Greetings from J-List April 30, 2004

Hello again from Japan, home of cars with unique English names like the Honda "That's."

I often think that the U.S. doesn't look hard enough to countries like Japan for ideas about how to best organize the government. Currently, the issue of requiring cars to have better fuel efficiency in the face of the popularity of large SUVs is being discussed. Japan has a great system for encouraging use of fuel-efficient cars in its road tax system: every March, anyone with a car must pay an annual tax which gets more expensive the larger your car's engine is. Drivers of the smallest, most efficient cars pay only $30 a year; for average cars, the tax is around $300; but if you've got a large sedan or SUV, expect to pay $1000 or so. The current California annual vehicle registration system starts out high when you buy a new car, but drops as your car's value goes down, effectively rewarding drivers for keeping their cars as long as possible, even when they become inefficient polluting machines. Instead of this system, structuring things so that there's an economic benefit for driving newer, more efficient cars sounds like a good idea to me.

Now Japan has entered Golden Week, a series of national holidays that happens to fall more or less within the same week. Japanese use the long holiday period to travel, and it's common for virtually the entire population of Tokyo to make a mass exodus away from the city, going home to be with family or taking a vacation in other parts of the country. Unfortunately, anyplace that we'd like to take the kids during Golden Week -- the mountains, hot springs, Tokyo Disneyland -- is packed with Tokyoites, making it virtually impossible to go anywhere fun.

There are many approaches to learning a foreign language -- the Army Method (stress on learning through memorization), the Grammar Translation Method (learning a language by parsing its grammar), the Communicative Method (leaning by speaking and listening in the target language), the Natural approach (trying to replicate the steps that children go through when they learn a language). Another approach is the "get attention" method, which I'll label the Social Feedback Method to give it a cool-sounding name. Basically, you learn whatever vocabulary and phrases that will make you the life of the party among your new linguistic group, be it cute ways to begin conversations with attractive Japanese girls or interesting phrases that will amuse Japanese people around you. I have a friend who worked his way across Asia using this method, learning just enough of the local languages to be social and have fun with his hosts, and he swears by it.

At J-List, we love being a bridge of pop culture between Japan and the West, and we try to encourage interest in studying Japanese by selling many Japanese study aids (basically, all the things I wished I could buy when I was studying Japanese at SDSU back in the 1980s). One of the best tools to help you study Japanese is the Canon Wordtank, a fantastic line of electronic dictionaries that are packed with features for gaijin learning Japanese. We're proud to announce we've gotten stock of the brand new G50, a totally redesigned Wordtank with great many great features, including up to nine dictionaries including the Kojien, the most famous dictionary in Japan. We've also restocked the IDF4600, the Cadillac of Wordtanks, and reduced our price on this fabulous item. Both come with full English printed manuals, too!

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

• First, for Shirow Masamune fans, a treat: a personal Roman Album of Mamoru Oshii, director of the Ghost in the Shell movies
  
• Next, a super treat for fans of highly detailed "candy toy" and PVC figures -- the 40th anniversary Official Exhibition Guide of the famous Kaiyodo corporation, showing off their most amazing creations ever
  
• Final Fantasy fans, we've got a super "trading figure" series from Square featuring the most memorable figures of the timeless FF series
  
• Blythe fans, we've got two really special Blythe doll + dish sets by Takara, very fashionable and fun to display
  
• For fans of our Japanese snacks, enjoy some special new items, including tasty blueberry pies, a sample pack of candy from the Meiji Confectionery Company, flavored bread stick snacks and more
  
• Also, super cute Sailor Moon gummi based on the cool new Sailor Moon live-action TV series
  
• Hello Kitty lovers, we've got a cute "Kitty Notebook Computer" that you can use to email Kitty-chan -- it even has a mouse
  
• Next, we've restocked several popular reflective Japanese message stickers with bizarre messages, to amaze your friends with
  
• For Domo-kun lovers, we've got a brand new item, a cool leather pen case featuring Domo-kun and his friends
  
• We have more authentic chopsticks from Japan, a handy set of hand-made bamboo chopsticks that are great for having guests over, and a "value pack" of disposable chopsticks for all uses
  
• Need to iron clothes anywhere? We've got a handy item from Japan, a portable ironing glove that's so handy
  
• Have hours of fun with a fun PostPet game, the super cute pink bear made by Sony -- he dances in water for you
  
• From the Panda Z universe, two cool new robot friends: Hamugear 1 and 2, giant robotic hamsters that are incredible cute
  
• For fans of die-cast toy cars, we've got fresh stock of the Tomica Honda NSX, Nissan Cima and Porsche Boxster, as well as newly restocked Japan Hot Wheels toys
  
• If you were interested in the varieties of Japanese tea we mentioned on Wednesday, we've posted some very healthy Japanese tea, great for dieting too
  
• Finally, a cool way to organize your business cards, cute erasers for fans of Shinkansen, another of the Gabriel C basset hound toy from the Ghost in the Shell Innocence movie, and more!
  

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

• First, for fans of Japan's elegant 18+ photo magazines, we've got the new issue of Urecco, an extra-special one that's filled with gorgeous JAV stars and models
  
• Next we we've got the new issue of Sasotte Ageru, e.g. I'm Gonna Ask You Out, a fun magazine for fans of real Tokyo girls
  
• Then we've got the new issue of DVD Wonderland, a full color magazine with a 2 hour DVD of super indies samples for you
  
• We've also gotten in stock more low-priced magazines and magazines with DVDs inside, starting at just $5
  
• Photobook lovers, we've got a super hardcover offering by the lovely Nao. (she always has a period after her name, in imitation of Morning Musume.), an superb Japanese beauty
  
• Sakura Mizutani is the super cute honey who will "Snipe your Heart" in her new hardcover photobook
  
• Then from Sabra, a special photobook featuring Azusa Yamamoto, as photographed by Seiichi Nomura
  
• Restocked photobooks include the amazing Dressage by Marina Matsushima, the elegant Sundownder stocking photobook, Maiko Kazano's stylish and sexy photobook, and more
  
• For our H manga customers, we've got some special items, including a new Electric Love Princess manga, compiling famous game-girl doujinshi, a special manga about skinship, and a story featuring "naughty tentacles"
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great items, starting with 4 hours of the best Cosplay Idols by TMA (region free)
  
• Next, enjoy the "Palm of a Hitomi Hayasaka" with 4 hours of her hardest performances, presented by Million (region free)
  
• From Soft on Demand's Deep's label, an exploration of various themes for you, with seven gorgeous JAV stars (region free)
  
• Then enjoy an amazing "cat fight" offering from Soft on Demand, featuring wild girls who really get into it in the ring (region free)
  
• Then from U&K, a new exploration of extremely sensual and expressive kissing between females -- don't miss this cool DVD (region free)
  
• For fans of Garo Aida, we present the beautiful new soft offering of Megumi, one of his most beautiful models yet (region 2)
  
• Finally, various restocked DVD titles, including the Contrary Soap Heaven with Sora Aoi, more "study by 100 girls" DVDs, and other restocked items!
  

Remember that J-List carries dozens of varieties of low-cost highly-detailed "candy toys," so named because you usually get some kind of candy in the box with the toy. From the super cool PVC figures of Shirow Masamune's characters to Furuta's superb Star Trek models to replicas of famous Japanese foods to the Sony AIBO toys, these are fun to collect and display. We even sell display cases for these special toys! Because we're dedicated to going the extra mile for you, we make full sets of most items available so you don't have to waste your money buying duplicates and throwing them away.

Want to see Japan's military in a new light? We found a recruiting video for the Japanese Naval Self-Defense Forces that's quite amusing. The slogan is "I love Japan. I love peace." The link is here: http://www.jda.go.jp/JMSDF/event/cm_p/index.html (Quicktime required).

Greetings from J-List April 28, 2004

Hello again from all of us in Japan!

In the U.S., the existence of the military looms large in many ways. The military protects the U.S. and some of the best jobs to be had are with jobs related to the defense industry. Japan has a military, too, although you probably don't think about them much. Japan's 300,000-strong Self-Defense Forces, or "Jieitai," were created in 1954 at the urging of the U.S., who wanted allies to stand with them against Communism. Even though the SDF is supposed to keep its budget at less than 1% of Japan's GDP, it's a very advanced and well-funded force, with an annual budget of US$42 billion. One of the biggest problems with Japan's military forces is that they're basically extra-legal -- Article 9 of Japan's constitution strictly states that "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential will never be maintained." During the 13 years that I've lived in Japan, there have been numerous attempts at amending the constitution to give the SDF official status, but Japan's strange form of democracy, in which every little political party has the right to shout out their opinion and consensus is very hard to reach, has made this impossible so far.

Although coffee and Western tea are popular in Japan, many prefer the wide variety of Asian teas often grouped together in the wide category of "green tea." The list of teas enjoyed in Japan is almost endless, with the most popular being ryoku-cha (a slightly weak green tea), mugi-cha (a pleasant-tasting tea made from barley, enjoyed in the hot summer), or genmai-cha (tea with roasted grains of unhulled rice in it). Oolong-cha, a dark refreshing tea from China, is perhaps the best-selling bottled beverage in Japan; it's very nice because it cuts through oil, washing down anything greasy you've eaten (it can be even used as a mild cleaner). Matcha, a bitter green tea made from powder, is used in the Japanese tea ceremony, and is also a popular flavoring for cakes and ice cream -- I even saw matcha yogurt the other day, although I can't recommend it.

A major path to business success seems to be, watch what successful companies do in the U.S., then do it in Japan before they can get over here. In America, eBay may be king of the hill when it comes to online auctions, but in Japan it's Yahoo all the way -- Yahoo's Japanese auction site is so successful that eBay quietly closed their Japanese page three years ago. Pizza Hut is another similar success story. After observing the paradigm shift from eating pizza in restaurants to having it delivered, Pizza Hut copied the Domino's strategy in Japan, opening hundreds of franchises and delivering pizza in 30 minutes or less. Pizza Hut (whose motto here is "Dynamic and Speedy") has a strong presence all over Japan, but Dominoes is almost nonexistent.

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

• First, for Ghost in the Shell fans, we've got a treat for you: "gashapon" (capsule toys) of the classic by Shirow Masamune, in full sets so you don't have to waste your money buying duplicates
  
• Fans of Japan's gorgeous swimsuit idols, we've got trading cards of Azusa Yamamoto, fun to own
  
• Looking for delicious snacks from Japan? We've got Milky Banana candies, super delicious Chocolate Every Burger, little cookie hamburgers for you to eat, and more
  
• From Lotte, we've got delicious acerola gum, a tart, very delicious fruit that's high in vitamins
  
• We've restocked many food items including the traditional flavored Kyoto style pretzel snacks, Hi-Chu Green Apple, March of the Koalas, Bontan Ame and various flavors of Pocky
  
• Also, a very wacky item: a pack of Black Black caffeine gum that's really an eraser in disguise
  
• We have the new Dengeki Comic Gao, a fabulous 550+ page monthly comic that's filled with great art and extras
  
• Manga collectors, we've got a treat for you: vol. 1-7 of the Mythical Detective Loki, e.g. Ragnarok, a super set for you
  
• One of the most famous stories in Japan is the Sankokushi, the History of Three Provinces of Ancient China -- we've got excellent PVC figures from Sankokushi, in full sets, from Epoch
  
• Sanrio fans, we've got a super cute item for you, an all-purpose pump bottle for shampoo, hand soap and so on, featuring My Melody, as well as a remote controlled Walking Hello Kitty
  
• For all those embarrassing moments when you don't have enough chopsticks in your home, we've got some nice new ones, made of bamboo, the best material for chopsticks
  
• We've got a cool item for you: multi-colored Japanese fude (FOO-day) pens, which allow you to write in classic Chinese calligraphy
  
• Fans of Gloomy Bear, the sad and homicidal Japanese character, we've restocked several items for you, including the Gloomy Bear ballpoint pen
  
• Finally, we have totally cool Sanrio notepads, more spiffy shogi playing board and piece sets, wacky highlighting pens that smell like fruit, and more!
  

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

• For fans of beautiful kogals photographed very stylishly, we've got the new Urecco Gal in stock for you, just loaded with gorgeous girls for you
  
• Enjoy the new issue of Bizuma ("Beautiful Wife") Hacker, a popular magazine for fans of married women and 30+ ladies
  
• Also, the new issue of Enjo Kei, a perfect bound magazine featuring 100% real Tokyo girls
  
• For photobook fans, the delicious Ryo Uehara shows her lovely self to the camera, in an offering that is really lovely to see
  
• Then see the beautiful Sumire Ogawa, a super-sexy swimsuit idol, in her brand new release
  
• Restocked photobooks include three very popular photobooks featuring the lovely Mihiro, one of our favorite sexy models from Japan
  
• Next up, Ourei Harada shines brightly in her hardcover photobook with the delectable title of Vanilla Aulait
  
• We have some fantastic 18+ manga for our H manga collectors, including a wet new work from Takeshi Hirano, the super "Mix With" by Ohwata Izumi, and a superb "kemono" offering from Pikupi-kun
  
• We've also restocked several popular manga titles for you -- check them out
  
• For yaoi fans, we have a new work in stock for you, Cisco Kataru's "Empty Heart," as well as various restocked titles
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great new items, starting with a fun Concentration Horse Riding collection, at a great price (region free)
  
• Then we've got a delightful new release by Sora Aoi, featuring multi-angle action of one of Japan's loveliest JAV stars (region free)
  
• Next, enjoy a new "naughty ballerina" DVD featuring Miki Nakazawa, the Rhythmic Gymnastics girl with Black Hair (region free)
  
• From SOD's Chuujitsudoh label, female best friends touch each other to try to guess which manko belongs to their friend (region free)
  
• For fans of all-girl performances, we've got another excellent offering by the famous indies studio U&K (region free)
  
• Then from Wanz Factory (my personal favorite JAV studio), a fresh new concept: tickling, starring six lovely idols including Rina Usui (region 2)
  
• Then enjoy many restocked titles including the Contrary Soap Heaven with Sora Aoi, Kyoko Ayana's DVD with toy, the excellent Sexy Ballerina, and Ero Para Go Go!, a tribute to late-night Japanese television game shows.
  

J-List sells many interesting items from Japan, including our trademark "funny Japanese T-shirts" which are printed in the USA and come in all sizes, from small all the way up to XXXL. Our most popular T-shirt by far is the "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend," followed by "Dirty American Devil" (the word the Japanese used for us during the war), "Beware of Perverts" and "You Must be 20 to Buy Alcohol and Tobacco." Of our recently added shirts, the Domo-kun parody is easily the top seller. All shirts are 100% cotton and all sizes are stocked, for speedy shipment to you!

Greetings from J-List April 26, 2004

Hello again from Japan, where the statement "not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" means something else entirely...

First of all, an IP change over the weekend caused some problems with the site, including a brief down period and some images that did not display properly. The problem has been fixed -- sorry if you were unable to use the site during the down time. If you experience any problems with the JLIST or JBOX sites, please let us know and we'll check into it right away.

It's fun living in Japan, however there's one big drawback: we live next to North Korea, one of the least fun nations you can live next to. North Korea has kidnapped at least six Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 80s, taking them home to act as language teacher-slaves to train spies how to speak Japanese. There are dozen of other Japanese more who are missing, believed to still be held in the country. They have a nuclear program, and we live right in the middle of any missile flight between Pyongyang and Tokyo -- that's just not fun in anyone's book. North Korea has a very highly organized drug trade, and virtually all of the cocaine that comes into Japan is from there. But there's a side to the international drama that you've probably not heard about: apparently, North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong Il seems to have fallen in love with a famous Japanese magician and singer Princess Tenko, and is stalking her through a network of agents in Japan.

It started when Princess Tenko, a famous illusionist (Mattel made a line of dolls based on her in the 90s, and she's supposedly dating Jean-Claude Van Damme), travelled to North Korea to perform in a gesture of international friendship. North Korea's leader was quite taken with her charm, and invited her back every year to perform on the birthday of his father. Several years ago, Princess Tenko got suddenly ill during her stay, which the North Korean government used to try to deny her permission to leave the country, in effect kidnapping her. After her return to Japan, Princess Tenko allegedly received hundreds of phone calls from mysterious men who have harassed her, telling her that Kim Jong Il wants her to return to North Korea. Mysteriously, the calls always came at 2:16 pm, which points to North Korea's Dear Leader: his birthday is February 16, and he is fixated with the numbers, even to the point of driving in limousines with "2 16" as the license plate numbers.

I say allegedly above because with Japanese television you can never be sure that the documentary you're watching is real or faked. Television in Japan is very ratings-driven, and it's quite common for TV to stage events so they can film them, which is called "yarase" (yah-RAH-seh). A wide variety of Japanese television is completely fake. In one show, Japanese adventurers travel around Kenya with a camera crew (including a local man who just happened to speak Japanese) in search of giant snakes, who always nearly kill someone before being subdued at the last minute. In another show, an American woman aids camera crews searching for Japanese who have gone missing, using ESP to direct the crew all around Japan in a very dramatic fake search. Japanese love ghost documentaries which purport to capture proof of spirits from beyond on the grave, all of it scripted and quite fake. Even Japan's NHK got in trouble when they used dynamite to cause an avalanche in the Himalayas so they could pretend they just happened to have a camera there when a natural one occurred. So when watching about the supposed stalking of Princess Tenko by Secretary Kim, it's important to take everything with a few grains of salt.

We're happy to announce that the Yulia Nova DVDs vol. 1-3 have gone golden master and are on their way to the pressing factory. They should be back very soon. This dynamite trio of DVDs captures the incredible grace and beauty of Yulia Nova, a Russian model who has become very popular here in Japan and around the world. We hope you'll order these dynamite DVDs today. Each includes 2 hours of great footage, including 30+ minutes of superb never-before-released material. Also, the DVDs are fully subtitled in English from a new translation of the original Russian, allowing fans to see and understand Yulia as never before.

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

• First, for fans of the hip anime Noir, we've got two incredibly high-end cold case anime statues of Kirika Yumura and Mireille Bouquet
  
• J-List sells tons of cool Sanrio items you can't find outside of Japan -- we've got Hello Kitty traditional paper balloons, a great mascot for your bath, and a way to block the sun from your car in Hello Kitty style
  
• Also -- traditional Japanese bell, which you can attach to anything, but these are beautiful Hello Kitty bells
  
• We're big fans of Rement's miniature food items -- now there's a new one, Puchi Sample Supermarket series 2, featuring over 25 miniature Japanese food items, complete with shopping carts and baskets, many cool items for you to play with and display (full sets available)
  
• Fans of Tomica's super detailed die-cast cars, we've got a new item: the Mazda Altenza, sold in the U.S. as the Mazda6
  
• For fans of wacky things from Japan, we've got lipstick-style Pringle's erasers in stock, very popular in Japan right now
  
• For fans of our snacks from Japan, we have delicious chicken and mayonnaise flavored snacks made from rice; tasty grape gummi treats; and one of my favorites, Gummi Choco chocolate-covered strawberry gummi -- yum!
  
• Also, an item that I definitely recommend (I'm eating the sample now, it looked so good): Funya-Q, a super wacky soft gummi face that you can stretch and play with and eat
  
• Also for Japanese snack fans, we've restocked several items, including Hi-Chu (various flavors), CC Lemon Candy, and more
  
• Godzilla lovers, we've got a very cool soft vinyl keychain/phone strap in stock for you
  
• We've added stock of the G&L Bible vol. 1 for collectors who want to have in their collection
  
• We've got more wacky "pin badges" with cute characters on them
  
• And for your kitchen, extra-long cooking chopsticks that make it easy to cook without burning yourself
  
• Fans of the Japan Hot Wheels, sold only in Japan, we've restocked many popular items, including the Mach 5, K.A.R.R. (K.I.T.T.'s evil twin from Knight Rider), and the Airwolf helicopter
  
• Also, we've added stock of the Cominica Totoro keychains, so detailed and fun to carry with you
  
• Finally, look for more cool miniature Shogi boards, more tools to help you study Japanese, more cute hamster erasers, and many more items!
  

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

• For fans of real Tokyo girls, we've got the new issue of Aishite Ageru, the perfect-bound deluxe book featuring real Tokyo girls
  
• Also, the new issue of Please Be Gentle With Me, a great new issue featuring authentic couples for you
  
• For fans of magazine + DVD combo items, we've got a new Senningiri The Movie DVD, featuring one man's attempt to document his liaisons with 1000 women
  
• Then enjoy the lovely hardcover photobook offering of Rio Natsume, the silky and elegant swimsuit model from Japan
  
• Also, we loved the beautiful glossy photobook of Airi Ishikawa, who you can get to know through her beautiful photographs
  
• For fans of "jukujo" (mature women), we've got the very sexy photobook by Mai Oikawa
  
• Look for various restocked photobook, including the Office Lady Pictorial Book, Sora Aoi's popular first photobook, Race Queen Izumi Yokoyama's dynamite photobook, and more
  
• Also, we've got fresh stock of LCC Gold, the photobook capturing the lovely bodies of Romanian gold medal-winning gymnasts Lavinia Milosovici, Claudia Presacan, and Corina Ungureanu
  
• H manga collectors, we've got a great new items in stock for you, including Kotomi's Encyclopedia and the positively mind-blowing Heaven's Egg
  
• Also, MG Joe First Lesson, a superb oversized H manga complete with color pages inside
  
• Yaoi fans, enjoy various newly restocked comics as well as a great new anthology comic with great stories inside
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great items for you, starting with Hitomi Hayasaka's Very Best, a collection of 4 hours of her most memorable works on the Million label (region free)
  
• Then enjoy a bargain-priced selection of the Concentration Soap Land Ladies, four lovely girls who get you squeaky clean (region free)
  
• From SOD, the best of their "I'll assist your..." series, featuring incredibly beautiful actresses who are happy to help you feel better (region free)
  
• Then, 100 beautiful girls who want to engage in "chin chin study," an amazing Japanese genre (region free)
  
• Then enjoy more all-girl action with lots of slippery lotion, courtesy of U&K, one of the top specialty indies studios (region free)
  
• Then from Wanz Factory, enjoy the Super Angle of Mai Sakashita, filming her from low, sexy angles and fisheye lenses (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for various restocked and reduced priced DVDs near the tops of all DVD categories.
  

Remember that J-List carries over 2500 unique products from Japan. One of the most unique ever is the Hello Kitty vibrating shoulder massager, 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 15% off at checkout.

Greetings from J-List April 19, 2004

Hello again from all your friends at J-List!

There are many expats living in Japan from a broad mix of countries -- Peru, South Korea, Brazil, Canada -- and it's fun to make friends with people you might not normally cross paths with if you lived in your home country. I've had fun talking over American politics with friends from Australia, and I've had some interesting conversations with Iranians who frequent the public bath I go to a lot (speaking Japanese with them, since they don't know English and I don't know Farsi). I've also had many Chinese friends over the years, too. There's a secret rivalry between Chinese students of Japanese and "white" gaijin like me, though: we're jealous that they can already read kanji, so it takes them a lot less time to master Japanese than it does for us. When I took level 1 of the Japanese Ability Test (the highest level, required if you want to attend a Japanese university), I was one of a very few blonde heads in the room: most of the other test-takers were from China or other Asian countries. We native English speakers get our revenge, though, as Japanese is peppered with thousands of complex English words like "character designer" and "shutter chance" and "amenity communicator," which are hopelessly difficult for Chinese speakers of Japanese to understand.

Have you ever wondered what all the name suffixes added to the ends of Japanese names mean? Well, I'll tell you. "-san" is the basic name suffix that everyone has probably heard of, and it indicates formality, like adding Mr. or Mrs. to a name in English. Used with the last name usually (e.g. Fujita-san), it can also be added to the first name (Tomo-san) to show some politeness while also showing familiarity. Two other common name suffixes, "-chan" and "-kun," are used when talking to girls and boys (e.g. Rina-chan and Kazuki-kun) who are younger than the speaker, and both indicate a degree of closeness. In Japanese companies or in school settings, there are strict differences between upperclassmen/superiors ("senpai") and underclassmen/juniors ("kohai"). When speaking, underlings will use "-san" and speak with polite verbs when addressing their superiors; those in a superior position tend to use "-kun" and use informal verbs when talking to their juniors, in essence verbally reinforcing the top-down relationship in ways that can't be expressed or comprehended in American English. Some other name prefixes that are used often include "-sensei" (for teachers, doctors, and sometimes politicians); "-senshu" (athletes, e.g. Matsui-senshu, when referring to Hideki Matsui); and "-announcer" (a name suffix for newscasters).

Yes, Japanese naming customs are quite different from the West. Last year, I went to the U.S. with my daughter and Daisuke Furuta, one of our employees here in Japan. My daughter called me aside to ask me why everyone in America called Daisuke by his first name rather than "Furuta-kun." Calling someone by their first name (called "yobisute") is somewhat odd in Japanese, and implies an extremely close relationship, hence my daughter's confusion. Once I called a female student of mine and asked her mother if she was home. I accidentally referred to the student by her first name only, and her mother was immediately on her guard, wondering what kind of relationship this gaijin had with her daughter. (I was innocent, honest.)

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

• First, for fans of Go Nagai's timeless Cutie Honey, we have two great PVC figures featuring these lovely girls, complete with stands to display them proudly
  
• Next, we've got a big restocking of many popular Totoro and Studio Ghibli items, including the Totoro aluminum bento box, Soot Sprite magnets, and the very big Totoro plush toy from Sun Arrow
  
• Also, look for various newly restocked Domo-kun items, including the large Domo plush (the biggest one ever made), Domo-kun phone straps, and the large Domo-kun plush cube
  
• Speaking of Domo-kun, we've got two really cool plastic document protectors which allow you to carry your important papers while looking cool
  
• Do you love delicious Japanese snacks? J-List always stocks the newest cool snacks from Japan -- enjoy tasty Strawberry and Coconut Pocky, in stock for you!
  
• Other new snack treats include more "Collon" cream-filled cookies, delicious melon soda flavored Hi-chew Kids, and healthy Clorets sugarless breath gum with Xylitol
  
• Also, see fresh stock of many popular items like March of the Koalas, Wata-pachi and Wata-gum cotton-candy-like treats, Mentaiko Pretz, delicious rice crackers, Pocari Sweat powder, and Bontan Ame, the famous Japanese candy that you can eat, wrapper and all
  
• From the people who brought you pink nipple cream to cure dark nipples, we've got a dainty "Secret Fragrance" for ladies' undergarments and other "important areas"
  
• We've got a deluxe new Paper Stitchlock in stock, which you can use to seamlessly stitch sheets of paper together -- never needs staples!
  
• Kitty fans, we've got some neat new items for you, including a pair of safety scissors for any small hands, as well as fun Hello Kitty maracas -- great for parties
  
• Also for Sanrio fans, we've got "decoration cup" featuring a super cute new character Cinamoroll, an, er, rabbit who likes cinnamon rolls, but he's very cute
  
• Take up Japanese brush writing with our deluxe calligraphy sets -- everything you need to start practicing beautiful written kanji calligraphy
  
• Love Hina fans, we've got full sets of the newest PVC mini-figure collection, featuring all the lovely bikini-clad Love Hina gals
  
• Finally, find a cool all-wood pencil case, tons of cool Hello Kitty restocked items, handy bento boxes, restocked Japanese study tools, and more!
  

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

• First, we have a great H magazine for you, the new issue of Ura Dela Beppin, filled with the naughty acts of real Tokyo girls
  
• Next up, enjoy one man's journey to be with over 1000 women, in the new issue of Sennin Giri (lit. "more than 1000 girls")
  
• Photobook fans, enjoy the super new offering of Yui Haruka, with the rather odd title of "H Stick"
  
• We've got a great photobook featuring the most beautiful Russian women we've seen in a long time, a special treat from Japan
  
• Also, a very hard photobook in Japan's "gouka-bon" style
  
• Then for fans of extremely beautiful Japanese models in cosplay, we've got a super new photobook featuring the lithe Jun Natsukawa dressed as an OL, elevator girl, nurse and more
  
• For our H manga customers, we have some great new comics for you from Japan, including a dynamite love story from Tenma Comics, parody lovers, and a great new release from Amanojack
  
• Also, many restocked manga for you, including many restocked hermaphrodite manga -- almost a dozen items back in stock for you to check out
  
• For DVD fans, we've got some great new items for you, starting with the great "international sex tour" of Nanami Nanase, performing for you in beautiful Las Vegas (region free)
  
• Then enjoy 4 hours of special performances with top JAV idols in super cute uniforms for you (region free)
  
• From Soft on Demand, we have a great two-part "24 hours special" tag battle with Izumi Hasegawa and Ai Kurosawa, who must perform at any time in any situation during a 24 hours period (region free)
  
• From Waap Entertainment, we've got a great new Dream Shower release for fans of fabulous wet JAV stars -- Mika Shiina performs for you in this new work (region 2)
  
• Then we've got the lovely Cocolo who appears in a great new "soap girl" work by Moodyz (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for various restocked DVDs, including several No Cut!! and other popular low-priced DVD titles!
  

Remember that J-List currently stocks all the oh-so-cool Furuta Star Trek models, extremely detailed replicas of the greatest ships of the Star Trek universe, from the TOS original to Next Gen and beyond. We currently have various sets of these toys in stock for you, however our current stock is going fast, and we're pretty sure we'll sell out of this dynamite series in a short time, with no more available to us ever. If you'd like to own this amazing series of Japanese miniature models, we recommend you pick up a set very soon.

Greetings from J-List April 12, 2004

Hello again from all of us at J-List!

It's been said that the construction industry is to Japan what defense is to the U.S. While the U.S. works closely with its defense contractors to ensure the development of military technology, Japan's government has a very close relationship with a variety of contractors who receive billions in contracts each year to build roads, bridges and other projects. Japan spends a massive amount on public works each year, trying to recapture its former economic health: incredibly, Japan spends enough to build the Panama Canal every year. As you can probably imagine, there's plenty of corruption and pork barrel inefficiency, resulting in some very wasteful projects that are an embarrassment to the government. The Tokyo Bay Aqua-line, a massive bridge-and-tunnel that cuts across Tokyo Bay to Chiba Prefecture, cost $7.7 billion to build; the toll to use it is over $40, so most drivers continue to use the old freeways. In Northern Japan, the Shinkansen line was recently extended to Aomori Prefecture, the northernmost point of the main island, despite the fact that this is one of Japan's most sparsely populated regions. Sometimes Japanese public works projects actually benefit us though: about 10 km from our house, there's a large trash incineration facility, with a complex of public swimming pools next to it called Caribbean Beach, featuring a wave pool, water slides and a pool with a fast-moving current, all heated with energy from the incinerator and very cheap to use. A project like this wouldn't be possible without Japan's otherwise questionable New Deal.

One thing about Japan: it's a very seasonal place, with very distinct seasons. Spring is beautiful with its short-lived cherry blossoms, summer is hot and humid with many fun festivals, fall is filled with crisp brown leaves, and winter is cold and frosty. I've met many Japanese who tell me with great pride that, unlike America, Japan has four distinct seasons, and they enjoy every one of them -- apparently these people haven't ventured outside of Southern California. Japan doesn't really have four seasons, actually: it's more like nine, since there are various mini-seasons interspersed with the larger ones, such as Japan's dreary rainy season (mid-May to mid-June), typhoon season (which comes at the end of summer) and super-windy kara-kaze season in December.

When you're learning about Japan through anime or manga, it's always fun to learn some of the small, unimportant details along the way. One is "Ai-Ai Gasa" (lit. Love Love Umbrella), a cute doodle that is drawn by elementary school students, the Japanese equivalent of a boy and a girl carving their initials in a tree surrounded by a heart. In anime, this famous doodle is usually used to imply a romantic relationship between a weak-willed main character and overpowering female, with very amusing results. Supposedly, the idea of a boy and girl walking in the rain under the same umbrella is quite romantic to the Japanese. To see what Love Love Umbrella looks like, click this link (the names under the umbrella are Taro and Hanako, the Japanese equivalents to the names John and Mary): http://www.asahi-jc.com/images/kasa.gif

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

• First, for fans of Panda Z, the ultra cute panda-shaped robot piloted by young Pantaron, we've got more cute character goods in stock, including paper protectors, rulers and other great items for school
  
• Want to study Japanese? We've restocked the popular hiragana and katakana study cards, along with other fun cards for studying Japanese vocabulary words
  
• For fans of our unique Japanese snacks, we've got delicious "throat candy" that contains Japanese "yuzu," a uniquely flavored tart citrus fruit, as well as excellent Nata de Coco candies
  
• Also, delicious ramune candies in cute plastic "cans" -- classic, cola and vitamin drink flavors
  
• Xylitol is a popular sugar-free flavoring from Norway that improves the health of your teeth -- we've got delicious new Recaldent gum in stock for you to try!
  
• We love wacky messages in Japanese -- see various reflective stickers with funny messages for you
  
• Gundam fans, we've got a super new "Mobile Fortune" toy set featuring little Gundams that help you read your fortune -- they will tell if you what your future is going to be, and they're so darned cute
  
• Just in time for summer, we've got a great Hello Kitty shave ice machine which allows you to enjoy cold and delicious shave ice during the summer months -- yummy, and fun to make!
  
• Enjoy romantic JPOP songs on CD along with special hot springs powder for your bath -- a unique item from Japan
  
• We love cute things from Japan -- check out newly added Doraemon and Usacolle items
  
• Have need of a bag to hold things? We've got a handy canvas bag that is extremely compact yet expands to hold just about anything
  
• Gothic & Lolita Bible fans, we've restocked the popular Homemade Gothic & Lolita pattern book, which makes it easy to create your own gorgeous gothic outfits
  
• We've restocked the delicious tonkatsu sauce, just called "sauce" in Japanese
  
• Shirow fans, we've restocked the very popular Ghost in the Shell bilingual manga, which features color pages and a totally new translation from the Japanese original
  
• Looking for a really special oversized bento box? We've got a great Coca-Cola branded bento box that features many compartments, built-in chopsticks and a protective bag, so cool!
  
• We've restocked several popular Studio Ghibli DVDs, which feature full English subtitles and many extras: newly restocked are Nausica of the Valley of the Wind, The Cat Returns and Spirited Away
  
• Finally, we've got a cool ring to help you diet, more Hello Kitty chopsticks, more Japanese sugar and kitchen items, and other great things from Japan!
  

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

• For fans of Japanese photo magazines, we've got the dynamite new issues of Video Boy and Best Video, featuring dozens of top-name JAV stars
  
• Then explore the world of glossy Japanese photobooks with a new offering from the delicious Remi Kawashima
  
• Next up, Yoko Matsugane redefines the concept of beauty in her latest photobook (she looks so good in an oversized men's shirt)
  
• Then enjoy the delightful Akiko Momou in a superb sexy photobook from Japan
  
• Also for glossy photobook fans, we have the excellent and exotic photos of Rema Aoyaki, a startlingly beautiful Japanese idol
  
• For H manga fans, we've got some great works for you, including the bold and sexy Panicle Chronicle by Kabao Kikkawa, classic naughty manga by Action Comics, and an exploration of the world of human desires by Apple Comics
  
• Also, look for great restocked manga such as the Colors Anthology, Contents C, Refrection (sic), and the extremely popular Futanariko Love
  
• Also, fresh stock of the dynamite Hanafuda all-color oversized graphic novel for kemono fans
  
• For our DVD fans, we've got some great new items for you for the Monday update, including Ayu-Cos, great parody cosplay parodying Ayumi Hamasaki, the top name in JPOP in Japan (region free)
  
• Then explore the fiery world of flexible erotic ballerinas in a new release from Big Morkal (region free)
  
• SOD's Deep Kiss girl-girl kissing DVDs are part of JAV history -- now enjoy the Deep Kiss Best Ranking, the very best scenes from this timeless series (region free)
  
• Then we've got a "tickling torture" DVD release from SOD's Martian Devil label (region free)
  
• Next up is a great release from Waap, featuring the dreamy and beautiful Mai Sakashita (region 2)
  
• Then from Moodyz, we've got a first: naughty sumo wrestling, featuring a bizarre twist on Japan's famous sport that only Moodyz could think of (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for many restocked DVD titles, including the excellent Stairway to Heaven & Highway to Hell, Zenra Ballet, and several fabulous all-girl titles.
  

Remember that J-List carries a full line of Japanese snack foods, with many rare cult favorites in stock for you, like Pocky, Black Black caffeine gum, and also the delicious and popular Felix the Cat bubble gum, which is famous all the world over (we're not sure why this is, but we don't mind). Don't forget that all chocolate products will be removed from stock during the summer months, since chocolate melts in the heat and humidity.

Greetings from J-List April 7, 2004

Hello from all of us in Japan! We're back safely from our trip to the U.S. We had a great vacation, and really soaked up the sun that San Diego is famous for. It was our ten year wedding anniversary, so my wife and I took a short cruise to Mexico, and really had fun. Now we've returned to Japan, laden with Pop Tarts, Starbuck's coffee, peanut butter and other icons of American life. It's good to be back.

The social phenomenon known as "kogals" -- Japanese valley girls who wear outrageous fashions, with blonde-dyed hair, silly elevator shoes and over-tanned bodies -- was one of the keywords of the late 1990's in Japan. Kogals themselves owe their origins to the fashion-conscious teen movement of the mid 90s called "Amulers," when every high school girl wanted to dress up like JPOP singer Namie Amuro. Now that the former generation of kogals has grown up, every once in a while you come across an interesting phenomenon: "gal mamas," ultra-stylish twentysomethings who got pregnant in their kogal days and are still dressing up in outrageous furs and false eyelashes, even though they're pushing baby carriages now. Seeing two "gals" exchanging child-rearing tips while they put on their thick make-up can be quite a sight, and is a uniquely Japanese experience.

Spring has come to Japan, and all throughout the country, beautiful cherry blossoms are in bloom. Every year we bring out our line of popular Japanese footwear, tatami sandals (called "zori" or "setta" in Japanese) and geta shoes that allow you to wear a little piece of Japan on your feet. We've added many new styles of Japanese sandals, from large sizes for men to stylish hand-sewn tatami shoes for ladies. Enjoy all the great new Japanese shoes we've got for you!

The Japanese believe strongly in talismans to bring good luck, and most Japanese carry a traditional good luck charm, called "omamori" (lit. "protector"), to bring them various forms of good fortune and protect them from harm. We've come up with a cool new item, a wearable good luck charm T-shirt that you can use to bring you good luck, too. Full-size men's shirts and fitted shirts for girls are in stock. Printed with your choice of seven wacky designs:

Ren'ai joju. Increased luck in love and romance.
Jinsei daikichi. General happiness and good luck for your family.
Kin'un appu. An increase in wealth and money fortune.
Zettai goukaku. Success in studying and passing difficult tests.
Housai ganbo. A prayer that you'll find a Japanese wife someday.
Sennyo banrai. A desire to have success finding many women to love.
Shougai otaku. Praying that you'll be an "otaku" forever.

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

• Shirow Masamune fans, we have a super collector's box for Appleseed, including an official movie book and cool figure inside
  
• Also, enjoy the new photobook of the lovely Chikako Sakuragi, a charming and lovely new sexy idol from Japan
  
• For fans of our delicious Japanese snacks, we've got some fun items, including sweet gummi frogs in the Frog Style line, and chocolate cookies featuring toy mascots of the Nova Bunny, the cute pink rabbit who promotes English conversation in Japan
  
• Also, enjoy tasty Purin Gummi, gummi treats that taste like Japanese caramel flan pudding, and traditional star-shaped hard candy
  
• Restocked snack items include delicious Ramune candy, the famous Felix the Cat strawberry gum (a cult hit around the world), Hello Kitty cookies, and more
  
• Curl is a famous puffed corn snack that's been sold in Japan for decades -- we've got some wacky Curl parody goods, including a plush Curl keychain and an all-purpose key case featuring Uncle Curl
  
• Just in time for the new school year (in Japan anyway), we've got a line of really cool "kneading erasers," gum erasers that you can mold and play with like chewing gum, in many flavors
  
• We love the miniature food replica items from Japan, and have restocked several for you, including Cafe Meals and the best-selling traditional Japanese dishes
  
• For Sanrio fans, we've got a really cool item: an ice cube tray that makes great 3D Hello Kitty ice cubes, great for impressing friends
  
• Also, a really fun Hello Kitty talking portable phone that lets your little one (or you) talk to Kitty herself, and a pack of Kitty playing cards
  
• Fans of the super-cute Hidamari no Tami, we've got a cute new head-rocking pal for you that never needs batteries
  
• Enjoy a new line of detailed anime figurines in the Leaf Collection vol 5, featuring the super cute character of the Leaf universe
  
• Love the super-cute penguin character Pingu? We have a very cute PVC mascot of this world-famous character for you
  
• Panda-Z is a popular cute character line that parodies Go Nagai's famous Mazinger Z mecha show, but with a cute twist -- we've added some great Panda-Z character items for you, including pens, mechanical pencils, and cute pencil cases
  
• Enjoy your time in the bath or shower with a super Japanese goldfish bath sponge, which features a soft side and a rough side to clean your body
  
• Finally, got a happy event you'd like to celebrate? We have birth and "I passed the test" announcements for you, very stylish and very Japanese.

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

• For fans of beautiful Japanese women, we have the new issue of Bejean, the oversized magazine that features dozens of famous JAV girls as well as a super-giant poster of Nao Oikawa
  
• Also, a super new photo-magazine featuring Sayaka Isoyama's dynamite sexy
  
• Then we've got the new issue of Hip & Lip, the wonderful magazine that combines H manga with beautiful first-rate erotic photography
  
• Photobook fans, enjoy a dynamite look at Ruka Ogawa's debut offering, featuring her wonderful G cup fantasy poses and top-quality glossy printing
  
• Also, a super gouka-bon format photobook for fans of the genre the Japanese refer to as "New Half"
  
• For our H manga customers, we've got some really excellent new items for you today, including a dynamite comic exploring hermaphroditism, the super new Heroine Insult by Matsuri Aki, and more
  
• We've also posted a big restocking of popular H comics including a dozen back-in-stock items
  
• Also for yaoi collectors, we've got a new issue of Kinniku Otoko (Muscle Men) as well as various restocked manga volumes for you
  
• For our DVD customers, we have a great lineup of titles for you, starting with the very best of Nao Oikawa on the Million label, a dynamite 4 hours of her best work for a great price (region free)
  
• Then see the "Heart Rending Love" of Kasumi Misato's first performance as a JAV starlet, a great new face for you to enjoy (region free)
  
• Japan is famous for "print club" (puri-kura) machines which take your picture and print out stickers of the pictures -- now Soft on Demand boldly creates a new genre for you, "ero-puri" featuring hot kogals off the street (region free)
  
• Momo Takai is a beautiful JAV actress with a girl-next-door face -- see her sayonara production in a new DVD by SOD (region free)
  
• Garo Aida is the premier nude photographer in Japan today -- see his dynamite work on DVD, featuring the lovely Misaki (region free)
  
• Finally, a big restocking of popular DVD titles by Ran Asakawa, Kurumi Morishita, Akira Watase, and "a group of lewd wives who have occupied your house."

Remember that J-List offers revolving subscriptions to some of Japan's most popular magazines, including anime magazines (Animage, Newtype), toy magazines (Hobby Japan), manga magazines (Young Magazine Uppers), and more. Some of these are very cutting edge and cool to read, such as Japanese street fashion magazines Fruits and Egg, and don't forget to check out Megami Magazine, loaded with posters and stickers and other cool things. These magazines will be sent to you as soon as they're available each month, before they're even sent to the newsstands here in Japan, and you can cancel your subscription any time. See the magazine subscription pages for more information.

Greetings from J-List April 2, 2004

Hello again from all of us at J-List!

Despite the fact that Japanese are the longest-lived race (or the 2nd longest lived, depending on the study you read), the Japanese are really big on smoking. 60% of men smoke, and quite a few women, too, which is a little strange to my liberal California way of thinking. Unlike the U.S., where smokers are urged to quit smoking to preserve their health, Japan doesn't have a problem allowing smoking and generating tax revenue from it. For many years the Japanese government operated Japan's largest tobacco company, Japan Tobacco (they also make a line of canned beverages), and although the company has been privatized, it still retains a semi-official status with the government. Because of the great revenues generated from smoking in Japan, there's not much pressure for it to go away at present. Even the "warning label" on cigarettes in Japan is a joke. It reads: "Because there is concern that it will damage your health, please be careful not to smoke too much." People here don't seem very sensitive about it: it's still not uncommon for restaurants to not even have a non-smoking section, yet my wife and I seem to be the only ones who think this is odd. Sadly, as tobacco companies have run into more barriers selling their products in the U.S., they've increased their advertising and overall presence in Japan. All U.S. brands are very well known in Japan, from Camels to Marlboro to Kool. As in the U.S., they don't allow cigarette advertising on TV in Japan, however when you go to some movie theatres you should be prepared to see a huge in-your-face ad for some tobacco product or another before the show starts. It's not something we're used to seeing in the U.S.

It's time for more wacky trivia from the Fountain of Trivia, our favorite Japanese TV show. The colorful wrappers on Chupa-Chups were designed by Salvador Dali. The Playboy bunny logo was chosen because rabbits are famous for their sexual appetites (makes sense, really). Pulling a nose hair will cause tears to form in the eye on the same side of your face as the hair you pulled. Tokyo Tower was constructed using the iron smelted from 90 U.S. tanks left over from the Korean War which the Japanese government bought from the U.S.. If you give coffee to a spider, it will weave a crooked web, as if drunk.

There's a wacky thing that Japanese do to money: fold a 1000 yen bill so that Souseki Natsume (the 19th century novelist who adorns the Japanese 1000 yen note) makes sad or happy faces, depending on which way you look at the bill. I'll teach you how it's done so you can amaze your friends with this great Japanese trick. First, take a bill and make an outward fold where each of his eyes are. Make an inward fold through the middle of his face, so that his eyes are higher than his nose (like little mountains). If you look at the bill from above, the face will look sad; from below, and he'll look happy. Virtually all Japanese known this silly trick, and would be surprised if any non-Japanese knew it. Here's an example of what it'll look like when you're done: http://www.jlist.com/1000.html . If you don't have any Japanese money lying around, it should work pretty much the same with other bills, too. These bills might be disappearing soon though: in April, a new bill featuring Hideo Noguchi, a famous Japanese biologist, will be issued.

We've got another great selection of all-new Japanese products for you, courtesy of the hardworking J-List staff. Enjoy various new manga, DVDs, anime and character items, cool Sanrio items sold only in Japan, and many more cool items!

J-List customers tell us that the #1 way they hear about J-List is through word-of-mouth. We're very glad to hear this, and we're always happy to accept referrals! If you've got a friend who might be interested in our unique brand of Japanese pop culture, why not tell them about J-List, or ask them to sign up to our J-List updates? Thanks!

Greetings from J-List March 31, 2004

Hello again from J-List. It's time for another slice of life from your friends in Japan.

The Japanese name registry (koseki) is an interesting creation. Basically, every city, town or village keeps in its official records a listing of all the families that live in its borders, as an official registry of the population. When a woman gets married, she moves her name from her family's registry to her husband's, taking her husband's last name and effectively becoming a part of that family permanently. The reverse works too: often, when a man moves in with his wife's family, he takes her last name (my father-in-law did this). The registry system was first enacted in 645 AD, although the modern system dates from 1871.

There are some inflexible aspects to the registry system. For one thing, Japanese couples are still forbidden by Japanese law to take separate last names -- they much both legally take either the husband or the wife's last name. No doubt there is some sexism involved, but the bigger reason is probably because they don't want this neat system that tracks every single Japanese citizen to get messed up. The other issue is foreigners: because we're not Japanese citizens, our existence isn't listed on the family's official registry, except occasionally in a comments field. This leads to some embarrassing problems: once a child welfare employee was dispatched to our house to check up on what they thought was a poor single mother and her two children.

The concept of the family registry is closely tied to the family's grave -- there's one large gravestone for each family, and to be part of a certain family means that you are interred inside there when you die. Our own family grave is located near our home, in one of many graveyards that dot rural Japan. Near the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, there are special memorial days called Ohigan (the o- is the honorific prefix that is used with many Buddhist terms), when the spirits of the departed come home for a visit. During this time, it's customary to go visit the family grave, wash it with clean water, burn incense, and arrange special flowers for the dead, which you can buy these at 7-11. Ohigan are solemn Buddhist events in the Japanese calendar, but the most important Buddhist holiday are Obon, usually July 13-16, another time when the dead come home to spend some time for the living. During this time, many people return to their parents homes to visit (like Thanksgiving in the U.S.).

For the new update, the capable J-List staff has put together another top-notch selection of DVDs, toys, snacks, household items and other wacky items from Japan. Please browse the new items on the J-List and JBOX.com sites. We hope we can serve you in some way!

Remember that J-List carries excellent magazine by our "reserve subscription." This means that you can get great anime, JPOP, fashion and other magazines sent to you as soon as the new issue is out in Japan -- a few days earlier than newsstands receive them here, in fact. Two of the most popular items we make available are FRUiTS, the fabulous magazine of Tokyo street culture, and Megami Magazine, a gorgeous anime magazine that seems bent on giving away so many anime posters and other cool freebees that they lose money on every issue. Payment through any method is fine (credit card, check or money order, etc) and you can stop your subscription at any time.

Greetings from J-List March 29, 2004

Hello again from all of us at J-List.

Well, I'm off on another adventure in the U.S. The Japanese school year ends in March in Japan, and we're taking advantage of the break to have a little vacation in America. We'll be leaving the kids with their grandmother and taking some time for ourselves: it's our 10 year wedding anniversary, so we're going on a cruise to Mexico. While we're gone, the competent J-List staff will make sure everything goes smoothly in our absence. We hope we can serve you!

There's no doubt about it -- the Japanese really love their tea. While in a 7-11 recently, I counted no less than two dozen brands of bottled or canned tea for sale, mostly variations on Japanese green tea and Chinese oolong tea. In addition to the normal Western canned tea like Kirin's Afternoon Tea, which are the only teas with sugar added, many brands competed for shelf space, including Kirin's Nama-cha (lit. "fresh tea"), Sapporo's Kyo-ryoku-cha (Kyoto-style green tea), Asahi's Marocha ("mild tea"), the popular Soukenbi-cha blended tea by Coca-cola, and various blends of jasmine tea. The latest fashion in bottled tea are healthy teas like Healthia, which contains beneficial bacteria and flavonoids that reduce blood sugar. As the market for bottled tea products heats up, manufacturers come up with ways to get you to buy their products, offering larger or smaller packages, keychains that you get free with the bottle of tea, or TV commercials with top stars like actress Nanako Matsushima. Unlike the U.S., where adding sweetener to products is a requirement in most cases, all Asian teas are completely unsweetened, and the unaltered, slightly bitter taste is really delicious. As summer draws near, we'll offer an old favorite at J-List: cold-water tea bags to make delicious Japanese mugi-cha, barley tea, a popular drink in the hot months.

One of the entries on the "You've been in Japan too long when..." list on my personal homepage is, "You've been in Japan too long when you have a favorite bush to pee behind." For some strange reason, Japanese men have a great tendency to urinate out of doors. When taking a drive somewhere, it's not at all uncommon to see an older Japanese man peeing by the side of the road, and while walking to J-List from my house, all of 300 feet away, I often run into one of our neighbors going into a ditch. The word for peeing outside is "tachi-shon" (standing-peeing). Tokyo people say that city-dwellers don't relieve themselves in this way, only people living in the "inaka" (the boondocks) do, but I've seen it done in Tokyo and Yokohama, so I have my doubts. The problem is so bad that you can actually see signs posted here and there proclaiming "It is forbidden to urinate here" (shouben kinshi). It was so wacky that we made a J-List T-shirt of this bizarre sign for you to wear.

For the new update, we've got a great new volley of new products for you, with everything from new snacks to photobooks to magazines to anime items and toys. Please check out all the great new items!

Remember that J-List sells delicious chewing gum from Japan, with many uniquely Japanese varieties available -- Black Black spicy caffeine gum (a cult favorite all around the world, written up in Wired), Lotte's Ume (plum) flavored gum, Sweetie (grapefruit), and the delicious thirst-quenching Dakara (very similar in taste to Pocari Sweat). Remember, if you buy 10 or more packs of Japanese gum, you get a 15% discount, too.

Greetings from J-List March 26, 2004

Hello and TGIF from your friends in Japan!

Japanese study English, but there's always a subtle conflict that no one acknowledges: do they study American English or British English? The Japanese have always had great respect for England, and have patterned much of their government after the U.K. Still, the Japanese tend to study American spelling ("color" not "colour") and pronunciation, as a general rule, because of the long influence of the postwar occupation and Hollywood movies. The problem is, it's not a fixed rule -- British English is sometimes used in schools, just enough to confuse the poor kids. When my wife was in Junior High school, she took part in a pronunciation contest. She practiced and practiced the text she was supposed to read, but unfortunately, the teacher who helped her with the material had learned British English, and the two accents confused her terribly.

Proper names are also notoriously difficult to read in Japanese. My wife's family's last name, Yanai, is read as "Yanagi" or "Yauchi" in almost every other part of Japan besides our city, and sometimes people in out city can't read our last name, despite the fact that the mayor has the same last name as us (we're distantly related, I think). Place names can be difficult for Japanese to read, unless they happened to grow up in that area. All the place names in Northern Japan, which was inhabited by the indigenous Ainu people for thousands of years, have odd names can't be written with standard characters -- and as a result, most Japanese often can't read the names.

Studying the names of Japanese companies can be interesting. For example, I'll bet you never knew that Kyocera is short for "Kyoto Ceramics." The number one car company in Japan is Toyota, which is located in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture (near Nagoya) -- but the company came first, and the city changed its name to Toyota City in 1959 "to reflect its bright prospects to develop and prosper as an automobile city." The number two Japanese car company is Honda, founded by Soichiro Honda to make motorcycles after the end of World War II. Mazda, which is more than half owned by Ford now, is really called Matsuda in Japan, but they came up with the name Mazda so they could sound less Japanese in foreign markets. Datsun's name has an interesting story -- DAT were the first letters of the names of three founders, and they considered the company they were founding to be their son, thus DATSON. However, "son" (with a long vowel, so that it rhymes with bone), means "loss" or "disadvantage" in Japanese, so they changed it to "sun," a much more cheerful word. Datsun was later bought out by one of its distributors, Nissan (which means "Made in Japan" -- if you said "America-san" it would be "made in America"). Subaru, based near J-List, is the Japanese name for the star cluster we called the Pleiades. Some popular beer companies are Asahi ("morning sun"), Kirin (named after a magical Chinese dragon), and Suntory (the president's name as Tori-san, so he reversed it to come up with the name of his company). Other interesting names are Daihatsu ("Osaka Engineering Tools"), Pocky manufacturer Glico (which gets its name from the word "glycogen"), and Bridgestone (named after its founder, Mr. Ishibashi, which means "stone bridge").

For the new update, we've got a great new volley of new products for you, with everything from new snacks to photobooks to magazines to anime items and toys. Please check out all the great new items!

Remember that J-List offers a huge selection of cool toys from Japan, which are usually sold in the Japanese marketplace and not available outside of Japan. From Japan-market Hot Wheels to Kubrick toys and high-quality soft vinyl anime figures, we've got some really cool stuff for your collection.

Greetings from J-List March 19, 2004

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Greetings from J-List March 15, 2004

Hello from Japan, where a corn dog is known as an "American Dog."

Starbucks continues their expansion in Japan, bringing their upbeat coffee and other beverages to all corners of the country. Most popular areas of Tokyo have several Starbucks, and it's still quite common to find branches with no empty seats -- so Japanese, who are used to crowds, drink their coffee while standing up. It's interesting to compare the menus in Japan and the U.S. The Japanese have no love of eggnog, and so I never get to enjoy eggnog lattes around Christmas time. However, Starbucks Japan offers local variations for their Japanese customers, such as this month's special, White Chocolate Mocha, offered because March 14 is White Day, the day when men who received chocolate from women on Valentine's Day are supposed to give something back. Matcha Frappachinos are also very good, and especially refreshing in the summer.

There are many interesting service-related customs in Japan that I think would work well in other countries, too. In most Japanese restaurants, waitresses give you a steaming hot towel to clean your hands (or if you're a little ill-mannered, your face). Similar to the hot towels they hand out in airplanes, the steamed towels are just the ticket to make customers feel pampered and positive about the meal they're about to enjoy. Another interesting custom are radio-controlled call buttons on tables, which you press to let your server know you'd like to order. Like the men's urinals that automatically flush when a patron walks away, which originated in Japan, these handy amenities might be appreciated by customers in other countries, too. Another Japanese innovation I've watched for a long time: Japanese taxi companies called "dai-sha" ("replacement car"). If you've had too much to drink at a bar, call one of these special taxis, which have two people inside: one to drive you home in the taxi, and a second to drive your car home, so you don't have to leave it at the bar.

The Star Trek replica models from Furuta are off to a great start, which makes us happy, since these highly detailed toys are really the coolest thing we've seen in a long time (I've got my set on display). Meticulously crafted replicas of all the famous Star Trek ships, the detail is so fine you can read tiny words on the ships in the most unlikely places. They're sturdy, assemble easily, and come with stands for displaying.

Greetings from J-List March 10, 2004

Hello again from all of us in Japan!

When you become bilingual in a language, you learn a lot about how your own brain works, such what actually goes on inside your head when you learn a new vocabulary words. Every act of learning involves a physical change in your brain, the creation of a new synapse from one cell to another, and sometimes it seems you can feel this at work in your head. It makes you think about the nature of language in general and wonder about your own native language in the process. The "mystery of translation" is also fascinating: the act of translating from one language to another takes place deep inside your brain, on a level below your conscious thoughts, like a process in a computer that's running in the background. You place some English in the "buffer," and then something happens in your brain, and in a few seconds Japanese is waiting for you to retrieve it from your internal cache. You can almost hear the "ding" in your mind as the translation "cooks" and is done, without any conscious awareness.

When it comes to translation, though, there's one direction to go: from your second language to your native language. If I'm translating from Japanese to English, I'll be able to do it just fine, since my mother tongue is English; but woe is me if I try to translate in the other direction. I know this because I tried it once. My father, who was a nautical engineer making advanced hydrofoils, had to get a patent of his translated into Japanese, so he asked his Japanophile son to do the translation for him. Wanting to impress my Dad, I agreed, and two months of intense labor later, I had produced what had to be the most tear-jerkingly hilarious patent translation ever seen in Japan. I learned my lesson and now politely refuse any requests for translations into Japanese. I believe that 90% of the "wasei eigo" (literally "made in Japan English"), the silly Engrish words the Japanese are so good at coming up with, are inadvertently created by Japanese who've been asked to translate in the wrong direction.

Soy sauce is a popular flavoring in Japan, and is used more often than salt and pepper to improve the flavor of food here -- I realized the other day that my wife doesn't even keep salt and pepper in our kitchen since she never uses them. Another popular sauce used by the Japanese goes by the descriptive name of "sauce" (sou-su, although it's officially known as tonkatsu sauce). It's a delicious thick sauce that compliments many kinds of foods, especially fried food like potato croquettes. Both soy sauce and tonkatsu sauce are sometimes poured over eggs in Japan, and a debate has raged for years at J-List as to which tastes better. Personally, I think nothing improves fried eggs than a dabble of Kikkoman soy sauce, but apparently I am in the minority, as most of the other J-List staff favor the thicker tonkatsu sauce on their eggs. In case you're interested in making the same comparison, we've gotten Bulldog's delicious tonkatsu sauce in stock on the site for you.

We had a slight problem with the "R" side of the site after the last update. The three-day link on the main page pointed to the "PG" products, which may have caused some confusion for some customers. Sorry for the problem (it's been fixed).

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

• First, we love unique and cute things from Japan, and we've added many of the super-cute Hidamari no Tami and Hanauta no Tami cute relaxing toys, figures who move their heads back and forth while they relax you
  
• Then enjoy a wonderful photobook for Miho Yoshioka fans, the excellent Novel, filled with breathtakingly beautiful pictures of Japan's top Race Queen
  
• Norika Fujiwara is another fabulous Japanese actress and idol -- see her hardcover photobook shot in Kenya!
  
• We've restocked other art books and photobooks, including Yuko Ogura's so-cute pinup poster book, the Race Queen Hundred Costume Catalog, Morning Musume's Rika Ishikawa, and more
  
• Hungry for something cute? The "Nyanko restaurant" series by San-X continues, this time in the form of super cute hamburger and hotdog plush toys that contain little cats
  
• Ojamajo Doremi was the most recent Japanese "witch" anime for girls, and we loved the show -- for fans, we have full sets of gashapon capsule toys from the show
  
• For fans of our Japanese snacks, we have some great items, including a new variety of miniature pizza crackers, delicious "petite raspberry tarts," and tasty edamame snack treats
  
• Hello Kitty fans, J-List always carries great items for you sold only in Japan -- see a cool Hello Kitty band-aid set complete with carrying case
  
• We've also restocked the cute Kitty plush towel holder and towels (both colors), the Kitty Pachinko machine (one of my favorite items), and the popular Kitty "kigurumi" full face mask
  
• Also, look for fresh stock of some great parody items, including toilet paper that helps you learn Japanese, funny headbands for your head, and the best-selling tattoo shirt which makes you look like a yakuza with a full-body tattoo
  
• Sesame seeds are all the rage in Japan because they promote health in many ways -- we've got a handy sesame seed grating device for your kitchen
  
• Studying Japanese? We've got cute little soft puzzles with all the Japanese prefectures you can put together, very neat
  
• Also great for your kitchen, an affordable new bento box from Japan, just for you
  
• For fans of Lucky Cat, the famous waving cat who is actually inviting business and financial success into your life, we've got some cool Lucky Cat piggy banks in stock for you
  
• Totoro and Studio Ghibli fans, we've restocked many popular plush toys, including the Bou Nezumi and No Face keychains, the cool Ghibli Plush Keychain set, and various Totoro toys
  
• Finally, we've got a really cool way to give coffee and cream to your guest, portable Go that you can play anywhere, a funky leopard costume, and more!
  

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

• For fans of Japan's great 18+ magazines, we've got the new issue of Shuffle, featuring lovely girls in Japanese love hotels
  
• For photobook fans, we've got the dynamite new offering of Naho Ozawa, which will knock all your socks off
  
• Then enjoy a wonderful photobook for Miho Yoshioka fans, the excellent Novel, filled with breathtakingly beautiful pictures of Japan's top Race Queen
  
• Tokyo Alice is a fabulous photobook by Akio Nakamori capturing some of the most startling and bold cosplay images we've seen in a long time
  
• We've also restocked many popular photobooks, including Kyoko Ayana's lovely Blue Shot
  
• For fans of all things bishoujo, we've got the new issue of Push in stock, filled with the most up-to-date game information in Japan
  
• We've got some excellent new manga in stock for you too, including an excellent work about first experience by Mejiro Tsugumi, a super cosplay and catgirl manga, and the elegant artwork of "The Body Which Loves One"
  
• Also, a great restocking of popular manga comics for you, including the last-ever stock of the popular Spirit of Capitalism, and many other volumes
  
• J-List carries toys for adults that are very unique, because they're designed and sold in the Japanese market exclusively -- see two great items we've added for you, including a massager designed by a medical research company
  
• Also, we've restocked some of our most popular items, including the Rabbit Rotor, the large-size Hello Kitty deluxe massager, Ai in a Cup, Mr. Pink, and Japanese parody condoms
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some dynamite titles for you, starting with the delightful debut on the Million label of Mami Yasuhara, a fresh and new JAV idol (region free)
  
• Then experience a whopping 8 hours of wonderful performances by the beautiful Nao Oikawa, in a great new DVD release by Million (region free)
  
• Hitomi Hayasaka is one of the most vibrant and alive stars in Japan's professional video world -- see her in a great new "4p" release that shows you the "soap technique of Hitomi" (region free)
  
• Japan men just love female newscasters and TV announcers -- see the very best of SOD's newscaster moments in a new release for you -- very cool (region free)
  
• Then, Ran Monbu is a super heroine who defends justice and fights evil in a new release by SOD's IEnergy label -- a great parody on Power Rangers (region free)
  
• From Moodyz, enjoy the Double Fantasy of Kirari Koizumi and Rina Takase, a great 2-disc selection that explores the back doors of beautiful stars (region 2)
  
• Look for many restocked DVD titles, too, including the low-priced Masterpiece Concentration, the Cosplay Perfection Speciel Edition, Ami Ayukawa's excellent indies releases, and more all-girl DVD titles.
  

Look for many restocked DVD titles, too, including the low-priced Masterpiece Concentration

Remember that J-List's wacky Japanese T-shirts are a fun way to wrap yourself in an esoteric Japanese message and broadcast your love of Japan to others. Our shirts are all 100% cotton and of very high quality, with silkscreened printing that will last for many years. J-List goes the extra distance for you too, offering sizes from small all the way up to 3XL for most shirts. Order 3 or more shirts and get 10% off, too!

Greetings from J-List March 5, 2004

Hello and TGIF from all of us in Japan!

Part of the fun of living in Japan is watching Japanese TV, which never fails to entertain. One of the most popular TV shows on right now is Toribia no Izumi, or the Fountain of Trivia, which presents fun but useless trivia to a panel of famous Japanese comedians and entertainers, who then press buttons to indicate how interesting they think the trivia item is. Some of my favorites: In Angkor Wat, there's a pillar with graffiti written by a samurai who went there in the 1700's, thinking it was a Buddhist temple. After the 15th Tokugawa Shogun returned power to the emperor in the Meiji Restoration, he tried to find work as a photographer. In the Japan Lion's Club, the members affix the word "lion" to the end of their names. The original rules for organized basketball called for two teams of 50 players each. In the original Italian story that Cinderella was based on, Cinderella slams a chest on her stepmother, killing her. They also answer such useless questions as, how much faster would an Olympic sprinter be able to run if he were running on a moving sidewalk.

Another show we like to watch is TV Champion, which pits contestants against each other to show off their amazing talents, creating massive origami sculptures, remodeling hundred year old homes with limited budgets, baking exotic cakes, and so on. Some shows feature eating contests to see how many hot dogs, bananas or sushi contestants can eat in a limited time. Yesterday they featured artists who made amazing sculptures out of massive blocks of styrofoam. One contestant recreated an Egyptian tomb, complete with pillars and skeletons, all carved and painted with simple tools. Another interesting creation was the lunar surface, complete with styrofoam replicas of Neil Armstrong and the lunar lander.

Today is Friday, and that means I'll be taking the kids to our favorite public bath. Bathing in hot springs ("onsen") and public baths ("sento") is a popular pasttime in Japan, and despite the hard economic times of the past few years, Japan's public bathing sector has been going strong. Our favorite bath is called Yura no Sato, and offers over a dozen different baths to enjoy, from traditional Japanese "kama" baths which are basically giant metal pots to baths with rocks on the bottom which massage your feet.

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

• First, for fans of really cute things from Japan, we've got a new USB "hubcot" (hub mascot) featuring Sony's cute cat Doko Demo Issyo ("Always With You")
  
• J-List loves the miniature toys from Japan, called candy toys because you usually get some candy included with the toy -- we've got some nifty cases that are great for displaying your small toys proudly in your room
  
• Speaking of candy toys, we've got a super cool item in stock, a replica of famous bottles of sake, with delicious replicas of food you eat in Japanese bars
  
• Also very cool, we've got limited stock of full sets of the new Please Teacher Collection Figure -- get all six before they're gone
  
• We have some great new snack items for you, including delicious Lotte Cheesecake Toppo, a baked stick snack with "cheesecake choco" inside
  
• Also newly posted, find Nestle's Aero Choco, delicious whipped chocolate to eat, tasty garlic bread snacks, Every Burger (chocolate hamburger cookies), and for fans of Japanese bubble gum, new yogurt flavored Fruit of the Bubble
  
• We've made a great big restocking of our snack items to better serve you -- look for Coconut Pocky, delicious little cheesecake snacks, Shrimp & Salt flavored Pretz, and fresh stock of sugarless Black Black
  
• We've got some really cool household items from Japan, including soft rubber bumpers which protect your little ones from bumping on corners, a handy toothbrush hanger for your bathroom, and more
  
• Newly added items for your kitchen including a great hard-boiled egg cutter, which slices into pieces in one movement, and a new non-stick scoop for your rice cooker
  
• Enjoy more classical music of old Japan with new CDs we've posted -- including Japanese military songs from World War II
  
• The hibiscus flower is the symbol of young Japanese females, called kogals, and we've got a great reflective hibiscus sticker in stock for you
  
• Finally, look for more Tomica die-cast metal cars and other restocked toys on the site.
  

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

• For fans of the excellent 18+ magazines from Japan, we've got the new issue of Gokuh, filled with beautiful women (including Sola Aoi, one of our favorites) and a giant pull-out poster
  
• Then we've got the very cool issue of Ultimate Heroine, a beautiful look a leather lingerie from Sanwa
  
• For photobook aficionados, be sure to check out the new Temption Blue, featuring the drop-dead gorgeous Aki Hoshino (comes with a DVD!)
  
• Also, we've got a fabulous photobook capturing the up-close and personal photographs of Kyoko Ayana, one of Japan's top names in the JAV world today
  
• For fans of detailed ropework and other themes, we've got the new issue of DVD Aido Club, which features a full color magazine and a DVD full of great movies to sample
  
• For our manga customers, we've got more excellent works for you, including the lovely "I want to be gently held by you" by EC Comics, and a superb anthology of various cosplay themes
  
• We have some great new doujinshi for collectors of these popular parody books, all brand new releases in Japan
  
• Also, we've got a fabulous collection of doujin CG by the doujin circle Mimakasa Direct
  
• We love to bring you really cool toys for adults that can only be found in Japan -- we've got two new blow-up "love pillows" of real Japanese actresses, which come complete with vocal CDs by the girls -- wow
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great items for the weekend update -- first up, Million asks the question "What If Asuka Sawaguchi Were my Dearest Girl..." (region free)
  
• We have a veritable festival for Minori Aoi fans -- three of her best titles re-released at great prices. Buy them separately, or as part of a new Minori Aoi Complete Box set (region free)
  
• Then enjoy more of the pure loveliness of Nana Natsume in a new image video release by Soft on Demand (region free)
  
• Also from SOD, we've got a really interesting twist on yaoi -- a work which explores themes of homosexuality, yet both of the performers are women pretending to be men (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the Best oif Madoka Ozawa brought to you by Moodyz, 4 hours of her best performances on two DVDs (region 2)
  
• Finally, we've also got a major restocking of DVDs for you, including Stewardess and Leg Best 4 Hours, Marina Matsushima's excellent "DIX," Cosplay & Tekoki, Mika Kitagawa's elegant performances, Haruka Tsukino Final, and more great works by Sola Aoi and Ran Asakura.
  

Remember that J-List sells delicious stick snacks from Japan, including the delicious chocolate covered Pocky (Coconut is one of my favorite flavors), salty and delicious Pretz (I love the Tomato and Grilled Corn flavors), and the baked Toppo. Since the summer months in Japan are very hot and humid, we don't sell any products with chocolate past May or so. If you're looking to try our great selection of delicious stitch snacks, hurry!

Greetings from J-List March 3, 2004

Hello again from all of us in Japan!

It's official: as of 2003, there are more drivers on Japanese roads aged 65 or older than young drivers aged 18-24, with the oldest licensed driver in Japan a hale 104. The aging of Japan continues, brought on by one of the lowest birthrates of any industrialized country (1.33 babies born per female) and the lack of immigration. As the population gets older, companies are moving to create products and services for them. It seems every third TV commercial on daytime television is for companies selling products for older Japanese, including ways to remodel your house and make it "barrier free," a term the Japanese have coined meaning a living space that's free of stairs and other obstacles that make it hard to live. Diapers for adults are also advertised openly on TV. Insurance companies like Zurich and AFLAC have found a profitable business in Japan, selling supplemental insurance to elderly Japanese who worry about being hospitalized and not having enough insurance to cover the costs.

Written Japanese can be quite confusing. In general, kanji characters in Japanese have two readings, a Japanese reading and a Chinese one (there are many exceptions to this rule). Because there are two ways to pronounce most characters, there is often confusion about which pronunciation is "official" in a given situation. The character for mountain is read with the Japanese reading of "yama," but paired with the names of mountains, you usually use the Chinese reading of "san": hence, the name of Mt. Fuji in Japanese should be Fuji-san and not Fuji-yama. However, there are parts of Japan that do use Fuji-yama for the official name, for no reason that I can fathom other than regional dialect differences. Similarly, our favorite soba restaurant is a local place called Soba-gura (literally "soba warehouse"). But the character for warehouse can also be read "zo," and to this day I'm not really sure if the restaurant I've been going to for years is called Soba-gura of Soba-zo.

Japan is a great place, far ahead of the rest of the world in such important cultural areas as cellular phones, stylish refrigerators with doors that open either from the left or the right, toilet seats that wash your butt (and dry it), and wonderful massage chairs that bathe you in negative ions as you get massaged. But there are some areas where Japan lags behind the rest of the world. Japanese clothes dryers all lack vents leading to the outside of your house, creating unpleasant humidity while your clothes are being dried. Japan has many choices for good ethnic eating, but Mexican isn't something the Japanese ever developed a taste for -- no chips or salsa here. Bagels are also an alien thing to the Japanese, and are very hard to find. And Japanese peanut butter is, well, so over-sweetened that no American could be happy eating it. So I make sure to bring back a couple jars of Peter Pan every time I go back to the States.

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

• First, for fans of unique Japanese toys you can't find outside of Japan, we've got a series of Japanese Zero fighters, a great replica series by Doyusha
  
• Hello Kitty fans, we have a cool CD case that you will flip over, sold only in Japan
  
• We have unique snack items for you today, including Morinaga Bake (baked chocolate snacks), more Petite Snack tube treats, and candy featuring the famous (in Japan) Nova Bunny, from Nova's English conversation school commercials
  
• Also, we have more delicious Pocky snacks with traditional flavors from Kyoto -- the newest flavor is yomogi, a delicious taste from old Japan
  
• We've also restocked several candy and snack items, including Strawberry Kit Kat and the
  
• J-List lives to bring cool things from Japan to you all -- one such item is the Morino Ichigo figure from Please Teacher, a beautiful soft vinyl anime statue with base that looks great
  
• Morning Musume's Natsube Abe (AH-beh) is one of the most popular members of the popular group - see her fabulous new photobook which captures amazing Japanese imagery along with the beauty of this delightful idol
  
• Also look for various restocked photobooks, including popular swimsuit idols like Yuko Ogura, Moe Yoshizawa and Yoko Matsugane
  
• Also, for fans of our dynamite custom-made high school uniforms, hand-crafted to your size specifications by Matsukameya of Nagoya, we've gotten in stock of the leather Japanese school bag and the 70 cm authentic loose socks
  
• Inuyasha fans, we've got a great new trading card series by Cardass in stock for you
  
• Fans of Zeta Gundam (my personal favorite), we have soft vinyl keychains of the Qubeley and Psycho Gundam, with Hamaan Kahn and Four -- so cool!
  
• Then enjoy the delightful sexy photos of Kasumi Nakane, in a great new photobook for all fans of beautiful women
  
• We have more wacky signs from Japan, including authentic "emergency exit" signs and other wacky things for your room
  
• We have more wacky Japanese chopsticks in stylish colors for your home
  
• For fans of Japan's wacky parody erasers, we've got cute erasers in the shapes of boxes of tissues and toilet paper
  
• We've gotten our hands on more sets of the Spirit of Wonder full set + rare figure toys, for collectors who want to get this really nice
  
• The popular Tomica Prius die-cast car replica has been restocked, for anyone who wants to own a mini version of this popular car
  
• Finally, look for Japanese hot spring bath powder, fresh stock of our popular miniature Japanese food, restocked items for your kitchen, and more!
  

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

• For fans of 18+ magazines, we have the elegant new Urecco, a great issue that's filled with incredibly beautiful stars for you to check out
  
• Also, several new magazines featuring real Tokyo girls in authentic love hotels
  
• Photobook fans, we've got another great photobook with Sola Aoi, aka Sora Aoi, a fabulous new hardcover offering for the stylish photography what we've come to call "Japanese girls in Underoos"
  
• We've restocked several of the Encyclopedia of High School Girls Uniform photobooks, who those who love the aesthetic look of Japan's uniforms, or who want to recreate them for cosplay
  
• Also, look for other restocked photobook items, including books by Mayu Koizumi, Moe Yoshizawa and Sola Aoi
  
• For 18+ manga fans and collectors, we've got some great new books for you, including Mellow by MD Comics, a collection of manga works by popular female manga artists, and a new installment of the popular Please Older Sister series
  
• Yaoi fans, we have a new issue of the popular Muscle Men, along with freshly restocked yaoi comics for you
  
• We've got another volley of great doujinshi, including an ultra-thick uber-doujinshi/manga with 250+ pages of fantastic art
  
• DVD fans, we've got some great items for you, starting with a collection of outdoor naughtiness in the streets, subways and parks of Tokyo (region free)
  
• Then enjoy a superb new release by one of our favorite JAV stars, Kyoko Ayana, so bright and happy and soft like a cloud (region free)
  
• Izumi Hasegawa is a dynamite JAV star, performing for the first time in indies works -- see her excellent debut work by Soft on Demand (region free)
  
• Then from the creators of Deep Kiss, we have a great new release, Massaging Breasts for the First Time, in which beautiful women get a great massage on camera (region free)
  
• For fans of Bunko Kanazawa, one of the most popular JAV idols of the past decade, we have a new "For the Best Onanie of You" release, complete with a latex toy made from a cast of Bunko's body (region 2)
  
• Finally, we've got a large number of restocked DVD titles, including the smash-hit adult debut of Mai Hagiwara, Kyoko Ayana's delightful onanie assistance, more popular "CFNM" teasing fun, and fresh stock of the Best 4 Hours of the Dream Woman series.
  

Remember that J-List carries dozens of super cool "candy toy" (miniature toys that usually come with candy inside, called "shokugan" in Japanese) items from Japan, including miniature Japanese food items that are replicas of the wax food used to show customers what meals look like in restaurants before they buy. Although these are sold in random boxes, J-List goes the extra mile for you by creating full sets of these great toys for you to buy, without wasting your money on duplicates. All the popular food replicas by Rement are currently out of production, so our current stock of great items such as Family Restaurant and Japanese Desserts and the super cool miniature Japanese supermarket items (complete with shopping basket and receipt) will be all we'll be getting in!