Language and Loan Words

It's common for words to pass from one language to another, with meanings that get updated or redefined to fit the needs of the new language group. Many of the words we use in English originally came from French, for example, words like beef, pork and poultry came to indicate the meat of cows, pigs and chickens through the interaction between French-speaking landowners (who ate the meat) and their English-speaking hired help (who tended the animals). The Japanese borrow words from other languages too, and not just silly phrases like SUPER HAPPY GET CHANCE. While most foreign loan words are 20th Century imports, quite a few came into use in the Edo Period and before, including tempura (from the Portuguese word for spice), garasu (window glass), kohi (coffee), and kirishitan (Christian). In fact, these words have been in use for so long they have kanji assigned to them, which violates the (modern) rule that katakana be used to write foreign-based words. Since these kanji words have old-world charm associated with them that's not unlike archaic spellings of words in English , it's common to see these kanji words used to create a unique atmosphere in coffee shops, etc.

So what would the meat of a Tenga Egg-laying chicken be? Or maybe I don't want to know.

Things Twitter Has Taught Me

And now for a few random things I've learned since starting my Twitter feed, which allows me to interact with customers all over the world in interesting ways. In Portuguese, the name of Pope Benedict XVI is "Papa Bento," which sounds incredibly cute in Japanese, like a kindly old man who walks around distributing boxed lunches to people in the street. While the word moe (pronounced mo-EH) refers to an archetype of kawaii female anime character that can turn fans to jelly with a gaze, in Dutch it means "tired," which causes some confusion when I'm searching for tweets using the #moe tag. I've also learned that bots can be more interesting than humans sometimes, like the bot of Yukata from Lucky Star who asks, "What does yaoi mean?" of any Twitter user discussing the subject. It can lead to some interesting conversations when people who don't know it's a bot try to delicately explain yaoi and BL. Good times, good times.

No moe, no life.

Cool Products Monday, September 5, 2011

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

	Dengeki Girl's Style Sep 2011 Check out the magazine with all the latest news and scoops from the world of Otome games and Yaoi/BL games, anime and manga in this exclusives and extra-goodies-packed issue! Special bonus form Hakuouki. Recommend for all awesome otaku girls (you know who you are). View products »
	Tiger and Bunny Official Hero Book The anime that is booming in popularity in Japan has released an official artbook and hero guide, and we have it in stock now.
	Miku Hatsune Figma Action Figure Figma does it again with this splendid rendition of the popular Vocaloid Miku Hatsune, in this Append version by Max Factory. It will be popular!
	Hetalia One Word Stamp Set of 9 Fans of Hetalia will want to get their hands on this full set of all these cute gashapon. Full sets with no duplicates!
	The New Totoro 2012 Schedule Books We're happy to announce that the popular Totoro Schedule Books, which contains a full calendar, notebook, address book and much more, has been posted to the site today. The books are very high quality, with leather covers featuring all your favorite Totoro characters. View products »
	Laputa, Kiki's Delivery Service Too See the other Ghibli schedule books coming in soon, too. An alternate Totoro offering, Castle in the Sky Laputa, plus Kiki's Delivery Service.
	More Awesome 2012 Calendars for Preorder We've got some great calendars for 2012 ready for pre-ordering today, like this cute maneki neko desktop calendar, or Twelve Views of Mt. Fuji.
	Panda Style One Piece ~ FREE Size More cute fashions direct from Japan at J-List. This is a popular "panda style" top that's all the rage in Harajuku this year.
	Random Hello Kitty Items See some great random Hello Kitty products including yunomi green tea cups, Hello Kitty bento and awesome lunch tray.
	Re-ment Onsen Yado no Gohan Miniature Toys One of the features of Japanese hot spring inns is the opulent dinners they serve, and now you can recreate them with these great miniatures!
	Restocked DS Study Software Study Japanese with your Nintendo DS! We've restocked the Kanji Test DS 3, Learn Hiragana with Anpanman and Doraemon, Kanji DS Dictionary and more.
	New Japanese Snacks Wow! These are delicious. Until it gets a little cooler, we can't ship chocolate, but we can ship chocolate-like snacks like Toppo Tiramisu (since the chocolate part is inside the baked stick). Plus we've got the traditional taste of Japanese sweet potatoes from Morinaga, and Pretz Consomme in today. View products »
	Restocked Japanese Food Drops, Too Got more awesome Japanese traditional Food Drops candies, including Sasebo Burger Drops, Pudding from Kobe, Tokyo Ramen Candy and Gyoza -- yum!
	Restocked Japanese Snacks & Gum See tons of restocked snacks too, incl. "No Time" toothbrush gum, Lotte Fit's gum, Morinaga Pudding Cookies, Hi-Chew Assort and 100% Juice Gummy.
	Airou x Hello Kitty Tight Bento Box Check out this mash-up with two of the biggest cats in Japan at the moment, Hello Kitty and Airou (from Monster Hunter).
	Fun Anime Bento Restocked Other kawaii bento boxes are restocked too, including the Totoro 2-tier bento box with belt, plus the One Piece Chopper Man bento.
	Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked Also, some of our most elegant traditional bento boxes are restocked, including the Blue Rabbit x Moon bento (both colors).
	Kawaii Bento Accessories Restocked Enjoy these colorful dessert-themed picks you can use to decorate your bento in fun ways, and hold your food just where you want it.
	Kawaii Food Shapers Restocked, Too Sculpt your rice into fun and fanciful shapes for serving with these easy-to-use molds! So much fun in one package.
	Fun Microwave Products The things you can do with a microwave these days is just amazing. These kits will let you make authentic taiyaki at home.
	Kawaii Japanese Pen & Pencil Cases Japan is home to the cutest and most outstanding pen and pencil cases. We've restocked some awesome new ones for you today.
	Restocked Japanese Notebooks, Pens & More Popular notebooks to help you learn hiragana and kanji, the official Kanji Entry Pen for Writing that Japanese kids use, and more.
	Japanese Meme T-Shirts If it's popular in Japan, we'll probably make a T-shirt out of it. We love the classic Nyoro~n shirt (based off a Haruhi manga), plus Take it Easy!
	Traditional Japanese Ear Cleaners You haven't lived until you've had your ears cleaned by a Japanese bamboo mimikaki. See the restocked items today.
	Lucky Cat Message Display, More Those Lucky Cat figures with good luck messages written on their tummies are back. They make great decorations for your home.
	Nendoroid Figures *Preorder* This extremely kawaii Nendoroid figure of Erio Towa (aka E.T.) from Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko ready for preorder. Hurry, as she will sell out.
	Figma Action Figure *Preorder* The amazing craftsmen at Figma have really outdone themselves this time, with this excellent figure of Index from Toaru Majutsu no Index.
	Other Preorder Figures Fans of Milky Holmes are going to be amazed when they finally get their hands on this Arsene. Also enjoy a Final Fantasy XIII-2 figure.
	Oppai! ~ Oppai in TV Animation Sometimes we take for granted that all the great anime oppai that can be found on OAVs and DVDs. This artbook captures the best ones for you.
	R-1 Triple Bach Caps Amazing new accessories for teh legendary R-1 Starter Set by Rends, one of the most advanced stress toys ever created.
	Also: Fera Zoma and other Amazing Stress Toys That mouth-shaped love hole is back in stock for you to enjoy, the mysterious AKETEMITE! can and more.
	Amazing Massagers restocked A big restocking of some of our most popular vibrator products, for meaningful time alone or with someone special.
	Pepee OMEGA 3 Personal Lotion Personal lotion products from Japan are the best in the world, and today we've restocked the amazing Pepee Omega 3. So slippery and fun!
	Restocked 'H' Games from Japan We stock dozens of popular eroge titles direct from Japan, including Starless, an amazing game by the creator of Bible Black. Click to browse.
	Come See Me Tonight 1 & 2 set Two of my favorite "harem" type games are Come See Me Tonight 1 & 2, and we recommend them a lot. Available in a handy 2-pack set too!

Bento Boxes, and More Bento Boxes at J-List

For years, J-List has delighted our customers by finding awesome bento boxes from the best companies in Japan, and we've got a great selection of traditional bento boxes, kawaii bento boxes like the Kokeshi Bento series, plus anime and character bento lunchboxes featuring Totoro, Hello Kitty and more. Click here to browse the most popular bento boxes on the site, as ranked by our customers.

Maid Cafe Update from Japan

Over the weekend I took a trip into Tokyo to meet some friends from the States who were in Japan for the first time. We had fun, doing touristy stuff like visiting the 1300 year old Buddhist temple at Asakusa and sampling Japanese izakaya food. All gaijin love Akihabara, so I showed them some of the more interesting shops there, and we had fun exploring and buying various stuff. I wanted to take them to a maid cafe, so we walked along the main road where cute girls in outrageous maid costumes (complete with "Absolute Zone" over-knee socks and skirts) handed out pamphlets advertising the shops they worked at. The maid cafe idea has been around for more than a decade by now, and there are quite a few variations available. For example, there was a Dracula-themed maid cafe with Gothic Lolita style maids, a Tsundere cafe with girls that insult you then act sweet to you as you leave, and even an ashi-fumi massage parlor where a Japanese maid will walk on your back. One I'd like to try is an ear-cleaning maid cafe in which you rest your head on the lap of a pretty girl (which is called hiza-makura or "knee-pillow") while she cleans your ears with a traditional mimikaki ear cleaner. Fun!

Having your ears cleaned by a pretty girl is big in Japan.

AKB48 and the Age of Idols in Japan

The "age of JPOP idols" in Japan began in 1971, the first year the term "idol" (aidoru) was used on NHK's iconic Koukaku Red and White Song Battle music show. These days the queens of the idol scene is AKB48, a group of idols based in Akihabara, a place that's become a major source of general otaku culture as well as a good place to buy electronics in Tokyo. Whenever something becomes as big a wadai (lit "topic of conversation") as AKB48, you can bet parody groups will spring up, and some of the more famous ones include SKL39 (created by the Skylark restaurant chain to promote its attractive waitresses), AKG48 (an idol group near J-List that promotes agriculture products from Mt. Akagi), and the new RAB48, a group of "Real Akiba Boys" who are hardcore otaku types that can dance very well. (Rule 34 also applies.) Incidentally, you can see some interesting AKB48 products on J-List, and you also buy all the music using the handy iTunes Japan Prepaid Cards that we offer.

So what do you think of Japan's idols? Kawaii or mind-numbingly silly? 

AKB48, the cutest girls on the Japanese idol scene these days.

Gender Bending Anime is Fun!

Getting into anime means exposing yourself to a lot of new ideas, for example learning concepts like senpai and kohai (senior/junior in a school or organization). which we don't generally have in English. It also means getting used to stories about characters whose genders might not be what they seem at first glance. I've been watching the "fan service" anime Mayo Chiki!, the latest in a long line of series involving "female" characters who are actually boys ("traps"), or girls pretending to be boys for some reason ("reverse traps"). The themes in Mayo Chiki! are by no means rare, and many anime series (Maria Holic, Baka Test) and visual novels (our X-Change/Yin-Yang series, Princess Waltz) employ stories about characters with ambiguous or changing genders in one form or another -- you should see the gender-bent fanart Hetalia or Haruhi fans create on the Interwebs, too. Stories of characters in non-standard gender roles have deep roots in Japan, and people here are fascinated by Kabuki actors who are able to play female roles as well as members of the famous Takarazuka Revue, in which all stage roles including male ones are performed by talented females. Why are these stories so popular? I'm not sure, but I can tell you that female characters speaking masculine Japanese is...pretty darned hot.

Mayo Chiki! is a fun "reverse trap" anime.

Bowing in Japan

One of my Twitter followers asked me, "How long did it take for bowing to become automatic when you learned Japanese?" so I thought I'd write on that topic. Bowing, of course, is a very big deal in Japan, something that's done several times a day. There are many kinds of bows, from the casual 15-degree nod you'd make to a coworker or neighbor to the deeper (30-degree) bow of thanks you'd do when accepting your salary envelope from your boss, or the more formal (45-degree) bow made to a customer in a service industry. When I went to work for a large English school I had my first experience with chorei (lit. "morning bow"), a brief formal meeting where the employees stand in a circle and basically promises to gambaru, or do their best and work hard, followed by a deep bow. One popular image in Japan is a cute elementary school child who bows deeply to someone, but she's forgotten to latch her school backpack so all her school supplies fly out. I think that body language is one of the easiest things to learn when you come to live in a new country, and just seeing the mannerisms of people around here made it easy to pick up. I've even gotten the habit of bowing to someone while talking on the phone, which must look pretty strange to most people.

Bowing is an important (and potentially cute) part of Japanese culture.

Anime T-Shirts @ J-List

J-List has a line of fun anime T-shirts featuring your favorite anime memes, like our new Science! shirt (a 4chan meme), or a T-shirt for people fascinated by yandere (anime girls who love you so much they're violent), plus our AnoHana shirt, which may or may not enable you to see Menma. (Menma!!!) Isn't it a great time to browse J-List's lineup and grab a few shirts for your wardrobe? See the top J-List T-shirts here, as ranked by our customers.

Cool Products Friday, September 2, 2011

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

	NyanType Oct 2011 Another awesome issue of NyanType, the anime magazine that, like Megami Magazines, showers awesome omake (free stuff) on you. Tons of large posters, manga and this month a Baka to Test figure strap. Nice desu! Hurry though, as more than half our stock has already sold. View products »
	S Cawaii Sep 2011 With all the latest fashion trends and on the street looks, S Cawaii is fabulous. This issue features Chiaki Kuriyama!
	Funny Lunch Box ~ Hajimete no Character Bento Learn how to make cute bento creations with this easy, step-by-step product cookbook and recipe guide. A great new book!
	Popular Japanese Fashions Restocked And if you want to pick up something that says "Harajuku," see the cute fashion items we've restocked today. Boa Parka Bear included!
	Amagami Haruka Morishima Socks Pack One of the more unique character goods items out there are these fun socks featuring your favorite Amagami characters! Wao, nice socks!
	Today's Amazing Preorder Figures Got some great figures in stock for you, including Ryoko Okami plus mai waifu, Kuroneko, in Nendoroid form.
	Nadeko Sengoku 1/8 Figure ~ Bakemonogatari Also: one of the most gorgeous Bakemonogatari figures we've ever seen, Nadeko. Whatever you do, don't get her song Ren'ai Circulation stuck in your head!
	Puella Magi Madoka Magica Official Fanbook ~ You Are Not Alone Considered by many the top Anime of this past season, Madoka Magica is the darkest and most well written show in a long time. True fans will want to get read this in-depth official fanbook, with beautiful art and interesting facts you didn't know about the Madoka Magica world. View products »
	Highschool of the Dead Artbook When Japan gives us its take on the Zombie Holocaust, you know cute moe female characters are going to be involved. Artbook restocked!
	Queen's Blade & Queen's Gate Artbooks We're big fans of Queen's Blade, and the spinoff series Queen's Gate (for famous characters from other worlds). Click to see today's new artbooks.
	Super Sonico Hug Pillow Cover *Preorder* A pillow just isn't a pillow without arms to hug you with. But this awesome item will probably sell out fast.
	Camera Carrying Pouch ~ Beige & Navy Check It's a camera case that looks nothing like a camera case. Cool! Throw it in your bag and feel safe that your camera is going to be scratch-free.
	NO MORE HEROES ~ RED ZONE EDITION The alternative fighting action game is finally on the PS3, with improved graphics and special features A fantastic game!
	Great PSP Anime Games Restocked If you've got your PSP handy, we've got tons of great games for you to load onto it. Games like Queens Blade, Hatsune Miku, and Ore no Imouto.
	Otona no Kagaku Science Projects Restocked Big restocking of the science project kits from Gakken, including Theremin and the SX-150 Music Synthesizer that you build yourself, the Mini Electric Guitar, and a real 8-bit micro computer you build, just like the old days. View products »
	STAR WARS ~ THE COMPLETE SAGA *Preorder* We love anime at J-List, but still honor . For anyone interested in ordering the Japanese version of the films, here's the preorder now.
	JPOP Direct from Japan See awesome JPOP music like AKB48's newest hits or Ayumi Hamasaki's newest. Full ranking here.
	Meiji Wata Gum Cola Flavor Set of 3 Today's new Japanese snacks are a lot of fun. First see Meiji Wata Gum in a handy 3-pack. It's cotton candy that turns to gum in your mouth! Also see Double Grape Mint Xylitol Gum that will protect your teeth, and Wasabi Rice Crackers. View products »
	Traditional 'Food Drops' Candies They're back! The amazing traditional "Food Drops" candies that capture the taste of Japan! See Beer, Sake, Seafood Kaisen, Buta Don plus other great flavors.
	Restocked Snacks, Too Also enjoy fun snacks like Pizza-LA snacks in Mayonnaise & Shrimp flavor, Tyrant Habanero, Lotte Rich Toppo, Men's Rose Gum, and more.
	Nikyoro Square Food Container Set Make your lunch lots of fun with these cute faced resealable plastic containers. Microwave safe too. Plus they're really cute.
	Pink Cat Face Bento Bag Change any bento into a cat bento with this cute bag that is easy to use and clean. We like the kawaii ears.
	Home Made Donuts and 'American Dog' Make doughnuts or "American dogs" (what a corn dog is known as in Japan) at home with these great products from Japan.
	New SAND de PANDA ~ Easy Sandwich Makers You haven't eaten a sandwich until you've had one that's been cut and shaped, with the insides "sealed" for you. We love Japanese sandwiches!
	Restocked Japanese Pens The best pens in the world are all from Japan, and we've got a large restocking of awesome pens, incl. the Zebra Sarasa Clip Pen, Uni 0.18 Signo and more.
	'Beware of Perverts' T-Shirts One of our most popular designs warns women to avoid chikan, definable as perverts, especially men who touch women on trains.
	Black Dental Floss Take your level of cool to a whole new level with these black dental floss units. They might by hard to find at night, but they sure look stylish.
	Rubber Ninja SHURIKEN Also, fresh stock of our realistic ninja throwing stars, which look real, but they're made out of safe rubber. I love selling wacky products like this.
	DX Basic TABI Socks (Ninja Shoes) See fresh stock of popular traditional footwear, including tabi (the split-toe "ninja shoes") plus other traditional products.
	Puella Magi Madoka Magica Playing Card *Preorder* Madoka Magica playing cards? Yes, they are coming soon and are ready for preorder. Includes all your favorite characters.
	Miku Hatsune ~ Love is War *Preorder* Take a look at this stunning figure of Hatsune Miku that will be released soon. She shows us that love is telling the world your heart's words.
	Ryoko Kaminagi, Panty Figure *Preorder* But of course there are lots of other new preorders added this week too. Click to see them all now, and lock in your order.
	Awesome 'Cast Off' Figures Enjoy an incredibly huge 21 cm figure of the "dark elf" Echidna from Queen's Blade, plus Kanu from Koihime Musou with "stretchy" swimsuit. Wow!
	Subaru Konoe Cast-off Figure *Preorder* Since Mayo Chiki has recently been made into an anime series, we're happy to present this new preorder in celebration, with all its cast-off goodness.
	Everhole : 2.22 ~ Rei Mizuna Next, we've got an outstanding new toy for fans of Evangelion and the sexy Mari Illustrious Makinami, the sizzling meganekko (glasses girl) who brings so much joy to her fans. In the box you get a super detailed latex toy, plus a DVD with "Mari" performing for you. Comes with "LCL" lotion too! View products »
	Other Restocked Stress Toys If you are in need of some stress relief, we've got these great toys from Japan that are sure to make your bed time, fun time.
	Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048 Want a great game that combines tactical combat with futuristic weapons with naughty tentacle monsters? We recommend this game a lot!