Cool Products Thursday, June 28, 2012

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.

	Dengeki G's Festival Comic vol. 24 The latest edition of Dengeki G's Comic Festival is here! Featuring awesome manga for you to read through this summer + a free hug pillow cover! As usual, Dengeki G's Festival is one of our favorite magazines because of all the awesome free stuff fans get. (It's a little on the "H" side so please see this book on the J-List side.) View products »
	Dengeki Visual Art's 2012 Summer Pick up the latest issue of Dengeki Visual Art's, the premier art magazine for fans of Key and other Visual Art's brands.
	J-List's Megumi Original iPhone Snap Case Made after numerous customer requests, J-List is proud to give you our very own Original iPhone Snap Case, with our cute Megumi on it! We'll have it at AX too!
	Waiting in the Summer Licensed Anime T-Shirt! Another new licensed anime shirt by Anishirts, this time base on the popular anime series 'Waiting in the Summer' -- Now available!
	And We Have 'Another' T-shirt TOo Anishirts, the home of otaku fashion delivers a new officially licensed t-shirt, this time base on the popular horror anime series "Another."
	School Swimsuits, Striped Socks, Other Cosplay The cult of the suku-mizu (the Japanese school swimsuit) is seen in anime a lot, and we've restocked several for you today. Also cute "neko" products!
	Moe Moe Eye Patch See other fun cosplay products restocked, including the classic anime eye patch, as seen in Evangelion, Ikki Tousen and Another.
	Fun Fashion Items Posted Cute and stylish pair of shirts for lovers, available for men and women in gray and black. Rock the pair look like Asians do!
	Shimapan ~ Striped Panties Restocked The holy grail of anime cosplay are shimapan, worn by the cutest anime girls. See pink and blue in stock, in M and 5L "trap" size.
	IDOLM@STER 2 Nendoroid Petite Box Your very own idol unit awaits in this box of adorable chibi Nendoroids. It'll take a master producer to find just the right position for all of them.
	Atelier Rorona, Estelle Bright Figures You'll also want to take a look at these cute figures of Rorona from Gust's Atelier series and Trails in the Sky heroine Estelle Bright. So gorgeous!
	Today is Rilakkuma Day There's nothing like hugging a giant, soft bear plush toy from Japan to make you feel better, and J-List has posted several awesome Rilakkuma products restocked.
	Kawaii Ghibli Plush Toys Restocked Also: get your very own Laputian Fox Squirrel in plush form, plus the epic Totoro and Jiji rattles for babies. Also the house from Spirited Away.
	Ghibli 2013 Calendars available for Preorder The 2013 Ghibli calendar available for preorder now at J-List. Illustrated with all you favorite characters from Ghibli Studios.
	Ghibli 2013 Schedule Books: Totoro, Laputa, Ponyo! Ghibli already has its collection of 2013 Schedule Books available for preorder. The quality on these is extremely high and all Ghibli fans will want one.
	JLPT N3 ~ Nihongo Power Drill N3 Skill up your Japanese level before taking the JLPT test, with all the drills and practice tests you need from these amazing books.
	Japanese Kanji Study Books Restocked Also, fresh stock of the Japanese kanji drill books used by Japanese children, with several back in stock. Study like the Japanese do!
	Ridiculously Frog & Panda Mug Cups We defy anyone to find a cuter panda or frog coffee cup than the awesome ones we're restocking today. Other cute kitchen items posted as well.
	Nyanko Sensei Bowls, Cups, and More If you're a fan of the adorable Nyanko-sensei, then check out this selection of cute bowls, cups, plushes, and more. Something for every room in the house!
	Morinaga Milk Caramel Soft Cookie Another wonderful treat from Japan, this is the new Morinaga Pudding Cookie -- a delicious cookie stuffed with a filling of real milk caramel flavor.
	Awesome Kyoto Candy Restocked We love traditional candies from the Showa Period, and here are many great Kyoto Candy favorites restocked, plus Kompeito!
	Restocked Neru Neru Nerune, Other Snacks Enjoy the fun DIY gummy candy from Kracie, plus Pineapple 100% Juice Gummy, Bourbon Cubyrop Candy (note, contains no bourbon ^_^) and more.
	New Takoyaki Electric Cooker  Make your own Takoyaki (breaded octopus balls) with this new awesome Takoyaki Maker from Japan.
	Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked We love carrying awesome traditional bento boxes from japan, and have restocked several today, incl. "Hiragana Face" and more.
	Awesome Bento Lunch Picks Also for bento fans, we've got several different kinds of decorative bento picks -- decorate your lunch and then eat using the picks!
	Restocked Japanese Pens for Manga & More This full set of three pens are appropriately named mangaka, for these pens are used by many top manga artists.
	Fun Miniature Ninja Swords, More See some fun traditional products restocked, including little samurai swords for opening your mail and authentic miso soup bowls, yum!
	Fun 'Hanafuda' Cards Hanafuda is a fun game that's been played for millenia in Japan. We have traditional, Star Wars and "Spirited Away" Hanafuda for you to try!
	Jaina Solo 1/7 Star Wars Bishojo Figure Kotobukiya presents a moe rendition of an iconic character from the Star Wars expanded universe - Jaina Solo!
	Cat and Chair 1/8 Figure Alice ver. *Preorder* From the pages of doujin comic Neko no Wakusei (Planet of the Cats) comes this exquisite figure of a sexy catgirl lounging on a chair.
	Karen Araragi Figma Figure ~ Nisemonogatari Show your support for Nisemonogatari's Fire Sisters with this Figma action figure of Karen Araragi.
	Nyaruko Nendoroid ~ Haiyore! Nyaruko-san Fans of the hit Lovecraftian parody anime Haiyore! Nyarko-san, check out this Nendoroid figure of everyone's favorite Crawling Chaos.
	Finally, Even More Kawaii Anime Figures Finally, even more awesome figures for you, including Nendoroid figures of Fate:Zero, Infinite Stratos, and Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere. Gorgeous!
	Dengeki Moeoh Aug 2012 All you moe fans get ready for another great issue of Moeoh (The King of Moe). Tons of amazing artwork inside from some of the best moe artists in Japan, covering both popular eroge titles as well as anime and more. Comes with beautiful posters too! These issues always sell quickly so grab one before they're gone. View products »
	GANTZ/K ~ Natsuna Get to know the Heroine of the movie Gantz better, Natsuna, in this beautiful and sexy perfect bound photobook.
	Kare to Ninmu to Sex to Yaoi artist Yoshiike brings you his latest creation, an amazing Erotic Modern Ninja Story for the Yaoi genre lover.
	Pestering Horny Wife A high quality onahole by ToysHeart Japan, realistic reusable stress relief accessory for men that replicates the inside of a hot horny wife.
	Our Most Popular Onahole Toys See other random toys restocked, including the battery-powered Greatest Stroker II, the Airi Himekawa Air Doll, and the amazing Gucho Nure Monster.
	Restocked Love Dolls for Lonely Nights Got other restocked items too, including the My Girl Yuria doll, the most realistic anime doll we've seen yet, and several other products.
	Popular Lotion, Massagers & More Plus massagers, lotions, toys, vibrators and more, all from Japan and all for your personal pleasure.
	School Days HQ is NOW SHIPPING Preorders for the best English-translated eroge ever released are piling up. Did you get your order in? Orders will go out in the order received so order now!
	JAST USA Memorial Collection A reedition of JAST USA's classic Bishoujo Games Memorial, including 6 old school visual novels on one disc! Rediscover the classics of Dating-sim.
	D.C.III ~ Da Capo III The wonderful Da Capo series returns for its 10th anniversary with this brand-new game starring five cute new heroines.
	Restocked Import Eroge from Japan Enjoy excellent import H-games, like Little Busters, Your Diary and Summer Rain by Kantoku (!!), Yuri Ghost on the Rooftop, and Those Who Are Sung.
	Hitomi Kitagawa the Best  One of the most active and popular JAV actress of the moment, Hitomi Kitagawa is up for a new best-of put together by Wanz. If you look at no other breasts today, click through and see this woman's, man they are well-shaped.

My Trip to a Japanese Internment Camp

I like living in Japan a lot, but one aspect of my adopted country I'm not a fan of is the way everything is so tightly structured, with concrete and asphalt and traffic lights and social rules locking everyone in place. So while I'm in the U.S. during the summer months, I like to try to do things that are as far from my life in Japan as I can, like randomly heading out for a nice long drive through the desert in my 2002 Miata convertible. This weekend I took a spontaneous trip to Reno, Nevada, since this is my last free weekend before we start the summer anime conventions, and had a nice relaxing time on the road, drinking in the scenery around me as I drove, anime tunes playing on the iPod.

On my drive up route 395, I passed by the Manzanar War Relocation Center, and knew I had to stop for a visit. Manzanar was the most famous of ten internment camps constructed during World War II to inter 120,000 "enemy" Japanese (two-thirds of whom were full U.S. citizens). During the war, the U.S. government issued an order to remove Japanese citizens and Americans of Japanese descent from the Pacific states (though not from Hawaii), which disrupted the lives of countless people. In addition, thousands of Nikkei from South American nations including Peru were brought to the U.S. and put in the camps. Now Manzanar has been transformed into a historical monument with an excellent museum and reconstructed barracks you can walk through to see what it must have been like for the poor people who had lived and worked there, weaving camouflage netting for the U.S. troops to use. It was a sobering experience, and I recommend you visit if you're ever passing through. (Incidentally George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, spent several years at a similar camp as a boy.)

I took a trip to a Japanese internment camp.

Fun T-Shirts @ J-List

Ever since our first "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" kanji T-shirt, J-List has loved making fun and interesting T-shirts for anime fans as well as people who love the aesthetic beauty of kanji characters. We've been on a roll lately, bringing you awesome designs from our Pikachu x Evangelion crossover, our popular Touhou shirts, a very special tribute to Shimapan, as well as our line of licensed HOTD shirts. The anime convention season is right around the corner, do you need any shirts today? See the top J-List T-shirts here.

Japan vs. the Internet

It was reported last week that the Japanese Diet had passed a new law that outlawed various forms of Internet filesharing as well as ripping of DVD or Blu-ray media. Like all countries, Japan's had a tough time dealing with changes that the Internet has brought, including unauthorized sharing of copyrighted files which impacts industries like the anime and games that we all love so much. Now Japanese lawmakers are attempting to assign jail time to users who knowingly download copyrighted files in order to reign things in if they can. One reason I'm sad that Japan's government has gone this route is, I know how unlikely a reasonable legal challenge to the law by average citizens will be, due to the fact that there are no lawyers in Japan...or more accurately, to the way that lawyers and lawsuits never effect any kind of social change in Japan, as they do in the U.S. I'm not too worried about the proposed law, though, thanks to the grand Japanese tradition of honne and tatemae (hon-NEH and tah-teh-MAH-eh), two words that essentially mean "the way things really are" and "the way we pretend them to be," respectively. In the same way that soaplands (a place where a guy can go to have a woman, er, wash him thoroughly) are illegal, yet there's a famous one located right behind a police station in Shibuya, not much will actually change.

Japan's government attempts to reign in filesharing

Cool Products Monday, June 25, 2012

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.

	School Days Original Strap and other items School Days fans, check out this original cell phone strap featuring cute chibi art of Sekai and Kotonoha. The release of School Days is a really special event for all fans of English eroge, and we want to make sure you can get some of the awesome rare products usually only available to Japanese fans. (And the game is shipping really soon too.) View products »
	Zukai Bicycle Shojo A super cool new moe encyclopedia artbook, this time focusing on bikes! Features cute art from 11 talented illustrators. Over 140 pages.
	Megami Magazine Deluxe vol. 18 We love Megami Deluxe, the moe magazine with nothing but gorgeous full-page illustrations inside for you to drool over. Vol 18 is back in stock today.
	Cure Aug 2012 vol. 107 The new J-Rock and Visual-key culture magazine, Cure vol. 107 is here. Punk and Gothic style fans, don't miss it!
	Fun Cosplau Products Restocked We have lots of top quality cosplay products on the site for you today, including fun school bags just like you see in anime. So stylish and awesome!
	Gorgeous Touhou Manga Posted A great new Touhou illustrated book, beautifully printed on each page. Also enjoy fresh stock of the doujin Touhou games.
	Awesome Pokemon Stationery Items! We've got cute Pokemon stationery items in stock, including an awesome way to carry your pens in Pokemon cuteness, plus a Pocket Monster notebook.
	Rilakkuma Bath Mat A wonderful Rilakkuma Bath Mat for your home, with Rilakkuma's cute face on it. Dedicated to all fans of Rilakkuma. This is so cute.
	Epic Nyanpire Plush Toys Restocked What's cuter than a cat? A cat who's also a cute vampire, as in the Nyanpire anime series. See our popular coffee cup plus several plush toys back on the site.
	Smile Slime Mug Cup Lone Metal We love classic video games, and Dragon Quest will always be near our hearts. Click to see today's new Smile Slime mug cups posted to the site.
	Factory Moe F ~ Kojo Moe F This unique photobook by photographer Tetsu Ishii showcases Japan's most amazing factory complexes and assembly lines. The beauty of industry.
	Julie Samurai Girl Photobooks Restocked A very cool photography and illustration artbook that shows off the Japanese world of wacky otaku and moe sub-culture. All pictures arranged by the nerdy model!
	K-ON! After School Live!! ~ PS3 HD Ver The super-popular K-On rhythm game is now available on your PS3! Join the girls as they power through all your favorite songs from the series.
	Anime Games for PSP and PS3 Then see a large restocking of our most popular anime games for consoles, incl. PapaKiki, Steins;Gate, Mahjong Dream Club, OreImo and more.
	Super Amazing Japanese Pens Posted Why write with a normal pen when you can write with this cool crab pen? We've posted a dozen or more Japanese pens to the site!
	Many Japanese Notebooks Restocked Are Japanese students better at studying because they have the right notebooks, or do they have the right notebooks to improve their studying?
	New and Restocked Totoro & Ghibli Products Enjoy some of our favorite Totoro and Ghibli products, including Jiji no Sanpo plush toys and mascot keychain plus our classic Soot Sprite plush.
	Japanese Skin Care Products Posted If you haven't tried the awesome Japanese skincare products we stock, what are you waiting for? Sake Skin Cream, Charcoal Wash and more.
	Star Wars Silicon Ice Cube Trays Restocked Why drink with boring normal ice cubes when Han Solo in Carbonite can float in your class instead?
	Super Mario Power Up Slippers, More Get that extra boost in your step in the morning, what a power-up for your feet. These mushroom room slippers to super comfy and cool. Selling fast though.
	Nabisco Oreo Soft Cookies Banana Milk, More! Enjoy delicious Oreos in new Japan-exclusive flavors like Banana Milk, plus other tasty cookies, caramels, gummies, and more!
	Restocked Japanese Snacks Enjoy Fujiya Milky Green Tea Candies, plus Kracie Decotte Candy, One Piece Anime Gummy, Pokemon Candy plus authentic Ninja Food.
	Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked When you want to show off your lunch to your co-workers or friends, do it with a box that will awe and impress. Several nice ones restocked today.
	Other Awesome Bento & Kitchen Items Then enjoy some random products for bento and kitchen fans, including the Nori Punch cutters, ABC Bento cutters, Stamp Sandwich Makers and more.
	Lucky Owl Products from Japan Owls are considered lucky because their name fukurou has the sound fuku (good fortune) in it. Here are some awesome traditional owl products from Japan!
	Big Restocking of Traditional Kimonos & More Wow, our popular Japanese yukata for men and women are restocked just in time for summer, plus other traditional items restocked.
	Shiny SAKURA Green Tea Container A wonderful new addition to our traditional dishware catalog, a Shiny Sakura-themed Green Tea container for your Tea service.
	Traditional Boxes, Other Items Restocked Some amazing Japanese products that feature an air of traditional flavor, like bento boxes, jewelry boxes, interior design plus other cool items.
	Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai Mini Towel Get in on the hot fanservice action with this sexy towel from upcoming fanservice anime Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai.
	RIO:bone Yoh Asakura & Koubaku Fans of awesome shonen manga, check out this action figure of Shaman King protagonist Yoh Asakura and his Oversoul White Swan.
	Ichika Takatsuki 1/7 Figure Swimsuits AnoNatsu You've never seen an alien as sexy as this! Have AnoNatsu's Ichika all to yourself with this beautiful swimsuit figure. This is priority one!
	Kureha Sakamachi Cast-Off Figure Mayo-Chiki! Mayo Chiki fans, here's a cute figure of an only slightly insane-looking Kureha dressed for a day at the beach. Just the thing to inject some spice into your life.
	Sun Shower ~ Riho Hasegawa 1st photobook A deliciously beautiful artbook featuring the silky smooth body of Riho Hasegawa. A remarkably delicious Japanese AV idol!
	Super Awesome Ero Artbooks We stock epic H-artbooks that you should know about, like the legendary Satoshi Urushihara work that will make you feel warm inside.
	TENGA ~ Deep Throat Cup Special Cool Edition The summer limited Cool TENGA series are here, coming with a lubricant lotion including menthol, for a refreshing feel and stress relief!
	Groomin - Stealth Onahole for men Hairwax you say? No. This is a new stealth stress relief toy for men hidden in a small Hairwax container! The very discreet Onahole!
	Black Rock Shooter Parody, Other Onahole Toys We also restocked some of our favorite parody onahole toys, including Black Rock Shooter and the "A Certain Magical Index" and "Railgun" toys.
	Onahole Toys Based on JAV Stars Here's a deluxe meiki style onahole based on the red-hot AV star Chika Eiro. Great for private "anatomy lessons" and lowering your personal stress.
	Secret Wives' Club for NTR? NTR is a slang word meaning netorare or cuckoldry, e.g. the fetish of one's woman being taken by another man. Great game with hot graphics!
	MAGICAL GIRL ISUKA DVD-BOX (Region 2)  Lilith makes some of the juiciest hentai anime around. Here's a 90-minute DVD set starring a sexy magical girl and her tentacled captors.