boy like me to live in a place like Japan. San Diego is, if you haven't been there in the winter, blessed with warm desert winds that keep the weather quite balmy when the rest of America is shivering with cold. Blessed, or cursed, I should say, since those same Santa Ana winds were to blame for turning huge areas into a tinderbox last month. Gunma Prefecture, right in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu, is famous for three things that start with K: konnyaku, aka conjac, a very firm gelatinous food made from boiled yam flour; kakaa-denka, particularly strong-willed women like my wife; and kara-kaze, the freezing winds that whip down from the mountains that run through the middle of Japan into the Kanto region, where Gunma and Tokyo are located. Despite the cold, Kanto winters rarely get much snow, which is kind of bummer for me, since if it's going to be cold I'd like some pretty snow for my trouble. To survive winter in Japan, I always wear my "momohiki" (Japanese for long underwear).
Oops -- earthquake! Right in the middle of my update, too. Like California, Japan is earthquake country, and it seems that every third day we're feeling one shaker or another, but the one that just ended seemed to be stronger than most. According to NHK's news site, it was a 6.5 magnitude quake centered somewhere around Izu Peninsula, about 150 km south of here. As with living in California, you just learn to be at peace with the occasional shakes. In 1994 a terrible earthquake in the Kobe/Osaka are killed over 5000 people. Because strong quakes don't usually happen that far south the building codes were much more lenient than the ones for Tokyo.
Because J-List is based in Japan we're able to get many products for our customers that wouldn't otherwise be available. We've loved the wacky character Domo-kun, the spokesmonster for NHK's "BS" (broadcast satellite) channels, ever since he came out, and we carry over 40 really cool products for Domo-kun fans around the world, including plush toys, towels, keychains, and Domo-kun objets d'art for your home. Since Domo-kun items are among the most popular for Christmas, we've stocked up on virtually all items for you, with over 20 items restocked. Enjoy the great items!
J-List sells our original wacky Japanese T-shirts with messages like "I'm Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend." We have so many designs in stock that we're always closing out older ones to make room for new shirts, so don't wait too long to get the shirt or shirts you want. Are you a big guy? If so then you're in luck: several of our closeout shirts are all sold out except for the larger sizes, 2XL and 3XL. Take advantage of the great prices and get a cool shirt, or give them for Christmas!
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, Japan's tradition of highly detailed anime figures, models and cold-cast statues is wonderful, and we've got two excellent issues of Figure Maniacs, special photobooks that are filled to the brim with incredible pro-painted anime figures
- Also, Gothic & Lolita Bible is a fabulous encyclopedia of all that's goth in Japan -- we've gotten in back issues for fans who want to experience this fabulous item (each issue comes with a complete sewing pattern inside, too)
- For fans of Japanese candy toys (aka shokugan or gashapon), small but highly detailed toys that usually come with candy inside the box, we have a special reissue of the best-selling Thunderbirds vehicles from Konami, with limited stock of full sets available
- Also for fans of meticulous Japanese replica toys, we've restocked the Local Gift Goods, incredibly detailed replicas of the gifts that Japanese people give to one another during the summer (ochuugen) and winter (oseibo) months (full sets are available)
- Karaoke is a national pasttime of Japanese, and dogs are very popular in Japan too -- so Takara created the super-fun Singing Dog Story toys, doggies that sing real JPOP songs and even harmonize if you put them together!
- We have the new DVD of the too-cool-to-miss Ghost in the Shell TV series by Shirow Masamune, which features a new box to put your other discs in and a cool ID card holder
- For fans of our famous Japanese snack foods, we've got some fun items, including Hello Kitty cookies, cute chocolate mini doughnuts and more
- Look for various restocked snack and gum items, too, like real miso soup, Chocolate Mountain Mushrooms (they're cookies that are fun to eat), Meiji Fran (a luxurious stick snack like Pocky), Koala March (famous cookies that look like koala bears) and so on
- Also, we've restocked several cool Japan Hot Wheels (like the Speed Racer Mach 5 and Stingray), as well as the Tomica Nissan Skyline, very nice
- For Blythe fans, we've got fresh stock of the cute Every Blythe vol. 2 small figures
- Also, we've restocked the popular Panda Z robot figure with pilot -- damn this is cute!
- Want to learn how to draw manga? We carry all the great English-language How to Draw Manga books for you, and we've just added stock of some popular books that had sold out
- Aya Matsuura, aka "Ayaya," is the hottest force in the JPOP scene these days, and we've got a dynamite new photobook for her fans
- We have some cool new straps for your keitai, er, your cellular phone, which happen to match the phone strap on Lucy Liu's phone in Kill Bill
- We love the Kubrick toys from Medicom Toy, not just because they make wacky figures, but because they're so well designed -- perfect for all collectors. We have a new "military" Kubrick series that's really cool
- Japanese women are very hygienic, and they regularly trim facial hair such as eyebrows to match the style they want to project -- we've got some of these cool facial hair removers in stock for you
- Finally, enjoy more wacky Japanese badges with funny messages in English and Japanese, more wacky signs in Japanese, and other cool wacky items from Japan!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- We've got a great new "mook" (a cross between a magazine and a book) dedicated to the lovely Emiru Momose, a sweet and charming girl who will delight you with her first nude appearance
- Then enjoy the great new "love and eros of street girls magazine" Meets Girl, featuring real sex by erotic Japanese amateurs aged 18-22
- We've got some great new sexy swimsuit idol photobook items for you, including the lovely new offering by Manami Fuku and the super sexy hardcover photobook of Yuki (Yuuki) Etsuko
- For hentai manga lovers, we've got some excellent books for you, including Colorful Love by talented erotic illustrator Setsuna, maid fetish in Doki Doki Suru Koto, Sweet Sweet Voice by Hirohito Tokie, and more
- Also, a major restocking of other popular manga titles, including Beautiful and Talented, various dick girl comics, and the super-cool Ghost in the Shell 1.5
- For yaoi lovers, we've got the very cool vol. 2 of Gush Mania, too, featuring erotic works by ten yaoi artists
- We've got some great DVDs for you today, starting with a super 3 hour selection of great sex by new face Marimo Asoh, who has a 100 cm bust and an I cup yet a tiny, slender body (region free)
- For fans of our new leg fetish DVDs, we've got the dynamite new Leg Moment featuring the slender stocking-clad legs of Miyu Nagase and Meri Sakikawa -- yum (region free)
- For fans the stylish sexual style we've come to call "girls in Underoos" (because it includes sexy Japanese girls wearing too-small cute underpants), enjoy a great foray into lesbian love from SOD's Chujitsudoh label (region free)
- The erotic AV star Kay looks great getting fucked every which way from Sunday in a new release for her fans (region free)
- We're big fans of the dynamite Mirai Hoshizaki and her sizzling sexual style -- enjoy her great new release on the Wanz Factory label (region 2)
- Finally, we've even more adult DVDs with girls from Romania, Moscow, Vienna, Czech Republic and more, as well as Bukkake Dream Party, Semen Bank and the popular Clothed Female Naked Male series.
Remember that J-List stocks three great region-free DVD players that allow you to play DVDs from other regions, such as region 2 DVDs from Japan and Europe. They also support PAL/NTSC conversion and are loaded with spiffy features. We recently reduced our price on these players for people who want to order them for Christmas -- enjoy these three great ways to watch DVDs, which ship out of our San Diego location. Best of all, you can't beat the prices -- start at just $88 for the transportable Lasonic DVB-8092!
Monday, November 10, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 10, 2003
Hello again from all of us at J-List!
It's November in Japan, a time to head out into the mountains to enjoy "koyo," the turning of the leaves in the autumn. Like the week-long season of the sakura in early April, when cherry blossoms transform the country into a breathtaking world of exploding white flowers, autumn here can be a brilliant thing to behold with colors of red and gold. J-List is based in Gunma Prefecture, right in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu (a city about 30 km from here is the actual geographic center of Japan, and they have "belly button festivals" in the summer there), and we're far enough from the concrete of Tokyo that we can enjoy the "vibrant nature" of Japan all around us. Gunma is nice in the fall, but the most famous place to enjoy the autumn colors is Nikko, a popular tourist destination and the site of Toshogu, a famous temple where shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa's remains are interred. It's a bit too beautiful for its own good though: every weekend tens of thousands of visitors from Tokyo converge on Nikko, turning the peaceful city into a bustling nightmare of cars.
You probably set your clock an hour back at the end of October. Most people grumble about having to remember to set their clocks forward and back in the spring and autumn, this isn't a problem in Japan, the only industrialized country that has not adopted the Daylight Savings Time system. Instead, we have to deal with the other extreme -- by the time I get up in the morning, the sun has been up for at least three hours. It's not that hard to get used to, but all things considered, having that daylight available when you're actually awake and using it is kind of convenient.
For one reason or another, some phrases in English have burned themselves on the collective consciousness of the Japanese, and are quite famous here. When an American named Dr. Clark (universally known as "Clark-hakase" HA-KA-say) went to Sapporo to help establish what would become Sapporo University, he left the following advice to his Japanese hosts: "Boys, be ambitious!" (i.e., strive to achieve excellence in all that you do). These three words are studied by all Japanese, and somehow manage to pop up all over the place in one form or another. (There's a manga and anime called "Boys Be..." that is based on this phrase.) When pop singer Momoe Yamaguchi retired from singing, she sang a song to her fans that went "Thank you for your kindness...thank you for your tenderness" and as a result, virtually all Japanese over 30 know this famous phrase. Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln ("Government for the people, by the people, and of the people") are studied in school the same way we studied Shakespeare in the U.S., too.
Glico has declared that November 11 is Pocky Day, because of the way 11 11 looks like Pocky snacks. Everyone enjoy some Pocky! We've got plenty in stock for you at J-List.
For the Monday update we have a great bunch of items for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
J-List sells virtually every Japanese dating-sim game available, with great English-translated games by JAST USA, Peach Princess, G-Collections, Himeya Soft and more. We've recently reduced our prices on three great titles from Peach Princess: X-Change 1 (hilarious sex change comedy), Snow Drop (beautiful erotic love story in a winter wonderland) and Critical Point (intense sci-fi game with elements of classic 80's anime) to just $24.95. Enjoy these great prices on these excellent games! (And if you buy 4 or more games you get another 20% off.)
Remember that J-List has stock of great 2004 calendars right now...but our stock is limited to what we've got on hand as well as the few calendars that haven't come in yet (we're still waiting for delivery on them). If you've got your eye on a very special anime, JPOP, bikini idol, nude or other calendar from Japan this year, we humbly recommend that you buy soon! We'll be making our last calendar order to our distributors towards the end of this week!
It's November in Japan, a time to head out into the mountains to enjoy "koyo," the turning of the leaves in the autumn. Like the week-long season of the sakura in early April, when cherry blossoms transform the country into a breathtaking world of exploding white flowers, autumn here can be a brilliant thing to behold with colors of red and gold. J-List is based in Gunma Prefecture, right in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu (a city about 30 km from here is the actual geographic center of Japan, and they have "belly button festivals" in the summer there), and we're far enough from the concrete of Tokyo that we can enjoy the "vibrant nature" of Japan all around us. Gunma is nice in the fall, but the most famous place to enjoy the autumn colors is Nikko, a popular tourist destination and the site of Toshogu, a famous temple where shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa's remains are interred. It's a bit too beautiful for its own good though: every weekend tens of thousands of visitors from Tokyo converge on Nikko, turning the peaceful city into a bustling nightmare of cars.
You probably set your clock an hour back at the end of October. Most people grumble about having to remember to set their clocks forward and back in the spring and autumn, this isn't a problem in Japan, the only industrialized country that has not adopted the Daylight Savings Time system. Instead, we have to deal with the other extreme -- by the time I get up in the morning, the sun has been up for at least three hours. It's not that hard to get used to, but all things considered, having that daylight available when you're actually awake and using it is kind of convenient.
For one reason or another, some phrases in English have burned themselves on the collective consciousness of the Japanese, and are quite famous here. When an American named Dr. Clark (universally known as "Clark-hakase" HA-KA-say) went to Sapporo to help establish what would become Sapporo University, he left the following advice to his Japanese hosts: "Boys, be ambitious!" (i.e., strive to achieve excellence in all that you do). These three words are studied by all Japanese, and somehow manage to pop up all over the place in one form or another. (There's a manga and anime called "Boys Be..." that is based on this phrase.) When pop singer Momoe Yamaguchi retired from singing, she sang a song to her fans that went "Thank you for your kindness...thank you for your tenderness" and as a result, virtually all Japanese over 30 know this famous phrase. Speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln ("Government for the people, by the people, and of the people") are studied in school the same way we studied Shakespeare in the U.S., too.
Glico has declared that November 11 is Pocky Day, because of the way 11 11 looks like Pocky snacks. Everyone enjoy some Pocky! We've got plenty in stock for you at J-List.
For the Monday update we have a great bunch of items for you. They include:
- First, for Final Fantasy X-2 fans, we've got a treat: fresh stock of the cute super deformed FFX2 character keychains from Bandai which had sold out before
- We have a cool item for fans of traditional Japanese things: special paper that's great for writing love letters to your girlfriend, your boyfriend, or anyone
- We've got some great snack items for you today, starting with a tasty new Melty Kiss taste -- white chocolate and cacao
- Also, we've gotten other cool items, like a sampler pack of Meiji chocolate, Baby Star chicken ramen, and a popular item, chocolate covered sunflower seeds
- It's "shichi go san" time in Japan right now, when kids aged 7, 5 or 3 get dressed up for special photographs and to go to the Shinto shrine -- we've got more stock of traditional chitose candy that's eaten at this time of year
- We love Love Hina, and we've got a great series of cute Love Hina figures, great to collect and display
- We have another cool series of toys from Japan, the Miniature Antique Museum, replicas of classic toys that were played with one hundred or more years ago
- For Hello Kitty fans, we've got a deluxe rice bowl with chopsticks set that's really cool, as well as various restocked items
- Also, a treat for Hello Kitty fans: super-warm Kitty Vests that are made of the same super-soft acrylics as our popular Japanese blankets -- these things are really neat
- For Totoro fans, fresh stock of the cute Totoro stickers, hand made in Japan
- If you love Domo-kun, we've got some new cute plush toys of Domo's friends, Usajii and Taachan, so cute
- Want to play with some Japanese money? We've got some cute toy money that's really fun to play with in stock
- We love all kinds of wacky things from Japan, and what could be more wacky than signs in Japanese? We've gotten in several cool Japanese signs for you
- Also, we've got some cute Japanese "pin badges" that have bizarre and cute designs on them, with wacky English and Japanese messages
- Also, we've restocked the "Japanese congratulations envelopes" which are used to give cash gifts at weddings (but you can do anything you like with the envelope)
- Finally, look for real Japanese wasabi, authentic Japanese abacuses, and more!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- First of all, we have the great new Minisuka Deluxe, for all fans of gorgeous Japanese women with long, slender legs wearing "panty stockings" and mini-skirts, photographed from a low angle
- We've got the new issue of the Top Speed, a magazine that's just overflowing with lovely adult actresses and Race Queens from Japan
- For fans of Maichy, e.g. Mai Hagiwara, we've got a superb new photobook featuring her excellent nude photographs, fresh, clean and very erotic!
- Also, the great hardcover nude photobook of Natusmi Mitsu, a sweet new nude idol from Japan
- Check out the super sexy photobooks of dynamite swimsuit idols Aya Kudo and Chiaki Sato, both amazing to behold
- Also, we've restocked several sexy idol photobook items too, including items by Yuko Ogura, Harumi Nemoto, Kaori Oguri, Yoko Matsugane
- Also, more copies of Girl Friends for fans of "Japanese girls in underoos"
- For hentai manga collectors, we've got some great new books in stock for you, including a collection of stories about erotic nymphomaniac girls by Kyun Comics, the super erotic Dirty Acts - Kegare by artist Hyji, and beautiful erotic artwork of Tomo Hirokawa in Cherry Concerto
- There are also many restocked manga works, including the erotic Twiny Attraction, Devil x Devil, No Mercy, and
- Also, a great new manga for yaoi fans by Takashi Kanzaki
- We've got some great DVD titles for you, starting with the new No Cut!! erotic release of Amu Masaki featuring 3 hours of her great sex for a great price (region free)
- Maria Takagi is the top adult star in Japan today, and looking at her new Lovers DVD release it's easy to see why -- enjoy her lovely sex with her brand new release (region free)
- Japan's up-skirt and sexy stocking fetish photography is famous among Japanophiles, and now you can enjoy this great thrill on DVD, with The Chiralism, a great "situation and costume play" release from Shinkosha (region free)
- The Japanese love to use lubricating lotion during sex to create slippery fun -- we've got a new DVD from SOD's Martian Devil label for fans of this erotic "lotion play" (region free)
- Then, enjoy Yui Kayama in an erotic fighting ninja DVD in which she transforms into a super-heroine to defend justice for all (region free)
- Then, the busty and beautiful Maria Yumeno shows you her best hardcore sex ever in a new 3 hour release from Wanz Factory (one of our favorite indies studios in Japan)
- Finally, look for freshly restocked girls from Russia, Hungary, Germany and France, as well as even more discounted DVDs with free shipping!
J-List sells virtually every Japanese dating-sim game available, with great English-translated games by JAST USA, Peach Princess, G-Collections, Himeya Soft and more. We've recently reduced our prices on three great titles from Peach Princess: X-Change 1 (hilarious sex change comedy), Snow Drop (beautiful erotic love story in a winter wonderland) and Critical Point (intense sci-fi game with elements of classic 80's anime) to just $24.95. Enjoy these great prices on these excellent games! (And if you buy 4 or more games you get another 20% off.)
Remember that J-List has stock of great 2004 calendars right now...but our stock is limited to what we've got on hand as well as the few calendars that haven't come in yet (we're still waiting for delivery on them). If you've got your eye on a very special anime, JPOP, bikini idol, nude or other calendar from Japan this year, we humbly recommend that you buy soon! We'll be making our last calendar order to our distributors towards the end of this week!
Friday, November 07, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 7, 2003
Hello again from all your friends at J-List. Today is Friday, which is usually the day I take my kids to the public bath. However today is Matrix Night, and I'm taking my wife out for dinner and movie. But first, our regularly scheduled update...
Japan is a strongly democratic country, and I've always been impressed with how much a part of life in Japan voting and elections are, especially with older Japanese. Japan uses a parliamentary system that was based on England's, which can be a little confusing to my American mind at times. There are many small and medium sizes political parties in Japan, including the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto, the second largest party), the Social Democratic Party (Shaminto, they're headed by Takako Doi, one of the most famous female politicians here), the Japan Communist Party (they favor elimination of the consumption tax), Koumeito (the political party formed by members of the Soka Gakkai religion), and so on. But for almost the entire history of postwar Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Jiminto), which has strong support in rural prefectures, has had almost complete run of the country, losing power only once in the mid 1990's. An annoying aspect of elections here is that candidates are allowed to drive around in trucks with big loudspeakers on them, thanking everyone within earshot for their support and promising to work hard for their constituents. We're in "election mode" in Japan right now, and I can hear the candidates from outside my window even as I type. It's really quite annoying.
One of the engines that drives Japanese society and makes Japanese people the way they are is called "hito no me" (HEE-toh noh meh), which translates as "the eyes of others." In all that you do in Japan, there is the sense that you're being watched by everyone around you, and that if you stray too far outside the invisible lines of what is acceptable you'll be judged harshly. This tendency to be concerned with how you appear in the eyes of people is a big part of Japanese daily life, and it's part of the reason why Japan can seem a very homogenous place when viewed from the outside. In Japan, you throw your garbage out on set days, and knowing what kind of trash is okay to put out on any given day can require a Master's Degree in Trashology. But if you don't follow the rules and put exactly the right trash out that morning (not, by the way, the night before), you'll suffer the ire of the ever-watching people around you, which subtly causes you to conform in ways that no threat of fine or punishment could. Since most people in Japan are considerably thinner than they are in the States (at 100 kg, I am gargantuan for Japan, and have been asked by Japanese if I was a K-1 fighter), there is always that pressure to conform to the others around me and lose weight--which is a good thing of course. In the U.S., we try to value adversity and individuality, and if we saw someone walking under an umbrella even though it wasn't raining outside, we might chuckle and say that he dances to his own tune. But in Japan there's less chance that doing something that no one else is doing will be viewed in a favorable light.
Related to "hito no me" is the idea of "joshiki," a word which translates to "common sense" but means much more. The Japanese all seem to have a built-in common sense, ideas about the way things work, and they are very much in harmony with each other. It is "joshiki" that all kids will go to school to be taught and brought up as happy citizens of the society, and so there is homeschooling in Japan. Similarly, it is common sense that babies be born in hospitals, and so there is very little in the way of alternate birthing here. An American friend of mine who was pregnant planned on having her baby and going back to work a few months later, but unfortunately, this goes against the "joshiki" rule that mothers should spend the first few years at home with their children before coming back to work, and she found herself blocked at every pass. This "all powerful common sense" that the Japanese seem to possess is always at work in Japan.
J-List carries three reliable region-free DVD players in our San Diego which we highly recommend for anyone who wants to enjoy viewing DVDs from other regions, such as Japan (certain discs are zones for region 2) and Europe. All three players we sell have passed the rigorous "J-List acceptability test" and will be great additions to your home as a main or spare DVD player. To help you choose one of these great players, we've dropped prices on all three of them, to $88 and $98 for the two transportable Lasonics and $109 for the deluxe Cyberhome. They make great Christmas gifts, too! Units ship daily from San Diego.
J-List sells both adult and non-adult products, and we separate all products into two sections, non-adult and 18+. In the past, we've posted the popular swimsuit idols like Yuko Ogura, Yinling and Chinatsu Wakatsuki in the PG section, since they weren't adult products. However because of the rather, ah, stimulating nature of some of the swimsuit photos we've decided to create a new section for these very photobooks and DVDs and list them in the adult section, instead.
We'll be switching the J-List images server, which delivers J-List product images, to a faster server that will be able to bring up images much more quickly. We plan on making the switch during the weekend. As usual, if you notice any problems with the J-List site, please email us and we'll take care of it right away.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
Remember that J-List carries dozens of super cool "candy toy" (miniature toys that usually come with candy inside, called "shokugan" in Japanese) items from Japan, with many varieties of cool items -- anime figurines, replicas of famous battleships, super detailed replicas of Japanese food and sushi, Star Trek vehicles and more. They're great to display, and since we offer full sets of virtually all toys we sell, so you don't have to buy duplicates, you can save time, money and aggravation. Check out all our candy toys items!
Japan is a strongly democratic country, and I've always been impressed with how much a part of life in Japan voting and elections are, especially with older Japanese. Japan uses a parliamentary system that was based on England's, which can be a little confusing to my American mind at times. There are many small and medium sizes political parties in Japan, including the Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto, the second largest party), the Social Democratic Party (Shaminto, they're headed by Takako Doi, one of the most famous female politicians here), the Japan Communist Party (they favor elimination of the consumption tax), Koumeito (the political party formed by members of the Soka Gakkai religion), and so on. But for almost the entire history of postwar Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Jiminto), which has strong support in rural prefectures, has had almost complete run of the country, losing power only once in the mid 1990's. An annoying aspect of elections here is that candidates are allowed to drive around in trucks with big loudspeakers on them, thanking everyone within earshot for their support and promising to work hard for their constituents. We're in "election mode" in Japan right now, and I can hear the candidates from outside my window even as I type. It's really quite annoying.
One of the engines that drives Japanese society and makes Japanese people the way they are is called "hito no me" (HEE-toh noh meh), which translates as "the eyes of others." In all that you do in Japan, there is the sense that you're being watched by everyone around you, and that if you stray too far outside the invisible lines of what is acceptable you'll be judged harshly. This tendency to be concerned with how you appear in the eyes of people is a big part of Japanese daily life, and it's part of the reason why Japan can seem a very homogenous place when viewed from the outside. In Japan, you throw your garbage out on set days, and knowing what kind of trash is okay to put out on any given day can require a Master's Degree in Trashology. But if you don't follow the rules and put exactly the right trash out that morning (not, by the way, the night before), you'll suffer the ire of the ever-watching people around you, which subtly causes you to conform in ways that no threat of fine or punishment could. Since most people in Japan are considerably thinner than they are in the States (at 100 kg, I am gargantuan for Japan, and have been asked by Japanese if I was a K-1 fighter), there is always that pressure to conform to the others around me and lose weight--which is a good thing of course. In the U.S., we try to value adversity and individuality, and if we saw someone walking under an umbrella even though it wasn't raining outside, we might chuckle and say that he dances to his own tune. But in Japan there's less chance that doing something that no one else is doing will be viewed in a favorable light.
Related to "hito no me" is the idea of "joshiki," a word which translates to "common sense" but means much more. The Japanese all seem to have a built-in common sense, ideas about the way things work, and they are very much in harmony with each other. It is "joshiki" that all kids will go to school to be taught and brought up as happy citizens of the society, and so there is homeschooling in Japan. Similarly, it is common sense that babies be born in hospitals, and so there is very little in the way of alternate birthing here. An American friend of mine who was pregnant planned on having her baby and going back to work a few months later, but unfortunately, this goes against the "joshiki" rule that mothers should spend the first few years at home with their children before coming back to work, and she found herself blocked at every pass. This "all powerful common sense" that the Japanese seem to possess is always at work in Japan.
J-List carries three reliable region-free DVD players in our San Diego which we highly recommend for anyone who wants to enjoy viewing DVDs from other regions, such as Japan (certain discs are zones for region 2) and Europe. All three players we sell have passed the rigorous "J-List acceptability test" and will be great additions to your home as a main or spare DVD player. To help you choose one of these great players, we've dropped prices on all three of them, to $88 and $98 for the two transportable Lasonics and $109 for the deluxe Cyberhome. They make great Christmas gifts, too! Units ship daily from San Diego.
J-List sells both adult and non-adult products, and we separate all products into two sections, non-adult and 18+. In the past, we've posted the popular swimsuit idols like Yuko Ogura, Yinling and Chinatsu Wakatsuki in the PG section, since they weren't adult products. However because of the rather, ah, stimulating nature of some of the swimsuit photos we've decided to create a new section for these very photobooks and DVDs and list them in the adult section, instead.
We'll be switching the J-List images server, which delivers J-List product images, to a faster server that will be able to bring up images much more quickly. We plan on making the switch during the weekend. As usual, if you notice any problems with the J-List site, please email us and we'll take care of it right away.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- For fans of our new high-quality acrylic Hello Kitty blankets, which are soft and colorful and really make you warm, we've got more cool items: My Neighbor Totoro blankets in various sizes!
- By customer request, we've restocked the Sesame Street Kubrick toy series, which is an incredibly cool series of block figures from Medicom Toy (full sets are in stock)
- Morning Musume, the cute JPOP idol group, continues to charm fans all over the world -- we've got a great hardcover photobook for their fans
- Do you love Japanese snack foods? We've got some cool new items including authentic Japanese "samurai" rice crackers, delicious yakisoba that you can eat without cooking, and for Doraemon fans, wonderful Doraemon ramune candy
- Also, every year we sell the silky and delicious Melty Kiss chocolate fudge from Meiji, which is only sold in the winter months -- we've gotten the first Melty Kiss of the year in for you, and it looks delicious
- For fans of Japanese gum, we have some taste new grape flavored stick gum from Bourbon, and fresh stock of delicious Green Gum from Lotte, which makes you think of a fresh forest
- We've got fresh stock of several snack items, including Okinawan Black Candy (kuro-ame), a real treat, strawberry flavored Milky candy, and Shigekix, the super tart "hard gummi candy" that's really fun to eat
- For fans of super detailed Japanese toys, we've got an all-die cast metal replica of the Delorean from Back to the Future, a fabulous item made by Skynet
- Hello Kitty fans, we've got some cool items sold only in Japan -- a rally fun Kitty portable phone for kids that lets you talk to Kitty in Japanese, a fun paint set, fresh stock of Hello Kitty Pretz, and more
- The G-Taste characters from Hiroki Yagami's daring art book series are famous -- we've got a super new set of figurines that come in "gashapon" capsules, with full sets available
- For fans of wacky Japanese English, we've got some hilarious stickers that feature funny designs and funnier English -- "Use them anywhere you need for your safety"
- We've got a new wacky "Power Stone" in stock, a good luck charm that promises to increase your friendship with others
- Finally, look for a way to keep thermoses clean, a handy all-purpose pouch that can carry anything, fresh stock of Hello Kitty toilet paper, more great hot springs powder, more Pocky, and other great products from Japan!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- We've got a nice new adult magazine in for you, Dela Beppin, the "deluxe beppin" that features tons of Japan's cutest, most famous adult stars and amateurs
- For fans of the delightful Nao Oikawa, currently the top name in Japan's adult video world, we've got a great photobook featuring the most incredible photographics of Nao-chan, on a special trip to Hokkaido
- Then catch the first issue of Bitch! featuring erotic hardcore by famous stars like Rina Usui
- Also, the lovely new issue of Deka Melon ("deka" means huge), which features super erotic gals in high Race Queen form, showing you their sexy slender legs and erotic nudes
- For hardcover photobook fans, we've got some excellent items for you, starting with the superb nude and cosplay of Mihiro, age 20
- Sayaka Uchida looks great, too, in her oh-so-extreme sexual bikini photobook offering, that will really knock your socks off
- Various restocked photobooks from Japan include several by Yuko Ogura, the super-cute high school uniform Pictorial Pocket Book, and Yurika Itoh's I-LU-CA
- Japan's erotic dating-sim games are famous all over the world, and we've got a great color "visual art works" book for Libido 7, an all-lesbian bishoujo game
- For hentai manga fans, we've got some great items for you, including Deep French Kiss by Takayuki Kusano, Bondage Breasts by Toen Comics and more great new erotic manga for you
- Also, for yaoi lovers, the new issue of Gush Mania, featuring compilations of extreme yaoi stories by ten artists (we loved the homosexual Nazis)
- We've also got freshly restocked adult manga, like Love Colle vol. 5, the very stylized Radical Vector, and various restocked yaoi items too
- J-List carries interesting adult toy products sold in the Japanese market, and we've restocked several popular items, including "Japan Rotor" vibrators (all sizes), the Super Magical Mitten, the Japanese Clitoris Cap, and the life-sized Hitomi Hayasakai Love Pillow
- For adult DVD customers, enjoy several new offerings, starting with Izumi Hasegawa's fourth delightful No Cut!! DVD release, featuring three hours of her sweet sex for one low price (region free)
- Then enjoy superb Adult Video Wrestling as only Japan can bring it to you, with Fuck Down! featuring stars like Nanase Nanami and Mai Haruna going at it in the ring (region free)
- From Soft on Demand, a very special treat: a 8 Years Anniversary Special that shows you 4 hours of the best SOD works since their creation, organized into useful sections (bukkake, lesbian kissing, tekoki, penis study, and so on) (region free)
- Then for fans of the Japanese fetish of "roshutsu" or going nude outdoors, we've got an erotic offering on SOD's outlet page (region free)
- From Moodyz, we've got another dynamite "black men vs. Japanese girl," this time with the lovely Airi Niiyama giving it up in "Beautiful Maiden and Black Man's Sex" (region 2)
- Ran Asakawa is an erotic adult video star from Japan, and she gives you first-flight treatment in The Complete Ran Asakawa, 3 luscious hours long (region 2)
- Finally look for various restocked DVDs, including Sayaka Kusunoki's top-selling yaoi-erotic Shonen A and more!
Remember that J-List carries dozens of super cool "candy toy" (miniature toys that usually come with candy inside, called "shokugan" in Japanese) items from Japan, with many varieties of cool items -- anime figurines, replicas of famous battleships, super detailed replicas of Japanese food and sushi, Star Trek vehicles and more. They're great to display, and since we offer full sets of virtually all toys we sell, so you don't have to buy duplicates, you can save time, money and aggravation. Check out all our candy toys items!
Monday, November 03, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 3, 2003
Hello again to all J-Listas!
It seems that Japanese people never fail to surprise you. You would think that they'd be horribly offended by slurs like "yellow monkey," which are sometimes used to describe Japanese people, and yet there's a popular rock band in Japan that proudly names itself Yellow Monkey. Similarly, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto played in a band called the Yellow Magic Orchestra, a name which sounds a little odd to gaijin like me. In 1991, writer Shoko Ieda wrote a novel called Yellow Cab about the strange phenomenon of normally demure Japanese females going to New York and becoming nymphomaniacs when they find themselves suddenly free of Japanese society, and the term came to describe all Japanese females who too loose sexually. You might assume this term would be offensive to the Japanese, but again, you'd be wrong: one of Japan's most famous talent agencies is called Yellow Cab. They handle virtually all the top swimsuit idols in Japan, including Megumi, Harumi Nemoto, Eiko Koike and Eriko Satoh, and all girls who want to be "talents" (a catch-all word that refers to any kind of young swimsuit idol, singer or actor) dream of being scouted by them. Search for "yellow cab" on J-List to see these girls, if you don't know them already.
The Japanese do some things that are very strange to foreigners. One is the way they crouch while waiting for a bus or a train, which is called "yankii-zuwari" or "sitting like a yankee." Basically, they squat very low, somehow managing to put their heels flat on the ground, rather than balancing on their toes. It's very hard for most gaijin to achieve this pose, yet Japanese find it very comfortable, probably because they learn this posture using Japanese toilets, which have no seat (you squat over them). In Japanese usage, a "yankee" (yankii) refers to teenagers who are rebels or "bad kids" -- the kind of teens who refuse to go to school, who smoke, who hang out in game centers. They're similar to the "boso-zoku," the motorcycle gangs who ride around Japan making as much noise as they can. We're not sure why the English word yankee came to refer to the bad seeds among Japan's youth, but one idea comes from the fact that rebelling Japanese often dye their hair blonde (or orange), and maybe it comes from this (foreigners = Americans = blonde hair to the Japanese mind). If you want to see a picture of what yankii-zuwari looks like, Yasu demonstrates it for you here: http://www.jlist.com/yankii.html
First, we're happy to announce a great new shirt for our female customers, a new fitted girly tee version of our popular "Looking for a Japanese Boyfriend" shirt. It's very stylish and the Japanese characters are as aesthetically pleasing as the look on the faces of Japanese who happen to see it. And it goes great with version 2 of our "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" shirt. In stock and ready for you to order!
We're happy to announce the beginning of our Japanese character blanket season. In Japan, they have incredibly high-quality blankets made of soft acrylic fibers, which are warm and soft to touch and beautiful to look at, printed with bright colors and cute characters. Every winter we make these great items available to customers around the world, and we've gotten our first stock in for you, four different varieties of cute Hello Kitty soft blankets and "halfkets" (Japanese for a half-sizes blanket). We know you'll love the incredibly soft feel and unique look to these great new blankets, sold only in Japan.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
Do you like Domo-kun? At J-List we do, and because of our special relationship with toy distributors in Japan, we're able to bring you dozens of super-cool Domo-kun items, from high-quality plush toys to PVC keychains to Domo-kun face towels and more. Domo-kun is the spokesmonster for NHK's "BS" channels (it means broadcast satellite), and he and his friends Usajii (the TV-watching rabbit), Ta-chan (sports watch-wearing weasel girl) and Shinobu and Morio (two bats) have become famous all over the world because of their extreme cuteness. Why not give Domo-kun gifts this year for Christmas?
It seems that Japanese people never fail to surprise you. You would think that they'd be horribly offended by slurs like "yellow monkey," which are sometimes used to describe Japanese people, and yet there's a popular rock band in Japan that proudly names itself Yellow Monkey. Similarly, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto played in a band called the Yellow Magic Orchestra, a name which sounds a little odd to gaijin like me. In 1991, writer Shoko Ieda wrote a novel called Yellow Cab about the strange phenomenon of normally demure Japanese females going to New York and becoming nymphomaniacs when they find themselves suddenly free of Japanese society, and the term came to describe all Japanese females who too loose sexually. You might assume this term would be offensive to the Japanese, but again, you'd be wrong: one of Japan's most famous talent agencies is called Yellow Cab. They handle virtually all the top swimsuit idols in Japan, including Megumi, Harumi Nemoto, Eiko Koike and Eriko Satoh, and all girls who want to be "talents" (a catch-all word that refers to any kind of young swimsuit idol, singer or actor) dream of being scouted by them. Search for "yellow cab" on J-List to see these girls, if you don't know them already.
The Japanese do some things that are very strange to foreigners. One is the way they crouch while waiting for a bus or a train, which is called "yankii-zuwari" or "sitting like a yankee." Basically, they squat very low, somehow managing to put their heels flat on the ground, rather than balancing on their toes. It's very hard for most gaijin to achieve this pose, yet Japanese find it very comfortable, probably because they learn this posture using Japanese toilets, which have no seat (you squat over them). In Japanese usage, a "yankee" (yankii) refers to teenagers who are rebels or "bad kids" -- the kind of teens who refuse to go to school, who smoke, who hang out in game centers. They're similar to the "boso-zoku," the motorcycle gangs who ride around Japan making as much noise as they can. We're not sure why the English word yankee came to refer to the bad seeds among Japan's youth, but one idea comes from the fact that rebelling Japanese often dye their hair blonde (or orange), and maybe it comes from this (foreigners = Americans = blonde hair to the Japanese mind). If you want to see a picture of what yankii-zuwari looks like, Yasu demonstrates it for you here: http://www.jlist.com/yankii.html
First, we're happy to announce a great new shirt for our female customers, a new fitted girly tee version of our popular "Looking for a Japanese Boyfriend" shirt. It's very stylish and the Japanese characters are as aesthetically pleasing as the look on the faces of Japanese who happen to see it. And it goes great with version 2 of our "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" shirt. In stock and ready for you to order!
We're happy to announce the beginning of our Japanese character blanket season. In Japan, they have incredibly high-quality blankets made of soft acrylic fibers, which are warm and soft to touch and beautiful to look at, printed with bright colors and cute characters. Every winter we make these great items available to customers around the world, and we've gotten our first stock in for you, four different varieties of cute Hello Kitty soft blankets and "halfkets" (Japanese for a half-sizes blanket). We know you'll love the incredibly soft feel and unique look to these great new blankets, sold only in Japan.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- Shirow Masamune fans, we're happy to report that we've obtained limited stock of the bestselling poster books, Wild Wet West, Hall Hound and Gal Hound, so if you missed out on these fantastic collections of his posters, which also come with trading cards inside
- We've got a nice photobook featuring the best of "Shape Up Girls," a sexy unit of body-conscious idols from Japan
- Also enjoy super cute photobooks by charming idol Emi Hasegawa and super cute Mizuho Oda, and another dynamite picture collection featuring Yoko Matsugane, one of the most popular swimsuit idols in Japan today
- We've got some great Japanese tea that is healthy and great for dieting -- jasmine tea and the popular dokidami tea, in handy tea bags to make it easy to prepare
- Then, for fans of our Japanese snacks and other items, enjoy cute hamster ramune candy, and a variety of delicious chocoball candies from Morinaga
- For fans of our unique Japanese 2004 calendars, we've gotten several new ones in stock, including the very cool Dragonball issue
- We also stock many varieties of Japanese gum, and have posted some new varieties to our page, including Japanese Recaldent and gum to make your teeth white
- For fans of unique Japanese toys, we have some cool Microman figures, which are the Japanese version of the Micronauts (and much higher quality than the re-release of the Micronauts, if I may say so)
- Also, we've got some really cool Marvel Kubrick figures, featuring classic heroes from the Marvel universe, great for any fan
- Also, fresh stock of the popular Panda-Z action figures and keychains, a great item from Japan for you
- Hello Kitty fans will go ape over a cool Kitty shampoo bottle, a great addition to your bath or shower
- Also, fresh stock of the incredibly popular Hello Kitty kigurumi masks, which allow you to totally transform yourself into Sanrio's most famous character
- Also, we've got fresh stock of Japanese bath powder, which replicates real Japanese hot springs for you
- Then, we've got another wacky Japanese "power stone" that promises to improve your love life
- It's getting colder, so we've gotten in fresh stock of a popular item, the Japanese warming pads that keep you warm for up to 18 hours
- We've lowered our prices on several of the popular shokugan toy sets, including full sets of the Ghost in the Shell and Intron Depot figures that are so cool
- If you're studying Japanese, you might want to get a Wordtank, the world-famous Japanese-English electronic dictionaries by Canon that feature English menus -- and we've knocked our prices on all units down for you
- For fans of our "Dirty American Devil" wacky Japanese T-shirt in camouflage, we've restocked the sizes that were out of stock for the past couple of months
- We have fresh stock of parody items, like the popular "toilet paper that helps you poop"
- Finally, look for some high-quality Japanese pencils, some super cute "stick glue," a perfect cloth bag to carry your bento in, more wacky Japanese stickers, more go sets, more Hot Wheels from Japan, and more!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of erotic Japanese adult stars, we've got the new issue of Bejean, featuring a multitude of heavenly bodies from Japan for you, including Sonan, Yoko Mitsuya, Maria Takagi, Ryoko Mitake
- Then, for fans of the Japanese fetish of "hitozuma" (lit. "a person's wife"), or married women, we've got a new naughty magazine for you
- For fans of hardcover photobooks from Japan, enjoy G-Taste, a truly beautiful offering from Mita Kitagawa
- We have some excellent new hentai comics for you from some of Japan's best artists and manga houses, including Sakura Mitoni's Love Diary, Tsukasa's Prime of Petit Devil, and more
- Also, we have great restocked hentai manga for you, including popular "dick girl" books, the Punky Knight comics, fresh stock of the Electric Fighting Daughter doujinshi anthologies, and more
- Also, for fans of Takuya Inoue's superb erotic artwork, we've got an amazing color artbook featuring his busty, sexy female characters -- stock is limited!
- We've got some great items for our DVD customers, starting with the lovely Aiai Sakura in her second No Cut!! release, featuring three hours of great erotic (region free)
- Then from Dogma and director Hitoshi Ninomura, enjoy the Kiss Addicted Oneesan, Miri Sugihara, an erotic adult star who loves all kinds of sex (region free)
- Then, from SOD's Natural High label, we've got a special new Asuka Sawaguchi DVD featuring the best hardcore works of this bright and charming starlet from Japan (region free)
- Japan's tradition of "sentai" (sci-fi fighting team) shows, embodied in the U.S. as Power Rangers, is famous all over the world -- enjoy an erotic sentai parody for a great price, on the Soft on Demand Outlet page (region free)
- From Wanz Factory, we have a great bondage play DVD with Yui Kayama, showing you her happy, energetic sex (region 2)
- Then, the super-erotic Akira Watase looks great in her newest release, which brings you three hours of her most erotic sexual performances ever (region 2)
- Finally, we've got fresh stock of several popular items, including Ann Nanba's "Removal of the Lesbian Ban" (where do they get these titles from?), Bunko Kanazawa's "Dream Woman 19," SOD's study of female masturbation, more dynamite women's wrestling, more DVDs with free shipping, and more.
Do you like Domo-kun? At J-List we do, and because of our special relationship with toy distributors in Japan, we're able to bring you dozens of super-cool Domo-kun items, from high-quality plush toys to PVC keychains to Domo-kun face towels and more. Domo-kun is the spokesmonster for NHK's "BS" channels (it means broadcast satellite), and he and his friends Usajii (the TV-watching rabbit), Ta-chan (sports watch-wearing weasel girl) and Shinobu and Morio (two bats) have become famous all over the world because of their extreme cuteness. Why not give Domo-kun gifts this year for Christmas?
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Greetings from J-List November 1, 2003
Hello again from Japan, home of cars with names like Crown Super Saloon.
Even a simple word like friend (in Japanese, "tomodachi") can vary quite a bit in meaning between languages. In American English, we use the word friend in many situations to describe everyone from casual acquaintainces to people we work with to close friends of all ages, but the Japanese word "tomodachi" is only used for friends who are close in age to you. Instead of tomodachi, other words are used instead, such as senpai (if the person is in the same school or company as you, and is older), kohai (same, but if they're younger), and so on. Some of these words create a "barrier of politeness" between you and the other individual, which can make true friendship with people not close to your age difficult.
There's no doubt about it: the Japanese need to get a national immigration policy. With an extremely low birth rate, Japan has much the same problem as Europe and the U.S.: a society that is aging, placing more of a burden on fewer younger workers (currently, one out of every six Japanese is aged 65 or older). Unlike the U.S., which has a constant stream of people coming to live from other countries, Japan lacks a mechanism for balancing its low birth rate with immigration. The other day I met an Iranian man in the public bath, and we spoke (in Japanese, since he didn't speak English and I don't speak Farsi) about his situation. Because he had overstayed his original work visa, he was unable to work openly and was afraid of being deported, despite having lived in Japan for ten years and speaking excellent Japanese. Just as Germany has done with guest workers from Turkey, Japan needs a system in place to encourage people from other countries to settle in Japan and use their unique skills for the benefit of the country.
We're extremely happy to announce that Peach Princess's long-awaited bishoujo fantasy RPG, Brave Soul, is finally shipping from our office in San Diego. A totally new kind of game that features an advanced scrolling RPG system, challenging combat against monsters, and multi-scenario romantic paths you must complete with each of your female companions. The crowning achievement of Japanese game maker Crowd, we're extremely glad to be able to bring this popular game to you in English! It's in stock and ready for your immediate order.
The Japanese Adult Video Star for the month of November is Asuka Sawaguchi. A charming idol who combines great beauty with the willingness to do anything for her fans, Asuka-chan's star has risen with incredible speed since she debuted in 2002, and she's had the flexibility to star in both "pro" productions (by companies like Kuki and Alice Japan) and "indies" (Soft on Demand, Moodyz), allowing her to pick up a lot of fans in Japan and all ove the world. Born in Hokkaido in 1983, she likes walking. Her blood type is A.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
Do you love the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki? Remember that J-List stocks all the excellent region 2 DVD releases for Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky Laputa, Princess Mononoke and his Lupin III classic, The Castle of Caliostro. These DVDs are released in Japan directly by the studio and include many features that make them great for collectors. All discs feature English subtitles and/or dubbed tracks and are great for fans who want the definitive versions of these anime classics overseen by Mr. Miyazaki himself. The only catch is, you need a region free DVD player to watch them -- and J-List humbly recommends the three excellent units we currently sell.
Even a simple word like friend (in Japanese, "tomodachi") can vary quite a bit in meaning between languages. In American English, we use the word friend in many situations to describe everyone from casual acquaintainces to people we work with to close friends of all ages, but the Japanese word "tomodachi" is only used for friends who are close in age to you. Instead of tomodachi, other words are used instead, such as senpai (if the person is in the same school or company as you, and is older), kohai (same, but if they're younger), and so on. Some of these words create a "barrier of politeness" between you and the other individual, which can make true friendship with people not close to your age difficult.
There's no doubt about it: the Japanese need to get a national immigration policy. With an extremely low birth rate, Japan has much the same problem as Europe and the U.S.: a society that is aging, placing more of a burden on fewer younger workers (currently, one out of every six Japanese is aged 65 or older). Unlike the U.S., which has a constant stream of people coming to live from other countries, Japan lacks a mechanism for balancing its low birth rate with immigration. The other day I met an Iranian man in the public bath, and we spoke (in Japanese, since he didn't speak English and I don't speak Farsi) about his situation. Because he had overstayed his original work visa, he was unable to work openly and was afraid of being deported, despite having lived in Japan for ten years and speaking excellent Japanese. Just as Germany has done with guest workers from Turkey, Japan needs a system in place to encourage people from other countries to settle in Japan and use their unique skills for the benefit of the country.
We're extremely happy to announce that Peach Princess's long-awaited bishoujo fantasy RPG, Brave Soul, is finally shipping from our office in San Diego. A totally new kind of game that features an advanced scrolling RPG system, challenging combat against monsters, and multi-scenario romantic paths you must complete with each of your female companions. The crowning achievement of Japanese game maker Crowd, we're extremely glad to be able to bring this popular game to you in English! It's in stock and ready for your immediate order.
The Japanese Adult Video Star for the month of November is Asuka Sawaguchi. A charming idol who combines great beauty with the willingness to do anything for her fans, Asuka-chan's star has risen with incredible speed since she debuted in 2002, and she's had the flexibility to star in both "pro" productions (by companies like Kuki and Alice Japan) and "indies" (Soft on Demand, Moodyz), allowing her to pick up a lot of fans in Japan and all ove the world. Born in Hokkaido in 1983, she likes walking. Her blood type is A.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- We've posted some more 2004 calendars which came in over the weekend, as well as added internal digital photographs of a few dozen more items, allowing you to see how great these large-format glossy calenadrs are -- remember that the time for ordering calendars will be over very soon, so get the calendar you want as quickly as possible!
- For Domo-kun fans, we have a super cool PVC keychain featuring the symbol of NHK, a "BS" dish (which stands for "broadcast sattellite")
- Smart Girls is an extremely cool magazine/photobook that presents fashionable Japanese girls in charming photographs -- we've got a cool new special issue of Smart Girls on the street that fans of FRUiTS will just love
- For fans of Japan's lovely swimsuit idols, enjoy the photobook of Megumi Okina, a wonderful idol who is very popular in Japan now
- J-List loves to carry unique toy and other items from Japan -- we've got a super cute robot chihuahua in stock for all who want to take part in Japan's "chihuahua boom"
- For fans of detailed minature candy toys from Japan, we've got the new Battle Ship Collection, featuring very cool replicas of submarines, Aegis cruisers, an aircraft carrier, destroyers, and more (and full sets are available)
- Also, by customer request we've got the Disney Kubrick toys, which feature a cool mix of famous characters from Disney films (my favorite one in this set is B.O.B. from The Black Hole, it's so cool)
- Also, we've restocked the wildly popular Alien Kubrick figures, with full sets in stock for you (don't miss them this time around)
- For fans of Japanese snack foods, we've got more delicious fish-shaped crackers called Ottotto, along with tasty new miso soup, orange juice candy and more
- Also, another wacky flavor of Recaldent sugarless gum from Japan
- For fans of Japan's most famous spokeskitty, we've got a cool plush Kitty door chime, that's great
- Panda-Z is a super cute panda who pilots a giant panda robot -- we've got two new Panda-Z cute keychains in stock for you
- Also extremely cute are the Usako Friends, aka Usacolle, little animals that fly around the sky for some reason -- and we've got some cool origami paper featuring these cute characters
- Also, a unique and interesting kind of good luck charm, "power stones" that bring you luck in love, help you quit smoking, and more
- Got odors in your house? The Japanese remove odors with charcoal made from bamboo, and we'ge got a great room freshener for you -- use it anywhere!
- Then, we've got a Japanese way to clean your ears, more green tea onsen powder for your bath and minus ion health masks, fresh stock of the happy Nico Nico toothbrush, and more!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- First, we've got the excellent new issues of Penthouse Japan and Penthouse Special, which feature only Japanese models shot by Japanese photographers -- they're great!
- Then we've got the new issue of Celeb Girls, featuring nothing but top-name stars from Japan like Yoko Matsugane, Sayaka Uchida, Ran Monbu, Mai Haruna and more
- For fans of backdoor themes, we've got the new issue of Hip de H, which features lovely amateur and pro adult video stars exposing their backsides
- Also, we've added fresh stock of many previous sold-out magazine and magazine + DVD combination items, as well as discounted magazines starting at $5 -- check out the items before the ones you want are sold out
- For fans of Japan's incredibly unique erotic photobooks, enjoy Toshimi Horiguchi as the Tokyo Erect Girl, a supremely sexy girl from Japan
- Also, an incredible panty stocking and cosplay themed photobook with beautiful models and long, long legs
- For hentai manga fans, enjoy some great new adult comics, including "When I call your name" by Mujin Comics, excellent breast fetish and cosplay manga, and more
- Also, fresh stock of over a dozen popular books including Irodori, Love Collection 1 & 2, and the excellent Electronic Fighting Daughter series, featuring parodies of the most famous game girls in Japan
- Also, we've got great restocked items for Satoshi Urushihara fans, including his color artbook Love and his dynamite Vampire Master 3, which sold out 50 copies in record time (but we've got another 100 in stock now)
- For our DVD customers, we've got some great new products in stock for you, starting with Haruka Serizawa's dynamite "Blue File" work, featuring 180 minutes of prime sex at a great price (region free)
- Nao Oikawa is the top adult video star in Japan today, and she looks great in her new Special Service High Class Soapland, a great new DVD from Million (region free)
- Asuka Sawaguchi shows you her "Pussy and Hip" in an erotic new production from Moodyz, featuring extremely innovative sex and erotica that you'll love (region free)
- From Soft on Demand's director Hajime, a wacky new production in which amateur girls put on frilly panties and play in front of the camera (region free)
- Then, we've got a new type of erotica for you with Ai Nanase and Shinju Umino starring in "Anal Lesbian" (refion free)
- From Waap Entertainment, enjoy prime-quality bukkake and gokkun sex in "I Want to Drink Your Semen," starring the fresh and erotic adult star Kay (region 2)
- Then, enjoy restocked erotic DVDs, including Aika Miura's Bondag Special, the Adult Video Wrestling special Fuck Down!, Lesbian Heaven 4 Hours Special, and Miyuki's delightful 210 minute No Cut!! release.
Do you love the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki? Remember that J-List stocks all the excellent region 2 DVD releases for Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky Laputa, Princess Mononoke and his Lupin III classic, The Castle of Caliostro. These DVDs are released in Japan directly by the studio and include many features that make them great for collectors. All discs feature English subtitles and/or dubbed tracks and are great for fans who want the definitive versions of these anime classics overseen by Mr. Miyazaki himself. The only catch is, you need a region free DVD player to watch them -- and J-List humbly recommends the three excellent units we currently sell.
Friday, September 26, 2003
Greetings from J-List September 26, 2003
There was a big earthquake in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido this morning, setting some fires and injuring many people. Happily, there were no deaths reported. J-List is located near Tokyo, so we were too far to feel the shaking, although we get our share of jolts down here, too.
Because the Western names are rare in Japan, they can tend to become larger than life to the Japanese. You might know several people named Jason, but in Japan, there's only one: the famous killer from the Friday the 13th movies. If your name is Jason and you introduce yourself to Japanese people, they're likely to associate you with the films and laugh privately. While Japanese pop singer Seiko Matsuda was in New York trying to break into the American music scene during the mid 90's, she had an affair with a man she met in a restaurant named Jeff. The affair became public knowledge, and suddenly everyone in Japan knew about Jeff, to the chagrin of a friend of mine with the same name, who had to endure the giggles of high school girls for months whenever he mentioned his name. If your name is Bob, Japanese might think of Bob Sapp, the American K-1 fighter who appears on Japanese TV almost nightly. Even my own name is famous, thanks to an anime show from the 1970s, Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Heidi's friend is named Peter (although it's pronounced "Peh-tah" in the show, using the German pronunciation), so whenever I introduce myself, Japanese have the image of Heidi's friend in the back of their minds.
Japanese names are interesting to study, too. Japanese put their family names before their first names, so that Maria Takagi's name is Takagi Maria if you're speaking Japanese. It can be confusing, which is part of why we developed the J-List search engine to bring up the same results no matter what word order you use. Japanese female names often have "ko" in them (Keiko, Miko, etc.), which means "child." Boy's names, on the other hand, often reflect their status in the family. If a boy is the oldest son, he'll often have a name that indicates this, by having the number one in it, like Ichiro or Hajime (which means "to begin"). The second son in a family will often have a name like Koji or Kenji -- the "ji" character means second or next. The most "vanilla" sounding names in Japanese (i.e., the names that correspond to John and Mary Smith in English) are Taro and Hanako Yamada. Japanese names are nearly always written in Chinese characters (although they can be written in hiragana), and just as there are various spellings for Western names, there are often many ways to write a person's name in kanji.
When you order a taco in Japan, be careful: the Japanese word for octopus is tako. To differentiate the crustacean from the Mexican food, the Japanese use the plural word "tacos" (takosu) for referring to the food, even if they're talking about just one. One of the most popular snack foods in Japan is takoyaki, which is fried balls of batter with pieces of octopus inside -- it's very tasty on cold winter afternoons. Osaka is the world capital of delicious takoyaki, and if you ever get to that city, be sure to go to Otakoya, a takoyaki shop near the famous Glico neon sign in Osaka's Dotonbori area. Be warned though: you may have to stand in line for a couple of hours to be served -- that's how popular takoyaki is in Japan. Once in rural Japan we happened across a takoyaki vendor who decided to call his shop Tako Bell. My wife and I were completely floored with laughter at this unexpected sight.
Announcing the start of the 2003 Pocky Season! J-List sells hundreds of types of Japanese snacks, gum and traditional Japanese foods for you to try. One of our most popular items is Pocky, the chocolate covered pretzel treat from Glico. Customers love our Pocky selection, but unfortunately, Japan's summer months are very hot and humid, which causes the Pocky to melt -- so we have to stop carrying it during the hottest part of the summer. Now Pocky is back at J-List, with some great new flavors, including Sweet Pumpkin and Extra Chocolate Mousse Pocky, as well as your old favorite classic flavors. Yum! As always, you get discounts for buying 10 or more boxes of Pocky.
We're happy to see Phantom of Inferno, a great PG-rated interactive anime game you play on a DVD player, is proving to be a popular item. We had mistakenly stated that this was a region 1 DVD, playable on North American players only, but the disc is actually region free, so customers all over the world can try it out.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
J-List has a lot of products, so it's not always easy to find what's new. You can use the easy "three day link" form, which we've re-enabled on the site, to easily find products that have been updated since you checked J-List last. Also, to see all products in J-List in order of when they were updated, just click the "view all products" in the upper left hand corner.
Do you love the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki? Remember that J-List stocks all the excellent region 2 DVD releases for Studio Ghibli movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky Laputa, Princess Mononoke and his Lupin III classic, The Castle of Caliostro. These DVDs are released in Japan directly by the studio and include many features that make them great for collectors. All discs feature English subtitles and/or dubbed tracks and are great for fans who want the definitive versions of these anime classics overseen by Mr. Miyazaki himself. The only catch is, you need a region free DVD player to watch them -- and J-List humbly recommends the three excellent units we currently sell.
Because the Western names are rare in Japan, they can tend to become larger than life to the Japanese. You might know several people named Jason, but in Japan, there's only one: the famous killer from the Friday the 13th movies. If your name is Jason and you introduce yourself to Japanese people, they're likely to associate you with the films and laugh privately. While Japanese pop singer Seiko Matsuda was in New York trying to break into the American music scene during the mid 90's, she had an affair with a man she met in a restaurant named Jeff. The affair became public knowledge, and suddenly everyone in Japan knew about Jeff, to the chagrin of a friend of mine with the same name, who had to endure the giggles of high school girls for months whenever he mentioned his name. If your name is Bob, Japanese might think of Bob Sapp, the American K-1 fighter who appears on Japanese TV almost nightly. Even my own name is famous, thanks to an anime show from the 1970s, Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Heidi's friend is named Peter (although it's pronounced "Peh-tah" in the show, using the German pronunciation), so whenever I introduce myself, Japanese have the image of Heidi's friend in the back of their minds.
Japanese names are interesting to study, too. Japanese put their family names before their first names, so that Maria Takagi's name is Takagi Maria if you're speaking Japanese. It can be confusing, which is part of why we developed the J-List search engine to bring up the same results no matter what word order you use. Japanese female names often have "ko" in them (Keiko, Miko, etc.), which means "child." Boy's names, on the other hand, often reflect their status in the family. If a boy is the oldest son, he'll often have a name that indicates this, by having the number one in it, like Ichiro or Hajime (which means "to begin"). The second son in a family will often have a name like Koji or Kenji -- the "ji" character means second or next. The most "vanilla" sounding names in Japanese (i.e., the names that correspond to John and Mary Smith in English) are Taro and Hanako Yamada. Japanese names are nearly always written in Chinese characters (although they can be written in hiragana), and just as there are various spellings for Western names, there are often many ways to write a person's name in kanji.
When you order a taco in Japan, be careful: the Japanese word for octopus is tako. To differentiate the crustacean from the Mexican food, the Japanese use the plural word "tacos" (takosu) for referring to the food, even if they're talking about just one. One of the most popular snack foods in Japan is takoyaki, which is fried balls of batter with pieces of octopus inside -- it's very tasty on cold winter afternoons. Osaka is the world capital of delicious takoyaki, and if you ever get to that city, be sure to go to Otakoya, a takoyaki shop near the famous Glico neon sign in Osaka's Dotonbori area. Be warned though: you may have to stand in line for a couple of hours to be served -- that's how popular takoyaki is in Japan. Once in rural Japan we happened across a takoyaki vendor who decided to call his shop Tako Bell. My wife and I were completely floored with laughter at this unexpected sight.
Announcing the start of the 2003 Pocky Season! J-List sells hundreds of types of Japanese snacks, gum and traditional Japanese foods for you to try. One of our most popular items is Pocky, the chocolate covered pretzel treat from Glico. Customers love our Pocky selection, but unfortunately, Japan's summer months are very hot and humid, which causes the Pocky to melt -- so we have to stop carrying it during the hottest part of the summer. Now Pocky is back at J-List, with some great new flavors, including Sweet Pumpkin and Extra Chocolate Mousse Pocky, as well as your old favorite classic flavors. Yum! As always, you get discounts for buying 10 or more boxes of Pocky.
We're happy to see Phantom of Inferno, a great PG-rated interactive anime game you play on a DVD player, is proving to be a popular item. We had mistakenly stated that this was a region 1 DVD, playable on North American players only, but the disc is actually region free, so customers all over the world can try it out.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for fans of the classic anime Urusei Yatsura, the hit manga and anime by Rumiko Takahashi, we've got a really special item: a series of extremely detailed PVC figures from Furuta, with full sets in stock (including full sets with the rare item)
- The Japanese don't really have Halloween like they have in America, but their tradition of cosplay is just as strong -- we've got some fun items for anyone wanting to dress up, including fake boobs, a sexy leopard's outfit and more
- In addition to the new Pocky, mentioned above, we've got great miso soup, tasty furikake (just sprinkle it over white rice for an instant meal), and traditional Japanese throat candy
- For fans of extremely cute stuff from Japan, enjoy cute Nyanko Restaurant stationary, featuring those super cute cats by SAN-X
- Also for Kitty fans, fresh stock of the ultra-cool Sanrio Columbus roly-poly toys, like the old Weebles that we played with back in the 1970s
- In the same vein, we've got Usako Friends shrinky-dinks -- so cool!
- For bento fans, a very special Hello Kitty bento box with two large compartments and a cool cloth carrying bag
- Got a portable phone? Keep it clean with special phone wipers that we've got in stock
- Then, from Dr. Ion, we've got a handy train pass/credit card/ID holder that emits what the Japanese call "minus ions" or negatively-charged ions, a great and wacky item from Japan
- Also, more Hello Kitty ice cube trays, a hit item!
- For fans of our miniature food toys, which are extremely details, we've added fresh stock of the Family Restaurant, Sushi and Japanese Food toys, with both individual items and full sets available
- Totoro and Ghibli fans, we've added fresh stock of several items, including Totoro stamps, Totoro and Catbus plush toys, and the ever-popular Bou Nezumi plushies from Sun Arrow
- For Race Queen fans, we've got more copies of the very cool Race Queen Hundred Costume Catalog
- Also, a restocking of many other nice photobooks, including popular works by Yuko Ogura, and more!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of incredibly beautiful Japanese kogals, we've got the new Urecco Gal, just loaded with the most beautiful girls you have ever seen
- For photobooks fans, we've got some great new items for you, including Kaori Shimamura's elegant new nude hardcover offering
- The lovely Haruka Nayuta is an incredibly beautiful "Cat Lady" from Japan, and we're sure you'll enjoy her sexy new photobook
- Also, we've got a very erotic "pop de cute" mini-photobook of the private love and sex of four fab girls from Tokyo, as well as fresh stock of many other great photobooks (Giri Giri Fish, Chinatsu Ride That Bicycle, and Smart Girls Remix)
- For hentai manga fans, we've got some great items for you, including SM Love Song by Onihime and the fantastic The Girl with Peek-a-Boo Breasts, by The Seiji, as well as a great new Love Hina/Please Teacher hentai doujinshi anthology manga
- Also, another large update of some really popular manga, including Pururun Seminar, See Through Angel, Lovea, and the dynamite Colors Anthology Comics
- Like erotic doujinshi? We have a half dozen or more new books for you, with great new items, Gundam Seed parody books, lesbian dick girl doujinshi and more, including the English-language Dirty Pair doujinshi Nostalgia
- We've restocked one of the most popular adult toys in our history, the cute and highly functional Rabbit Rotor, a compact little bunny that can do some amazing things
- For our DVD customers, we've got a great volley of new works for you, starting with more erotic late-night Japanese TV on DVD for you, with lots of fun sexual antics hosted by Nao Oikawa (region free)
- Then, for fans of Maria Takagi, who has become one of Japan's top AV stars almost overnight, we've got a super hardcore release by Calen (region free)
- See four beautiful girls in a major smack-down, in SOD's latest release in The Lesbian Fight series (region free)
- For fans of the old "Love and Ero Pop Magazine" by Soft on Demand, Lovers Pop, we've got a great SOD outlet release, featuring bold and fashionable sex in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park, and much more (region free)
- Then, fans of the busty Anna Ohura rejoice, as we've got a superb new DVD by this incredible woman, featuring four hours of her best busty sex! Enjoy some of her best sex ever, by customer request (region free)
- Then, for fans of dynamite hentai anime on DVD, we've got the new Let's Go Marine-chan, a fabulous Japan-released hentai anime title from PinkPineapple (region2)
- Finally, some great newly restocked DVD titles, including Masterpiece Concentation Outdoor Nude, Aoi Sora's super erotic Contrary Soap Heaven, Big Morkal's 4 hour sampler DVD and more Adult Video Wrestling for you to enjoy!
J-List has a lot of products, so it's not always easy to find what's new. You can use the easy "three day link" form, which we've re-enabled on the site, to easily find products that have been updated since you checked J-List last. Also, to see all products in J-List in order of when they were updated, just click the "view all products" in the upper left hand corner.
Do you love the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki? Remember that J-List stocks all the excellent region 2 DVD releases for Studio Ghibli movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky Laputa, Princess Mononoke and his Lupin III classic, The Castle of Caliostro. These DVDs are released in Japan directly by the studio and include many features that make them great for collectors. All discs feature English subtitles and/or dubbed tracks and are great for fans who want the definitive versions of these anime classics overseen by Mr. Miyazaki himself. The only catch is, you need a region free DVD player to watch them -- and J-List humbly recommends the three excellent units we currently sell.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Greetings from J-List September 24, 2003
Hello again from the J-List team!
One thing you can say about Japan: driving here will make you a better driver. Between learning to park your car with less than 6 inches of space on either side to memorizing winding, narrow streets, driving in Japan can be a challenge. Although Japan has freeways connecting major cities, there's usually none between where you are and where you want to go, so almost all driving in Japan is done on normal city streets. Learning your way around a Japanese city is made more difficult by the fact that only the largest streets have names, and there's no way to refer to smaller streets other than "that one road with the beauty shop and the convenience store on it." This presented a challenge to me when I first came here: in order to learn my way around the city I loved in, I had to throw away American-style memorization-by-directions (e.g. "turn left on College Avenue") and had to instead envision where I wanted to go in 3-D in my mind. It was kind of a bizarre experience. Like the British, the Japanese drive on the right side of the road, so whenever I go back to the States I have to be extra careful to get my bearings straight before getting in the car. Watching which side of the road other drivers are driving on and doing what they do is usually enough to avoid problems.
Karaoke is, as you can imagine, quiet popular in Japan, and Japanese enjoy getting up and belting out their favorite songs in front of others. Invented by a musician named Daisuke Inoue back in the 1970's, karaoke machines are very popular throughout Japan, and today establishments from bars to restaurants to the public bath I take my kids to on weekends have machines so that customers can enjoy themselves behind the mike (at 200 yen per song). However, like many who try karaoke out for the first time, Japanese are uncomfortable singing in front of strangers, which is why the most popular way to enjoy this pasttime is the private karaoke box. Whenever the J-List staff goes out drinking to welcome a new staff member or have our year-end-party, we always go to a nearby karaoke box and belt out tunes -- Brent and me usually sing esoteric 80's anime songs in Japanese, which causes the Japanese staff to freak out a little. Unfortunately, the inventor of Karaoke didn't bother to patent his idea, and thus earned no money from one of the biggest technological booms to come along in decades.
2004 calendar sales are going great, and we're very happy with the response to the over 200 Japanese calendars we're offering for preorder. We've added some more calendars to our site, including Ryoko Yonekura, Ai Kato, and the lovely Korean star Yoon Son Ha, who has a big following in Japan. To help you choose lots of great 2004 Japanese calendars, we're giving 15% off any 4 or more calendars you buy! Just add them to your cart, and the discount will be applied at checkout. Of course we're applying the discount to preorders we've already received -- if you want to add to a current calendar order, too, just email us. Remember, these high-quality Japanese calendars make great Christmas gifts!
J-List has added a great new region-free DVD player to our lineup of products: the Lasonic DVF-982 Transportable DVD Player. With a smaller case that allows it to fit practically anywhere, this new player ads many features over the DVB-8092, including JPEG CD playback and a wireless audio transmitter feature, which allows you to listen to the DVD audio on any FM radio. It plays DVDs from all regions, and also features full PAL/NTSC conversion. Check out this great new player, in stock now in San Diego!
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
Remember that J-List is the only place where you can buy the excellent Himeya Soft games from C's Ware and get them sent from inside the U.S. We stock all the very nice dating-sim game titles from Himeya as well as Peach Princess, JAST USA, G-Collections, and Hobibox, and recommend them very highly to fans and collectors of Japan's bishoujo games.
One thing you can say about Japan: driving here will make you a better driver. Between learning to park your car with less than 6 inches of space on either side to memorizing winding, narrow streets, driving in Japan can be a challenge. Although Japan has freeways connecting major cities, there's usually none between where you are and where you want to go, so almost all driving in Japan is done on normal city streets. Learning your way around a Japanese city is made more difficult by the fact that only the largest streets have names, and there's no way to refer to smaller streets other than "that one road with the beauty shop and the convenience store on it." This presented a challenge to me when I first came here: in order to learn my way around the city I loved in, I had to throw away American-style memorization-by-directions (e.g. "turn left on College Avenue") and had to instead envision where I wanted to go in 3-D in my mind. It was kind of a bizarre experience. Like the British, the Japanese drive on the right side of the road, so whenever I go back to the States I have to be extra careful to get my bearings straight before getting in the car. Watching which side of the road other drivers are driving on and doing what they do is usually enough to avoid problems.
Karaoke is, as you can imagine, quiet popular in Japan, and Japanese enjoy getting up and belting out their favorite songs in front of others. Invented by a musician named Daisuke Inoue back in the 1970's, karaoke machines are very popular throughout Japan, and today establishments from bars to restaurants to the public bath I take my kids to on weekends have machines so that customers can enjoy themselves behind the mike (at 200 yen per song). However, like many who try karaoke out for the first time, Japanese are uncomfortable singing in front of strangers, which is why the most popular way to enjoy this pasttime is the private karaoke box. Whenever the J-List staff goes out drinking to welcome a new staff member or have our year-end-party, we always go to a nearby karaoke box and belt out tunes -- Brent and me usually sing esoteric 80's anime songs in Japanese, which causes the Japanese staff to freak out a little. Unfortunately, the inventor of Karaoke didn't bother to patent his idea, and thus earned no money from one of the biggest technological booms to come along in decades.
2004 calendar sales are going great, and we're very happy with the response to the over 200 Japanese calendars we're offering for preorder. We've added some more calendars to our site, including Ryoko Yonekura, Ai Kato, and the lovely Korean star Yoon Son Ha, who has a big following in Japan. To help you choose lots of great 2004 Japanese calendars, we're giving 15% off any 4 or more calendars you buy! Just add them to your cart, and the discount will be applied at checkout. Of course we're applying the discount to preorders we've already received -- if you want to add to a current calendar order, too, just email us. Remember, these high-quality Japanese calendars make great Christmas gifts!
J-List has added a great new region-free DVD player to our lineup of products: the Lasonic DVF-982 Transportable DVD Player. With a smaller case that allows it to fit practically anywhere, this new player ads many features over the DVB-8092, including JPEG CD playback and a wireless audio transmitter feature, which allows you to listen to the DVD audio on any FM radio. It plays DVDs from all regions, and also features full PAL/NTSC conversion. Check out this great new player, in stock now in San Diego!
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for Street Fighter II lovers, we've got a very special series of figures from Capcom: pre-painted replicas of your favorite fighting characters -- trust us, these are really cool! (full sets are available)
- For Gremlins fans, we've got a very well made plush Gremlin by our friends at JUN Planning
- J-List has some cool items to make your Halloween special, including loose socks and school uniforms -- or how about a rubber Ultraman mask?
- Also, we've got fresh stock of the Hello Kitty kigurimi (full-head) mask and the cute Kitty plush bonnett
- We managed to sell out of the Alien Kubrick toys again in record time, but we've got more for you now, including full sets
- Sanrio fans can enjoy several only-found-in-Japan items, including a fun Kitty balloon set and a really cool Kitty not clipper (also use to keep potato chips fresh)
- Little Twin Star fans, enjoy a well-made Sanrio bento box, which we've got in stock for you now
- For fans of our Japanese snack foods, enjoy green bean snacks, tasty strawberry vitamin C candy, and a great item: Tiramisu pretzel treats, great for Pocky fans!
- Also, for smokers, we've got a great gum called Nicodass, that both replenishes the vitamins that smoking takes out, as well as removes the smoke from your breath
- Japanese "noren" curtains help partition rooms and create privacy -- we have more attractive noren curtains in stock for you
- We've got a really fun game for fans of cute things from Japan -- a game with sony's popular PostPet pink bear character
- For Totoro fans, we've restocked the popular Soot Sprite keychain and magnet plush, two extremely popular items with J-List customers
- Also, we've restocked several popular Totoro and Ghibli music boxes, as well as plush Totoro toys that are so cool
- Shirow fans have bought all the Shirow Masamune poster books, although another 200 of each is coming soon (feel free to order from the site) -- in the meantime, we've got fresh stock of Jashin Hunter for you!@
- For Japanophiles who want to wear their love for Japan on their sleeves, or their heads, we've restocked our Japanese wacky headbands
- Finally, find more quality chopsticks, a handy all-purpose carry bag, more pocket "go" sets, and more!
For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of quality adult magazines from Japan, we've got the very cool new Best Video and Video Boy, two visual magazines for fans of Japanese adult video, overflowing with Japan's most famous stars!
- Then enjoy the deluxe double-thick Mini-Suka & Panst DX, featuring 40 delicious girls wearing panties, mini-skirts and stockings, a superb item for leg fetish fans
- For fans of Japan's beautiful hardcover photobooks, we recommend Usagi Aino's fabulous nude photobook offering, a beautiful collection of superb photographs for you
- Then, enjoy the superb photobook of Masa Sato, a woman so beautiful you could dash yourself against her like a ship against a rock -- her new photobook was shot in Paris
- Also, we've got the pure, natural nude of Masumi, the "Legendary Nude Idol," in stock for you
- For hentai manga fans, enjoy several great new books for you, including Giant Breast Princess, Kirara Moe's Lovely Girl, an erotic maid fantasy Kiss Cue, and more
- Also, enjoy a restocking of popular manga titles, such as Please Enjoy the Pretty Girl, Very Satisfied with Five Body Parts, Free as a Bird and mor!
- For doujinshi fans, another great selection of offerings of superb hentai books, Ah My Goddess, Stellvia in Space, game girl sex and more
- For our DVD fans, we've got some great new offerings for you, starting with Mai Sakashita's very erotic 4 Hours Special DVD (region free)
- Then, for fans of the delightful Sola Aoi (also written Sora Aoi), enjoy a super hardcore release from Samantha, with sci-fi virtual sex and Aoi's sweet erotic body (region free)
- Pro Wrestling fans, enjoy the new 2-DVD release of Adult Video Wrestling, with innovative and exciting sex in the ring, and many top names (region free)
- Japanese have a fetish for "announcers" (newscasters), and SOD explores this with a new bukkake DVD release for you (region free)
- Enjoy the hot return of Mai Hagiwara in Mirukuru Returns, featuring some of Maichy's most erotic on-camera work ever (region 2)
- Then, enjoy a great new Dream Shower bukkake title featuring Bunko Kanazawa, for fans who really want to see Kanabun get creamed (region free)
- Finally, restocked and price-reduced DVD titles including The Idol and No Cut!! DVD releases, featuring three hours of great hardcore AV for you!
Remember that J-List is the only place where you can buy the excellent Himeya Soft games from C's Ware and get them sent from inside the U.S. We stock all the very nice dating-sim game titles from Himeya as well as Peach Princess, JAST USA, G-Collections, and Hobibox, and recommend them very highly to fans and collectors of Japan's bishoujo games.
Monday, September 22, 2003
Greetings from J-List September 22, 2003
Hello again from Japan, the country with car names like the Suzuki Joypop and the Daihatsu Nude.
One thing about Japan: it's a very seasonal place. Spring is beautiful with its short-lived cherry blossoms, summer is hot and humid with many fun festivals, fall is filled with crisp brown leaves, and winter is cold and frosty. People are very attuned to each season, too -- for example, summer is the season for girls to wear tanktops and show off their belly buttons, but all this comes to an abrupt halt at the 1st of September, when fall unofficially starts in the minds of people here. I've met many Japanese who tell me with great pride that, unlike America, Japan has four distinct seasons, and they enjoy every one of them -- apparently these people haven't ventured outside of Southern California. In keeping with this traditional of seasonality, products sold in one part of the year are virtually impossible to find out of season. Want to find swimwear in the fall or winter? Stores won't stock it. Want to enjoy hiyashi chuka (a cold ramen dish) or Japanese barley tea out of season? You can only find them in the summer months. Japanese calendars are only sold a few months before the end of the year (e.g. now), but outside of this window, you can't find a calendar in Japan for love or money. Part of living in Japan is getting in sync with the seasons around you, even if it can seem odd to foreigners who are used to a different rhythm.
One concept that enters into Japanese social interactions a lot is "enryo" (EN-ryoh), which means to exercise restraint or to defer to others. Basically, if a group of Japanese is eating pizza, it will take some time for one of the members to get around to taking the last slice, because of the tendency for each individual to defer to the others in the group -- until everyone is deferring to everyone else, and the pizza is getting cold. The concept of enryo rears its head when trying to make a decision among a group, too. Say a large group of people is trying to decide on a restaurant to go to. Each person will put out some feelers, trying to nudge the collective opinion of the group in one direction or another. If even one person in the group is inconvenienced by the group's decision (say, everyone wants to go for Indian food except one person, who wants Italian instead), the group will go back to the drawing board until they come up with an option that everyone can agree to.
Announcing the Closeout T-Shirt Sale! J-List carries many unique and funny T-shits, with bizarre messages in Japanese on them. There's one problem: having so many cool shirts in stock takes up a lot of room in our San Diego office. In order to clear out some of the older shirts and make room for new designs, we've discounted the close-out shirts. In order to help you help us move them out even faster, we're declaring a $1 shipping sale on the discounted shirts. Get a cool 100% cotton T-shirt printed in the U.S., and shipping on the shirt is just $1 ($4 outside of US/Can)! Note that sizes are subject to availability, and they will start to go fast. If you wear a larger size, it's a great day for you, since we've still got plenty of stock in XXL and XXXL for most of these shirts. Some of the shirts being closed out include Hiragana Man, I'm a Strange Foreigner, and the Akira parody shirts, After shirts are gone, we invariably have people asking if they can buy them again -- avoid this by getting your shirt now!
For the special Monday update, we've got some great items for you, starting with:
For our 18+ customers, we've got some great products for adults. They include:
Remember that J-List carries excellent magazine by our "reserve subscription." This means that you can get great anime, JPOP, fashion and other magazines sent to you as soon as the new issue is out in Japan -- a few days earlier than newsstands receive them here, in fact. We recommend great items like Young Magazine Uppers, a superb manga magazine that features Shirow Masamune's newest posters in special issues as well as great comic art from some of Japan's best manga-ka (manga artists). Payment through any method is fine (credit card, Paypal, check or money order) and you can stop your subscription at any time.
One thing about Japan: it's a very seasonal place. Spring is beautiful with its short-lived cherry blossoms, summer is hot and humid with many fun festivals, fall is filled with crisp brown leaves, and winter is cold and frosty. People are very attuned to each season, too -- for example, summer is the season for girls to wear tanktops and show off their belly buttons, but all this comes to an abrupt halt at the 1st of September, when fall unofficially starts in the minds of people here. I've met many Japanese who tell me with great pride that, unlike America, Japan has four distinct seasons, and they enjoy every one of them -- apparently these people haven't ventured outside of Southern California. In keeping with this traditional of seasonality, products sold in one part of the year are virtually impossible to find out of season. Want to find swimwear in the fall or winter? Stores won't stock it. Want to enjoy hiyashi chuka (a cold ramen dish) or Japanese barley tea out of season? You can only find them in the summer months. Japanese calendars are only sold a few months before the end of the year (e.g. now), but outside of this window, you can't find a calendar in Japan for love or money. Part of living in Japan is getting in sync with the seasons around you, even if it can seem odd to foreigners who are used to a different rhythm.
One concept that enters into Japanese social interactions a lot is "enryo" (EN-ryoh), which means to exercise restraint or to defer to others. Basically, if a group of Japanese is eating pizza, it will take some time for one of the members to get around to taking the last slice, because of the tendency for each individual to defer to the others in the group -- until everyone is deferring to everyone else, and the pizza is getting cold. The concept of enryo rears its head when trying to make a decision among a group, too. Say a large group of people is trying to decide on a restaurant to go to. Each person will put out some feelers, trying to nudge the collective opinion of the group in one direction or another. If even one person in the group is inconvenienced by the group's decision (say, everyone wants to go for Indian food except one person, who wants Italian instead), the group will go back to the drawing board until they come up with an option that everyone can agree to.
Announcing the Closeout T-Shirt Sale! J-List carries many unique and funny T-shits, with bizarre messages in Japanese on them. There's one problem: having so many cool shirts in stock takes up a lot of room in our San Diego office. In order to clear out some of the older shirts and make room for new designs, we've discounted the close-out shirts. In order to help you help us move them out even faster, we're declaring a $1 shipping sale on the discounted shirts. Get a cool 100% cotton T-shirt printed in the U.S., and shipping on the shirt is just $1 ($4 outside of US/Can)! Note that sizes are subject to availability, and they will start to go fast. If you wear a larger size, it's a great day for you, since we've still got plenty of stock in XXL and XXXL for most of these shirts. Some of the shirts being closed out include Hiragana Man, I'm a Strange Foreigner, and the Akira parody shirts, After shirts are gone, we invariably have people asking if they can buy them again -- avoid this by getting your shirt now!
For the special Monday update, we've got some great items for you, starting with:
- First, Shirow Masamune fans rejoice: we've got our order of the Shirow poster-and-trading-card books in stock, so if you didn't order your copies yet, you can do it now
- For Domo-kun lovers everywhere, we've got another "really big Domo" for you, a 24 inch tall super-huggable Domo plush pillow that will dominate any room you put him in
- Also, for fans of Tezuka Osamu, we've got Astro Boy and Jungle Emperor Leo (aka Kimba the White Lion) anime throw pillows -- so cool!
- My wife and I are fans of Takara's Licca dolls, a cute fashion doll that is the "anti-Barbie" because she's a demure Japanese school girl -- we've got stock of the very cool Kogal Licca doll, one of our favorites
- Also, see a very cute figure from Yujin's Figure Maniacs series, Lune Cardiff
- For Totoro fans, we've restocked the best-selling My Neighbor Totoro DVD release, which features both English and Japanese soundtracks and subtitles as well as many extras added by Hayao Miyazaki
- Also, look for fresh stock of the very detailed PVC statues of Totoro and Laputa, by Cominca
- For swimsuit idol fans, enjoy the super-cute photobook offering of Asaki Yoshida, as well as fresh stock of Yuko Ogura's delightful photobooks
- If you love Japanese snacks, we've got some great items for you, including Mitsuya Cider hard candies (these are really good), and Astro Boy hot chocolate
- Also, by customer request, we've got the delicious cola flavored bubblegum made by Marukawa, a popular gum with Japanophiles all over the world
- If you remember Speed Racer, we've got a treat for you: the only-sold-in-Japan Speed Racer Hot Wheels car, with great detailing and full Hot Wheels quality
- For students of Japanese, we recommend the Canon Wordtank electronic dictionaries, which is a superb way to find any Japanese word quickly -- we've restocked the best-selling IDC-310 and IDF-4600 for you
- We've got some soft all-purpose bags which are great for carrying anything, popular with young Japanese girls in Japan these days
- For Hello Kitty fans, we've got more Kitty goods you can't find outside of Japan, like a cool contact lens case set, cute Kitty notebooks, the Kitty toy camera and cash register, and more
- For Blythe fans, we've restocked the Cinnamon Girl and Hollywood Returns doll sets, very stylish and sleek
- Finally, find more adult length chopsticks, a restocking of bento related items, and more!
For our 18+ customers, we've got some great products for adults. They include:
- For fans of the excellent Penthouse Japan and Penthouse Special, magazines that feature only Japanese models photographed by Japanese photographers, we have the great new issues in stock for you!
- Also, additional stock of discounted magazines, starting at just $5 -- check them out!
- For photobook lovers, don't miss out on Erotic Revolution, the fabulous lingerie photobook by Race Queen Akane Souma
- Also, we've got the pure and lovely nude of Mirano Matsushita for you, too, a lovely book that we recommend, as well as the delightful pocket photobook of beautiful girls in costume paradise
- For fans of girls' cat fighting, a growing fetish in Japan, we've got a fun all-cat fight bondage book, featuring pretty girls slugging it out
- For hentai manga fans, we have some great new books for you, including a tale of petite sexual robots, a great doujinshi anthology, and the excellent Shot Through the Heart by Mujin Comics
- Also, we've got some dynamite new doujinshi, fresh released at the past Comic Market -- enjoy Gundam Seed, Please Teacher and game girl hentai doujinshi for you, as well as several new CD-ROM collections of hentai images
- Also, Yasu has made a general restocking of manga and doujinshi, with many items back in stock, including the great works of Fujio Okamoto, Capricious of You, Festival for Lovers, Branded, and the popular "dick girl" books of Behind Moon
- For yaoi lovers, we've got another very interesting collection of erotic stories, this time with a focus on men who wear glasses
- Then from Wani, we've got a fabulous art book of gothic hentai art compiled by four talented artists, something that's not to be missed
- Also, fresh stock of the excellent erotic art books of Satoshi Urushihara
- If you like our unique adult toy products, which feature products made exclusively for the Japanese market, we've restocked the popular "Japan Rotor" egg-style vibrators, as well as the inflatable Hitomi Hayasaka Love Pillow
- For our DVD customers, we've got some great new items for you, starting with a new Masterpiece Concentration of the tragic Nozomi Momoi -- celebrate her life with her latest release (region free)
- Maria Tagaki star is really rising fast -- see Super Star, her great new release from Calen (region free)
- Explore the world of lesbian kissing and sex in a new release from Soft on Demand, featuring pure lesbian sex with only women (region free)
- Then enjoy more all-nude volleyball, this time with erotic and experienced "jukujo" or older women, aged 25-30 (region free)
- Then from Moodyz, enjoy the "G-Style" sex of busty AV gal Yuria Yoshinaga, G cup, whose delightful sex will thrill you (region 2)
- Then, the lovely Ayana Minami is sacrificed at the altar of Black Bukkake, in a new "Japanese girl vs. big black men" bukkake special (region 2)
- Finally, look for freshly restocked and price-reduced DVDs, including Nao Oikawa's Bukkake Ittassho in Los Angeles, Amateur Bukkake, lesbian offerings and more!
Remember that J-List carries excellent magazine by our "reserve subscription." This means that you can get great anime, JPOP, fashion and other magazines sent to you as soon as the new issue is out in Japan -- a few days earlier than newsstands receive them here, in fact. We recommend great items like Young Magazine Uppers, a superb manga magazine that features Shirow Masamune's newest posters in special issues as well as great comic art from some of Japan's best manga-ka (manga artists). Payment through any method is fine (credit card, Paypal, check or money order) and you can stop your subscription at any time.
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