The Japanese like to drink, and beer is usually the drink of choice. Whenever you have a frosty one, it's customary to eat "otsumami" (OH-tsu-mah-mee), a word which means any snack food you munch on with alcohol. There are many of these foods sold alongside alcohol in liquor and convenience stores, some of which might look quite odd to Westerners. First there's "kakipea," spicy rice crackers with peanuts, a favorite of the J-List staff. I am also partial to "chee-kama" or little sausages of steamed fish (kamaboko) with cheese inside. Another treat that goes well with beer are fried okra, which taste like potato chips but are healthier. Spicy beef jerky is often eaten with beer, as is saki-ika, or dried, shredded squid, which seems to taste better the longer I live in Japan. If you don't like the idea of eating squid, think of it using its other name, cuttlefish, but trust me, it's really good.
It goes without saying, but the dynamics at work between the sexes in Japan are quite different from the West, with men and women filling roles that might seem incredibly sexist and outdated to outsiders. Often, it's interesting to analyze the words Japanese people use every day for clues about the relationships between men and women. Two popular words for a person's wife are oku-san and kanai, which mean "Mrs. Interior" and "In-The-House" and are an echo from an era when women really did stay home all day. (My wife gets a big kick out of these words.) Words for husband include shujin and danna, which basically mean "master" when you look at the original kanji characters. Of course, Japanese aren't aware of the meanings of these words on a conscious level, any more than we reflect on the Greek or Latin origins of the words we use in English, but it is still interesting to pick apart the words nevertheless. I recommend Womensword by Kittredge Cherry for more information on understanding women through language.
Japanese companies are very good at coming up with special events to promote their products. The meat industry pushes February 9th as "meat day" because 2 and 9 ("ni" and "ku" in Japanese) make up the word for meat in Japanese ("niku"). On February 14th, women show their feelings for men by giving them chocolate. The commercial powers-that-be have established White Day, March 14, as the day when men must return the favor, giving white chocolate or other doilies back to women. Japan's optometrists designate October 10 as "Eye Day" (Me no Hi) because "10 10" looks like two eyes with eyebrows if you look sideways. And the Glico Confectionery Company has proclaimed that November 11 is "Pocky Day" because the "11/11" looks like little Pocky sticks. In commemoration of Pocky Day tomorrow, we've stocked lots of different flavors of Japan's delicious chocolate pretzel snacks for you, including traditional Chocolate Pocky and the amazing new Cocoa Powder Pocky!
At J-List, we carry some truly amazing items from Japan. Since we love sushi, we're happy to offer many sushi-related items, from the 2005 Joy of Sushi calendar to Sushi Gummi, delicious fruit-flavored gummy fish on marshmallow rice, a popular product J-List has been bringing the world for years. We also sell an item I personally love, sushi clocks made with real hand-made wax sushi, with chopsticks for minute and hour hands and a toothpick for the second hand. The detail of the wax sushi is incredible, good enough to eat. To make it easier for you to give these amazing clocks as gifts this year, we've lowered the prices of all clocks. Don't delay, as our stock is limited to what we have on hand.
Remember that J-List carries the ultra-cute "Groomy" plush pet line from Elecom, cute plush toys designed with soft chamois bottoms to wipe away dust and fingerprints from your computer screen. We stock both the normal sized Groomy pets as well as the small-sized Chibi Groomy, which include a phone strap/keychain so you can take it with you anywhere.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Greetings from J-List 11/10/04
The Japanese like to drink, and beer is usually the drink of choice. Whenever you have a frosty one, it's customary to eat "otsumami" (OH-tsu-mah-mee), a word which means any snack food you munch on with alcohol. There are many of these foods sold alongside alcohol in liquor and convenience stores, some of which might look quite odd to Westerners. First there's "kakipea," spicy rice crackers with peanuts, a favorite of the J-List staff. I am also partial to "chee-kama" or little sausages of steamed fish (kamaboko) with cheese inside. Another treat that goes well with beer are fried okra, which taste like potato chips but are healthier. Spicy beef jerky is often eaten with beer, as is saki-ika, or dried, shredded squid, which seems to taste better the longer I live in Japan. If you don't like the idea of eating squid, think of it using its other name, cuttlefish, but trust me, it's really good.
It goes without saying, but the dynamics at work between the sexes in Japan are quite different from the West, with men and women filling roles that might seem incredibly sexist and outdated to outsiders. Often, it's interesting to analyze the words Japanese people use every day for clues about the relationships between men and women. Two popular words for a person's wife are oku-san and kanai, which mean "Mrs. Interior" and "In-The-House" and are an echo from an era when women really did stay home all day. (My wife gets a big kick out of these words.) Words for husband include shujin and danna, which basically mean "master" when you look at the original kanji characters. Of course, Japanese aren't aware of the meanings of these words on a conscious level, any more than we reflect on the Greek or Latin origins of the words we use in English, but it is still interesting to pick apart the words nevertheless. I recommend Womensword by Kittredge Cherry for more information on understanding women through language.
Japanese companies are very good at coming up with special events to promote their products. The meat industry pushes February 9th as "meat day" because 2 and 9 ("ni" and "ku" in Japanese) make up the word for meat in Japanese ("niku"). On February 14th, women show their feelings for men by giving them chocolate. The commercial powers-that-be have established White Day, March 14, as the day when men must return the favor, giving white chocolate or other doilies back to women. Japan's optometrists designate October 10 as "Eye Day" (Me no Hi) because "10 10" looks like two eyes with eyebrows if you look sideways. And the Glico Confectionery Company has proclaimed that November 11 is "Pocky Day" because the "11/11" looks like little Pocky sticks. In commemoration of Pocky Day tomorrow, we've stocked lots of different flavors of Japan's delicious chocolate pretzel snacks for you, including traditional Chocolate Pocky and the amazing new Cocoa Powder Pocky!
At J-List, we carry some truly amazing items from Japan. Since we love sushi, we're happy to offer many sushi-related items, from the 2005 Joy of Sushi calendar to Sushi Gummi, delicious fruit-flavored gummy fish on marshmallow rice, a popular product J-List has been bringing the world for years. We also sell an item I personally love, sushi clocks made with real hand-made wax sushi, with chopsticks for minute and hour hands and a toothpick for the second hand. The detail of the wax sushi is incredible, good enough to eat. To make it easier for you to give these amazing clocks as gifts this year, we've lowered the prices of all clocks. Don't delay, as our stock is limited to what we have on hand.
Remember that J-List carries the ultra-cute "Groomy" plush pet line from Elecom, cute plush toys designed with soft chamois bottoms to wipe away dust and fingerprints from your computer screen. We stock both the normal sized Groomy pets as well as the small-sized Chibi Groomy, which include a phone strap/keychain so you can take it with you anywhere.
It goes without saying, but the dynamics at work between the sexes in Japan are quite different from the West, with men and women filling roles that might seem incredibly sexist and outdated to outsiders. Often, it's interesting to analyze the words Japanese people use every day for clues about the relationships between men and women. Two popular words for a person's wife are oku-san and kanai, which mean "Mrs. Interior" and "In-The-House" and are an echo from an era when women really did stay home all day. (My wife gets a big kick out of these words.) Words for husband include shujin and danna, which basically mean "master" when you look at the original kanji characters. Of course, Japanese aren't aware of the meanings of these words on a conscious level, any more than we reflect on the Greek or Latin origins of the words we use in English, but it is still interesting to pick apart the words nevertheless. I recommend Womensword by Kittredge Cherry for more information on understanding women through language.
Japanese companies are very good at coming up with special events to promote their products. The meat industry pushes February 9th as "meat day" because 2 and 9 ("ni" and "ku" in Japanese) make up the word for meat in Japanese ("niku"). On February 14th, women show their feelings for men by giving them chocolate. The commercial powers-that-be have established White Day, March 14, as the day when men must return the favor, giving white chocolate or other doilies back to women. Japan's optometrists designate October 10 as "Eye Day" (Me no Hi) because "10 10" looks like two eyes with eyebrows if you look sideways. And the Glico Confectionery Company has proclaimed that November 11 is "Pocky Day" because the "11/11" looks like little Pocky sticks. In commemoration of Pocky Day tomorrow, we've stocked lots of different flavors of Japan's delicious chocolate pretzel snacks for you, including traditional Chocolate Pocky and the amazing new Cocoa Powder Pocky!
At J-List, we carry some truly amazing items from Japan. Since we love sushi, we're happy to offer many sushi-related items, from the 2005 Joy of Sushi calendar to Sushi Gummi, delicious fruit-flavored gummy fish on marshmallow rice, a popular product J-List has been bringing the world for years. We also sell an item I personally love, sushi clocks made with real hand-made wax sushi, with chopsticks for minute and hour hands and a toothpick for the second hand. The detail of the wax sushi is incredible, good enough to eat. To make it easier for you to give these amazing clocks as gifts this year, we've lowered the prices of all clocks. Don't delay, as our stock is limited to what we have on hand.
Remember that J-List carries the ultra-cute "Groomy" plush pet line from Elecom, cute plush toys designed with soft chamois bottoms to wipe away dust and fingerprints from your computer screen. We stock both the normal sized Groomy pets as well as the small-sized Chibi Groomy, which include a phone strap/keychain so you can take it with you anywhere.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Greetings from J-List 11/8/04
When I came to Japan, I had my share of culture shock. Women in kimonos riding an ultramodern Shinkansen. Vending machines everywhere. Old men wearing "Osamu Tezuka" caps. Between steep wooden stairs in houses and the lack of infant carseats and child-safety caps on medicine bottles, I also thought that Japan must be a dangerous place to be a baby. I was also surprised to see Japanese walking around with interesting hair colors, from copper to brown to the full blonde Japanese soccer player Inamoto sported at the 2002 World Cup. A long time ago, the only Japanese to dye their hair were bozo-zoku, the rebellious youths that ride motorcycles modified to be extra loud, who are also known as yankii, possibly from the English word "yankee" because of their light-colored hair. Sometime in the late 80s, though, hair dying caught on as a universal fashion, and women and men with auburn or brown hair are not rare at all anymore (although the current fashion for kogals seems to be tending back towards black this year). While coloring hair in anime colors like blue and green never caught on with young people, I have noticed that elderly Japanese women sometimes choose colors like purple and blue for their hair. Yet another unsolved mystery for Japan!
Like people everywhere, Japanese are very health conscious, and are always keeping one eye on health trends. It seems every time I watch daytime variety shows on TV, some new traditional Japanese food that enables people to live to the age of 102 is being talked about. In recent years, we've seen several "health booms" such as energy drinks with amino acids added, green tea with fat-busting elements called katekin, eating onions to make your blood "sara sara" (smooth-flowing) instead of "doro doro" (syrupy), and putting tape around your fingers as a dieting aid. The current trend in health in Japan? Kurozu, a black rice vinegar which is supposed to help turn an acidic body into an alkaline one, or something to that effect. After every meal my wife hands me a glass of diluted black vinegar to drink.
Do you know what year it is? I often don't. In addition to the standard Western calendar, the Japanese have a unique system of counting years based on the reign of the current emperor. It's currently the 16th year of the Heisei era (Heisei means "accomplishment of peace"), which began when Emperor Hirohito died and was succeeded by his son, Akihito, so this year is Heisei 16. Before Heisei was the Showa era (from 1925 to 1988), before that was Taisho, and Meiji, and so on -- Japanese students have to memorize them all. When you live in Japan, you quickly learn your own birth year according to the Japanese system, since you need it to fill out various forms (I was born in Showa 43, e.g. 1968). Incidentally, the current Emperor of Japan is 125th in an unbroken line of emperors going back 2000 years. His name is Akihito, but since he's always called "Emperor Heisei" in Japan, it's quite common for Japanese to not know the name of their own emperor.
J-List sells hundreds of great DVDs from Japan, most of which are "region free" (meaning you can play them on any standard DVD player). For people who want to watch DVDs from all over the world, including anime and indies JAV region 2 discs from Japan, we've restocked our popular region free DVD players in San Diego. We have the highly functional small-footprint DVD-800 in stock again, as well as the popular half-height DVD-7890 and full-featured DVD-7880K (which includes a karaoke feature). These players are made in Taiwan for the U.S. market and are fully compatible with North American power, and carry one year warranties. And these amazing players start at just $78.
Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay at anime cons or as normal socks that help keep you warm in the cooler months.
J-List customers tell us that the #1 way they hear about J-List is through word-of-mouth. We're very glad to hear this, and we're always happy to have you recommend J-List to your friends! If you've got a friend who might be interested in our unique brand of Japanese pop culture, why not tell them about J-List, or ask them to sign up to our J-List updates? Thanks!
Like people everywhere, Japanese are very health conscious, and are always keeping one eye on health trends. It seems every time I watch daytime variety shows on TV, some new traditional Japanese food that enables people to live to the age of 102 is being talked about. In recent years, we've seen several "health booms" such as energy drinks with amino acids added, green tea with fat-busting elements called katekin, eating onions to make your blood "sara sara" (smooth-flowing) instead of "doro doro" (syrupy), and putting tape around your fingers as a dieting aid. The current trend in health in Japan? Kurozu, a black rice vinegar which is supposed to help turn an acidic body into an alkaline one, or something to that effect. After every meal my wife hands me a glass of diluted black vinegar to drink.
Do you know what year it is? I often don't. In addition to the standard Western calendar, the Japanese have a unique system of counting years based on the reign of the current emperor. It's currently the 16th year of the Heisei era (Heisei means "accomplishment of peace"), which began when Emperor Hirohito died and was succeeded by his son, Akihito, so this year is Heisei 16. Before Heisei was the Showa era (from 1925 to 1988), before that was Taisho, and Meiji, and so on -- Japanese students have to memorize them all. When you live in Japan, you quickly learn your own birth year according to the Japanese system, since you need it to fill out various forms (I was born in Showa 43, e.g. 1968). Incidentally, the current Emperor of Japan is 125th in an unbroken line of emperors going back 2000 years. His name is Akihito, but since he's always called "Emperor Heisei" in Japan, it's quite common for Japanese to not know the name of their own emperor.
J-List sells hundreds of great DVDs from Japan, most of which are "region free" (meaning you can play them on any standard DVD player). For people who want to watch DVDs from all over the world, including anime and indies JAV region 2 discs from Japan, we've restocked our popular region free DVD players in San Diego. We have the highly functional small-footprint DVD-800 in stock again, as well as the popular half-height DVD-7890 and full-featured DVD-7880K (which includes a karaoke feature). These players are made in Taiwan for the U.S. market and are fully compatible with North American power, and carry one year warranties. And these amazing players start at just $78.
Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay at anime cons or as normal socks that help keep you warm in the cooler months.
J-List customers tell us that the #1 way they hear about J-List is through word-of-mouth. We're very glad to hear this, and we're always happy to have you recommend J-List to your friends! If you've got a friend who might be interested in our unique brand of Japanese pop culture, why not tell them about J-List, or ask them to sign up to our J-List updates? Thanks!
Friday, November 05, 2004
Greetings from J-List 11/5/04
When Icame to Japan, I had my share of culture shock. Women in kimonos riding an ultramodern Shinkansen. Vending machines everywhere. Old men wearing "Osamu Tezuka" caps. Between steep wooden stairs in houses and the lack of infant carseats and child-safety caps on medicine bottles, I also thought that Japan must be a dangerous place to be a baby. I was also surprised to see Japanese walking around with interesting hair colors, from copper to brown to the full blonde Japanese soccer player Inamoto sported at the 2002 World Cup. A long time ago, the only Japanese to dye their hair were bozo-zoku, the rebellious youths that ride motorcycles modified to be extra loud, who are also known as yankii, possibly from the English word "yankee" because of their light-colored hair. Sometime in the late 80s, though, hair dying caught on as a universal fashion, and women and men with auburn or brown hair are not rare at all anymore (although the current fashion for kogals seems to be tending back towards black this year). While coloring hair in anime colors like blue and green never caught on with young people, I have noticed that elderly Japanese women sometimes choose colors like purple and blue for their hair. Yet another unsolved mystery for Japan!
Like people everywhere, Japanese are very health conscious, and are always keeping one eye on health trends. It seems every time I watch daytime variety shows on TV, some new traditional Japanese food that enables people to live to the age of 102 is being talked about. In recent years, we've seen several "health booms" such as energy drinks with amino acids added, green tea with fat-busting elements called katekin, eating onions to make your blood "sara sara" (smooth-flowing) instead of "doro doro" (syrupy), and putting tape around your fingers as a dieting aid. The current trend in health in Japan? Kurozu, a black rice vinegar which is supposed to help turn an acidic body into an alkaline one, or something to that effect. After every meal my wife hands me a glass of diluted black vinegar to drink.
Do you know what year it is? I often don't. In addition to the standard Western calendar, the Japanese have a unique system of counting years based on the reign of the current emperor. It's currently the 16th year of the Heisei era (Heisei means "accomplishment of peace"), which began when Emperor Hirohito died and was succeeded by his son, Akihito, so this year is Heisei 16. Before Heisei was the Showa era (from 1925 to 1988), before that was Taisho, and Meiji, and so on -- Japanese students have to memorize them all. When you live in Japan, you quickly learn your own birth year according to the Japanese system, since you need it to fill out various forms (I was born in Showa 43, e.g. 1968). Incidentally, the current Emperor of Japan is 125th in an unbroken line of emperors going back 2000 years. His name is Akihito, but since he's always called "Emperor Heisei" in Japan, it's quite common for Japanese to not know the name of their own emperor.
J-List sells hundreds of great DVDs from Japan, most of which are "region free" (meaning you can play them on any standard DVD player). For people who want to watch DVDs from all over the world, including anime and indies JAV region 2 discs from Japan, we've restocked our popular region free DVD players in San Diego. We have the highly functional small-footprint DVD-800 in stock again, as well as the popular half-height DVD-7890 and full-featured DVD-7880K (which includes a karaoke feature). These players are made in Taiwan for the U.S. market and are fully compatible with North American power, and carry one year warranties. And these amazing players start at just $78.
Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay at anime cons or as normal socks that help keep you warm in the cooler months.
J-List customers tell us that the #1 way they hear about J-List is through word-of-mouth. We're very glad to hear this, and we're always happy to have you recommend J-List to your friends! If you've got a friend who might be interested in our unique brand of Japanese pop culture, why not tell them about J-List, or ask them to sign up to our J-List updates? Thanks!
Like people everywhere, Japanese are very health conscious, and are always keeping one eye on health trends. It seems every time I watch daytime variety shows on TV, some new traditional Japanese food that enables people to live to the age of 102 is being talked about. In recent years, we've seen several "health booms" such as energy drinks with amino acids added, green tea with fat-busting elements called katekin, eating onions to make your blood "sara sara" (smooth-flowing) instead of "doro doro" (syrupy), and putting tape around your fingers as a dieting aid. The current trend in health in Japan? Kurozu, a black rice vinegar which is supposed to help turn an acidic body into an alkaline one, or something to that effect. After every meal my wife hands me a glass of diluted black vinegar to drink.
Do you know what year it is? I often don't. In addition to the standard Western calendar, the Japanese have a unique system of counting years based on the reign of the current emperor. It's currently the 16th year of the Heisei era (Heisei means "accomplishment of peace"), which began when Emperor Hirohito died and was succeeded by his son, Akihito, so this year is Heisei 16. Before Heisei was the Showa era (from 1925 to 1988), before that was Taisho, and Meiji, and so on -- Japanese students have to memorize them all. When you live in Japan, you quickly learn your own birth year according to the Japanese system, since you need it to fill out various forms (I was born in Showa 43, e.g. 1968). Incidentally, the current Emperor of Japan is 125th in an unbroken line of emperors going back 2000 years. His name is Akihito, but since he's always called "Emperor Heisei" in Japan, it's quite common for Japanese to not know the name of their own emperor.
J-List sells hundreds of great DVDs from Japan, most of which are "region free" (meaning you can play them on any standard DVD player). For people who want to watch DVDs from all over the world, including anime and indies JAV region 2 discs from Japan, we've restocked our popular region free DVD players in San Diego. We have the highly functional small-footprint DVD-800 in stock again, as well as the popular half-height DVD-7890 and full-featured DVD-7880K (which includes a karaoke feature). These players are made in Taiwan for the U.S. market and are fully compatible with North American power, and carry one year warranties. And these amazing players start at just $78.
Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay at anime cons or as normal socks that help keep you warm in the cooler months.
J-List customers tell us that the #1 way they hear about J-List is through word-of-mouth. We're very glad to hear this, and we're always happy to have you recommend J-List to your friends! If you've got a friend who might be interested in our unique brand of Japanese pop culture, why not tell them about J-List, or ask them to sign up to our J-List updates? Thanks!
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Greetings from J-List 11/3/2004
One interesting social concept I see at work a lot in Japan is the idea of "gaman," which means to endure or to tolerate something that's difficult to bear. The idea that is that if there's something you don't like around you, it's better to endure it stoically in an act of self-sacrifice rather than than act immediately to change it. We see this every day: my wife and I will go to a restaurant that's much too cold, yet no one speaks up to ask the staff to turn the air conditioning down, preferring instead to tolerate the unpleasant situation. We don't subscribe to this notion, however, and will generally break the "wa" of the room by asking the staff to turn the air conditioning down. Once, the officers of a skiing club we belong to were reporting on the expenses incurred over the past year, but there were many large and small irregularities in the numbers. Other members had noticed these problems in the past, but refrained from openly questioning the suspicious expenses. Not so my wife: she stopped the meeting, making them explain all the sloppy accounting issues to her satisfaction. Gaman is something that parents strive to teach to their kids at an early age here, since there are many situations when children need these skills here. The idea of an employee sacrificing himself for the good of his company or of a wife looking the other way when her husband has an affair are linked to this concept. There's a phrase the Japanese use quite often which reflects this tendency to endure something rather than change it: sho ga nai (also shikata ga nai), which means "It can't be helped."
Like the HSBC bank advertisements say, never underestimate the importance of local knowledge. That's true when you're comparing the U.S. with Japan, too. To Americans, the basic idea of soup is Campbell's chicken noodle, but in Japan, it's creamy corn soup, sometimes with corn flakes sprinkled on top. When a child loses a tooth in the U.S., the Tooth Fairy takes it away, leaving money in its place; in Japan, you throw the tooth on the roof (if it was a lower tooth) or under your house (if it was a upper tooth). When you take delivery of a new car, you always do it on a lucky day (Taian) according to a Buddhist weekly calendar, to avoid having a traffic accident. And in the U.S., we sometimes count things by writing "chicken scratch" marks on a sheet of paper, with each completed set of lines equal to five, but in Japan, they write the character for honesty and correctness (tadashii). To see what the character looks like, as well as the stroke order for writing it, click here: http://www.jlist.com/tadashii/
You probably set your clock an hour back on Sunday. 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.
J-List is happy to bring you the amazing products of Yulia Nova, the beautiful Russian model who is very popular in Japan and throughout the Internet. We're happy to announce that the two new DVD releases that had been posted for preorder are in stock now, and they're really gorgeous. Both feature 30+ minutes of totally new footage, are completely remastered from the originals, and are mosaic-free. The DVDs also feature info on upcoming Yulia Nova releases.
Remember that it's 2005 calendar season right now! This means that for a limited time only, we've got a huge stock (over 250+) of unique anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, sports and other calendars that are printed and sold in Japan. Why do we have so many calendars, instead of just carrying the most popular 20 or 30? Because we genuinely love Japan, we want to give you as wide a selection as possible, including items that might not be popular with everyone (but might be perfect for you).
Like the HSBC bank advertisements say, never underestimate the importance of local knowledge. That's true when you're comparing the U.S. with Japan, too. To Americans, the basic idea of soup is Campbell's chicken noodle, but in Japan, it's creamy corn soup, sometimes with corn flakes sprinkled on top. When a child loses a tooth in the U.S., the Tooth Fairy takes it away, leaving money in its place; in Japan, you throw the tooth on the roof (if it was a lower tooth) or under your house (if it was a upper tooth). When you take delivery of a new car, you always do it on a lucky day (Taian) according to a Buddhist weekly calendar, to avoid having a traffic accident. And in the U.S., we sometimes count things by writing "chicken scratch" marks on a sheet of paper, with each completed set of lines equal to five, but in Japan, they write the character for honesty and correctness (tadashii). To see what the character looks like, as well as the stroke order for writing it, click here: http://www.jlist.com/tadashii/
You probably set your clock an hour back on Sunday. 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.
J-List is happy to bring you the amazing products of Yulia Nova, the beautiful Russian model who is very popular in Japan and throughout the Internet. We're happy to announce that the two new DVD releases that had been posted for preorder are in stock now, and they're really gorgeous. Both feature 30+ minutes of totally new footage, are completely remastered from the originals, and are mosaic-free. The DVDs also feature info on upcoming Yulia Nova releases.
Remember that it's 2005 calendar season right now! This means that for a limited time only, we've got a huge stock (over 250+) of unique anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, sports and other calendars that are printed and sold in Japan. Why do we have so many calendars, instead of just carrying the most popular 20 or 30? Because we genuinely love Japan, we want to give you as wide a selection as possible, including items that might not be popular with everyone (but might be perfect for you).
Monday, November 01, 2004
Friday, October 29, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
Greetings from J-List 10/25/2004
What a year Japan is having! Right after last week's typhoon killed 78 people, Japan has been racked by several strong earthquakes centered in Niigata, 300 km north of Tokyo. The epicenter of the quakes were around 150 km from here, but they shook us up here quite a bit (I was in the middle of getting my hair cut). There was no damage here, save frayed nerves and fallen objects that needed to be picked up, but the constant string of aftershocks every hour or so (including a big one that woke us up this morning) has kept us all on edge. The quakes have killed 25 people so far, and displaced tens of thousands -- outside my window I can hear military helicopters ferrying food and water to Niigata, because many of the roads are inaccessible. The quakes managed to derail a Shinkansen, the first time this has ever happened ever since the bullet trains began operation in 1964. The three big quakes measured 6.8 on the Richter scale; the quake that killed 6400 in Kobe in 1995 was a 7.2.
I'm a big fan of "onsen" (pronounced OWN-sen), or natural hot springs, and living in a very volcanic country like Japan, there are plenty of hot springs for me and my family to try out. But for a few months now, Japan's onsen industry has been turned upside down on news that several hot spring famous for their milky white color actually contained artificial store-bought additives. Now anytime we go to an onsen there are disclaimers specifying that this bath is a 100% natural onsen emanating from such-and-such underground spring. Today we just happen to have some cool bath tablets called Bub, so you can experience your very own Japanese hot springs at home.
It's starting to get quite cool in Japan these days, and the northernmost island of Hokkaido (ho-KAI-doh) has gotten its first snowstorms. Because Japanese homes lack central heating, it can be hard to keep warm, especially for a San Diego boy like me. This is the beginning of "kotatsu season" for our family, when we sit on the floor with our legs in our kotatsu, a low table with a blanket over it and a heater inside. You put your legs in the kotatsu, which warms your whole body; for the complete Japanese winter experience, drink hot green tea and eat mikans (mandarin oranges) at the same time. Koatsus are always the warmest place in the house, and cats love to sleep inside them -- so does my daughter, although sleeping in a kotatsu is a good way to catch a cold. Since electricity is expensive in Japan, most people use kerosene heaters, either stand-alone heaters called "stoves" (suto-bu), or electric-kerosene heaters that blow heated air (called "fan heaters") to heat rooms. These are economical, but smell bad (the kerosene fumes give you a headache after a few hours), and whenever the tank inside the heater runs out of fuel, someone (usually me) has to go outside and freeze while they refill the tank from the kerosene jugs kept outside. Then there's the agony of over-filling the tank and spilling kerosene everywhere, which I am all too familiar with.
We love to bring amazing and rare things to you from Japan. One of our favorite categories of character products are the excellent Totoro toys and other items made by companies like Sun Arrow, a famous toy maker that's been in business for over a century. Some of the Totoro items we sell are really amazing treasures, like the all-wood hand-made Totoro clock we've posted to the site today. It's really an amazing item for Totoro collectors all over the world!
Remember that the time to order 2005 calendars is now, what with the deadline for preorders ending soon. We've got an extensive amount of great anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, traditional and other calendars in stock, printed exclusively for the Japanese market but available through us. Japanese calendars are really something special, with large glossy sheets that are great to show off proudly in any room. Get 4 or more calendars, and get your shipping tubes for free, as well as a 15% discount.
I'm a big fan of "onsen" (pronounced OWN-sen), or natural hot springs, and living in a very volcanic country like Japan, there are plenty of hot springs for me and my family to try out. But for a few months now, Japan's onsen industry has been turned upside down on news that several hot spring famous for their milky white color actually contained artificial store-bought additives. Now anytime we go to an onsen there are disclaimers specifying that this bath is a 100% natural onsen emanating from such-and-such underground spring. Today we just happen to have some cool bath tablets called Bub, so you can experience your very own Japanese hot springs at home.
It's starting to get quite cool in Japan these days, and the northernmost island of Hokkaido (ho-KAI-doh) has gotten its first snowstorms. Because Japanese homes lack central heating, it can be hard to keep warm, especially for a San Diego boy like me. This is the beginning of "kotatsu season" for our family, when we sit on the floor with our legs in our kotatsu, a low table with a blanket over it and a heater inside. You put your legs in the kotatsu, which warms your whole body; for the complete Japanese winter experience, drink hot green tea and eat mikans (mandarin oranges) at the same time. Koatsus are always the warmest place in the house, and cats love to sleep inside them -- so does my daughter, although sleeping in a kotatsu is a good way to catch a cold. Since electricity is expensive in Japan, most people use kerosene heaters, either stand-alone heaters called "stoves" (suto-bu), or electric-kerosene heaters that blow heated air (called "fan heaters") to heat rooms. These are economical, but smell bad (the kerosene fumes give you a headache after a few hours), and whenever the tank inside the heater runs out of fuel, someone (usually me) has to go outside and freeze while they refill the tank from the kerosene jugs kept outside. Then there's the agony of over-filling the tank and spilling kerosene everywhere, which I am all too familiar with.
We love to bring amazing and rare things to you from Japan. One of our favorite categories of character products are the excellent Totoro toys and other items made by companies like Sun Arrow, a famous toy maker that's been in business for over a century. Some of the Totoro items we sell are really amazing treasures, like the all-wood hand-made Totoro clock we've posted to the site today. It's really an amazing item for Totoro collectors all over the world!
Remember that the time to order 2005 calendars is now, what with the deadline for preorders ending soon. We've got an extensive amount of great anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, traditional and other calendars in stock, printed exclusively for the Japanese market but available through us. Japanese calendars are really something special, with large glossy sheets that are great to show off proudly in any room. Get 4 or more calendars, and get your shipping tubes for free, as well as a 15% discount.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Greetings from J-List 10/22/03
Like Bill Gates and Donald Trump, the movers and shakers of the Japanese business world -- the "shacho" or company presidents -- are constantly in the public eye. One of the most famous Japanese businessmen is Son-shacho (President Son, pronounced "sohn" so that it rhymes with bone), owner of the Softbank investment empire, which started back in the early 1980's when young Son-san brought a little game to the U.S. called Invader Game (Space Invaders to you and me). Now he's the prime mover behind Yahoo BB, a broadband provider that's cropping up everywhere, and has his investment fingers in every pie here. Another star in the business world is Takafumi Horie, the 31-year-old president of Livedoor, a Yahoo clone who wants to own a baseball team. The blogging young businessman, famous for wearing T-shirts even when being interviewed by prestigious news shows, rubs many established businessmen the wrong way. A third person who's well known in business here is President Goshn, Brazillian-born head of Nissan installed by Renault in 1999. He's turned the company around beautifully, and is hailed in the business press as a miracle-worker here in Japan.
Tokyo is the capital of Japan, and you've never seen a more massive tangle of concrete, narrow roads, and interesting urban culture. A sprawling megacity that overflows into neighboring cities of Kawasaki and Yokoyama, the Tokyo metropolitan area is a separate geographic entity, not part of any prefecture (much like the District of Columbia in the U.S.). Tokyo's population of 12 million rises to 14 million during the day, as people from the surrounding areas commute up to 2 hours to work. The city has been the unofficial capital of the country since 1603, when Shogun Tokugawa unified the country and put his seat of power there; this status became official with the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The name Tokyo means "east capital" and contrary to advertisements for airlines I've seen, it doesn't mean "capital of the East" (as in, the most important travel destination in Asia) -- Tokyo is to the east of the old capital of Kyoto. This naming comes from China, home of Peking/Beijing ("north capital") and Nanking ("south capital"). The layout of Tokyo is heavily influenced by the Chinese practice of feng-shui, or finding good luck through careful design of landscape or the layout of rooms.
If you ever find yourself in Tokyo, there's plenty to do, but bring plenty of money. The first place foreigners will probably want to go to is Akihabara, Japan's Mecca for electronics and otaku culture. To get there, ride the Yama-no-te loop line that goes around Tokyo, and watch all the other foreigners on the train; when they all get off, that's Akihabara. To experience the urban grunge fashion found in FRUiTs magazine and see a lot of cool shops, go to Harajuku; hit the Meiji Jingu shrine while you're there, since it's nearby. For a taste of Japan's youth-driven night culture, go to Shibuya on a Saturday night and just people-watch -- be sure and check out the famous statue of Hachiko, the faithful dog who waited at the station for his master to come home, not knowing that he had died, and the "scramble" intersection, Japan's most famous crosswalk. Roppongi is good for its clubs, and the Hard Rock Cafe there is the best in the country (there's a giant gorilla climbing up the side of the building). Shinjuku is a major train station and commercial area -- a whopping 2 million people pass through the station every day. As a fan of 80s anime, I've always loved Shinjuku, which appeared in everything from Megazone 23 to City Hunter. While Tokyo is a little short on traditional Japanese culture, one of the most popular sightseeing spots is Asakusa, a large shrine area with many nice shops around it. Of course, if you like sushi as much as I do, try to find any excuse to go to Edokko Sushi in Narita City, near the airport, for the largest, freshest sushi you'll ever find. We went there on our way to Guam and fell in love with it all over again...
Remember that orders for 2005 calendars will be closed soon, and when that happens, it will be very hard for us to get the excellent and rare Japanese calendars that you want unless we happen to have some in stock. Orders for calendars made after Nov 5th or so will be very hard to fill, so we ask that you get your calendar orders in as quickly as possible. They make wonderful Christmas gifts too!
Tokyo is the capital of Japan, and you've never seen a more massive tangle of concrete, narrow roads, and interesting urban culture. A sprawling megacity that overflows into neighboring cities of Kawasaki and Yokoyama, the Tokyo metropolitan area is a separate geographic entity, not part of any prefecture (much like the District of Columbia in the U.S.). Tokyo's population of 12 million rises to 14 million during the day, as people from the surrounding areas commute up to 2 hours to work. The city has been the unofficial capital of the country since 1603, when Shogun Tokugawa unified the country and put his seat of power there; this status became official with the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The name Tokyo means "east capital" and contrary to advertisements for airlines I've seen, it doesn't mean "capital of the East" (as in, the most important travel destination in Asia) -- Tokyo is to the east of the old capital of Kyoto. This naming comes from China, home of Peking/Beijing ("north capital") and Nanking ("south capital"). The layout of Tokyo is heavily influenced by the Chinese practice of feng-shui, or finding good luck through careful design of landscape or the layout of rooms.
If you ever find yourself in Tokyo, there's plenty to do, but bring plenty of money. The first place foreigners will probably want to go to is Akihabara, Japan's Mecca for electronics and otaku culture. To get there, ride the Yama-no-te loop line that goes around Tokyo, and watch all the other foreigners on the train; when they all get off, that's Akihabara. To experience the urban grunge fashion found in FRUiTs magazine and see a lot of cool shops, go to Harajuku; hit the Meiji Jingu shrine while you're there, since it's nearby. For a taste of Japan's youth-driven night culture, go to Shibuya on a Saturday night and just people-watch -- be sure and check out the famous statue of Hachiko, the faithful dog who waited at the station for his master to come home, not knowing that he had died, and the "scramble" intersection, Japan's most famous crosswalk. Roppongi is good for its clubs, and the Hard Rock Cafe there is the best in the country (there's a giant gorilla climbing up the side of the building). Shinjuku is a major train station and commercial area -- a whopping 2 million people pass through the station every day. As a fan of 80s anime, I've always loved Shinjuku, which appeared in everything from Megazone 23 to City Hunter. While Tokyo is a little short on traditional Japanese culture, one of the most popular sightseeing spots is Asakusa, a large shrine area with many nice shops around it. Of course, if you like sushi as much as I do, try to find any excuse to go to Edokko Sushi in Narita City, near the airport, for the largest, freshest sushi you'll ever find. We went there on our way to Guam and fell in love with it all over again...
Remember that orders for 2005 calendars will be closed soon, and when that happens, it will be very hard for us to get the excellent and rare Japanese calendars that you want unless we happen to have some in stock. Orders for calendars made after Nov 5th or so will be very hard to fill, so we ask that you get your calendar orders in as quickly as possible. They make wonderful Christmas gifts too!
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Greetings from J-List 10/20/2004
Japan is very different from the States, and there are different social engines at work here. While I feel it's important not to over-beautify Japan with talk of the Way of the Samurai, or giri and ninjo (the Japanese classical ideals of honor and empathy), there are some concrete social concepts that are part of everyday life here. One is the concept of in-groups (uchi) and out-groups (soto), the idea that people outside of your group (your family, school club, company, etc.) are treated different, in effect by erecting a verbal "barrier of politeness" between you and them. Relationships in Japan are very vertically oriented, with a clear top and bottom -- you always speak differently to someone older than you, or to someone higher than you in a senpai/kohai (senior/junior in an organization) relationship. In North American English, we tend to speak more or less the same way to everyone, regardless of their age -- this ability to talk with people without excess formality is something English speakers do every day. However, when speaking with a superior in Japanese, you'd generally use polite language; failure to do so would sound "cheeky." I'm 36, and I've got Japanese friends in their 50's, but I can only think of them as "friends" (tomodachi) if I'm thinking in English; if I think about them in Japanese, they automatically become "acquaintances" (shiriai) in my brain.
There are some other concepts at work in relationships in Japan. One is "enryo," a word which means restraint or as a verb, to refrain from doing something. My Japanese teacher at SDSU explained it to us like this: a Japanese person comes for a visit to your home. You offer them a drink, and they say no thanks, they're fine. You offer again a few minutes later, and again they decline your offer. Finally you make your offer a third time, and they gladly accept. It may sound odd, but enryo is a kind of politeness that's important for getting along in a country with so many people crammed into a small space. It seems to be related to Japanese humility (kenson) -- if you tell a Japanese woman how pretty she is or compliment her English, she'll probably disagree with you strongly, a way in which Japanese avoid being boastful. There are many phrases in Japanese that illustrate this tendency to show humility in front of others. For example, when you give someone a gift, you usually say "Here's something that's not interesting" (tsumaranai mono desu kedo...) or if you bake someone a cake, you say, "I'm not sure if it tastes good or not..." (Oishii ka dou ka wakaranai kedo).
We've gotten in another huge volley of 2005 calendars yesterday and have added them to the site. We now have a total of 150+ amazing Japanese calendars in stock and on hand, with another 100 available for order but not in stock yet. Although it's our busiest time of the year, we love Japanese calendar season because of all the really special items we're able to make available for everyone -- uniquely Japanese calendars like the Joy of Sushi or Bento, talented artist calendars like Yoshitaka Amano, sexy idol calendars featuring beautiful women like Chisato Moritaka, delightful and rare anime calendars, and more. But remember -- calendars are a very seasonal item, and our current excellent supply will start to dwindle fast as the year rolls on.
Today we have a very special item for you: very limited stock of the ultimate Ghost in the Shell fan item, the Innocence Collector's Box, a massive 20 lb box that comes with tons of incredibly rare and special items for fans, including five DVDs totaling 549 minutes playing time, two art books, a deluxe figure of the gynoid robot, and more. Stock will be very limited on this amazing item, as it's already nearly impossible to find in Japan even though it just came out. (We'll be getting the Innocence Gabriel bassett-hound music box version in on Friday for fans who want to wait for that item.)
J-List's anniversary sale on English-translated dating-sim games is almost over! During the month of October, we're offering $1 shipping on all H games for you, allowing you to save tons of money on the excellent dating-sims we sell. International customers get half off the normal shipping, so if you're outside of the U.S./Canada, you can save too. As always, buy 4 or more games, get 20% off, too!
Interested in the hit Japanese mannequin drama OH! Mikey? This is a deliciously bizarre parody of an American family living in Tokyo, with fashion mannequins playing all the parts of the story. In addition to the cute antics of young Mikey, there is the oh-so-dapper father James, his wife Barbara, the playful Tony and Charles, Mikey's venomous cousin Laura, and more. All five DVDs in the OH! Mikey series are subtitled in English, so you can enjoy this most excellent and wacky example of Japanese television even if you don't understand Japanese. (The DVDs are region 2, so we humbly recommend the region free DVD players we just happen to have in stock). 3/22/05
There are some other concepts at work in relationships in Japan. One is "enryo," a word which means restraint or as a verb, to refrain from doing something. My Japanese teacher at SDSU explained it to us like this: a Japanese person comes for a visit to your home. You offer them a drink, and they say no thanks, they're fine. You offer again a few minutes later, and again they decline your offer. Finally you make your offer a third time, and they gladly accept. It may sound odd, but enryo is a kind of politeness that's important for getting along in a country with so many people crammed into a small space. It seems to be related to Japanese humility (kenson) -- if you tell a Japanese woman how pretty she is or compliment her English, she'll probably disagree with you strongly, a way in which Japanese avoid being boastful. There are many phrases in Japanese that illustrate this tendency to show humility in front of others. For example, when you give someone a gift, you usually say "Here's something that's not interesting" (tsumaranai mono desu kedo...) or if you bake someone a cake, you say, "I'm not sure if it tastes good or not..." (Oishii ka dou ka wakaranai kedo).
We've gotten in another huge volley of 2005 calendars yesterday and have added them to the site. We now have a total of 150+ amazing Japanese calendars in stock and on hand, with another 100 available for order but not in stock yet. Although it's our busiest time of the year, we love Japanese calendar season because of all the really special items we're able to make available for everyone -- uniquely Japanese calendars like the Joy of Sushi or Bento, talented artist calendars like Yoshitaka Amano, sexy idol calendars featuring beautiful women like Chisato Moritaka, delightful and rare anime calendars, and more. But remember -- calendars are a very seasonal item, and our current excellent supply will start to dwindle fast as the year rolls on.
Today we have a very special item for you: very limited stock of the ultimate Ghost in the Shell fan item, the Innocence Collector's Box, a massive 20 lb box that comes with tons of incredibly rare and special items for fans, including five DVDs totaling 549 minutes playing time, two art books, a deluxe figure of the gynoid robot, and more. Stock will be very limited on this amazing item, as it's already nearly impossible to find in Japan even though it just came out. (We'll be getting the Innocence Gabriel bassett-hound music box version in on Friday for fans who want to wait for that item.)
J-List's anniversary sale on English-translated dating-sim games is almost over! During the month of October, we're offering $1 shipping on all H games for you, allowing you to save tons of money on the excellent dating-sims we sell. International customers get half off the normal shipping, so if you're outside of the U.S./Canada, you can save too. As always, buy 4 or more games, get 20% off, too!
Interested in the hit Japanese mannequin drama OH! Mikey? This is a deliciously bizarre parody of an American family living in Tokyo, with fashion mannequins playing all the parts of the story. In addition to the cute antics of young Mikey, there is the oh-so-dapper father James, his wife Barbara, the playful Tony and Charles, Mikey's venomous cousin Laura, and more. All five DVDs in the OH! Mikey series are subtitled in English, so you can enjoy this most excellent and wacky example of Japanese television even if you don't understand Japanese. (The DVDs are region 2, so we humbly recommend the region free DVD players we just happen to have in stock). 3/22/05
Monday, October 18, 2004
Greetings from J-List 10/18/2004
Hello again from Japan, the home of a car called the Toyota Ism (named after the English suffix -ism, from words like existentialism, etc).
We're back from our vacation on beautiful Guam. It was a blast! My family had the most fun at the "Sea Walker" tour, which lets you walk along the sea floor 20 feet under, with an air helmet resting on your shoulders while fish eat out of your hand. Now the J-List staff is very refreshed, and we're hard at work, catching up on orders and email received over the weekend.
Today is my anniversary, the day I first came to Japan back in 1991. I sure experienced my share of culture shock back then: vending machines on every corner, streets that were 1/8 the width of what I was used to in San Diego, and a confusing mix of sparkling new glass buildings right next to rice paddies. Air conditioners also heat rooms, Kit Kat chocolates are wrapped three times, and Japanese-style toilets don't have seats -- you just squat and do your business as best you can. I was also surprised to find Christians in Japan, something I hadn't really been expecting. For my first Christmas in Japan, I was asked to play "Santa-san" at the local Baptist church -- having a real gaijin for your Santa Claus is the height of fashion for any Japanese organization. Mormon missionaries are a part of daily life in our prefecture, too -- they offer free English lessons to students as a way to get converts, and they're famous for riding mountain bikes and playing basketball with locals. I was shocked to see that they even had Japanese Jehovah's Witnesses, who stand outside of train stations in grey suits handing out Japanese versions of The Watchtower.
Every since my son was born, I've been enjoying my second childhood. I loved the original Ultraman TV series when I was young, and was able to relive it with my son when he was that age. (Japanese preschoolers sing a version of "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands," substituting "Ultraman" and his specium beam attack.) Now my son and I are having fun watching the classic Gundam series of the 80s, which are a lot easier to watch in Japanese now than when I was trying to understand them in 1987. The other day he busted me though, suddenly asking me how come I knew some much about anime when I wasn't even Japanese. I had to do some fast talking to get out of that one...
It's "shinmai" season in Japan right now, when "new rice" (the rice that was recently harvested) makes its way into the marketplace, and everywhere in Japan, restaurants and stores advertise that they're using delicious, fresh rice in their products. Although annual consumption of rice decreases every year as the Japanese diet undergoes changes, they still eat rice two or three times a day. Rice is so ubiquitous that the word for cooked rice (gohan) is used to refer to any meal, even if it doesn't include rice. Virtually all Japanese cook rice in an electric rice cooker, which allows rice for the whole family to be prepared with the press of a button. Companies like Mitsubishi and Zojirushi complete to bring the best rice cookers to market, with features like automatic timers, inner pots made of copper to simulate the taste of cooking rice a hundred years ago and the ability to bake bread.
When the three former Romanian gold medalists Lavinia Milosovici, Claudia Presacan, and Corina Ungureanu agreed to appear in the buff for two Japanese DVDs, they probably thought that no one outside of Japan would ever see them. Japanese video company V&R Planning offered a staggering amount of money to shoot the videos here in Japan secretly, but of course the secret got out, thanks to the power of the Internet. Now Gold Bird and Euro Angels are cult favorites, and are among the most popular DVDs ever carried at J-List. J-List stocks both of these amazing titles for you, as well as many other amazing ballet, gymnastics and other great DVDs that only the Japanese could have thought of.
Remember that J-List carries dozens of rare and cool items by Shirow Masamune, the creator of Ghost in the Shell (which indirectly spawned The Matrix), and pretty much the most incredible artist in Japan today. We stock many items for Shirow fans, including figures and toys, his illustrated novels, trading cards, and more. We also have all of his excellent Galgrease posterbooks in stock, each featuring four double-sized posters and a pack of really excellent trading cards. Get all three posterbooks and get 15% off, too.
We're back from our vacation on beautiful Guam. It was a blast! My family had the most fun at the "Sea Walker" tour, which lets you walk along the sea floor 20 feet under, with an air helmet resting on your shoulders while fish eat out of your hand. Now the J-List staff is very refreshed, and we're hard at work, catching up on orders and email received over the weekend.
Today is my anniversary, the day I first came to Japan back in 1991. I sure experienced my share of culture shock back then: vending machines on every corner, streets that were 1/8 the width of what I was used to in San Diego, and a confusing mix of sparkling new glass buildings right next to rice paddies. Air conditioners also heat rooms, Kit Kat chocolates are wrapped three times, and Japanese-style toilets don't have seats -- you just squat and do your business as best you can. I was also surprised to find Christians in Japan, something I hadn't really been expecting. For my first Christmas in Japan, I was asked to play "Santa-san" at the local Baptist church -- having a real gaijin for your Santa Claus is the height of fashion for any Japanese organization. Mormon missionaries are a part of daily life in our prefecture, too -- they offer free English lessons to students as a way to get converts, and they're famous for riding mountain bikes and playing basketball with locals. I was shocked to see that they even had Japanese Jehovah's Witnesses, who stand outside of train stations in grey suits handing out Japanese versions of The Watchtower.
Every since my son was born, I've been enjoying my second childhood. I loved the original Ultraman TV series when I was young, and was able to relive it with my son when he was that age. (Japanese preschoolers sing a version of "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands," substituting "Ultraman" and his specium beam attack.) Now my son and I are having fun watching the classic Gundam series of the 80s, which are a lot easier to watch in Japanese now than when I was trying to understand them in 1987. The other day he busted me though, suddenly asking me how come I knew some much about anime when I wasn't even Japanese. I had to do some fast talking to get out of that one...
It's "shinmai" season in Japan right now, when "new rice" (the rice that was recently harvested) makes its way into the marketplace, and everywhere in Japan, restaurants and stores advertise that they're using delicious, fresh rice in their products. Although annual consumption of rice decreases every year as the Japanese diet undergoes changes, they still eat rice two or three times a day. Rice is so ubiquitous that the word for cooked rice (gohan) is used to refer to any meal, even if it doesn't include rice. Virtually all Japanese cook rice in an electric rice cooker, which allows rice for the whole family to be prepared with the press of a button. Companies like Mitsubishi and Zojirushi complete to bring the best rice cookers to market, with features like automatic timers, inner pots made of copper to simulate the taste of cooking rice a hundred years ago and the ability to bake bread.
When the three former Romanian gold medalists Lavinia Milosovici, Claudia Presacan, and Corina Ungureanu agreed to appear in the buff for two Japanese DVDs, they probably thought that no one outside of Japan would ever see them. Japanese video company V&R Planning offered a staggering amount of money to shoot the videos here in Japan secretly, but of course the secret got out, thanks to the power of the Internet. Now Gold Bird and Euro Angels are cult favorites, and are among the most popular DVDs ever carried at J-List. J-List stocks both of these amazing titles for you, as well as many other amazing ballet, gymnastics and other great DVDs that only the Japanese could have thought of.
Remember that J-List carries dozens of rare and cool items by Shirow Masamune, the creator of Ghost in the Shell (which indirectly spawned The Matrix), and pretty much the most incredible artist in Japan today. We stock many items for Shirow fans, including figures and toys, his illustrated novels, trading cards, and more. We also have all of his excellent Galgrease posterbooks in stock, each featuring four double-sized posters and a pack of really excellent trading cards. Get all three posterbooks and get 15% off, too.
Friday, October 15, 2004
Greetings from J-List 10/15/2004
Hello from the J-List crew, this time in beautiful Guam, a small island three hours from Japan, and a U.S. possession that bills itself as "where America starts her day" (since it's on the other side of the international date line from the rest of the U.S.). So far the J-List staff has had a lot of fun, eating at Hard Rock and riding in submarines and doing plenty of shopping, generally enjoying our time as tourists here. To be honest, the weather's been less than cooperative, with sudden squalls interrupting our company vacation, but we're having fun nevertheless.
Reality TV has been around for a few years in the U.S., but the idea has been a popular facet of Japanese television for some time. The genre was perfected by the popular show Denpa Shonen (lit. "radio wave boy"), which creates weekly serials such as following two commedians as they hitchhike from the bottom of Africa to the top of Scandanavia, or showing the adventures of two other Japanese men determined to pedal a swan boat around the Japanese islands. A Japanese entertainer named Nasubi spent more than a year in a tiny apartment in Tokyo completely in the buff, trying to prove if a man could live only on things he won in contests. Of course it's Japan, so it's assumed that everything shown is "yarase" or scripted TV, a big problem here -- but if the producers didn't arrange for Nasubi to win something this week, he'd starve and die, and ratings would plunge. The most recent reality television in Japan pits thrifty individuals against each other, trying to see who can live for one month on $100 or less. You'd be surprised how cheaply these people can eat, when they set their minds to it.
One popular Japanese show that's above using faked stories is the venerable TV Champion, which features talented contestants competing to make outrageously beautiful works of art, folding extravagant origami creations, crafting beautiful cakes that resemble famous cathedrals around the world, or renovating old houses on ridiculously low budgets. It's always a joy to see what the creators of this show will bring us next. Japanese chefs making amazing works of art out of bread? 1001 creations involving strawberries? Testing archaic knowledge of kanji or Japanese history?
We've got tons of amazing items on the site for you now, from useful things for your kitchen to our amazing 2005 Japanese calendars to delicious snacks, DVDs, manga and more. We have so many amazing items on J-List, it can be hard to take it all in. In order to just view items updated in the last 3 days, you can use our handy "three day link", here: http://www.jbox.com/UPDATES/3
Reality TV has been around for a few years in the U.S., but the idea has been a popular facet of Japanese television for some time. The genre was perfected by the popular show Denpa Shonen (lit. "radio wave boy"), which creates weekly serials such as following two commedians as they hitchhike from the bottom of Africa to the top of Scandanavia, or showing the adventures of two other Japanese men determined to pedal a swan boat around the Japanese islands. A Japanese entertainer named Nasubi spent more than a year in a tiny apartment in Tokyo completely in the buff, trying to prove if a man could live only on things he won in contests. Of course it's Japan, so it's assumed that everything shown is "yarase" or scripted TV, a big problem here -- but if the producers didn't arrange for Nasubi to win something this week, he'd starve and die, and ratings would plunge. The most recent reality television in Japan pits thrifty individuals against each other, trying to see who can live for one month on $100 or less. You'd be surprised how cheaply these people can eat, when they set their minds to it.
One popular Japanese show that's above using faked stories is the venerable TV Champion, which features talented contestants competing to make outrageously beautiful works of art, folding extravagant origami creations, crafting beautiful cakes that resemble famous cathedrals around the world, or renovating old houses on ridiculously low budgets. It's always a joy to see what the creators of this show will bring us next. Japanese chefs making amazing works of art out of bread? 1001 creations involving strawberries? Testing archaic knowledge of kanji or Japanese history?
We've got tons of amazing items on the site for you now, from useful things for your kitchen to our amazing 2005 Japanese calendars to delicious snacks, DVDs, manga and more. We have so many amazing items on J-List, it can be hard to take it all in. In order to just view items updated in the last 3 days, you can use our handy "three day link", here: http://www.jbox.com/UPDATES/3
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Greetings from J-List 10/13/2004
Hello again from Japan, where one of the most popular flavors of yogurt is aloe (but it's really good, trust me).
Japan can be a very complex place, presenting many conflicting faces at the same time. While it's true that Japan is a peaceful, wealthy nation with lots to offer anyone who lives here, the other side of the coin is that many Japanese can't handle the more oppressive elements of Japan's buttoned-up society, and opt out of their lives. There are around 30,000 suicides a year in Japan, the same number as in the U.S. despite the fact that Japan has half America's population. Tokyoites know when the trains stop due to an "injury accident," it really means that someone decided to end it all by jumping in front of an oncoming train. Those who take their own lives in Japan fall into several broad groups, such as middle-aged salarymen who face the embarrassment of "risutora" (layoffs, from the English word "restructure"), young students who can't endure the social pressures of Japanese school life, and business owners drowning in debt. Most recently, young people are forming "suicide pacts" and doing away with their precious lives in groups, presumably because they're too scared to die alone. Part of the problem is that counseling and use of drugs to help people in distress are all but non-existent in Japan, and when someone has a problem, they don't know where to turn for help.
The most famous Italian in Japan is Gioramo, an Italian man who speaks Japanese fluently and appears on variety shows as a sort of informal ambassador between Japan and Italy. Whenever there's a quiz show about the Roman Empire, Gioramo's on hand to offer his insights, and he also hosts the late-night Italian language show on NHK's educational channel. Japan has a tightly-knit pantheon of entertainers (aka "talents") who appear on TV, and it's interesting to observe how the entertainment world works here. It seems that as long as you're in a category all by yourself, you can be on Japanese TV. There's only room for one cross-dressing enka singer (the venerable Kennichi Mikawa), so no others need apply; American Daniel Kahl holds the monopoly on foreigners who speak Japanese with an accent from Yamagata Prefecture; and if you're looking for a very intelligent Japanese bilingual from Sri Lanka, Wikki-san will fit the bill, but he's the only one. In the 1990s, Ai Iiijima was the #1 adult film star in Japan, equivalent to Mimi Miyagi in the States. Through hard work, she was able to beat the odds and re-cast herself as a mainstream entertainer, and appears regularly on a variety of reputable shows, despite her infamous background. Since she occupies this unique niche on Japanese TV, it's doubtful that any other JAV idols will be able to jump into mainstream television.
We've got a great announcement for fans of Yulia Nova: the next two DVD releases are available for preordering. These fabulous discs feature two hours of dynamite footage of Russia's loveliest angel, who is incredibly popular both in Japan and throughout the Internet. Fully remastered for perfect video quality, both discs feature optional English subtitles and are free of pesky mosaics. There's a lot of good stuff for Yulia fans to look forward to!
For fans of our amazing 2005 Japanese calendars, we've got good news: we got in a whole bunch of calendars yesterday, and have posted all these items on the site, complete with new digital pictures so you can see how good the illustrations are. This year's Japanese calendars are really special, with beautiful illustrations printed on large sheets of glossy coated poster stock. Preorders for calendars we haven't gotten in stock yet will be closed very soon, by the end of the end of October or so. These amazing calendars, which are printedexclusively for the Japanese market, are really something to treasure, and we hope you'll look through our updated calendar pages. It goes without saying that these calendars make excellent Christmas gifts, too, but you should order soon, to make sure your calendar doesn't get away!
We're taking a trip! The entire staff of J-List is packing its suitcases and going to the island of Guam for a weekend of fun in the sun. Located just three hours from Japan, Guam is a kind of miniature version of Hawaii. While we're gone, the part-time staff will continue preparing all orders. We'll obviously be a little slow to reply to email over the weekend, but we'll get everything caught up when we get back. Itte kimasu! (lit. "I'll go and come back later").
October is just about half over, but some people still haven't taken advantage of our $1 shipping sale for all English-translated dating-sim games, which allows you to load up on some of the best recent game releases and pay just $1 for shipping per game (US/Can., international customers get half price on shipping). Also, in time for Halloween we've got some cool "goth" versions of our Domo-kun shirts, but these are limited edition shirts that won't be available forever. If you like these wacky designs, make sure you pick your shirt up ASAP!
Japan can be a very complex place, presenting many conflicting faces at the same time. While it's true that Japan is a peaceful, wealthy nation with lots to offer anyone who lives here, the other side of the coin is that many Japanese can't handle the more oppressive elements of Japan's buttoned-up society, and opt out of their lives. There are around 30,000 suicides a year in Japan, the same number as in the U.S. despite the fact that Japan has half America's population. Tokyoites know when the trains stop due to an "injury accident," it really means that someone decided to end it all by jumping in front of an oncoming train. Those who take their own lives in Japan fall into several broad groups, such as middle-aged salarymen who face the embarrassment of "risutora" (layoffs, from the English word "restructure"), young students who can't endure the social pressures of Japanese school life, and business owners drowning in debt. Most recently, young people are forming "suicide pacts" and doing away with their precious lives in groups, presumably because they're too scared to die alone. Part of the problem is that counseling and use of drugs to help people in distress are all but non-existent in Japan, and when someone has a problem, they don't know where to turn for help.
The most famous Italian in Japan is Gioramo, an Italian man who speaks Japanese fluently and appears on variety shows as a sort of informal ambassador between Japan and Italy. Whenever there's a quiz show about the Roman Empire, Gioramo's on hand to offer his insights, and he also hosts the late-night Italian language show on NHK's educational channel. Japan has a tightly-knit pantheon of entertainers (aka "talents") who appear on TV, and it's interesting to observe how the entertainment world works here. It seems that as long as you're in a category all by yourself, you can be on Japanese TV. There's only room for one cross-dressing enka singer (the venerable Kennichi Mikawa), so no others need apply; American Daniel Kahl holds the monopoly on foreigners who speak Japanese with an accent from Yamagata Prefecture; and if you're looking for a very intelligent Japanese bilingual from Sri Lanka, Wikki-san will fit the bill, but he's the only one. In the 1990s, Ai Iiijima was the #1 adult film star in Japan, equivalent to Mimi Miyagi in the States. Through hard work, she was able to beat the odds and re-cast herself as a mainstream entertainer, and appears regularly on a variety of reputable shows, despite her infamous background. Since she occupies this unique niche on Japanese TV, it's doubtful that any other JAV idols will be able to jump into mainstream television.
We've got a great announcement for fans of Yulia Nova: the next two DVD releases are available for preordering. These fabulous discs feature two hours of dynamite footage of Russia's loveliest angel, who is incredibly popular both in Japan and throughout the Internet. Fully remastered for perfect video quality, both discs feature optional English subtitles and are free of pesky mosaics. There's a lot of good stuff for Yulia fans to look forward to!
For fans of our amazing 2005 Japanese calendars, we've got good news: we got in a whole bunch of calendars yesterday, and have posted all these items on the site, complete with new digital pictures so you can see how good the illustrations are. This year's Japanese calendars are really special, with beautiful illustrations printed on large sheets of glossy coated poster stock. Preorders for calendars we haven't gotten in stock yet will be closed very soon, by the end of the end of October or so. These amazing calendars, which are printedexclusively for the Japanese market, are really something to treasure, and we hope you'll look through our updated calendar pages. It goes without saying that these calendars make excellent Christmas gifts, too, but you should order soon, to make sure your calendar doesn't get away!
We're taking a trip! The entire staff of J-List is packing its suitcases and going to the island of Guam for a weekend of fun in the sun. Located just three hours from Japan, Guam is a kind of miniature version of Hawaii. While we're gone, the part-time staff will continue preparing all orders. We'll obviously be a little slow to reply to email over the weekend, but we'll get everything caught up when we get back. Itte kimasu! (lit. "I'll go and come back later").
October is just about half over, but some people still haven't taken advantage of our $1 shipping sale for all English-translated dating-sim games, which allows you to load up on some of the best recent game releases and pay just $1 for shipping per game (US/Can., international customers get half price on shipping). Also, in time for Halloween we've got some cool "goth" versions of our Domo-kun shirts, but these are limited edition shirts that won't be available forever. If you like these wacky designs, make sure you pick your shirt up ASAP!
Monday, October 11, 2004
Greetings from J-List October 11, 2004
One of the biggest problems the Japanese face today is it's anemic birth rate of just 1.38 children born per couple. There are many reasons why Japanese are having less children: increasingly complex lifestyles, women wanting to do more with their lives before having children, and the high costs of raising a child in Japan. Unlike the U.S., Japan doesn't have a large inflow of immigrants to take up the slack, which is why there are more Japanese over age 60 than under age 18. A big part of the birthrate problem seems related to the lack of sex drive in married couples, who find themselves perfectly happy to forgo sex in their married lives, causing the coining of the term "sekkusuresu" (sexless) in the Japanese language. Evidence of this can be seen in the high number of homes being built with separate main bedrooms, so that married couples can sleep in separate rooms. My wife reports that most of her female married friends have very infrequent conjugal encounters with their husbands, although they might be otherwise happy with the relationship in general.
The dynamics of money are quite different in Japan compared with the U.S. First of all, Japan is a very cash-based society, and it's quite common for monthly salaries to be handed out in bulging envelopes of cash (although many companies opt for the safer method of direct-deposit into employee's bank accounts). Personal checks don't exist here, and the concept of giving someone a signed slip of paper then walking off with merchandise is quite alien to the Japanese. Credit cards are slowly gaining acceptance, but it's more common for people who need to buy something on credit to use one of the high-interest "personal loan" companies that advertise on television so much. It's well known that the Japanese have a high rate of savings -- although it's been dropping in recent years, the average household still has US$120,000 saved, mostly in cash bearing extremely low interest. Just how low? I happened to pick up a bank statement my wife had on her desk, which reported a whopping 87 cents earned on a $10,000 CD over the course of a year. Although she knows this is lower than she could get in the U.S., she insists on doing at least half of her saving in Japan because it gives her peace of mind.
The word for foreigner in Japanese is "gaijin," written using the characters for "outside" and "person." While it simply refers to foreigners, the word is kind of harsh and can sound derogatory depending on how it's used. For this reason, the new official word for foreigners in Japanese is "gaikokujin" or "outside country person," a word that sounds much softer to the ear. If you watch the news on NHK, Japan's version of the BBC, you'll only hear this word used. One thing about foreigners living in Japan: while they usually don't appreciate Japanese calling out to them by saying "Hey, gaijin!" they're more than likely to use the term amongst themselves openly, without a second thought. We're rather odd that way...
Remember that J-List carries the famous Japanese gum Black Black, a caffeine-laced gum that will wake up you and keep you awake. Enjoyed by everyone from college students to truck drivers, Black Black has been mentioned in novels by William Gibson. And as with most of our gum and snack items, if you buy 10 or more you get a 15% discount at checkout.
The dynamics of money are quite different in Japan compared with the U.S. First of all, Japan is a very cash-based society, and it's quite common for monthly salaries to be handed out in bulging envelopes of cash (although many companies opt for the safer method of direct-deposit into employee's bank accounts). Personal checks don't exist here, and the concept of giving someone a signed slip of paper then walking off with merchandise is quite alien to the Japanese. Credit cards are slowly gaining acceptance, but it's more common for people who need to buy something on credit to use one of the high-interest "personal loan" companies that advertise on television so much. It's well known that the Japanese have a high rate of savings -- although it's been dropping in recent years, the average household still has US$120,000 saved, mostly in cash bearing extremely low interest. Just how low? I happened to pick up a bank statement my wife had on her desk, which reported a whopping 87 cents earned on a $10,000 CD over the course of a year. Although she knows this is lower than she could get in the U.S., she insists on doing at least half of her saving in Japan because it gives her peace of mind.
The word for foreigner in Japanese is "gaijin," written using the characters for "outside" and "person." While it simply refers to foreigners, the word is kind of harsh and can sound derogatory depending on how it's used. For this reason, the new official word for foreigners in Japanese is "gaikokujin" or "outside country person," a word that sounds much softer to the ear. If you watch the news on NHK, Japan's version of the BBC, you'll only hear this word used. One thing about foreigners living in Japan: while they usually don't appreciate Japanese calling out to them by saying "Hey, gaijin!" they're more than likely to use the term amongst themselves openly, without a second thought. We're rather odd that way...
Remember that J-List carries the famous Japanese gum Black Black, a caffeine-laced gum that will wake up you and keep you awake. Enjoyed by everyone from college students to truck drivers, Black Black has been mentioned in novels by William Gibson. And as with most of our gum and snack items, if you buy 10 or more you get a 15% discount at checkout.
Friday, October 08, 2004
Greetings from J-List October 8, 2004
Hello and Happy Friday from all of us in Japan!
Japan is truly the home of the "boom" -- every year, it seems, something new appears out of nowhere and catches everyone's interest. One year it's bleeping electronic pets, the next it's sneakers with 8 inch heels and horn-rimmed glasses worn by young girls. The latest craze in Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics and video game mecca, are maid cafes, where you can go to be served coffee and cake by a beautiful girl dressed in a maid's uniform. Having a quiet place where you can talk to a girl in a costume is supposed to be very healing, and this year, businesses that appeal to "otaku" customers are really doing well. The idea builds on the success of Anna Miller's, the restaurant chain that employs women dressed in sexy waitress uniforms, making the Anna Miller's waitress as famous an image in Japan as the Playboy Bunny in America. Mandarake, a chain of used bookstores in Tokyo and Osaka, also sells cosplay imagery to its customers, allowing those purchasing $10 or more to vote for their favorite costumed employee, who gets a cash bonus if they win the most votes.
Although Japan is a modern, safe country, and Japanese are usually kind and helpful to foreigners, there are some things you have to get used to if you're going to ever live here. Seafood pizza, crowded trains, drunk men on those same crowded trains, bank cash machines that close at 7 pm, having a picture of a naked girl sandwiched between articles in a news magazine -- they're all part of life in Japan, for better or for worse. One minor frustration I always had was getting used to the habit of Japanese shops and restaurants closing on a set day of the week, their "teikyubi" or regular weekly holiday. Whether I go to the local department store or to my favorite ramen shop, chances are I'll screw up and go there on the one day it's closed, and have to make other plans. Japanese never make this mistake -- they have some latent knowledge about which stores are closed on which days, and plan ahead.
What a year we're all having. While hurricanes in Florida and rumblings under Mt. St. Helens in Washington have been grabbing headlines in the U.S., Japan has had it rough, too. In addition to the largest number of typhoons in recorded history -- we're currently being drenched by the 22nd storm of the season -- the eruption of Mt. Asama and a big 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered near here have been giving Northern Kanto the jitters. Wherever you are in the world, please take an extra moment to think about safety for you and your loved ones.
In recent months, J-List has run some ads in magazines such as Starlog, Import Tuner (a magazine for Japanese car enthusiasts), and Newtype USA. If you've come to J-List by seeing one of our ads, please shoot us an email so we know that our ads are working for us. Thanks!
Japan is truly the home of the "boom" -- every year, it seems, something new appears out of nowhere and catches everyone's interest. One year it's bleeping electronic pets, the next it's sneakers with 8 inch heels and horn-rimmed glasses worn by young girls. The latest craze in Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics and video game mecca, are maid cafes, where you can go to be served coffee and cake by a beautiful girl dressed in a maid's uniform. Having a quiet place where you can talk to a girl in a costume is supposed to be very healing, and this year, businesses that appeal to "otaku" customers are really doing well. The idea builds on the success of Anna Miller's, the restaurant chain that employs women dressed in sexy waitress uniforms, making the Anna Miller's waitress as famous an image in Japan as the Playboy Bunny in America. Mandarake, a chain of used bookstores in Tokyo and Osaka, also sells cosplay imagery to its customers, allowing those purchasing $10 or more to vote for their favorite costumed employee, who gets a cash bonus if they win the most votes.
Although Japan is a modern, safe country, and Japanese are usually kind and helpful to foreigners, there are some things you have to get used to if you're going to ever live here. Seafood pizza, crowded trains, drunk men on those same crowded trains, bank cash machines that close at 7 pm, having a picture of a naked girl sandwiched between articles in a news magazine -- they're all part of life in Japan, for better or for worse. One minor frustration I always had was getting used to the habit of Japanese shops and restaurants closing on a set day of the week, their "teikyubi" or regular weekly holiday. Whether I go to the local department store or to my favorite ramen shop, chances are I'll screw up and go there on the one day it's closed, and have to make other plans. Japanese never make this mistake -- they have some latent knowledge about which stores are closed on which days, and plan ahead.
What a year we're all having. While hurricanes in Florida and rumblings under Mt. St. Helens in Washington have been grabbing headlines in the U.S., Japan has had it rough, too. In addition to the largest number of typhoons in recorded history -- we're currently being drenched by the 22nd storm of the season -- the eruption of Mt. Asama and a big 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered near here have been giving Northern Kanto the jitters. Wherever you are in the world, please take an extra moment to think about safety for you and your loved ones.
In recent months, J-List has run some ads in magazines such as Starlog, Import Tuner (a magazine for Japanese car enthusiasts), and Newtype USA. If you've come to J-List by seeing one of our ads, please shoot us an email so we know that our ads are working for us. Thanks!
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Greetings from J-List October 6, 2004
The problem of how to pay for retirement for aging populations is plaguing
many nations today, and Japan is no exception. In order to make retirement
savings stretch further, some Japanese have come up with a solution: "long
stay," a new term which refers to retiring for many years outside of Japan.
More and more, Japanese couples are choosing to spend their twilight years
in countries like New Zealand, Canada and Malaysia, where the cost of
living is low yet access to good hospitals is available. The Philippines
has been encouraging Japanese to come and form expat communities there,
too, building modern hospitals with Japanese-speaking staff. My wife and I
really fell in love with Spain when we went there a few years ago, and are
planning on spending our "silver years" there when the time comes.
We've got a new part-time girl at J-List, helping out with our rush of
calendar orders. I hadn't met her yet, so I went to her today to introduce
myself -- and gave her quite a shock, as she wasn't expecting an American
to suddenly appear and start talking to her in Japanese. Although gaijin
are a tiny portion of Japan -- the official number of registered foreigners
is around 1% of Japan's population of 120 million -- the number of
foreigners who master Japanese is even lower, especially outside of cities
like Tokyo. The Japanese do like foreigners who speak Japanese, and there's
quite a long list of famous gaijin "talents" (a catch-all term meaning any
kind of television personality) who appear on news and variety shows to
give their opinions in Japanese (most gaijin hate these guys because they
speak better than us). The Japanese are fascinated with "gaijin" Japanese
accents, and radio announcers regularly read scripts in Japanese with
hammed-up "American" accents because it sounds cute to listeners. Pepsi did
a series of commercials featuring a bald American who yelled at the screen
in heavily-accented Japanese about how good Pepsi was.
One of the biggest changes to come to Japan in the past decade or so is the
birth of actual competition. In the "old Japan" of the bubble years,
Japanese businesses engaged in "cooperative competition" with each other,
basically offering exactly the same service at the same price as their
competitors. In those days, getting your hair cut was an extravagant,
two-hour long affair, which included a cut, massage, aloe facial treatment,
and a complete shave of your face, neck and (I am not kidding) ear lobes.
At around $35, it wasn't cheap, but it sure felt good. No matter where you
went, though, Japanese barbers gave pretty much the same excellent service
at the same price, with very little variation in what they would offer.
Banks were another area of cooperative competition. They always provided
pretty much the same services, and no bank did anything the others wouldn't
be willing to do -- in short, competing by trying to act as much like their
competitors as possible. Now, however, things have changed. There is a lot
more choice when it comes to getting a haircut, with discount hair stylists
and various variations in-between. I now get my hair cut for $10, and
although it's not quite as satisfying as the old $35 deluxe treatment, I
can take the money I save and go to a sento (public bath) and feel almost
as rejuvenated. Banks have also seen big changes, with the advent of
Internet-based banks, foreign banks that offer accounts in dollars or
euros, and so on.
J-List has tons of 2005 calendars available right now, both in stock as
well as preorder calendars that haven't started to come in yet. Japanese
calendars are really special, with large poster-sized pages and beautiful
glossy printing. J-List goes out of our way to make a huge selection of
these calendars available to everyone, offering anime, JPOP/JROCK, swimsuit
idol and other calendars for order -- including esoteric calendars which
might not appeal to everyone, but which might be just what you're looking
for this year. We humbly suggest that these Japanese import calendars make
great gifts this Christmas. Get your calendar order in quickly!
Remember that J-List sells our world-famous Japanese T-shirts and hoodies,
with original designs and messages like "I'm looking for a Japanese
Girlfriend" and Domo-kun's face. Our shirts are printed in the USA on 100%
cotton 6.1 lb T-shirts that are of very high quality, and the shirts are
printed with the highest possible quality printing for extra-long life,
even when run regularly through clothes dryers. Also, we make sure to offer
a wide selection of sizes, from small (and even XS) all the way up to XXL
and XXXL, depending on items and colors. Buy 3 of our T-shirts or hoodies
and get 15% off!
many nations today, and Japan is no exception. In order to make retirement
savings stretch further, some Japanese have come up with a solution: "long
stay," a new term which refers to retiring for many years outside of Japan.
More and more, Japanese couples are choosing to spend their twilight years
in countries like New Zealand, Canada and Malaysia, where the cost of
living is low yet access to good hospitals is available. The Philippines
has been encouraging Japanese to come and form expat communities there,
too, building modern hospitals with Japanese-speaking staff. My wife and I
really fell in love with Spain when we went there a few years ago, and are
planning on spending our "silver years" there when the time comes.
We've got a new part-time girl at J-List, helping out with our rush of
calendar orders. I hadn't met her yet, so I went to her today to introduce
myself -- and gave her quite a shock, as she wasn't expecting an American
to suddenly appear and start talking to her in Japanese. Although gaijin
are a tiny portion of Japan -- the official number of registered foreigners
is around 1% of Japan's population of 120 million -- the number of
foreigners who master Japanese is even lower, especially outside of cities
like Tokyo. The Japanese do like foreigners who speak Japanese, and there's
quite a long list of famous gaijin "talents" (a catch-all term meaning any
kind of television personality) who appear on news and variety shows to
give their opinions in Japanese (most gaijin hate these guys because they
speak better than us). The Japanese are fascinated with "gaijin" Japanese
accents, and radio announcers regularly read scripts in Japanese with
hammed-up "American" accents because it sounds cute to listeners. Pepsi did
a series of commercials featuring a bald American who yelled at the screen
in heavily-accented Japanese about how good Pepsi was.
One of the biggest changes to come to Japan in the past decade or so is the
birth of actual competition. In the "old Japan" of the bubble years,
Japanese businesses engaged in "cooperative competition" with each other,
basically offering exactly the same service at the same price as their
competitors. In those days, getting your hair cut was an extravagant,
two-hour long affair, which included a cut, massage, aloe facial treatment,
and a complete shave of your face, neck and (I am not kidding) ear lobes.
At around $35, it wasn't cheap, but it sure felt good. No matter where you
went, though, Japanese barbers gave pretty much the same excellent service
at the same price, with very little variation in what they would offer.
Banks were another area of cooperative competition. They always provided
pretty much the same services, and no bank did anything the others wouldn't
be willing to do -- in short, competing by trying to act as much like their
competitors as possible. Now, however, things have changed. There is a lot
more choice when it comes to getting a haircut, with discount hair stylists
and various variations in-between. I now get my hair cut for $10, and
although it's not quite as satisfying as the old $35 deluxe treatment, I
can take the money I save and go to a sento (public bath) and feel almost
as rejuvenated. Banks have also seen big changes, with the advent of
Internet-based banks, foreign banks that offer accounts in dollars or
euros, and so on.
J-List has tons of 2005 calendars available right now, both in stock as
well as preorder calendars that haven't started to come in yet. Japanese
calendars are really special, with large poster-sized pages and beautiful
glossy printing. J-List goes out of our way to make a huge selection of
these calendars available to everyone, offering anime, JPOP/JROCK, swimsuit
idol and other calendars for order -- including esoteric calendars which
might not appeal to everyone, but which might be just what you're looking
for this year. We humbly suggest that these Japanese import calendars make
great gifts this Christmas. Get your calendar order in quickly!
Remember that J-List sells our world-famous Japanese T-shirts and hoodies,
with original designs and messages like "I'm looking for a Japanese
Girlfriend" and Domo-kun's face. Our shirts are printed in the USA on 100%
cotton 6.1 lb T-shirts that are of very high quality, and the shirts are
printed with the highest possible quality printing for extra-long life,
even when run regularly through clothes dryers. Also, we make sure to offer
a wide selection of sizes, from small (and even XS) all the way up to XXL
and XXXL, depending on items and colors. Buy 3 of our T-shirts or hoodies
and get 15% off!
Monday, October 04, 2004
Greetings from J-List October 4, 2004
Japan is ecstatic about the achievement of Ichiro, Japan's current favorite son, who beat the record for most hits in a season set back in 1920. The Japanese like nothing more than having one of their own gain recognition around the world, and names like writers Yukio Mishima and Kenzaburo Oe and directors Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki have a special place in the hearts of people here because they raised Japan's image internationally. The Japanese are great fans of baseball, and to have one of their own distinguish himself in the Big Leagues like that makes everyone very proud here.
As always, it's interesting to watch the unfolding of American politics from outside the U.S. I can really get a bird's-eye view of my own country, looking in from the outside, and I've had interesting discussions with British, Canadian and Australian expats about various aspects of American politics. As the U.S. election approaches, Japanese newscasters regularly follow the campaign, giving commentary on every facet of the battle for president, which is often a tall order since there are so many differences between America's electoral system and the Parliamentary system that Japan uses. Gaijin like me are able to vote in the election too, thanks to the absentee ballot system, which Japanese are always amazed at -- they don't have anything like that for Japanese living outside of Japan. While I've voted for candidates from both parties in my life, I am personally concerned about one party -- GOP or Democrat -- controlling both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency. I believe it's fundamentally healthier for America when power is shared between both parties, which forces them to struggle and reach compromises that are good for all of us.
Time for some trivia. In case you were wondering what the Japanese use to estimate the size of a person's privates, well, we'll tell you, and then you'll know. Unlike in the U.S., where the size of the hand often indicates male size, here the size of a man's nose in relation to his face supposedly indicates whether or not he is well endowed. So if you've got a large nose and come to Japan, you may find yourself surprisingly popular with girls (although your mileage may vary). In similar silly Japanese fashion, the area inside a woman's ear (the little cavity formed by the bottom of the "S" shape) supposedly indicates the general size of her womanhood.
If you use a XML news reader, you can follow updated J-List products easily with our RSS feed, which lets you easily check your favorite blogs and news sites (the link to our "R" feed is http://www.jlist.com/feed.xml). We'd had some problems with our feed which might have caused errors to appear in some readers, but we believe we've fixed them now. Feedback on our RSS feed is always appreciated.
We have a wonderful update for you today, with many great items. First of all, the first batch of 2005 calendars has come in, and we've posted them to the site post haste -- no waiting! We'll be getting more and more calendars in over the next few weeks, so if the item you want to get still says "preorder" it means those calendars haven't come in yet, but will be in soon, so feel free to order it. We've also gotten our stock of the Otaku Catalog, the collection of essays on otaku culture released at the international symposium on architecture and culture in Venice, Italy. It's very interesting reading for anyone interested in Japan's unique sub-culture.
Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Worn by virtually all Japanese high school girls (except those who go to strict schools where they are forbidden), they look great when bunched up just so. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay, too.
As always, it's interesting to watch the unfolding of American politics from outside the U.S. I can really get a bird's-eye view of my own country, looking in from the outside, and I've had interesting discussions with British, Canadian and Australian expats about various aspects of American politics. As the U.S. election approaches, Japanese newscasters regularly follow the campaign, giving commentary on every facet of the battle for president, which is often a tall order since there are so many differences between America's electoral system and the Parliamentary system that Japan uses. Gaijin like me are able to vote in the election too, thanks to the absentee ballot system, which Japanese are always amazed at -- they don't have anything like that for Japanese living outside of Japan. While I've voted for candidates from both parties in my life, I am personally concerned about one party -- GOP or Democrat -- controlling both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency. I believe it's fundamentally healthier for America when power is shared between both parties, which forces them to struggle and reach compromises that are good for all of us.
Time for some trivia. In case you were wondering what the Japanese use to estimate the size of a person's privates, well, we'll tell you, and then you'll know. Unlike in the U.S., where the size of the hand often indicates male size, here the size of a man's nose in relation to his face supposedly indicates whether or not he is well endowed. So if you've got a large nose and come to Japan, you may find yourself surprisingly popular with girls (although your mileage may vary). In similar silly Japanese fashion, the area inside a woman's ear (the little cavity formed by the bottom of the "S" shape) supposedly indicates the general size of her womanhood.
If you use a XML news reader, you can follow updated J-List products easily with our RSS feed, which lets you easily check your favorite blogs and news sites (the link to our "R" feed is http://www.jlist.com/feed.xml). We'd had some problems with our feed which might have caused errors to appear in some readers, but we believe we've fixed them now. Feedback on our RSS feed is always appreciated.
We have a wonderful update for you today, with many great items. First of all, the first batch of 2005 calendars has come in, and we've posted them to the site post haste -- no waiting! We'll be getting more and more calendars in over the next few weeks, so if the item you want to get still says "preorder" it means those calendars haven't come in yet, but will be in soon, so feel free to order it. We've also gotten our stock of the Otaku Catalog, the collection of essays on otaku culture released at the international symposium on architecture and culture in Venice, Italy. It's very interesting reading for anyone interested in Japan's unique sub-culture.
Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Worn by virtually all Japanese high school girls (except those who go to strict schools where they are forbidden), they look great when bunched up just so. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay, too.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Greetings from J-List October 1, 2004
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Thursday, September 30, 2004
Greetings from J-List September 30, 2004
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Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Greetings from J-List September 29, 2004
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Monday, September 27, 2004
Greetings from J-List September 27, 2004
Sunday was the centennial of the death of Lafcadio Hearn, one of the first gaijin to "turn Japanese" and live in Japan permanently, writing about all that he saw here. Born on a Greek island in 1850 and raised in Dublin, Ireland, he emigrated to the U.S. and worked for a time in newspapers. In 1890, he came to Japan to teach at Tokyo University and was immediately taken with the beauty of everything he saw here. He wrote many books, including Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan, and was a major bridge between Japan and the West during these years. He married the daughter of a samurai and became a naturalized Japanese citizen, taking the name of Yakumo Koizumi and converting to Buddhism. A lot of the impressions of Japan we have today came through Hearn's writings, and the character of Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai was based partially on him.
Fall is here, and in Japan that means it's time for Fall Traffic Safety Week, a special time when Japanese police go out of their way to promote traffic safety, enforce seatbelt laws, and check for drunk drivers. The goal is to make everyone aware of their own driving and help reduce accidents. Traffic accidents are the 5th leading cause of death in Japan; there were 8,000 deaths in 2003, compared with 42,000 in the U.S. The Japanese do many things to promote what they call "safety driving," including carrying traffic safety good luck charms (omamori) and posting safety slogans on overpasses on the freeway to remind drivers to drive slowly and give the right-of-way to the cars in front of you. On the other hand, Japan didn't enact a child carseat law until 1999, and up til that time it was quite common to see housewives driving with their kids standing up in the car -- very dangerous.
For a country that loves English enough to make cars named Mazda Bongo Friendy and Mitsubishi Bravo Exceed, you'd think there'd be a lot of English in use here. Well, outside of people who happen to work alongside foreigners in special jobs (like the hardworking Japanese staff of J-List), there isn't any more English in daily use in Japan than there is French use in the U.S. Although every can of beer and canned coffee has a decorative English description on it -- "Sapporo beer is made from the finest hops for a delicious taste and refinement" -- you'd be surprised how easy it is to find yourself standing on a train platform with not a single sign in English telling you which train to get on. Since I read Japanese, I tend not to notice it that much, but whenever I've got friends from the U.S. out for a visit, I realize how difficult little things like getting around the country can be. The Japanese do their best to promote "internationalization" but it can be difficult with so few native English speakers in the country.
Just when you thought we couldn't have a better selection of 2005 Japanese calendars: announcing even more soon-to-be-released anime calendars from Kodansha, including Tenjo Tenge, One Piece, Naruto, Prince of Tennis, Tsubasa and Holic, Magic Teacher Negima, Samurai Deeper Kyo, G-Taste, and more. These anime calendars are extra-large, with thick glossy card-stock for pages and spiral-type bindings (so you can keep the calendars for years without removing the pages). They're shipped flat, not rolled, and no mailing tubes are needed. Preorder these very special calendars today, as our stock will be limited!
J-List carries virtually all the English-translated dating-sim games available from Japan, and now we've got a new offering for you: Idols Galore!, a new title in which you manage the careers of Japan's top pop stars. The pop idol world is very competitive though, and sometimes the girls have to give some special attention to their manager to stay in his good graces. A wacky new game from G-Collections, in stock and shipping now. Unlike the Japanese version, this game is fully uncensored.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
For our 18+ customers, we've got many new products. The new items include:
Remember that J-List carries a wide variety of snacks from Japan, with about 150 different items in stock at all times, with everything from Pocky (all flavors) to Japan's famous caffeine gum, Black Black. Because J-List is based at the source, right there in the heart of Japan, we've got hundreds of cool and fun items that have never made it out of Japan, which you can order. We are always adding to our snack section too, so check back often!
Fall is here, and in Japan that means it's time for Fall Traffic Safety Week, a special time when Japanese police go out of their way to promote traffic safety, enforce seatbelt laws, and check for drunk drivers. The goal is to make everyone aware of their own driving and help reduce accidents. Traffic accidents are the 5th leading cause of death in Japan; there were 8,000 deaths in 2003, compared with 42,000 in the U.S. The Japanese do many things to promote what they call "safety driving," including carrying traffic safety good luck charms (omamori) and posting safety slogans on overpasses on the freeway to remind drivers to drive slowly and give the right-of-way to the cars in front of you. On the other hand, Japan didn't enact a child carseat law until 1999, and up til that time it was quite common to see housewives driving with their kids standing up in the car -- very dangerous.
For a country that loves English enough to make cars named Mazda Bongo Friendy and Mitsubishi Bravo Exceed, you'd think there'd be a lot of English in use here. Well, outside of people who happen to work alongside foreigners in special jobs (like the hardworking Japanese staff of J-List), there isn't any more English in daily use in Japan than there is French use in the U.S. Although every can of beer and canned coffee has a decorative English description on it -- "Sapporo beer is made from the finest hops for a delicious taste and refinement" -- you'd be surprised how easy it is to find yourself standing on a train platform with not a single sign in English telling you which train to get on. Since I read Japanese, I tend not to notice it that much, but whenever I've got friends from the U.S. out for a visit, I realize how difficult little things like getting around the country can be. The Japanese do their best to promote "internationalization" but it can be difficult with so few native English speakers in the country.
Just when you thought we couldn't have a better selection of 2005 Japanese calendars: announcing even more soon-to-be-released anime calendars from Kodansha, including Tenjo Tenge, One Piece, Naruto, Prince of Tennis, Tsubasa and Holic, Magic Teacher Negima, Samurai Deeper Kyo, G-Taste, and more. These anime calendars are extra-large, with thick glossy card-stock for pages and spiral-type bindings (so you can keep the calendars for years without removing the pages). They're shipped flat, not rolled, and no mailing tubes are needed. Preorder these very special calendars today, as our stock will be limited!
J-List carries virtually all the English-translated dating-sim games available from Japan, and now we've got a new offering for you: Idols Galore!, a new title in which you manage the careers of Japan's top pop stars. The pop idol world is very competitive though, and sometimes the girls have to give some special attention to their manager to stay in his good graces. A wacky new game from G-Collections, in stock and shipping now. Unlike the Japanese version, this game is fully uncensored.
For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for fans of the incredibly detailed Mononofu series, which features historical swords and weapons out of history rendered in incredible die-cast metal (wow), we have the super 4th series, featuring armor from Japan and Europe
- The Japanese are masters at engineering things to be small and precise -- we have some excellent small pen-keychains that enable you to carry a great pen with you anywhere you go
- For fans of Japanese snacks, enjoy delicious pickled plums, tasty rice crackers, and delicious milk candies, made with "Jersey Milk" (although New Jersey is a bit far from Japan)
- Also a favorite of mine: yummy raisin cookies from Bourbon, as well as a general restocking of Japanese chewing gum
- For Miyazaki and Lupin the 3rd fans, a treat -- a set of heroines from the Lupin series, including the classic female characters created by Hayao Miyazaki for the series
- If you love Japan's cute culture, we have an amazing PostPet figure that moves when you clap or make noise
- For JPOP fans, enjoy a new photobook featuring the lovely Ai Takahashi, of Morning Musume, an incredibly charming and beautiful face
- Star Wars fans, we have fresh stock of the cool Star Wars Lego vehicles, sold only in the Japanese market
- For your kitchen: some really cool chopsticks with classic ukiyoe images on them
- If you're a fan of the Sailor Moon live-action series, which features super-cute live-action actresses playing the Sailor Senshi, we have the new DVD in stock (region 2)
- We have some nifty "practice chopsticks" that make it easy to eat like a pro -- they come with little fish you can practice picking up
- Next, we have more wacky "pin badges" (funny pins with cute characters on them)
- Also, an all-purpose carrying case for anything from an iPod to important personal documents
- Studying Japanese? We've restocked our very affordable mini dictionaries for you
- Finally, find a cute spoon for Hello Kitty fans, more delicious petit pizza snacks, and more!
For our 18+ customers, we've got many new products. The new items include:
- For fans of extremely built Japanese gals, we have the new issue of Gal's Dee, which has renamed itself Poroon (pronounced "poh-rohn"), which is the sound of, er, something bouncing
- Next, the new issue of Nuichauzo, translated as "I'm Gonna Get You Off," featuring deliciously evil Japanese girls in love hotels
- For fans of Japan's gorgeous hardcover photobooks, enjoy the elegant hardcover offering of Takako Yamada, a fabulously beautiful Japanese model
- We have another volley of great doujinshi for you, with new just-released books that feature beautiful artwork
- For our H manga collectors, we have three excellent new books for you, including Radical Girl by Sakura Mitono, the elegant Chikan Play by Tsukasa Comics, and a fascinating shoujo crossover H comic
- For our yaoi customers, be sure to pick up the new issue of Muscle Men before it sells out
- DVD collectors, enjoy some great new DVDs for you, starting with Sakura Shiratori's debut as an ultra high-class soap girl (region free)
- Then enjoy 3 hours of excellent performances in a new Blue File offering by Anna Suzukaze, a pure and lovely star from Japan (region free)
- Then lovely Tokyo girls engage in a "sweat endurance contest" to see who can endure being in a hot room in the middle of summer, a bizarre indies concept from SOD (region free)
- Next, we have a dynamite "wet" offering from Waap, featuring nine gorgeous JAV starlets getting spewn on big time (region 2)
- Then, from Moodyz, the super debut of a dynamite star, Hikari Kisugi, stars in her first indies production, a treat for everyone! (region 2)
- We've restocked several DVD titles, including several by Aoi Sora, and added new "free shipping DVDs" for you too!
Remember that J-List carries a wide variety of snacks from Japan, with about 150 different items in stock at all times, with everything from Pocky (all flavors) to Japan's famous caffeine gum, Black Black. Because J-List is based at the source, right there in the heart of Japan, we've got hundreds of cool and fun items that have never made it out of Japan, which you can order. We are always adding to our snack section too, so check back often!
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