Greetings from J-List December 19, 2003

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Greetings from J-List December 17, 2003

Hello again from your friends in Japan!

As you probably know, the Japanese take their shoes off when entering homes and some businesses, including J-List. To the Japanese, there's nothing dirtier than shoes, and so homes here have a "genkan" or low area near the front door where shoes are left (we built one of these into our home in San Diego). When inside the house, Japanese usually wear slippers, however there's one problem: although the Japanese excel at many things, the slippers sold here are nearly always too small for big gaijin feet. Thus when visiting a friend's home, we quietly forget to put on the offered slippers, hoping they won't notice.

As December moves on and the weather gets colder, Japanese start to think about eating -- mikans! Mikans, or mandarin oranges, are wildly popular in Japan in the winter, and all stores are well stocked with large and small bundles of mikans for customers to buy. In December, Japanese give winter gifts to people they want to show thanks to, such as teachers, bosses and so on. Businesses also give year-end gifts to the companies they do business with, exchanging special boxed sets of coffee, canned juice, foods from a special part of Japan. This year J-List received an extra special gift from one of our suppliers: a large box of delicious mikan oranges from Shizuka Prefecture, and we've all been savoring the sweet delicious taste of them all week long while we work. (See "Local Gift Goods" set on the J-List website for detailed miniature versions of these gift items, including the mikans we received.)

Whenever you learn a language, one of the first things you generally learn are the "bad" words -- that's just plain human nature. Most students of Japanese are surprised to find that there are almost no really bad words in the language -- if you define bad as in, words that kids aren't allowed to use. "Kuso" (the "s" word) is used regularly on children's anime in Japan, and most kids use it normally while playing with nary a word from their parents. "Baka" (stupid) is the catch-all insult, used in almost any situation (Japanese from the Kansai region say "aho" instead). Variations on the above two words include "baka-jijii" (stupid old man) and "kuso-babaa" (sh--ty old woman). The various applications of the "f" word don't translate into Japanese at all -- the word doesn't exist in Japanese, although virtually all Japanese know the English word, along with the English word "sekkusu." The only really "bad" words in Japanese is "manko" (referring to a woman's reproductive organ) -- a word as embarrassingly close to "mango" as election/erection is for Japanese speakers of English. This word is so bad, it's usually written with a circle or "X" or a circle in place of the middle letter. As always, exercise caution when using these words so that you don't offend any Japanese around you. For more information on Japanese terms, see the glossary.

Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of another unique 2004 calendar selling out, never to return. Because J-List wants to foster interest in all forms of Japanese pop culture, from anime to JPOP to Japanese's culture of worshipping sexy swimsuit idols, we carry hundreds of 2004 calendars every year. Now calendar season is winding down, but we've got hundreds of really fun large-format calendars that would look great on your wall, or on the walls of friends and family members (they make great gifts). The glossy printing on Japanese calendars is beautiful to behold, and the large calendars showcase the photographs beautifully. Why not browse our extensive selection of Japanese calendars and see which you'd like to get? Order 4 or more and get free mailing tubes and a 15% discount.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, for Domo-kun lovers, we've gotten in fresh stock of some of the most popular Domo-kun items, including the deluxe plush toy that can stand anywhere
  
• Macross fans, we've got a great treat for you: fresh stock of the cool Macross Battroid and Gerwalk figures released by Arii
  
• For fans of our unique Japanese snacks, we've got some great new items for you, including a limited edition of Morinaga Choco Ball candies sold only in the winter -- enjoy new Caramel Macchiato and Cheesecake flavors!
  
• Also enjoy delicious rice crackers from Kameda, the #1 maker of rice crackers in Japan, as well as the very cool Dice Caramels, sold in Japan for decades
  
• We've added stock of many snack items too, including White Cocoa Melty Kiss, Baby Star Ramen, wonderful Pocari Sweat powder, and our best-selling sake candy
  
• Macross fans,
  
• Want something unique from Japan? We've got some really cool Finding Nemo character toys sold only in Japan -- two cute characters per bag
  
• Morning Musume fans, we've restocked some popular Mo-Musu photobooks which are very hard to find -- get them before they're gone!
  
• For anyone taking medication, we've got a very handy and compact weekly pill case from Japan
  
• For Tomy car fans, we've got a cool replica of the Panasonic Toyota F-1 racing car, a very cool toy from Japan
  
• We've got two great new issues of Figure Maniacs, beautiful perfect-bound photobooks which capture the incredible detail of Japanese anime figures and sculptures
  
• Want to make some really unique ice cubes? We've got some fun ice cube trays from Japan for you
  
• We have some more wacky Japanese signs, this time metal signs with funny pictures and Japanese messages printed on them
  
• We have a super Japanese "carpet roller" that you can use to keep your carpet or clothes free of dirt and hair, a very handy item
  
• We've restocked our world-famous Hello Kitty toilet paper in both pink and green, and added fresh stock of the Poop Aid toilet paper which helps you go to the bathroom
  
• Other wacky items we've restocked: more Japanese headbands, our cool tattoo shirt that makes you look like a yakuza, and more
  
• Also, for bento box fans who are also hearty eaters, we've restocked our popular large-size Wimbledon Bento Box
  
• We love to bring you seasonal items from Japan, and we've got a great one for you: Hello Kitty hagoita boards which you can use to play hanetsuki, traditional Japanese badminton that's played around New Year's Day
  
• Finally, look for even more wacky chopsticks from Japan, a very unique Japanese way to clean your ears, more beautiful Japanese "congratulations envelopes," even more Japanese New Year's stamps, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• For fans of Japan's incredible adult magazines, we've got the new Bejean (bijin = beautiful woman in Japanese), a great oversized magazine featuring Japan's top adult and sexy idols
  
• For lovers of Japan's "gouka-bon," square-backed all-color fetish photobooks, we've got a new item for fans of New Half, aka dick girls
  
• For fans of Japan's incredible photobooks, enjoy the solemn and beautiful nude of Nagisa Ohsaki
  
• Then a special item for you, we've got a Flash Special photobook that features seven of Japan's all-time most popular adult stars, including Sora Aoi, Nao Oikawa and Ran Asakawa -- see their wonderful nude photographs coupled with beautiful poetry in Japanese
  
• Then see the delightful sexy photographs of Yui Ichikawa, the beautiful swimsuit and sexy idol from Japan
  
• Then see the charming Chiharu Kazuki (I always have to laugh at her name, since my wife's name is Chiharu and my son's name is Kazuki), her bright, exciting hardcover photobook
  
• J-List carries unique adult toys sold only in Japan, and we've restocked our popular Japan Rotor, Mr. Pink and Vibrating Ecstacy Brush
  
• For hentai manga fans, we've got some more great items for you, including the hopelessly cute and erotic Bluesky Melody, Nyanko MIC's Addicted to Flesh, and fun peach-colored breasts from Action Comics
  
• We've also got a big restocking of adult manga titles for you, including more than a dozen books -- Stripper Mai, Shell, Miku's Sexual Diary, and more
  
• Hentai gamers, enjoy a rare trading card set of Desire, the popular game from Himeya, which we've got in stock now
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great items for you, starting with the Masterpiece Concentration of Sayaka Tsutsumi, featuring her best sex compiled onto a great low-price DVD for you! (region free)
  
• Then see 4 hours of all-lesbian action from Big Morkal, with plenty of strap-oon dildo lesbian fucking, oral sex and more (region free)
  
• For fans of Japan's highly-developed leg, stocking and up-skirt fetishism, we've got a new Flare & Right Skirt fetish DVD, with a hefty dose of sexy high heels and even tall boots -- wow! (region free)
  
• Enjoy an all-lesbian soapland DVD, featuring the beautiful Yui Asahina in her first all-female experience (region free)
  
• For fans of sexual cosplay, we've got ten lovely adult video stars who wear super sexy costumes, from the Budweiser Girl to sexy maid to glasses-clad OL and more (region free)
  
• For indies fans, enjoy the super-erotic new Face release from Audaz, featuring the beautiful face and sex of Shuri Himesaki (region 2)
  
• Finally, find many restocked DVD titles, including Lesbian Ecstasy Best vol. 1 and Lesbian Kiss, various Mai Hagiwara DVDs, and more!
  

Remember that J-List carries over 2000 unique products from Japan. One of the most unique ever is the Hello Kitty vibrating shoulder massage, a licensed Sanrio item that has been one of the best-selling products at J-List for two years. Sadly, the massagers are totally out of production and will never be made again. We've got the last stock of these unique items in all Japan, but our stock is rapidly being depleted as a dozen or so sell every day. If you want to own a really bizarre piece of Japanese pop culture, get yours before we run out for good! If you get 3 or more, you get an automatic 20% off at checkout.

Greetings from J-List December 15, 2003

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Greetings from J-List December 12, 2003

Greetings and salutations from Japan and J-List!

You know what the funniest thing about Japan is? It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same stuff here they got in the U.S., it's just a little different. Want some examples? They got beer in movie theatres and mayonaise for your french fries at some restaurants. They have KFC here, but they don't serve mashed potatoes, and each KFC has a plastic Colonel Sanders outside to greet you. There are other differences too. My daughter is in the Japanese Girl Scouts, and when I took my kids there, we all got ready to enjoy an American treat: s'mores, which are toasted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers, for any readers who might know what they are. The Japanese simplify the name to some-more, which sounded to my kids and me like "sanma," a delicious fish that's really good stewed in miso -- so we thought were were going to cook fish, but it turned out to be s'mores instead. They were really good, but for the fact that there are no graham crackers in Japan. So we made them using Saltine crackers instead.

In my single days, I trekked around Japan from Hokkaido to Hiroshima, hitchhiking or using the "seishun 18 ticket," a special train ticket that lets you ride anywhere for about $20, but only using the (slow) local lines -- thus, it takes about 14 hours to get from here to Osaka. I've stayed in youth hostels, which are great places to make friends from all over the world, but I've also stayed in several dozen capsule hotels. A uniquely Japanese experience, capsule hotels are normal hotels where you sleep in a small, long cubbyhole -- long enough to lay down in comfortably but not quite spacious enough to sit up in. The capsules have everything you need -- TVs and radios with alarms, and they're quite cozy, and there's no other way to stay in the middle of a large Japanese city for $30 a night. Another unique kind of budget accomodation I've made use of are "saunas," which are ostensibly public baths with saunas which you can pay to use. They have "resting rooms" where patrons can have a beer and relax, watch some TV, or if it's late, curl up on the floor and sleep until morning. It's quite fun, if you can put up with the snoring of dozens of middle-aged Japanese men. My wife is a mirror image of me: while I was traveling around Japan, she was in the U.S., and she's seen much more of my own country than I have (and vice-versa).

Near our house, we can see the Sphinx, the Statue of Liberty, and many other interesting wonders of world. These are pachinko parlors, a major source of entertainment for many Japanese men and women in Japan. An kind of "vertical pinball" which I don't pretend to understand, you basically buy a bucket of balls for $50, then sit for hours trying to hold a controller in just the right position to make most of the balls go into certain holes in the pachinko machine. Since "gambling" is illegal in Japan, except for certain events like horse, boat and bicycle racing, you don't win money if you get more balls than you started out with -- you get valuable prizes which you redeem for cash at a shady building next to the pachinko parlor. Pachinko is quite a competitive business to be in, and operators (who always seem to be getting involved with some crime or another) work very hard to bring in the newest machines in -- with little video screens or cute anime-style characters printed on them, for example. They have interesting names to attract customers, Win or Fever, or one named Al Pacino. Despite the efforts of the pachinko Pachinko has strong underground ties to North Koreans living in Japan. Proceeds from Pachinko are a major source of funding for North Korea, and the drugs that are manufactured in North Korea for sale in Japan often find their way here through the Pachinko networks.

We're happy to announce that all the 2004 calendars we'd ordered have come in. We've lowered prices on virtually all our still-vast stock of Japanese calendars, from anime to JPOP to idols to traditional Japanese images to tasteful nude photographic calendars and more. Every day another half dozen or more calendars sell out, never to return, and our stock is already dwindling. Time is running out! Take a look at our excellent calendars and see what you'd like to get! The 20% discount on 4-or-more calendars still applies, too.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, for Star Wars fans, a real treat: series 2 of the totally cool Star Wars Kubrick line from Medicom Toy: ultra-detailed super-deformed figures of a Sandtrooper, Han Solo, the Cantina Band player, Obi Wan Kenobi, Greedo and a Tuskin Raider -- stock is very limited but full sets are available!
  
• Just in time for Christmas, we have some fabulous soft acryllic Hello Kitty blankets from Japan, which look great as a Christmas decoration for your home, or just a bright, cheerful blanket to keep warm with
  
• We've gotten in another dozen or so really cool Japanese New Years' stamps, with beautiful messages in kanji and hiragana, great for those who want to have a little of Japan's New Years' fun this year
  
• For fans of Japanese Race Queens, we've got fresh stock of Kira Kira, featuring Miho Yoshioka, Yoko Matsugane, Sakura Mizutani and many other top-name idols from Japan
  
• We have some limited-size T-shirts posted to the site, including a limited edition yellow version of "Don't Commit Seppuku," along with various version of our "Looking for a Japanese Boyfriend" shirts for girls
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, we've got some great things for you to eat, including Kitty Tripical Mints, a Kitty lollipop, Kitty soft candy and more
  
• Also, a really cool Hello Kitty sign board, which you can give along with gifts, and the last stock we'll be getting of the Hello Kitty Dancing Santa (there's still time to get it by Christmas)
  
• We've restocked our Hello Kitty mayonaise cups, which are little cups that Japanese use to carry condiments with their bento lunches -- but these handy cups have many uses!
  
• For fans of Japan's stick snacks, we've got some tasty Butter Pretzel snacks from Kabaya
  
• Also, a major restocking of snack items for you, including Coconut Pocky, Tiramisu Cafe snacks, Mogi Mogi gummi fruit trees, seaweed & salt pretz, and tastey Crunky chocolate from Japan
  
• For fans of our traditional Japanese kitchen items, enjoy more Japanese soupbowls and bento boxes
  
• For fans of OH! Mikey, the totally hilarious comedy drama that's performed with mannequins, we have fresh stock of all the DVDs (they are fully subtitled in English) and the 2004 calendar
  
• For Totoro fans, we've got fresh stock of the super-cute Totoro's Present Keychain Mascot, super cute plush toys that come with presents for you
  
• Also a really neat Totoro lunchbox that will be a prized item for collectors
  
• For fans of the dynamite swimsuit idol Yuka (aka Yuuka), we've got some collectible trading cards in stock
  
• We've restocked the super-cute Groomy Black Labrador plush pet, a high-quality doggie with a soft chamois bottom to keep your computer monitor clean
  
• Finally, enjoy a way to keep your car's windows clean, more onigiri makers, fresh stock of sushi erasers (God we love Japan!), and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, we've posted the newest English-translated dating-sim game from G-Collections for preorder now, Virgin Roster, which features a psychologically complex erotic storyline, animation and more
  
• For Sora Aoi fans, we have a great new magazine-photobook filled with her beautiful pictures and erotic poses
  
• Enjoy hardcore sex of amateurs in love hotels in Taisetsu ni Shite ne, which translates as Please Treasure me
  
• We've added fresh stock of Japanese adult magazines from just $5, with several items that had been sold out
  
• See hardcore sex in Japan's "urabon" style in Harenchi Musune, very erotic and enjoyable
  
• For fans of Japan's dynamite erotic photobooks, hardcover bound and printed with fabulous glossy pages, we've got the first photobook of Chiaki Kyan, a delightful sexy idol from Japan
  
• Moe Sakurai's delightful photobook Tight Rope goes beyond eros with its fantastic photos
  
• Enjoy the lovely nudes of Shinobu Rei in a great new photobook for you, shot in traditional Japanese style
  
• For fans of Japan's long-standing tradition of erotic manga art, we have some great items for you, including Daydream Everyday by EX Comics, the ultra-erotic How to Make a Widow, an exploration of "chikan" themes, and a great dick girl manga by Bijogi Junction
  
• Also, we've got a major restocking of popular erotic manga including Beautiful Wife, An Equation of the Night, Wild Dance of Lewd Breasts, dick girl fun with Total Bio Chemical Lab and more
  
• For adult DVD collectors we've got some great offerings for you, starting with the sweet erotic lovemaking of Maria Takagi, one of the top stars in Japan today (region free)
  
• See the very best leg, stocking and mini-skirt fetish in a new 240 minute DVD from Big Morkal, presengint eh luscious legs and sex of nine adult video gals (region free)
  
• From Soft on Demand's director Hajime coms more exploration of lesbian masturbation, with cute kogals asked to step inside the Magic Mirror Bus and try it themselves (region free)
  
• Then see the wet orgasms of nine beautiful college students in a new offering frmo Deep's, who show their whale-spouting to the camera (region free)
  
• For fans of our SOD Outlet page, where you can find great SOD titles at special prices, we've added the new Saint Roshutsu starring Yuuna Akimoto, a great item for fans of Japanese outdoor nude fetish (region free)
  
• Then from Moodys, enjoy the anal sex of Kirari Koizumi, who shows you her first anal and so much more (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for various fresh stock of adult DVDs, including The Other Side of COCOLO, the Yokohama Drifters, Ai Nagase's bargain-priced Masterpiece Concentration, and the dynamite Nao Oikawa anime cosplay parody Cosplay Beautiful Breast Idol.
  

Remember that J-List is having a $1 shipping sale (US/Can) on all bishoujo games, making this a great chance for you to pick up some great English-translated dating-sim games and save -- get 4 or more and get 20% off the total, too. We're also having a spcial buy-4-or-more-get-20%-off on all photobooks, so we hope you'll browse our extensive supply of Japanese photobooks and see what you'd like to get.

Greetings from J-List December 10, 2003

Hello again from Japan, home of cars with names like Suzuki Joy Pop Every Wagon.

Living for many years away from your home country would change anyone, and living in Japan is no different. For those working as ESL teachers, the long hours of talking with Japanese students of English can lead to embarrassing changes in your own language skills -- you actually end up speaking English too clearly and carefully. Since there are no personal checks in Japan (everything is done with cash or direct bank transfers), gaijin living in Japan lose the ability to write checks when they go home -- it takes me several tries to get one written when I'm in the U.S. Japanese roads generally don't have names, which forces your brain to remember roads spatially, rather than memorize places locations by street names. Also, since the Japanese language uses the katakana writing system to express foreign words, foreigners sometimes lose the connection with how words are spelled in English. The other day, I was enjoying some wine and camembert cheese with my wife, and I realized I had never seen the word camembert written in the Roman alphabet, and had no idea how to spell it. (I had to look it up.) Ditto for fashionable handbag maker Louis Vuitton, which rules the hearts of Japanese consumers -- I'd never seen the company's name written in anything but katakana so I had no idea how to write it. Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe has many fans in Japan, but for the longest time I wondered what a strange name "Ian Soap" was -- I'd only seen his name mentioned on Japanese television, and thus got his name wrong.

Japan has plenty of fast food, from U.S. chains like McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken to home-grown outfits like Freshness Burger, First Kitchen and MOS Burger. But the original fast food of Japan is "gyu-don," or beef bowl, basically a bowl of rice with steamed beef and onions on top (it's really good with raw egg, too). Yoshinoya is most popular popular chain of beef bowl restaurants, although there are several others that are serve identical food. Head into any beef bowl restaurant and you'll no doubt see lots of salarymen and male "freeters" (young people who work part-time jobs, freely switching from job to job several times a year) enjoying their beef bowls, but almost never any women. There's some unwritten social rule that says women can't go into beef bowl restaurants in Japan, and it's usually filled with male customers. Japan's beef bowl industry became a symbol for deflation in Japan when they lowered the price of a standard serving from $4.50 to $2.50 two years ago. You can enjoy Yoshinoya in the U.S., too, if you want to try some. Yoshinoya's English website is here: http://www.yoshinoya.com/en/index.html

Do you know what year it is? I often don't. In additional the Western calendar, the Japanese have a unique system of counting years based on the reign of the current emperor. The current era is the 15th year of the Heisei era (Heisei means "peace and prosperity"), when the Emperor Hirohito died and was succeeded by his son, so this year is Heisei 15. 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. 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 (Yasu didn't when I just asked him).

Are you a fan of Japan's dating-sim games? Curious, but don't know much about them? Well this is a great time to pick some up, because we're having a $1 shipping sale right now. All games are just $1 for shipping (for US Can.) or just $3.50 for international, as our way of saying thanks for your support over the past year. You can couple this shipping sale with our buy-4-get-20%-off sale, making this the best time ever to pick up dating-sim game or four. These story-based interactive games are translated into English, are fully uncensored and run great on English Windows computers. Feel free to email us for recommendations if you're not sure which to get.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, we have a big volley of 2004 calendars in stock for you, which we've just gotten in -- anime, JPOP, lovely idol and beautiful traditional Japanese art calendars
  
• For fans of Japanese swimsuit models, we've restocked the excellent Hyper Product Revolution which features all the cutest and most popular sexy idols from Japan
  
• Also, look for a restocking of photobooks, including JPOP legends like Gackt and Morning Musume, body very cool
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, a super cool Kitty alarm clock that will brighten your room and make morning more fun
  
• Also, look for various restocked items, including the Hello Kitty shampoo bottle, ice cube tray, ceramic coffee mug and one of our favorite items, the Kitty Hub Mascot, a USB hub in which Hello Kitty copies your typing movements as you work at your computer
  
• Then we've got a rare "gashapon" (capsule toy) item: a set of super-realistic replicas of Japanese ramen, complete with little chopsticks, from all around Japan
  
• We have some great items for Japanese-style New Year's, including another variation of kadomatsu decorations, and a variety of rubber stamps that have fabulous New Years' greetings on them, for making Japanese New Years' cards (stock is limited)
  
• Want some delicious snacks from japan? We've got Maple Custard Pretz sticks, a fantastic treat from Japan
  
• Also in stock, find delicious Lait Chocolat from Glico, sold only in the winter in Japan, tasty wasabi furikake, and delicious ochazuke, one of my own favorite foods, as well as a general restocking of various popular items
  
• We've got fresh stock of the delicate and beautiful Congratulations Envelopes, which are used by Japanese when giving money gifts (but you can find many uses for them)
  
• We've gotten in fresh stock of the Cup Noodle coffee cup, which looks like a ramen but is a really unique cup from Japan (makes a great gift)
  
• Finally, for fans of our unique anime toy items, we've made a major restocking of items including the Cat Bus knapsack, various Ghibli plush keychains, Totoro stamps that are really fun to use, and plush Totoro and other toys of all sizes -- check them all out!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• For fans of delicious Japanese kogals, we've got the new issue of Cho Very Good (e.g Choberigu), featuring many lecherous Japanese Tokyo girls aged 18 to 21
  
• Then enjoy lesbian and bukkake play in love hotels with Deep Kiss, a new hardcore amateur gal's magazine
  
• For fans of Japan's beautiful hardcover photobooks, enjoy the extremely erotic and flexible nudes of Reina Shinto
  
• Nana Yanagisawa is a fabulously beautiful swimsuit idol from Japan, and you'll love her newest photobook
  
• be amazed at Zokkon, the super sexy hardcover photobook of Aya Shiozawa, a sexy TV idol in Japan who delights in showing you her sexy body
  
• Then enjoy Fairy Tale, a look at the most beautiful nudes of the Showa era in Japan, as well as various restocked photobooks (including the popular Yasuko Project)
  
• Enjoy a fabulous crossover between erotic maid hentai artwork and super erotic cosplay -- everything you ever wanted to know about maids!
  
• For hentai manga fans, we've got some great items for you: a new Explosive Breast Nurse manga by Hiroshi Kawamoto, super hentai with Capcom game characters in a great perfect-bound manga form, and ultra-experienced women who want to do it with virgins
  
• Look for several restocked manga including the excellent Nami SOS First Battle, premium dick girl with the Fetish Doll and TS I Love You series, the erotic Sweet Wife, and more
  
• Also for hentai fans, we've got trading cards from Alice Soft's Rance game, super sexy and fun to collect
  
• For our DVD customers, we have some great erotic DVDs, starting with a super all tekoki (hand job) and oshaburi (blow job) collection from Big Morkal (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the lovely sex of Sola Aoi (aka Sora Aoi), who dresses in some fantastic costumes as she fulfills your erotic fantasies (region free)
  
• For leg, stocking and panty fetish lovers, we've got a new erotic DVD featuring fantastic low-angle filming of beautiful, leggy models (region free)
  
• For fans of "soapland" sex, where men go to get professionally cleaned and serviced by a "soap girl," we've got a new erotic offering from Izumi Hasegawa -- her debut in adult video! (region free)
  
• Tamakeri is the Japanese fetish of ball-kicking -- see a great new penis-teasing production from SOD for you
  
• Then from Momotaro, we've got the excellent lesbian sex of Hitomi Hasegawa, who performs with vigor and grace for you (region 2)
  
• Then enjoy a huge restocking of our popular adult DVDs, with several No Cut!! (3 hour) productions, the very popular Gold Bird and Euro Angels, Lesbian Heaven 4 Hours Special, Super Angle of Breasts, and several more high-quality leg fetish titles for you!
  

Remember that J-List now sells warm hoody versions of several of our popular Japanese T-shirts, with long sleeves and pull-over hoods, great for keeping warm in these cold months. We also make available long-sleeved sweatshirts as well as fitted shirts for girls, that accent all the right curves. For our normal men's shirts, we offer a great selection of sizes, from small all the way to 3XL for most colors. Not sure what your size is? Click the handy size link in the description of each shirt and see all measurements in inches and centimeters.

Greetings from J-List December 8, 2003

Hello again from Japan!

One of the difficulties facing Japan's economic future is the lack of entrepreneurial spirit among Japanese. The numbers bear this out -- the number of Japanese running a business less than 42 months old is just 2%, compared with 12% in China, 14% in Korea, 18% in Thailand and 10% in the U.S. The Japanese government is trying to make it easier for people to start companies, however. In the old days, you needed to have $30,000 cash in the bank to start a "yuugen gaisha" (limited corporation) and $100,000 to form a full "kabushiki gaisha" (stock corporation), requirements which helped young companies gain trust by showing they were fiscally solvent from the beginning. Now, however, you can start a company with just one yen in the bank, a move the Japanese government hopes will get more Japanese to start thinking about starting a new enterprise. (American concepts like limited partnerships and easy-to-declare S-corporations don't exist in Japan at all, unfortunately.) A big part of the problem is probably that Japanese are more group-oriented and are more averse to the risks involved with being an entrepreneur. There are many other reasons why Japanese are less likely to take the plunge and start a company, though: the strained banking and investment system here is not friendly to start-ups, there's very little venture capital system, and if you should have to declare personal bankruptcy, you're forbidden from going overseas for ten years.

The Japanese people are some of the longest-lived in the world, partly because of a stable country with a good medical system. When you get sick in Japan, you usually either go to a large hospital (there are three or four around us here in Isesaki), or to a smaller medical clinic. You must always bring your "hoken-sho" or insurance card, a little booklet that has all the information about your insurance printed inside. There are two systems of medical insurance in Japan: Citizen's Insurance, which is open to everyone including foreigners and self-employed, and Social Insurance, which is arranged through companies. In Citizen's Insurance, you pay monthly premiums and must pay 30% of all medical costs that you incur; if you don't have any other insurance, you're required to join this system by law. With Social Insurance, workers pay monthly premiums that are matched by the companies they work for. This system used to have a deductible of just 10%, making it more popular with company employees, but last year the Japanese government raised the deductible to 30%, too, blurring the lines between the two insurance systems. Japan has free health care for everyone under 5 and over the age of 60, a very enviable situation compared to how things are in the U.S.

Have you ever spoken to a Japanese person and wondered why they make noises of agreement while you're talking? This is aspect of Japanese speech called "aizuchi," basically "agreeing sounds" that speakers make when having a conversation. In Japanese, I could be explaining something that happened to me, and the person I'm speaking to would say things like "ee" (rhymes with way; it means yes), "so" (that's true), and "ne" (a general word of agreement) constantly as I spoke. These agreement words may sound odd in English, but in Japanese they're necessary to show that you're listening attentively to the other person -- not making these noises shows you're not paying attention, and the person you're talking with is likely to stop talking and ask what's wrong. The trouble is when Japanese carry aizuchi into English, and butt into what you're saying with "that's right" and "yes." Aizuchi sounds very strange when done in English.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, we've got the excellent new film by Versus director Ryuhei Kitamura, Azumi, an incredibly beautiful samurai film featuring the lovely Aya Ueto, with full English subtitles and many extras (region 2)
  
• For fans of traditional Japanese items, we've got more beautiful New Year's decorations, including an authentic "kadomatsu" pine and bamboo decoration that's really beautiful
  
• Also, we've got some cool 2004 Japanese tea cups, with the images of monkeys (since 2004 is the year of the Monkey)
  
• The new Encyclopedia of High School Girl Uniforms is a hardcover photobook featuring pretty photos of all the most famous uniforms of Japan's top schools
  
• We have the newest issue of Gothic & Lolita Bible in stock for you, filled with breathtakingly beautiful gothic cosplay photos, tips on how to make the clothes, and a complete pattern for you too -- great for fans of "dandy gothic style"
  
• For fans of Japanese swimsuit idols, we've got the newest photobook of Mayumi Ono, the cute girl in TV commercials for Acom, a high-interest finance company that bombards late-night TV in Japan with this cute girl's face
  
• We've stocked several of the traditional plates and trays, too, which are really fun to eat with
  
• Enjoy delicious treats from Japan, including "black sesame seed and milk" Pretz, tasty furikake for your rice, and spicy flavored Japanese seaweed
  
• Also, check out delicious new bubblegum including cute Little Twin Star bubblegum
  
• For fans of Domo-kun, we've got a new all-purpose pouch that you can use to keep anything
  
• For anime fans, enjoy a new pre-painted figure from the Utawareru Mono anime series, a very cool item for your collection
  
• For fans of Crayon Shin-chan, the most famous little brat in Japan, we've got cute little plush toys of Shin-chan and his cute dog Shiro
  
• For Dragonball Z fans, a very rare "super strap set" with PVC versions of your favorite characters, very cool
  
• We've added stock of various "How to Draw Manga" books, including Getting Started, and A Day in the Life of a Japanese Schoolgirl
  
• From Japan's famous computer peripherals company we have the Choro Q Mouse, a great small-sized USB mouse great for mobile computing, which is fully functional yet looks like a cute Choro Q car toy, and works with English computers (Windows or Mac)
  
• Also, we have fresh stock of the oh-so-cool Shirow Masamune designed computer mouse, a joy to use and hold, and fully compatible with all computers (Mac or Windows)
  
• For those who like Japanese cars, we've got some new Tomica die-cast cars, the Honda Odyssey and the Mazda RX-7, so cool
  
• If you like to drink green tea, we've got a very stylish Japanese tea tin in stock
  
• Finally, see great chopsticks for New Year's (or for any celebration), more socks glue for your "loose socks," and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• For fans of the excellent Diva series, enjoy the erotic Kaori Nakatani's stylish nude, with many fresh and innovative photographs for you (including "Girls in Underoos")
  
• Then enjoy the erotic sex of Run Gal, featuring real Japanese amateurs having sex in love hotels
  
• Also, enjoy the very stylish and erotic "Tequira" [sic] featuring many fetishes: getting naked outside in public places, bukkake, girls who smoke, cosplay and more
  
• Then enjoy the delightful nude of Riko Aoyama, who charms with her traditional Japanese nude photographs
  
• For hentai manga fans, we've got some extra-special items for you, starting with the erotic Live Wire Insertion from Megastore Comics with 340 pages of extreme erotic manga, the charmingly erotic Night Milk by Takaoka Motofumi, and an Excellent series hentai manga exploring sex and the sisterhood
  
• Also, more restocked hentai manga for you, with fresh stock of Nami SOS, Love Diary, Mocchi Presents DV, and more
  
• For yaoi fans, we've got a great compilation manga with works by a dozen talented yaoi artists, Deep Aqua, as well as a major restocking of the Kinniku Otoko (Muscle Man) series
  
• For our DVD customers, enjoy some great new erotic releases for you, starting with the 4-hour Non-stop Ecstacy of Kaori Fujimori, a great new DVD by Million (region free)
  
• Then take in the incredible busty beauty of Marina Matsushima in her erotic new DVD release (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the erotic sex of three mini-skirted angels, Akira Watase, Mako Umino and Miri Sugihara, who will knock your socks off as they perform hardcore sex for you (region free)
  
• See the sweet, natural sex of Yui Hasegawa, age 20 (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the delicious lesbian action of Moe Yamasaki and Shion Natsume, in another top-quality erotic lesbian selection from U&K (region free)
  
• Finally, we've added fresh stock of some great DVDs, including more that ship free -- browse our selection to see them all!
  

Remember that J-List carries over 100 quality adult magazines from Japan, with stylish professional titles like Urecco, Urecco Gal, Bejean and Gokuh, as well as great amateur magazines. A unique part of Japan's erotic culture, we hope you'll browse our selection of magazines or try a revolving monthly subscription (you can cancel at any time). See magazine page 3 for bargains -- we've got dozens of discounted items starting at just $5!

Also remember that our 2004 calendars are going fast -- so fast, that we've sold nearly half of them already, and no more will be coming in! We hope you'll browse our still-extensive selection of anime, JPOP, Japanese idol, unique traditional and other calendars now! Order 4 or more and get 20% off, with free mailing tubes, too.

Greetings from J-List December 5, 2003

Hello and Happy Friday from J-List!

Winter is approaching, and days are getting chillier. It's the season when Japanese get ready for wild and fun Christmas parties and quiet, solemn New Years' celebrations -- the opposite of the way it's done U.S. It's also the time of year that drivers prepare for Japan's endless cycle of winter road construction, as local governments hurry to use up their construction budgets before the end of Japan's fiscal year next March. Everywhere I drive for the next three months, I know I'll face constant delays as roads are torn up and put down again, in an eternal cycle of government-sponsored inefficiency. The main problem is a law that dictates that 100% of the taxes collected on cars and gasoline must be used to build more roads, with no exceptions, despite the fact that Japan already has plenty of roads that work just fine. It's a major political issue in Japan, with most of the "old guard" politicians in Japan's ruling Liberal Democrat Party supporting the ongoing wasting of resources because of effective lobbying by Japan's construction companies. Japan spends a whopping $9 billion a year on its roads, an amazing sum considering that the U.S. spends $11 billion yet is 25 times as large (Japan's annual public works expenditures would allow it to build the Panama Canal every year). Yet despite the fact that Japan is so in the red that its credit rating is lower than that of Botswana, this massive waste is allowed to go on, in the name of preserving jobs. The idea that Japan's leaders are so ineffectual that they can't fix this terrible situation makes me grieve for my adopted country.

One word you learn pretty early when studying Japanese is "gaman suru" which means to endure or tolerate something. If a restaurant is too warm, most Japanese will "gaman" or put up with unpleasant situation rather than asking the restaurant staff to turn the heat down. Again and again we see examples of Japanese faced with a problem doing nothing about it, just putting up with the situation, instead of proactively doing something to fix it. This tendency to show extreme patience is considered a virtue here, and it may be in some situations. But my wife and I refuse to join the rest of Japan in putting up with what needs to be changed: whether it's speaking out about the lack of a non-smoking section at a restaurant or tactfully recommending that the soba noodle sauce might taste better if it were chilled rather than served at room temperature, we nearly always speak our minds. It's not easy going against the grain in Japan, and we really stand out sometimes, but we figure it will help Japan in the long run.

Well, Musashimaru, the last Hawaiian sumo wrestler active in Japan's sumo association, has retired, after being plagued for many months by a wrist injury. Musashimaru, 32, was the second wrestler to attain sumo's highest rank of Grand Champion (Yokozuna), and he weighed a massive 522 lb (237 kg) at his highest point. With his retirement, there are no more Americans active in sumo, although there are several Mongolian and one Russian rikishi (the Japanese word for sumo wrestlers). Mongolian wrestler Asashouryu is the only current Grand Champion in sumo right now.

For fans of Hayao Miyazaki's fabulous masterpiece Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, we're extremely proud to have the Limited Edition Collectors' Box in stock for you, which comes in a huge box with many cool extras, including a beautiful framed illustration by Mr. Miyazaki, a painted resin model of the great Ohmu, the Nausica ceramic statue, and the DVD in a special DVD cover, also designed personally by Mr. Miyazaki. Because of the size of these massive boxes, they must be sent by EMS -- but that's good, because it means they'll still get there in plenty of time for Christmas!

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, we've got the new Cosmo issue in stock for you, a fantastic perfect-bound photobook that features all the best of Japanese cosplay, along with a pattern that you can pull out and use to make your own costumes
  
• Christmas is a big deal in Japan, but in the final analysis, New Years' Day, with its themes of quiet renewal for the new year, are more important to the Japanese -- and we've got some traditional Japanese decorations on our site for you!
  
• For Miyazaki fans, we've got fresh stock of one of my personal favorite items, the Castle in the Sky Laputa playing cards (which I use when playing games with my kids)
  
• Gackt is a JPOP singer who is without a doubt the single most sexy Japanese man -- enjoy limited stock of his really cool photobook
  
• For fans of unique erasers, we've got some cool items: sets of traditional Japanese toys like kendama, Japanese yo-yos and Japanese traditional tops, which are real erasers that you can really play with
  
• For fans of Sanrio's characters, we've got some cute Sanrio snacks, delicious and fun to eat
  
• Then enjoy more classic Japanese snack foods, including spicy furikake for your rice, more delicious varieties of Ochazuke, newly posted for you
  
• Also for snack fans, we have a huge update of products for you, with many items restocked -- Pocky (all flavors), Miso Butter Pretz, Fran chocolate sticks, fun to eat Gummi Sushi, and Black Black caffeine gum
  
• We have some more wacky Japanese signs with thought-provoking slogans on them, for those who love the aesthetic beauty of kanji characters
  
• We have more traditional Japanese bowls, which make it fun to eat Japanese foods including miso soup
  
• From the very cool character goods company San-X, we've got a rare item: super-cute "bottlecap friends" toys featuring their most famous characters, including Koge-pan, Tare Panda, Nyanko Restaurant and more (with full sets available)
  
• We love unique toys from Japan, and we've got more of the Tomica mini-cars, beautiful die-cast toys cars that are uniquely Japanese
  
• For completed figure fans, we've got toy models of Cliff Fitter from Star Ocean, a really cool figure made by Kotobukiya, and a beautiful cold cast completed model of Rei Ayanami
  
• We've restocked the popular Welsh Corgi Groomy plush pet, too, a great friend for your computer
  
• Finally look for fresh stock of traditional Japanese report paper and "Check Set" study aids (great for students), delicious almond Toppo, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, we've got a great stylish nude magazine called Ero-Pop, featuring the super stylish sex of authentic Japanese amateurs in what we've come to call "Japanese Girls in Underoos"
  
• Then we've got a great erotic magazine with 120 minute DVD featuring the fetish of beautiful Japanese girls having sex with bit black guys from the U.S.
  
• We have some great erotic photobooks for you, including Nao Oikawa's super sexy new photobook Megami, featuring the popular fetish of gymnastics and leg-bending flexibility
  
• Then enjoy the sizzling photobook of Yasuko Akiba, so sexy in her frilly cosplay outfits that you will not believe your eyes
  
• For fans of hentai manga from Japan, we've got more excellent new volumes for you, starting with A Summer Drop by Tsukasa Comics, the best of Female Teacher manga by Toen Comics and a great erotic manga for Christmas
  
• Yasu has posted various new stock of erotic comics, including Do Tomorrow Is a New Day?, Tanu-Puri Chan, Immoral Scenario, The Ties That Bind, Very Satisfied with Five Body Parts and more
  
• Also, look for fresh stock of Youhei Kozou's superb CG collection, which is made available to J-List customers in uncensored form, something even Japanese fans don't get to enjoy
  
• For yaoi fans, we've got the great new issue of Hertz, a compilation manga featuring the works of a dozen talented yaoi artists
  
• For DVD fans, we've got more great titles for you, starting with Ran Monbu (aka the French dessert "Mont Blanc"), appearing in both a normal and a deluxe edition of Let's Cum Face Ayaya, in which she parodies the famous JPOP idol Aya Matsuura (region free)
  
• From Soft on Demand, enjoy the Fan Thanksgiving Day of Kokoro Amano, in which she says thanks to her fans by performing sexual acts on them -- a great new edition of this popular title (region free)
  
• For SOD Outlet fans, enjoy the delightful Saint Roshutsu offering, featuring the Japanese fetish of "roshutsu" or getting naked and having sex in public places (region free)
  
• The lesbian DVDs of U&K are famous all over Japan, and the studio produces only high-quality lesbian adult video --- we've got a great new production for you starring Shoko Mikami and Naomi Hirose (region free)
  
• For fans of bondage play, enjoy the erotic Actress Restraint Maniac presentation of Asuka Sawaguchi who is bound, teased and made into a sexual plaything for your enjoyment (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for restocked erotic DVDs like Mariay Yumeno & Anna Ohura in I Love H, Kanabun in Project B, and fresh stock of the popular Mourning Dress Sisters.
  

Remember that J-List is the home of the original Wacky Japanese T-shirts, with messages like "Beware Perverts on Trains" "I'm Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" and "Beware of Perverts." Our shirts are all printed in the USA on quality 6.1 lb 100% cotton shirts, and all sizes are full U.S. sizes, with size S through 3XL available in most designs. To double check what size shirt is best for you, click the size link below each shirt description to see the measurements of our shirts in inches and centimeters. Order three shirts and get 10% off!

Greetings from J-List December 1, 2003

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Greetings from J-List November 28, 2003

Hello again from all of us at J-List!

I took an hour off work today to attend my daughter's "sankanbi," parent's day at school, when mothers and father come to see their kids in class (although I was the only father there). I've always been impressed with how much attention Japanese give to the education of their children, and many Japanese take a very active interest in what their children are learning. But education in Japan is very different from the U.S. First of all, Japan has chosen to standardize nearly all aspects of education on a national level, so that all aspects of learning, from textbooks to desks to how classes are structured, is decided by Japan's national Ministry of Education. School is quite strict in Japan, and there's only one "right" way for kids to do anything -- my daughter got in trouble for calling her older brother by his name (Kazuki) instead of using the word "oniichan" (Japanese for older brother), like all the other kids.

Japan's school system is undergoing many changes. Some of the changes are good -- for example, public schools recently ended the practice of holding classes on the first and third Saturdays of the month, to allow children to spend more time with their family. However, other changes bode ill for Japan's future. In postwar Japan, one of the pillars of society was that success could be achieved by excelling at academic competition, and the image of diligent students working hard to get the coveted top spot in the class rankings or to pass the difficult university entrance exams is a good one. However, public schools are no longer allowed to rank students by performance, and the old "hensachi" system, which was a numeric value assigned to all schools based on students test scores, has been outlawed. Also, despite the shrinking number of students and large number of universities operating at a loss now, a total of twelve new public, prefectural and private universities are coming on-line in Japan next spring, with more on the way. All of this means that, as Japan's population of students continues to shrink, it will be easier for students to get into the school of their choice without studying, which will mean even a degree from one of Japan's top schools may be meaningless in the future. This is why I'm planning to send my kids to school in the U.S.

If you've paid attention while watching Japanese anime or JAV, you've probably picked up on the word "ne." This is an interesting Japanese grammatical particle that usually goes on the ends of sentences and serves several purposes, mostly related to asking for confirmation of information or agreement with an opinion. Here are two examples:

"Aisu kohii futatsu desu ne?" You'd like two glasses of ice coffee, is that right?
"Kyou wa atsui desu ne." It's hot today, isn't it?

Other functions of the all-purpose Japanese particle "ne" include softening a sentence so its meaning it less harsh ("Chotto furotimashita ne." You've gained a little weight, haven't you?); emphasizing what you want to say ("Kondo chanto kiite kudasai, ne." Please listen closely next time, alright?); working as a pause in sentences, like "um" in English; and to get the attention of the listener before saying something. Girls use "ne" more often than men and with a higher intonation, so males should use the word with caution lest they appear effeminate.

We're happy to report that poor Daisuke, who injured his knee and had to spend a month in the hospital, is back at work and is doing very well. He's still going to "rihabiri" (rehabilitation) several times a week, but it's great to have him back.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, for fans of Japan's excellent miniature toys, called "candy toys" since they usually come with candy inside, we have super detailed replicas of booths at Japanese festivals, with full sets available
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, a fun to play "Hello Kitty Yo-Yo Fishing Game" that you play just like you do at Japanese festivals
  
• For anime fans, we have super action figures from Dragonball Z, designed for the Japanese market by Bandai
  
• Then enjoy some really cool items: Japanese traditional taiko drums that really work -- they look and sound great
  
• We've got more wacky Japanese signs for your room, made of real pine
  
• For fans of traditional Japanese food, we've got cool noodle trays and two different bowls for miso soup, very nice
  
• We've got some great Japanese snack treats for you, including delicious almond Fran chocolate and almond sticks, Oreo Choco Sticks that you will love, and traditional rice crackers that are a favorite around here at J-List (Brent and I eat them every day)
  
• Also, great new miso soup with baked shiitake mushrooms inside, yum!
  
• Restocked snack foods include Kabaya Tiramisu Pocky-like snacks, Hi-Chew tangerine, coconut Pocky, more wacky "Kiss Mint Gum" and more
  
• For fans of our unique only-sold-in-Japan toy items, we've gotten a bunch of new stock in for you, starting with a major update of our super detailed miniature food items -- look for fresh stock of all items, including miniature Japanese food, family restaurant food, Chinese food from Yokohama's Chinatown, "train station bento" miniatures and more
  
• Also, we've restocked the cool Japan Hot Wheels Mach 5, a super collectible item for Speed Race fans (like me)
  
• We've also added fresh stock of all the popular Groomy plush toys from Elecom, which feature soft chamois bottoms that you can use to keep your computer monitor clean
  
• Also great for anyone with a computer, we've fresh stock of the cute Massage Rabbit and Soft Squeeze Rabbit, which are great for relieving stress
  
• Finally, for those studying Japanese, we've added stock of all our popular Canon Wordtanks electronic study aids, which are *the* way to effectively study Japanese.
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• For fans of erotic magazines from Japan, we've got the great new issue of Deka Melon (Big Melon), featuring hardcore Race Queen that you'll love
  
• We've also got the new issue of Aishite Ageru, e.g. I'll Love You, featuring great amateurs in love hotels
  
• For Japanese photobook fans, we've got some great items, including a delightful photobook by Yuka Hirata, the delightful swimsuit photos of Mariko Okubo, and more
  
• Also, fresh stock of some really rare and cool photobooks, which won't be available again -- great items for Yuko Ogura and Yinling fans!
  
• We have some great erotic hentai manga for you, including the delightful Compensation of Ai by Do Comics, a 2 volume set of the Bad Slayers series by Hit Comics, and EX Comics excellent Milky Onsen
  
• Also, we've got some restocked manga for you including Keep On Puru-Run My Sweet Baby, and more!
  
• For G-Taste fans, we've gotten in the very nice 2004 calendars for this year, but we only have three and no more will be available
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some really fabulous items for you, starting with 4 hours of the very best sex of Saori Kamiya, a delightfully erotic AV star on the Million label (region free)
  
• Then enjoy more top-quality leg fetish action from Japan, with Tights Variation, everything you ever wanted to know about long-legged Japanese women in erotic stockings and tights (region free)
  
• TMA brings you a whopping 10 hours of top adult video action, with cosplay and more by Japan's top adult stars (region free)
  
• Nampa is the act of men picking up girls on the street -- now see "reverse nampa" in which lesbians pick up Japanese kogals in Tokyo's Shibuya region and ask them to try their hand at lesbian kissing (region free)
  
• Also for "reverse nampa" fans, see the erotic sex of girls who pick up guys and have sex with them, brought you by SOD's famous female adult video director Chie Sugawara (region free)
  
• Then, we've got a new Actress Restraint Maniac series DVD featuring fun bondage play by Azusa Kyouno, a delightful and erotic adult video star
  
• Finally, we've got fresh stock of popular erotic DVDs from Japan, including Sayaka Tsutsumi's Masterpiece Concentration, Ami Ayu's 4-hour MAX file, erotic Gymnastics Girls, Eighteen Pleasure, and more!
  

Remember that J-List is having a big $1 shipping sale on all English-translated dating-sim games, interactive story-based PC games in which the story is to make beautiful anime girls fall in love with you. A unique slice of pop culture for adults from Japan, we've worked hard to bring these great games to our customers since they first appeared back in 1996. Coupled with our 20% discount for buying 4 or more titles, this makes it a great time to complete your bishoujo game collection!

Greetings from J-List November 26, 2003

Hello again from all your friends at J-List!

Although you may think of trains when you think of Japan, you really need a car to get around unless you live in a large city like Tokyo or Nagoya. In Gunma Prefecture, where we live, there are train lines connecting the cities, but without a car it'd be very inconvenient to get anywhere. Buying a car here is a little different than it is in the U.S. For starters, nearly everyone buys cars from showrooms operated by the manufacturers (Mazda, Toyota), rather than from third-party dealers. GM's Saturn dealerships were directly based on this model. Since you're buying a car directly from the company that made it, they have total control over the buying experience and can come up with innovative ways of presenting their products to customers. Nissan has done just that with the launching of "Carest Zama," the first large-scale "car mall" twice the size of Tokyo Dome, where prospective auto buyers can browse over 100 of Nissan'a new cars, test drive them in an on-premises driving track, get service and buy various car-related products, and entertain their kids. When you buy a car in America, you usually drive off the lot that afternoon, but in Japan, virtually everyone orders the car they want, choosing color and options, and waits for it to be delivered in three weeks.

Something that causes some frustration in Japan is the sha-ken system, which is basically a total vehicle check-up all cars must get three years after a new car purchase and every two years after that. A combination safety check of all parts of the car, smog certification and tune-up, getting your car sha-ken'ed can cost anywhere from $500 to $1500 depending on how large the engine is and on the age of your car. (Part of the sha-ken fee is a road-use tax, and another part is the minimum car insurance that all drivers must carry.) Since the sha-ken fee is so expensive, Japanese usually use it as an excuse to buy a new car instead, which of course makes car manufacturers happy. On the one hand, sha-ken acts as a kind of ongoing "over-use" tax, punishing drivers who don't buy new cars every 3-5 years, and gaijin living in Japan are usually livid when they hear about all the money they have to pay to keep driving. On the other hand, having a solid safety check of all cars on a regular basis makes driving much safer, and cars almost never break here. In fact, I've only had one car problem in my twelve years in Japan, when a cat trying to get out of the cold climbed into my engine compartment, only to be ripped to shreds when I turned on my car.

What color are your eyes? All Japanese people have brown eyes, although if you ever ask them what color their eyes are, they'll tell you "black" (because the center of the eyes are black, as opposed to the iris). Japanese are often interested in the eyes of foreigners, since they come in different colors, something totally unknown in Japan (although they do have color contact lenses here). When I tell Japanese that my eyes change color depending on what I'm wearing, ranging from green to hazel to blue, they usually don't believe it's possible. My wife and I are studying Spanish, and I've been asked by my teacher, a Japanese who grew up in Peru, if I saw the world through a blue or green tint because of the color of my eyes.

J-List carries over 200 different photobooks from Japan, with beautiful idols and models, famous JPOP singers, and lovely nude photobooks. It's a great time to browse J-List's huge selection of photobook items, for two reasons. First, we've found fresh stock of some really rare items that were previously sold out, and have added them to the site. Also, for the rest of 2003 we're giving an extra big discount to customers who buy 4 more photobooks together: a whopping 20% (discount automatically applied at checkout).

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• Because we genuinely feel it's our duty to make cool and unique products available to you from Japan, we're happy to have Tomy's Micro Aqua miniature aquariums, which recreate real fishtanks in every detail for you
  
• The Paper Stitch Lock, a great device that "stitches" sheets of paper together so you never need staples, has been one of our biggest sellers -- now we've got a deluxe version that comes in different colors
  
• For Domo-kun fans, we've restocked the popular Domo-kun towels and washcloths
  
• We love the high-quality Totoro toys of Sun Arrow, a famous Japanese toy company famous for their high quality products -- we've got more Makkuro Kurosuke, er, Soot Sprites in stock for you
  
• Japan's unique toys, like Blythe and Kubrick, really come alive in the new issue of Dolly Bird, featuring a special look at the most stylish toys you've ever seen
  
• We have more wacky Japanese signs for you, including one for people with men in the house who can't keep from missing the toilet
  
• We've got fresh stock of the popular FX Neo eyedrops, which wake you up when you're sleepy -- a very popular item
  
• We love cute things from Japan, and one of our favorites is the UsaColle Friends (short for Usako Collection and Friends) -- enjoy eyeglass wipes and origami paper
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, we've got lots of cool things you can only find in Japan, including a set of Kitty kitchen figures, a delicious way to make ice cream with Kitty, and a Kitty microwave cake set
  
• Then try some delicious traditional Japanese tastes including furikake, sweet bean soup, and more
  
• We've restocked the popular Japanese spicy caffeine gum Black Black, advertised by Jean Claude van Damme
  
• One of our best-selling DVD titles is Happa-Tai ("Fig Leaf Army") who were a big hit in the States -- we have "Yatta!" back in stock for you
  
• Finally, look for more bizarre Japanese pins, fresh stock of cool Every Blythe miniature figures, fresh stock of 120 cm authentic "loose socks" and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• For fans of Japan's beautiful erotic photography, we've got the new issue of Urecco, the "hybrid skin magazine" that features top-quality AV stars like Aoi Sora, Hitomi Hayasaka, Asuka Sawaguchi, and more, and Urecco is now an all-color magazine too!
  
• We've got a great item for you next, a full color magazine that comes with a 125 minute sampler DVD and a life-sized poster of Aoi Sora
  
• Then enjoy the new issue of Meets Girl (as in "boy meets girl") featuring real Japanese amateurs age 18 to 20 in love hotels with their boyfriends
  
• We've got the wonderful hardcover swimsuit photobook of Noriko Satoh, age 18, and she looks really great
  
• Then enjoy the delicious body of Tsukasa Kato's new photobook release, Rindoh
  
• We have some super new erotic manga for you including Yutaka Tanaka's great new Shiawase H, the very erotic manga Ayame by AV Comics, and a very grown-up erotic manga by Action Comics
  
• Also, a real treat for fans of Japan's highly developed tradition of hermaphrodite erotica, a new work by Amanoja 9 ("Amanojack") in his best-selling "TS I Love You" series
  
• For doujinshi fans, we've got two great new doujinshi from the famous circle Ochimentaiko, for fans of Akira Minazuki's erotic busty women, and a super Zeta Gundam hentai doujinshi
  
• For DVD fans, we have a great volley of new releases for you, starting with a new Body Concept erotic leg fetish from Shinkosha (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the super natural and shy sex of Momo Takai in her adult film debut (region free)
  
• Ai Nagase fans, Deep's has put together a great collection of 4 hours of her best hardcore works, and for a super price (region free)
  
• Miku Hasegawa and Ai Shimura look great as they perform lesbian sex and 3P (three people, e.g. manage a trois) with am extremely lucky man (region free)
  
• Enjoy the lesbian kissing of beautiful Japanese ladies in the new Les Kiss by U&K, the famous all-lesbian adult video studio (region free)
  
• Then have a feast of bukkake in Semen Club, which features delightfully slutty women playing with sperm (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for various restocked and reduced price DVD titles, with many more that ship with free SAL shipping!
  

Remember that J-List carries many items featuring the beautiful Russian nude idol Yulia Nova, including magazines, videos and more. Since J-List is the official representative of Yulia Nova, we have the best selection you'll find anywhere. Buy 3 or more Russian Beauties/Yulia Nova items and get an extra 10% discount, too.

Greetings from J-List November 21, 2003

Hello and Happy Friday from all of us at J-List! We've got a great update for you tonight just in time for the weekend!

One of the most frustrating things about living in Japan is being on a different wavelength from everyone else -- the common pool of "joshiki" (common sense) that all Japanese plug into doesn't seem to work for us foreigners. Japanese change from winter to summer clothes pretty much on the same day, due to the standardization of the educational system on a national level, but foreigners don't know that just because the first of October has come we should suddenly stop wearing T-shirts and start donning sweaters. In Japan, shops are often closed one day during the week, usually Tuesday or Wednesday, but gaijin don't know this -- and it seems we always make a special trip only to find the place we want to shop at closed. Christmas music usually stops around the New Year's Day, but Japanese shops and radio stations often play it all winter long, which is slightly odd to my gaijin mind. Oh well, it's all part of the fun of living in a place like Japan.

One of my favorites from my YBIJTLW list, located on my personal homepage: "You've been in Japan too long when it takes you several seconds of deep thought to recall the first name of the President of the United States." It's true -- you'd be surprised what living in a foreign country can do to your ability to recall seldom-used information, or even remember some English vocabulary words. Try going years without ever hearing or uttering difficult words, like "gynecologist" or "irreplaceable" -- they can be quite difficult to dredge up from the depths of your memory, even if English is your native language. It's especially bad for native English speakers who work as English teachers in Japan, because you can go for months without hearing any English except the simplified speech of your students, which invariably begins to affect your English in a negative way. In the same way that living in a country like India or New Zealand would begin to affect your own spoken English over time, living in Japan can takes its toll, too.

Japan is not, all things considered, the country you should come to if you're disabled in some way. Standards about wheelchair access are haphazard all around the country, with some cities trying to modernize their facilities, especially public places like parks, so that people with disabilities can use them. Some platforms on some train stations have some kind of wheelchair access, but if the station you're going to doesn't have the same access, it's quite difficult to use the train. One of the primary motivating factors for the progress of Japanese society is how their country looks in the eyes of the foreigners who visit or live here, and Japanese are aware that North American and European foreigners tend to look down on Japan's record when it comes to dealing with its disabled citizens. As a general rule, though, many Japanese will tell you that Japan is a small country without much land (Japan has a population density of 335 persons per square km, vs. just 29 in the U.S.), and just can't have the same amount of access that people in wheelchairs enjoy in the U.S. About a kilometer from J-List there's an interesting sports center for disabled people, with facilities for swimming, wheelchair racing, wheelchair basketball, and other activities.

Remember that we're in the middle of 2004 calendar season, with hundreds of great anime, JPOP, art, idol, traditional and nude calendars in stock for you to order. The warehouse that we constructed this summer is serving us well, allowing us to stock more calendars for you than we ever have in the past. Please note, however, that preorders are now closed for calendars, and already our stock of calendars is starting to sell out, with a half-dozen calendars selling out every day or so. Please check out our stock before the calendars you want are gone! Remember, order 4 or more calendars and get an extra 15% off, and free mailing tubes, too.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, for fans of incredibly cute things from Japan, we've got Hidamari no Tami, a happy character who rocks his head from side to side via solar power - a special Christmas item!
  
• Also, a traditional wooden Christmas Tree that's popular in Japan this year
  
• If you're a Star Wars fans, be sure to pick up the deluxe soft vinyl completed model by Kotobuki, featuring Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper armor from A New Hope
  
• For all fans of Japanese pop culture, we've got a great set of four photobooks, loaded with information on Japan as seen through movie poster art, cosplay and more
  
• For fans of Japan's wonderful high-end character toys, we've got the new issue of Bean's, which features beautiful photography of cool Blythe, Kubrick and other great toys from Japan
  
• Masumi Toyooka is one of the popular stars of Battle Royale II, and she has many fans in Japan -- enjoy her sweet hardcover photobook in stock now
  
• For fans of Japan's famous school uniform culture, we've got two new photobooks that show many pretty models wearing some of Japan's most famous uniforms -- great for cosplay fans
  
• We have some great snack foods from Japan, including traditional Japanese mustard, Milky Cocoa soft candies and Hello Kitty mayonnaise flavored fried squid
  
• Also, we've restocked our popular Hello Kitty toilet paper (both colors)
  
• We've also got super cute Fruit Yogurt Pretzels from the Nyanko Restaurant character series
  
• Then enjoy the delightful swimsuit offering of Mai Mochizuki, a beautiful and popular cute idol in Japan today
  
• For fans of CLAMP, we've got a great 2 volume set of their newest manga work, XXX Holic
  
• We've got more wacky Japanese sign plates, including "Do Not Urinate Here" and a classic Japanese exit sign
  
• Also, new wacky Japanese colorful "pin badges" for your collection
  
• We've got some fun items for you, including more Japanese play money and Japanese train tickets (complete with ticket clipper)
  
• We have some cool traditional cloth drawstring bags with hiragana on them, very cool
  
• Finally, enjoy cute "Lucky Cat" stickers, more varieties of Pocky and Pretz in stock for you, a great way to make coffee in the Japanese style, Hello Kitty watercolor painting, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, enjoy the new issue of Senningiri, featuring delightful kogals from Shibuya
  
• We've got the new issue of I'll Give Myself To You, for fans of erotic hardcore sex by Japanese amateurs
  
• For fans with an international eye, we've got the new issue of Bachelor, Japan's magazine for fans of busty women all around the world, with girls from Germany, Czech, Latvia and more
  
• Also: a great treat for our magazine customers, we've added abut 15-20 items that were previously out of stock, including many of our popular $5 magazine -- but they'll go fast!
  
• For hardcover photobook fans, enjoy the very erotic offering of Kaori, with her dynamite body that will amaze you
  
• For hentai manga fans, we've got some top-quality adult comics for you, with two great works by Sho Katase, Hiroshi Kawamoto's erotic Monstrous Big Breasts, and parody Shirow Masamune hentai
  
• We've also got lots of restocked comics, including Buttagiri Sisters, Kunoichi Premium, Sacrifice, and more
  
• For DVD fans, we've got some great new items for you, starting with a great parody of "sentai" or colorful combat teams like Power rangers, this time with a very erotic twist (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the erotic sex of Mai Sakashita, who stars in 24 Hours Bukkake Semen & Sex, a great work from Soft on Demand (region free)
  
• From SOD's Deep's label, enjoy a great 2-in-1 release of Lesbian Hospital vol. 3 & 4, collected on a great bargain-priced DVD for you (region free)
  
• The erotic gals of Eastern Europe are back again, with more erotic Czech girls from Prague (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the best lesbian sex of U&K's Lesbian Ecstasy Best Vol. 1, with their most erotic lesbian performances ever (region free)
  
• From Waap Entertainment, enjoy a great Cosplay Bukkake Special featuring Nao. fulfilling your erotic wishes (region 2)
  
• Then we've got a great treat for fans of our bargain-priced Soft on Demand Outlet DVD titles: a full dozen titles added to the outlet page, with great titles like Super Bishoujo Kiss, Cat Fight Network Manticore, Kiss Battle Royale and more available for a great price!
  

Remember that J-List carries something that's almost impossible to get outside of Japan: authentic, beautifully hand-sewn Japanese high school uniforms, made just for you by the famous Matsukameya of Nagoya. Each uniform is sewn just for you, to the sizes you specify on our detailed chart, and the quality is not to be believed. If you love Japanese "cosplay" and want to try on a real Japanese female high school uniform (the company takes pride in offering sizes large enough for men to wear them), please see the excellent items we have on our site. We also have uniforms for guys, too!
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