Cool Products Friday, April 1, 2011

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.

	Megami Magazine May 2011 The latest issue of Megami is here, the landmark moe poster magazine with over 20 new anime posters for you to enjoy. Megami Magazine isn't just the most popular anime magazine at J-List, it defines the spirit of moe! View products »
	NyanType May 2011 NyanType has great news: it's now an official independent magazine! This celebratory issue is packed with free goodies, extras and posters.
	Comic Alive April 2011 It's time for another issue of Comic Alive, the manga anthology packed with tons of great series! Zero no Tsukaima, Freezing, and much more.
	Bomb April 2011 Enjoy all the cutest and sexiest that Japan's idol world has to offer, packed full of hot gravure shots of these new singers in bloom.
	Smart Apr 2011 Whether you like smart women or smart gadgets, this is the magazine for all things geeky and trendy in Japan. We love this magazine.
	Simple Girls Tops ~ Brown More Y's Enterprise fashion for you today, in this simple yet elegant top that matches streetwear you'd see in Fruits and other magazines.
	Japanese Fashion Items Fresh stock of fun fashion items, including the Girlie Border Knee High Socks for that "Absolute Zone" look, plus Kawaii Fur One Piece with Bon Bon.
	New Varieties of GATSBY Hair Wax from Japan Enjoy the extreme stylings of Gatsby's hair products for men, to give that extra edge to your hairstyle or that epic tousled look.
	Learn Hiragana with Totoro We have no shortage of fun Totoro related products, and today we've restocked the Totoro Hiragana Study Board, the fun way to learn nihongo.
	Japanese T-Shirt ~ Stay Strong Japan Remember: J-List and DannyChoo.com are teaming up with this great Mirai-chan T-shirt. 25% goes to the Japan Red Cross!
	Japanese Gymnastics Uniform Bloomer set Whether you're cosplaying as a gym student or just need a great exercise outfit that will catch the eye, this traditional bloomers set is for you!
	Silicon Boiled Potato Peeler Bowl ~ Microwave safe Efficiently speed your cooking by removing peels of cooked potatoes effortlessly! A simple yet amazing cooking tool from Japan.
	Rice Bowl Phone Strap, Kitchen Items See fun products restocked, from our Rice Bowl Phone Strap to the sankaku net for holding food you for composting, a green idea from Japan.
	New PIXIV Artbooks from Japan The best bishoujo art from artists' social networking website Pixiv is collected in these two awesome volumes -- high print quality and amazing visuals you'll love, which capture the spirit of moe in Japan today. View products »
	Gorgeous Anime Figures In Stock See that fabulous fully detailed Taiga Aisaka Toradora figure, one of the best ever made, plus the lovely Caro ru Lushe Figma for Nanoha fans.
	Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls 04 Box (Blu-ray) The second limited edition box of Samurai Girls is here! Contains vol. 4 of the Blu-ray anime plus a great pillowcase and much more.
	Gakuen Hetalia Portable ~ Hetalia PSP Games! The PSP has become the premier platform for awesome anime games, and we've restocked some nice ones today. Hetalia, LIttle Busters, and more.
	Today's Delicious Japanese Snacks For fans of chocolate with their Pocky, Glico has the answer: an amazing new explosion of chocolate on a stick! Try this and other new snacks today.
	Case Closed Gummy Candy Detective Conan, aka Case Closed, is here with his own brand of delicious chewy candy, in fun shapes you'll recognize from the show.
	Restocked Traditional Food Drops Candies Nice restocking of Food Drops candies, including Akiba "Moe Hot Milk" flavor, Mameshiba, and Harajuku Chocolate Banana Crepe -- yum!
	Pocari Sweat, Restocked Snacks Got restocked snacks, too, incl. Pocari Sweat powder, new Hi-Chew flavors, Cola Ramune, Japan Oreo, and Lotte Doraemon snacks. Enjoy them all.
	Restocked Totoro Bento Boxes Do you like Totoro? We love our friendly neighbor from Studio Ghibli, and try to keep great products like these bento in stock for you at all times. Click to see the epic Totoro bento boxes we restocked today. View products »
	Popular Bento Boxes Restocked See popular bento boxes restocked, including the including the large 950ml Lacquered Bento, the Chrysanthemum Kimono Bento Box and more.
	Fun Microwave Products from Japan Restocked Fun microwave products restocked, like the Microwave Easy Spaghetti Maker, Mini Microwave Steamer and more.
	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.
	Other Fun Japanese Pens See various restocked Japanese writing instruments, the ENERGEL 0.5 mm Liquid Ball Pen for smooth writing, the cool "Euro" pens and more.
	Kyoto SAKURA Tea Assortment Set It's the season for sakura (cherry blossoms) in Japan, and that means wonderful gifts and sakura-themed items like these from Kyoto.
	Samurai Sword Keychain, Other Items Samurai swords are awesome when attached to your keychain so you can use them for opening boxes, defending yourself from small ninja attacks.
	Sakura Petal Floating Aroma Candles Celebrate spring with J-List -- we've got awesome sakura candles that you can light and float in the bath!
	Awesome Lucky Cat Products Several restocked Lucky Cat products, a great way to explore Japan through its luck-beckoning cat characters.
	Tsuimaru Reads your Tweets To You *Preorder* This adorable USB creature from Takara Tomy will read your Japanese Twitter feed aloud as you receive messages! Preorder nau.
	Blancneige 1/7 Figure Swimsuits ver. *Preorder* Figures based on Taka Tony designs never fail to please, and this new bikini-clad Blancneige is just adorable. Preorders open today.
	Awesome Restocked Artbooks One of the most popular eroge artists around, Kagami presents well over 300 pages spanning 2 artbooks of dripping ecchi goodness!
	Ziska 1/8 Figure ! Brandish A sexy new devil girl figure practically bursting out of her corset, this is Ziska who we're sure you'll like to meet. This amazing figure is in stock now.
	Night Butterfly DX Massager, Made in Japan An exquisite new offering from Japan's stress relief and massage industry, crafted with her pleasure in mind. An elegant item indeed which will let you lay down your burdens at the end of the day. View products »
	Even More Massagers from Japan Other fun personal massagers restocked too, including the G.II -- a nearly operfect waterproof tool for reaching those hard-to-reach spots, plus...Hello Kitty?
	Also: Fera Zoma, Other Stress Toys for Guys That mouth-shaped love hole is back in stock for you to enjoy, plus Air Doll Eri Himekawa, a very special friend who never has a headache.
	Da Capo Limited Edition Boxed Set Great news! The first shrinkwrapped package game from Manga Gamer has been released, and we've got in stock for you in San Diego now. One of the most epic eroge ever, fully translated into English and available on CD-ROM now. View products »
	Have More H and More Sweet Time with Childhood Friends Enjoy a hot new "H" game on your PSP with Japanese UMD region enabled! Bishoujo loving in the palm of your hand, childhood friend style.
	Bible Black, The Game If you want to have a really outstanding eroge experience, try Bible Black. Click to see the legendary game plus some, ah, related products.
	The History of Stripe Panty 8 Hours with Real Shimapan If you're a fan of Japan's famous striped panties this is the set for you! 8 hours of girls in the panties you love, plus a free pair to enjoy.

My "WTF, Japan?" Moments

When dealing with Japan, it's natural to encounter some "WTF" moments, like seeing a strawberry & whipped cream sandwich for sale in a convenience store for the first time; that first encounter with an ita-sha, a car decked out as a mobile shrine to an anime character; or being asked if having blue eyes meant I saw the world through a blue tint. I remember being confused by the tendency of Japanese songwriters to put seemingly random English phrases in Japanese songs. Reading through my old CD liner notes, I'd see bizarre phrases like HEART CHECK or BLUE RAY LEMON or GET CHANCE AND LUCK or FAD, FAD, WITH SOMETHING COOL, LIKE A HIDDEN LUMINARY. After a while I came to appreciate that to the Japanese, English represents an emotional investment of (usually) six years of hard work spent memorizing grammar and vocabulary, and songwriters can use English to bring out feelings in listeners that couldn't be accessed otherwise. Plus, English is just so darned kakko ii (cool), so adding a splash of OH PLEASE BE FREEDOM into the middle of a song gives it a special mystique. Another theory might be that the Japanese songwriters are putting bizarre English phrases into their songs to mess with the minds of foreigners who try to comprehend their language...

Did you think I was kidding about the strawberry and whipped cream sandwiches?

Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, the "Kami" of Business?

When I was in Narita Airport I was browsing in a bookstore while we waited for our flight, and I wandered over to the business section. Just as in the U.S., there are business books that analyze the lives and management styles of the world's most famous CEOs, and it was interesting browsing various Japanese-language books about Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to see how these enigmatic empire builders might look from the viewpoint of the Japanese. (According to J-List's Tomo, they're so far removed from the "plain and uninteresting" company founders in Japan they might as well be kami in the mountains.) I've written before about how the spirit of entrepreneurship works somewhat differently in Japan, which is to say, it doesn't work very well -- for a variety of reasons, the number of young, smart people willing to take risks to create new companies (like J-List) is very low. It's a given that paradigm-changing companies like Google or YouTube or Facebook could never have occurred in Japan, a country where many Internet users think of the Yahoo (Japan) homepage as "the Internet," where many forgo owning computers entirely, making do with a sleek keitai (cell phone) for their email needs, and almost no one has a favorite Linux distro.

Business books about foreign CEOs abound in Japan.

Are the Japanese Different? Has CNN Run Out of Stories to Write?

The ongoing crisis in Japan has caused a lot of deep thinking about the country in general by the Western media, and one article I caught on CNN was titled, "Are the Japanese Different?" This is certainly an interesting question: does Japan's calm, ordered response to this unparalleled disaster indicate that they're somehow fundamentally different from the rest of us? On the one hand the answer is yes -- Japan is an island nation with an incredibly unique and strong culture that enabled it to resist colonization by the Mongols and the European powers (the only Asian nation other than Thailand to achieve this), and it spent 250 years closed off to other nations, living in a highly structured inward-looking society. On the other hand, the common Japanese belief -- really more of a national meme -- that they are fundamentally different, that (for example) the Japanese langauge is more difficult than every other language in the world and that Japanese brains are are uniquely tuned to speak it, is obviously untrue. These beliefs are part of what's called nihonjinron (lit. "theories of the Japanese people"), a body of ideas about the Japanese as a race put forth by both Japanese and Western writers who were trying to describe Japan's "special" role in the world before, during and after World War II. Among other things, the Japanese fascination with blood types determining one's personality derives from nihonjinron ideas, from back in the days when the Japanese Empire tried to figure which blood type made the best soldiers (it was type O, if you're wondering).

Are the Japanese "different"? What do you think?

San Diego and Sushi

I was driving around town with my family and they noticed how many sushi restaurants there were in San Diego. "Yes," I explained, "Sushi is famous all over the world." We started chuckling at some of the names of the sushi restaurants we saw, since they sound pretty funny when you're coming from Japan. We got a kick out of "Wa Sushi" (wa meaning peace and harmony, a word that would never adorn a sushi shop in Japan), and Kabuki Sushi made us giggle at the prospect of being served by waiters in full kabuki costumes, chanting about our food as they gave it to us. We also liked the cheesiness of "Sushi Hut" with its almost-Hello Kitty mascot hawking "sushi and teriyaki." (While teriyaki exists as a flavoring for certain foods like yakitori chicken on a stick or McDonald's famous Teriyaki Burger, it's actually quite a rare thing in Japan and is almost never used as a word -- go figure.)

Know of any other wacky sushi restaurant names? There's one in the UK called Feng Sushi which I thought was amusing.

There are some amusing sushi restaurant names, when you're coming from Japan.

Japan Earthquake Update: Day 17

My family has now joined me here in San Diego, and we're enjoying our time here even as we worry about the situation back "home" in Japan. We're here for an important family event and will be headed back to Japan next week.

The problems continue after the earthquake that hit just Japan 17 days ago, though it sure seems like a lot longer. Life is slowly returning to normal, with food and other products increasingly showing up on shelves, and even gasoline is starting to flow regularly (excuse the pun). Some "necessities" are still difficult to find, for example Japan Tobacco announced it would be halting distribution of cigarettes for two weeks due to procurement issues related to the earthquake, making it potentially difficult to find your favorite brand. Damage has been severe in some areas, for example the parking lot of Tokyo Disneyland -- which was built on reclaimed land that's fundamentally less stable than normal land -- was deeply warped and cracked. Tokyo Disneyland itself escaped serious damage, although it's been closed since the disaster and can't reopen until the rolling blackout issues are behind us.

Japan prepares to rebuild the ravaged regions in the north.

Oda Nobunaga Would Love an iPad

Since I knew I was coming to the U.S. for this brief trip, I pre-ordered one of the new Apple iPads, which is especially useful for expats living in Japan who visit the U.S. from time to time, as you can buy Internet access month-to-month without a contract. When I showed the iPad to my daughter, she said, "You bought another electronic device? Why do you like cool new things so much? You're just like Oda Nobunaga!!" It was quite an interesting observation for her to make. Oda Nobunaga was one of Japan's three great unifiers of Japan, and he was famous for his fascination with new and unique things. He loved Western culture, placing Western rugs on his tatami mats and dressing his retainers in Western clothes while marveling at the gifts the Jesuits brought him -- one of his favorites was a star-shaped Portuguese candy that's now known by the name of Konpeito. He once encountered an African traveling with a Jesuit priest and asked for the man to be placed in his service, providing him with samurai swords, and he was fascinated with all manner of Western technology. The modern word for someone overly taken with cool gadgets and/or popular people (think Justin Bieber) is miihaa (mee-haa), though it's probably not polite to apply the term to such a famous historical figure. In case you're curious, the other two unifiers of Japan were Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the peasant who served under Nobunaga and incredibly rose in rank to become the de facto ruler of all Japan, and Ieyasu Tokugawa, who won the title of shogun and created the long period of stability known as the Edo Period.

I bought an iPad, so I'm like Oda Nobunaga.

Cool Products Monday, March 28, 2011

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 April 2011 The brand new issue of Newtype is here, the definitive anime and 2D culture magazine for fans. Packed with freebees (called omake) for fans, you get tons of information on the hottest anime from Japan today. Click to view this great issue. View products »
	Working!! Visual Collection Fans of the moe restaurant anime Working!! will love this full collection of high quality art from the show!
	Popular J-List T-shirts We're happy to see the popularity of our J-List T-shirt offerings, and if whether you like anime or esoteric kanji messages, we've got something for you.
	Awesome Shirow Masamune Artbooks Shirow Masamune is an amazing illustrator whose skills are second to none. See a major restocking of his most ecchi artbooks.
	Authentic 'Socks Glue' From Japan See fresh stock of the wacky "socks glue" which hold up your awesome Japanese over-knee socks. Enjoy.
	Hello Kitty to Issho! iPhone 4 Case by Poyoyon Rock Oh baby -- the epic Hello Kitty to Issho! (Always With Hello Kitty) series continues as an awesome line of iPhone cases featuring art from Japan's most amazing artists, including OKAMA, Pop and Kei. View products »
	Rilakkuma Soft iPhone 4 Covers are Kawaii! The most kawaii accessories for iPhone are from Japan. Enjoy our Rilakkuma iPhone case, and the Rilakkuma iPod neck strap.
	Rilakkuma Face Pen Case The face of everyone's favorite relaxing bear comes on this super-cute and plush pen case, officially licensed by San-X. Restocked today.
	Restocked PSP Anime Games Enjoy the To-Love-Ru Doki Doki game, Tora Dora portable w/ endings for all girls, Lucky Star PSP and Tsuyo Kiss!
	iTunes Japan Prepaid Music Cards Or check out the new AKB48 sakura album, or the "Is this a Zombie?" OST.
	Awesome Kiki's Delivery Service Products We love carrying awesome Ghibli products. See some of our favorite Kiki's Delivery Service soft cushions restocked today.
	Nikyoro Fluffy Banana Mini Hug Pillow There comes a time in ever person's life when they must buy a large plush banana. J-List's popular plush banana from Nikyoro is back in stock!
	Today's New Japanese Snacks A nice restocking of Japanese snacks today, including Caplico, the giant chocolate ice cream cone, plus a new Ichigo (strawberry) Pocky and Wata Pachi Melon Soda cotton candy w/pop rocks. Awesome! View products »
	Restocked Japanese Kit Kat, Other Snacks Japan-only Kit Kat flavors, Japan Oreo cookies, Meltykiss chocolates, UHA High Conc. Milk Candy, Xylish Hyper Cool Gum w/ caffeine, and more.
	Awesome Gum from Japan Also, J-List stocks the most popular types of gum from Japan, from Fuwarinka Rose Essence that makes your body smell nice to Black Black Caffeine Gum.
	Bento Boxes from Japan The most popular traditional bento box on the site is our Blue Rabbit x Moon Bento Set, and we love it a lot.
	Lunch-de-DON Bowl (DONBURI) Bento Another fun way to enjoy Japan's visual culture of boxed lunches, this is the Lunch-de-DON bento box "bowl."
	ECO My Own Chopsticks Make the world a slightly better place by avoiding the use of disposable chopsticks, which are made from trees after all. Restocked today!
	NORI (Seaweed) Punch for Bento Fresh stock of those cute nori punches, used for making cute shapes and faces in your rice balls. Wait, that sounded kind of funny...
	Random Restocked Kitchen & Bento Also: sandwich shapers for making Japanese sandwiches, since life is too short to eat boring square sandwiches.
	Other Traditional Hello Kitty Products We love traditional Hello Kitty items, and some of the coolest in stock are the "Wagara" tea pot and cup set and 3-tier bento boxes.
	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.
	Japanese Coin Key Rubber Cover & Key Chain Japanese money is enigmatic to look at, and these rubber key covers turn your normal, boring keys into awesome Japanese money keys!
	Restocked 'Let's Make Eraser with Microwave' Japan loves its erasers, that's for sure. See a big restocking of the fun erasers you make yourself using the microwave and included molds. Best of all, the molds can be reused many times with other kinds of clay or even food. A great series from Japan! View products »
	Mikoto Misaka 1/6 Figure Maid ver. *Preorder* Gorgeous maid figure of Mikoto, our favorite character from the Index and Railgun series.
	Hitagi Senjogahara 1/7 Figure ~ Bakemonogatari *Preorder* Then we have a new Hitagi from Bakemonogatari, the gorgeous show from Shaft. I wish I were 1/7 scale myself.
	Fairy Tail 3D Oppai Mouse Pad ~ Lucy *Preorder* We instantly fell in love with this 3D "oppai" mouse pad, which provides just the right kind of wrist support for the otaku in your home.
	Restocked Sexy Twins, Tenga Too See restocked stress toys, including the 'sexy twins' simulators, so realistic you'll buy it dinner, plus the popular TENGA stress toys.
	K-On! & Haruhi Parody Toys Restocked And for fans of K-On! and Haruhi Suzumiya, a big restocking of the popular anime-themed toys from Japan. Each is totally unique and different!
	Saimin Seikatsu ~ UMD PSP Game There are 18+ Sony PSP games now, making it possible to enjoy a great eroge on the best portable platform ever. Check out Saimin Seikatsu (Hypnotism Life), a game of getting what you want through hypnotism! View products »
	Superb 'Eroge' from Japan J-List stocks some truly amazing eroge from Japan, which are awesome to explore and play. Click to see our newest releases.
	Awesome H-Games in English Don't forget our awesome lineup of English-translated games, with rich stories in English that are outstanding to play. Click to see the top games.