Cool Products Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Newtype Jan 2011 The most famous anime magazine in Japan starts the new year with a bang with this epic issue! Packed full of goodies starting with an originally illustrated full 12-month calendar from some of Japan's most famous anime and manga artists, a special separate issue of Otome Type (the magazine featuring dashing bishounen) is included, as well as a double sided A3 size fold out poster and even more. This is an issue you won't want to miss, especially for the epic calendar! View products »
	Figure Maniacs Otomegumi vol. 41 Catch up on figure news and beautifully lit professional photography of garage kits in this issue, including figures from all the latest shows you love.
	Patricia Martin 1/4 Figure ~ Lucky Star Speaking of fujoshi, we've got a great new figure of the foreign otaku from Lucky Star here for you, at an epic size!
	Hello Kitty Red Deco Ribbon Earphone Delight your ears with these cute, stylish in-ear headphones from Sanrio, featuring everyone's favorite Kitty in a jeweled design.
	One Piece Stereo Headphone Luffy Type Also, we got some cool over-hear phones for people who prefer the deeper sound. The One Piece headphones have just come in!
	Nerdy iPhone 4 Cases Restocked We love carrying cool items for iPhone users, and today we're restocked some nerdy cases, including a Nintendo controller, a casette tape and a 2-lens reflex camera. View products »
	Nyan x2 Music Clip (Blu-ray Disc) Get the ultimate Macross F sound experience with this definitive Blu-ray collection of the show's greatest hits - 5.1 HD audio and epic full HD video!
	Mio Akiyama Windbreaker from COSPA A stylish look is here for you from COSPA in this official Mio windbreaker from K-On!. Show your devotion and keep warm all in one. We love Mio!
	Hello Kitty Lucky Temple's Wishing Board (Ema) When you wish upon a kitty, good things will happen! The Japanese tradition of writing wishes on a wooden plaque and tying it to a lucky spot (at a temple or other sacred place) still lives strong, especially in the form of these adorable custom "wishing boards." Kitty will act as a "lucky cat," doing her best to make sure all the dreams you write will come true! View products »
	Haru Kairo Japanese Warm Pad Regular Size One great way to stay warm in Japan's cold winter are kairo, the amazing heating pads that stay warm for up to 12 hours. We love them.
	The KOTATSU FUTON 200 x 200cm Another good way to keep warm is in a kotatsu. By customer request we've posted a futon blanket for the heater tables we sell.
	Awesome Umbrellas from Japan From umbrellas that change color when wet to those samurai sword ones, umbrellas with rainbow LED shafts and much more, the full selection is here!
	Rilakkuma Die-cut Soap A subtle, pleasing rose-scented fragrance comes in the shape of the lovable Rilakkuma bear soap bar who will also help you stay clean! From San-X.
	Kanji Test DS Training Hone your Kanji memory skills to razor sharpness with this new and improved version of DS kanji drills, packed with minigames and penmanship too!
	Restocked PSP, DS Games We've been seeing a big increase in demand for PSP anime games lately. Today we've got Clannad, ToraDora and To LOVE-ru for PSP in stock + Ninokuni for DS!
	Kera Dec 2010 vol. 148 Get all the Tokyo fashion you need right here, from the punkier side of things on Tokyo streets. Tons of photos and tips from grunge to gothic lolita!
	Lovely Japanese Socks, Gothic Dress Awesome Japanese over knee socks (aka thigh highs) which are quite cool and nosebleed-inducing. Also a nice Gothic Lolita complete outfit.
	Stripe Pantsu Restocked What can we say? The meme of anime character wearing striped panties (called shimapan in Japanese) is awesome. Big restocking today.
	A Very J-POP Christmas... The iTunes Japan store has published its top list of J-POP Christmas songs this year, and they're great for browsing.
	MP9 Digital Pocket Video Recorder 2GB This sure turned out to be a popular item: a pen that can record up to 2GB of full frame video and audio. Restocked today.
	Injection Ball Point Pens & More Big restocking of Japanese pens, from wacky "injection needle" pens to aromatic One Piece pens and more. Fun notebooks, too!
	Today's Awesome Japanese Snacks Pocky-like Fran meets Meltykiss in an awesome new stick snack that will blow your mind, plus new Crunky and delicious Puccho with peach gummi bits.
	Restocked Japanese Snacks, Gum Enjoy Kanro Seedless Ume plums, Glico Cratz, Morinaga Baked Chocolate and Hi-Chew, "Calpis" gum, plus the cult favorite Felix the Cat bubblegum in a large box.
	Stylish Appetizer Ware Boxes Bento Great for any party or meal, these are the layered, stylish tier bento boxes that are meant for holding and displaying the appetizers you'll be serving. Great for any food, these are particularly good with Japanese bite-size dishes you can grab with chopsticks. View products »
	Totoro & Ghibli Products Restocked From the ever-popular Soot Sprite mascot keychains to the Kiki's Delivery bento boxes Totoro items, click to see them now.
	Restocked Bento Accessories Fun bento items restocked, including the 4 Color Cube Container Set, Bear & Apple Soy Sauce Bottle Set, Eco Silicon Bento Cup and more.
	PITATTO Sealer for Snack Bags The perfect sealing device for plastic bags, heating them just enough to meld the edges closed for an airtight seal for optimum storage. Great for snacking!
	Books on Bento Our most popular book on bento-making in English is restocked in San Diego. Click view all our bento and cooking-related books!
	Deco Bento Furikake 5 Colors ~ Salmon Flavor Delicious edible colors for your bento creations - what could be better? These furikake or coating spices carry a delicious salmon flavor while making your rice or other food a variety of adorable pastel colors. View products »
	Zebra Check Set I often stock items I wish I had back when I was studying Japanese in college, like this awesome system for memorizing any information.
	Other Japanese Study Items Restocked The JLPT study books, popular Genki textbooks, plus Fifteen Minutes a Day Kanji Practice and epic Kanji Flashcard Box from White Rabbit.
	Ninja Shuriken, Hello Kitty Ice Cube Trays Other random fun items restocked, including the ninja "shuriken" shaped ice cube trays that are so popular, plus a Hello Kitty 3D ice cube maker.
	Restocked Traditional Items Also enjoy miniature samurai sword keychains, a bamboo rice washer, classic "Waraji" sandals and more.
	Today's Preorder Anime Figures New preorders today include the striking Dark Sakura from Fate/stay night, and an epic Gunbuster Revoltech action figure from the classic Gainax series.
	Monster Hunter Mascot Mug Cups *Preorder* The adorable Airu mascot companions from the Monster Hunter series are shown in a cute stylized pattern around this large 'mug cup'. Preorders open!
	New Giga Pudding Shirt for Girls, 'Moe Warning' in 2XL J-List has been on a roll with our new Giga Pudding parody shirt, and our moe "warning" shirt that says, "Obsession with moe anime characters can lead to awkwardness in social situations and limit romantic relationships to 2D." We have 2XL sizes for both guy's shirts, plus by massive customer request, a fitted girl's version of Giga Pudding too! View products »
	Uncho Kanu Cast off Figure *Preorder* Kanu Unchou from Ikkitousen (Battle Vixens) is the gift that keeps on giving for sexy figure collectors, and this new cast off Kanu is gorgeous.
	Huge Restocking of TENGA Products J-List sells tons of TENGA stress toys, and today we've restocked the most popular item, including Flip Hole, Hole Warmer and all lotion types.

Season Gifts in Japan: Oseibo and Ochugen

Although Christmas is a relatively recent import into Japan, the giving and receiving of gifts has always been a big part of life here. Besides many formal and informal traditions of exchanging gifts, there are two big gift-giving periods, ochugen in August and oseibo in December, when families will give special pre-packaged gift sets such as canned coffee, laundry detergent, soy sauce, salad oil and sake to people who have helped them in some way. These pre-made gift sets are a big industry, and sales of gift items are watched by economists as a bellwether for Japan's domestic economy at large. The custom of giving gifts applies to companies, too, and every year J-List exchanges gifts with companies like Nitroplus and Will (makers of the PC dating-sim games we sell) as well as the various distributors we work with. It's always fun to see what gifts the other companies send, and I always love Hokkaido-based Crowd's the best -- this year we they sent fresh ikura (salmon roe). Incidentally, J-List has a page of anime and gift snack sets, including boxed gifts suitable for giving to others -- click here to browse these fun items.

Gift like oseibo have a larger cultural footprint than Christmas gifts.

Japan's TV Commercials: NTT Frog Edition

It's always fun to compare TV commercials in the West and Japan. While most people probably judge Japan's "CMs" (as they're called here) by a few really bizarre examples, commercials in Japan are often very subtle, striving to create an appealing visual image to tie a product to, or amuse the viewer in a way that makes them feel favorably about the company. Another common approach is to use indirect images to communicate abstract meaning, often making the viewer wonder what the commercial is even about. NTT is currently running a commercial showing a CG frog swimming in a swimming pool with beautiful opera music playing as he takes each stroke. Towards the end, a message displays on the screen: "Are you satisfied with your company's ability to 'change?'" They were making a common pun on the word kaeru, which means "to change" but also (with different kanji) "frog." As is often the case, the company tries to create buzz for the commercial itself, publishing the "making of" on their website showing how difficult it was to make a frog appear to swim like an Olympic swimmer.

A TV commercial featuring a swimming frog, which will make you feel at peace.

French Bread + Bacon = Awesome

Although rice is the staple food of Japan, eaten with almost every meal, the Japanese are no slouches when it comes to bread. Called pan in Japanese (from the Portuguese), Japan's bread culture is quite interesting. Of course the "basic" type of bread is the normal sliced variety, called shoku-pan or "eating bread," and I love how you have the option of buying a loaf with eight, six or four slices, depending on how thick you want your sandwiches or French toast to be. (Hope you like white bread, however, as other varieties are hard to come by.) Often what the Japanese call "bread" would qualify as a doughnut to Westerners, such as the famous Anpan, round bread with different types of sweet beans inside, or Melon Pan, essentially a large piece of sweetened bread that looks like a honeydew melon cut in half -- or like a brain. One of my favorite types of Japanese pan is Curry Pan, fried bread with spicy curry inside, which is a great snack when you're hungry between meals. The other day I went into a bakery and saw what I consider to be the pinnacle of food culture in the world: fresh-baked "Bacon Cheese France" which is French bread with bacon and Camembert cheese baked right inside it -- oishii!

French bread with bacon baked inside? Back up the truck.

More Christmas Present Suggestions from J-List

There are literally thousands of items in stock at J-List which would make great gift ideas for the people on your list this year. From our awesome original T-shirts and hoodies to our huge selection of 2011 anime, idol and other calendars (which are disappearing fast, by the way), there's something for everyone. Of course we'll understand if you're tempted to pick up a few items for yourself, like the just-released Dengeki G's Festival magazine, which comes with a free OreImo hug pillow and figure. Remember we've got the handy J-List Christmas Guide, a good place to get some ideas too.

Cool Products Monday, December 13, 2010

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Quarterly Pixiv vol. 03 From moe to landscapes to futuristic architecture, this hot quarterly magazine finds the best material from artist cooperative social network Pixiv and serves it up fresh in a gorgeous archival print format. This issue includes free, fully functional demos of Comic Studio and Illust Studio along with the art and tutorials we've come to love - a great addition to the magazine rack of collectors and creators alike. View products »
	Animedia J  Get in on the ground floor with Animedia J, a brand new magazine from the creators of Animedia with an emphasis on all the coolest shows.
	Restocked Otona no Kagaku Science Projects We love the science kits from Gakken, and today we're restocking the Kaleidoscope, Wind Power Generator, Synthesizer and Twin-Lens Reflex Camera.
	One Piece Large Clock Series Some truly impressive One Piece items in the form of very large clocks for your wall, featuring bold illustrations of your favorite characters.
	Restocked Anime Earphones, Headphones Awesome Rei and Asuka "Head Interface" earphones restocked, plus the overhead Evangelion headphones and kawaii Mameshiba earphones.
	Dengeki G's Festival vol. 19 We love magazines that give you omake (oh-MAH-kay), or free stuff, and our favorite has to be Dengeki G's Festival, which showers its readers with awesome stuff like the OreImo figure in this issue. In stock and shipping now! View products »
	K-ON! SR Figure 3rd Set of 5 See your favorite K-On! characters in miniature in this deluxe full set of the latest gashapon "trading figures" from the show.
	Menace Prize Figure ~ Queen's Blade Menace the Egyptian-themed princess from Queen's Blade is looking gorgeous in this prize figure from Banpresto, and at a price that can't be beat!
	Hello Kitty Mug Cup Face ~ Pink Kitty says hello from the side of a sturdy ceramic mug in this officially licensed Sanrio product, super cute for your office, desk or table.
	Restocked Totoro Items We love soft, furry Totoro toys and stock dozens of them for you, including the Totoro plush keychains we got in stock today.
	Girls Girls Girls! 6 ~ Fetish Girl Collection If you're a fan of original moe art that you won't see anywhere else, check out the latest Girls Girls Girls! collection. Packed with artwork commissioned for the popular E2 bishoujo magazine, it's been collected here for the first time in gorgeous archival format from artists you'll instantly recognize (Maruto, creator of our Come See Me Tonight games, and KEI, illustrator of Hatsune Miku and other Vocaloids, are just two). Super moe artbook love in a dynamite package! View products »
	Moe Moe Encyclopedia ~ Youkai (Ghost) Edition The ghosts and spirits of Japanese legend are brought alive in the pages of this encyclopedia, but with a unique moe and sexy flavor you'll love.
	Hetalia Character CG Complete Guide For Hetalia fans we've got fresh stock of the Character CD Complete Guide, which even comes with the sheet music to the character songs -- awesome.
	BLAZBLUE  The super popular arcade game from the makers of Guilty Gear is now available for the PC! Check out the pulse-pounding action and visual novel today.
	Nintendo DS Software to Learn Japanese The Nintendo DS is great for Japanese learners, and today we're restocking the Kanji Test for 2.5 Millions, Perfect Kanji, and Hiragana with Doraemon.
	S Cawaii Dec 2010 This month's cover of trendy fashion mag S Cawaii proclaims "I'm glad I bought it!", talking about everyone's favorite buys from the year. Check it out!
	Kiki's Bamboo Mini Broom An authentic bamboo broom like the one in Kiki's Delivery Service and Maison Ikkoku, this is a unique item from japan.
	Microwave Yutanpo ~ Yutapon Warm your bed quickly and easily with this microwaveable heater "yutanpo" unit -- just heat for a few minutes and you're warm and toasty all night.
	Restocked Hanten Kimonos Also: another great way to stay warm in Japan is to use a hanten winter kimono, preferably while sitting at your kotatsu.
	Lucky Feng Shui Buddha Strap  Ensure the proper alignment of your surrounding feng shui (or something like that) through the balance provided by this lucky phone strap!
	Microwave Potato Chip Maker Then: Why buy store-bought potato chips when you can make your own at home, using this wacky microwave potato chip maker from Japan? Restocked today.
	Let's Make Fragrant Beads with Magical Water  Use these beads to provide amazing scents for your room after crafting them with your own hands. A fun (if inedible) craft project!
	Mousse-chan Fuwa-Fuwa Paper Clay Toys For fans of our "paper clay" mold toys, we've got a big restocking of these awesome Japanese crafts.
	Delicious Japanese Snacks For You Today's new snacks include a new Sasa strawberry + chocolate flavor, Afternoon Tea hard and soft candies, plus a super new gum from Lotte, "Cool Berry." View products »
	First Kiss, Okonomiyaki, Pudding Food Drops Popular "Food Drops" are restocked today, Cheese Cake (Kobe), Okonomiyaki (Osaka), purin (Pudding, aka Caramel Cream) plus your first kiss in candy form!
	Pocari Sweat, Restocked Snacks Pocari Sweat Powder, Original Pocky, Meiji Himo-Q long gummy string, Meiji Porte in Tiramisu flavor, Rich Chocolate, Lotte Pie no Mi and more!
	Totoro Bento Boxes! Bring your neighbor Totoro with you to lunch with our line of quality, Ghibli-licensed bento boxes featuring our favorite huggable nature friend.
	Hello Kitty Bento Items Sanrio and bento go together like peanut butter and jelly, and we love bringing you fun products. See various Hello Kitty bento items restocked today.
	Sushi Makers, Other Fun Items See other restocked bento items, like awesome onigiri shapers and a mold for making the perfect sushi shapes and more.
	Fun Bento Accessories, Egg & Sandwich Shapers Also: the epic Dream Land Egg Shaper is joined by Niko Niko Nori Punch which makes smiling rice balls, and more. Always something fun at J-List.
	2011 Calendars Are Going Fast... On Friday we had 137 different Japanese calendars in stock, but today we have 122. Calendars are selling out far faster than we expected. Every year we receive a lot of sad emails from customers who missed buying this Bleach or that traditional art calendar. Avoid the anguish of missing the Japanese calendar you want by ordering it now! View products »
	Kanji Drill Workbooks, Other Study Items We always have fun Japanese study tools, and today we're restocking the Basic Kanji Drill series, as well as the hachimaki headbands for studying.
	Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Items The newest Gainax anime is a smash, with sensational stylish and sexy characters who reach out and grab you. See how we can feed your fandom today!
	Restocked Photobooks See fresh stock of some gorgeous hardcover photobooks, too, including Haruka Ito's Forever and Tsukasa Aoi's Zettai Shojo (Absolute Girl).
	Love Desu 555! Join the interactive love revolution with the latest in the Love Desu series from Teatime software, sister brand to Illusion Soft and makers of some of the best polygon-based love sims on the market. Love Desu 555 ups the ante with even more provocative situations, customization options and play modes for a truly engaging, entertaining game experience. Only from Japan! View products »
	Awesome Eroge in English We've got dozens of great eroge visual novels translated into English for you to -- click to see the titles our customers are adding to their wishlists.
	Girlfriend Simulators Restocked The popular Breath of Woman and Scent of Woman stress toys are restocked today (best product names ever?), plus Ona Can ~ The Twist Spiral.
	Stress Toys for Ladies We also have great stress toys for the ladies, including the powerful e-Rotor [sic] plus the KIWAMI personal massager, which gets the job done.