Cool Products Wednesday, January 25, 2012

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

	WONDA X HARUHI Canned Coffee w/Figures Haruhi is forever! Show your love for the immortal series with these exclusive Haruhi-themed cans of WONDA coffee. Each comes in an illustrated box with an adorable figure of one of the Haruhi heroines. These are extremely hard to obtain in quantity and won't be available for long. View products »
	Photo Kano Love and Happy Book If you're stoked for the upcoming Photo Kano game from the makers of Amagami, then you'll want to check out this artbook with great omake posters.
	Kawaii Figures In Stock See the extremely kawaii Nendoroid figure of Erio Towa (aka E.T.) from Denpa Onna, plus the amazing TEKKEN figure, both in stock.
	Evangelion iPhone Cases Our most popular iPhone case ever is the Evangelion NERV case, now in stock along with the Rei plugsuit, Asuka plugsuit, and other great iPhone cases.
	Fate/EXTRA (PSP the Best) The awesome Fate/stay night spinoff RPG is now in stock at a new low price. Pick your servant and battle for the Grail!
	Miku Hatsune Project DIVA Games Restocked Then for fans of Hatsune Miku, we've restocked all three of the Project DIVA pantsu simulators, I mean dancing games, plus K-On! and ToHeart.
	Mimicry Pet Lop Ear Rabbits Restocked These super kawaii bunnies love to copy what their owners say. Not only soft and fussy, but smart too!
	Great Restocked Crafts from Japan Make some amazing creations with kits from Japan to make your own key chains, erasers, cell phone decorations and more.
	Totoro Schedule Books, Calendars On Sale Just a reminder: we're closing out all our 2012 anime, JPOP, idol and other calendars. The last of the Totoro schedule books are priced to move, too.
	Great Parody Anime T-Shirts When it comes to creating awesome anime T-shirt designs for our customers, please don't say we are lazy! Click to see our newest wacky offerings.
	Japanese School Book Bag, Authentic Uniforms Live the school life of your dreams with these authentic uniforms, custom made to your size by Matsukameya of Nagoya. Also: Japanese bookbags restocked today.
	GATSBY ~ Men's Hair Wax / Spiky Edge One of the most popular products in our fashion lineup are the Gatsby Hair Wax products, which make you look like Takuya Kimura or Arashi.
	Great Anime Songs @ iTunes Japan Recently found on the iTunes Japan store: a great single for Symphogear and Nana Mizuki fans, plus the OP for the new PapaKiki anime.
	Taiyaki Microwave Maker Uguu! Enjoy fresh, hot taiyaki that you make in your microwave, the most convenient way to make this traditional fish-shaped Japanese snack.
	Restocked Random Items for your Kitchen We've got love for takoyaki too, and have restocked several fun items for making authentic Osaka-style octopus balls. Yum!
	Nestle Kit Kat Sakura Matcha Latte *Preorder* If you asked me to pick the J-List products that represent Japan, Green Tea Kit Kat would be on the list, right after Hello Kitty, er, shoulder massages. We've got the epic new Sakura Green Tea Latte Kit Kats in stock, but they'll only be around a short time before we run out or the summer heat makes us remove from the site. Don't wait! View products »
	Meiji Pokemon Chocolate Heart Get ready for Valentine's Day by grabbing a couple boxes of these delicious chocolate hearts from Meiji. Great for Pokemon fans!
	Real Ukon I love this: the marriage of Real Gold (my favorite Japanese vitamin drunk) with Ukon, a magical herb for getting rid of hangovers. Thank you, Japan!
	Japanese Bento & Kitchen Items A product we're proud to evangelize is Bull-Dog Sauce, the amazing Japanese sauce that tastes great on any fried food, and heavenly in a fried egg sandwich.
	Awesome New Snacks from Japan See Sushi no Ko powder, Kracie's Neru Ame liquid candy, Volcano Candy that really explodes, FritoLay Takoyaki and Ginger Pork Cheetos, and Neru Neru Nerune!
	Zojirushi Dot Thermal Bento Box set An amazingly helpful set for the food lover on-the-go, this deluxe thermally insulated bento box keeps your hot items hot and cold items cold. It is the perfect size for anyone wanting to have a delicious and hot meal away from home. I love the high sense of design seen in this high quality modern bento lunchbox. View products »
	More Totoro Themed Bento Boxes Not only are these bento boxes cute, they are super practical, allowing for safe transport of your delicious meal. Many new items.
	HANA-KEROSAN Frog Bento Restocked Bring a little bit of cute froggy to your lunch table with this super cute pink bento box, complete with matching chopsticks, fork and spoon.
	Food Shapers and Molds for Bento Make your lunches even more kawaii after you've used our food shapers to make cute animals, sakura, hearts and more.
	Make Delicious Gyoza Dumplings at Home Gyoza (oddly known in the U.S. under the name "pot stickers") are a delicious Chinese dumpling that's great with soy sauce and vinegar poured over. Try some!
	Awesome Sake Cups from Japan You aren't really drinking sake unless it's from a square cup, or one with great ukiyoe art on it. Become a master of sake with these fun items.
	Miso Soup Bowls, Other Kitchen Items We have a wide variety of miso soups and bowls just waiting for you to try! Also enjoy a tool for making Grapefruits Sours and other fun kitchen items.
	Mahjong Mini Set ~ Mini Jan Enjoy mahjong wherever you go with this miniature mahjong set. Now you can destroy your enemies like Akagi, Koizumi, and other mahjong heroes.
	Magical UKIYOE Transforming Towels Another fun "transforming towel" from Japan featuring Mt. Fuji and a picture of a woman who, as, changes when the towel gets wet.
	Samus Aran Figma ~ METROID *Preorder* Metroid fans will definitely want to take a look at this awesome new action figure of Samus Aran. The level of posability here is incredible!
	Kyubey Ceramic Coin Bank *Preorder* This is frankly the coolest Kyubey item I've seen: a ceramic coin bank for saving your pennies or quarters. No contract required to get your money out, either.
	Amagami Parody Onahole Toys We love the Amagami anime, with its great cast of moe girls. That's why we're bringing you these parody stress relief toys based on your favorite Amagami heroines. These high-quality onaholes are based on oh-so-proper class representative Tsukasa, quiet swimming club member Ai, or your cute classmate Rihoko. Naturally, the inside of each toy is totally unique and special, just like the girls themselves. View products »
	A Certain Magical & Scientific Parody Toys Also: we've restocked the Index/Railgun parody toys, which are so popular they sell out every week, plus the Sexy Twins Perfect Body toys.
	Toys for JAV Fans: Ozawa Maria Edition If you're feeling down in the dumps, maybe you need an incredible experience with a famous JAV actress. Happily, Maria Ozawa is willing and eager.
	The Most Advanced Stress Toys from Japan Also, browse our wide selection of cutting-edge stress relief toys from R-1, makers of the Predator Wand and UFO nipple stimulator.
	Tomo Yamanobe Figure ~ Qwaser II *Preorder* Are transparent clothes better than no clothes at all? You be the judge with this stunning cast-off figure of Qwaser's big-breasted heroine Tomo.
	Appare! Tenka Gomen Japanese folk heroes get a moe makeover! If you've got a hankering for cute girls with swords, look no further than BaseSon's newest game.
	Great Games by Nitroplus Remember that we're bringing out great games by Nitroplus, like the awesome "sword opera" Hanachirasu or the Cthulhu mythos game Demonabe.

Funny English in Japan: Corporate Slogan Edition

"You know you've been in Japan too long when you are jealous of your friend because the camera strap that came with his new Minolta camera says 'With you for the best scenes of your life' and yours doesn't." Japanese people do have a special relationship with the English language, since nearly all of them study six years, or up to ten years if they go to college. While most don't become fluent in the language, the fact that people are familiar with it is not lost on companies, who have gotten quite good at creating poetic "Image English" to push their products. Just as the creators of the Swatch brand came up with that name because they didn't realize it sounded kind of silly in English, Japanese creators of English slogans can be quite creative, and the slogans can make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Here are some fun ones:

• For Beautiful Human Life (make-up company Iona)
• Feel Your Beauty (Kanebo, the parent company to Kracie, one of our favorite companies)
• A happy present from the earth (a stationery company)
• Urban Contemporary Wave (slogan of hair gel maker Mandom)
• Inspire the Next! (slogan of Hitachi)
• For Your Just (annoying slogan of Yamada Denki)
• For your happy and joyful morning (a local radio station's wake-up slogan)
• Feel Wood (Sumitomo Forestry)
• For Precious Life (toilet maker Inax)

I "feel wood" just about every morning, if you know what I mean.

Japan, Costco and Dr. Pepper

On Sunday I went to Costco, the American warehouse retailer that recently opened a store near the J-List office here in Japan, which took some courage as I knew how crowded the Japanese stores can get on the weekends. I was there to pick up certain bulk items which are hard to find in Japan, including large bags of Starbuck's coffee for the J-List staff (we're a very caffeine-motivated company), various types of cheese (Japanese supermarkets have an amazingly bad selection of the stuff) and various other random items. Surrounded by the familiar Costco fixtures and signs advertising USDA CHOICE BEEF, done both for uniformity of customer experience as well as appearing kakko ii or "cool" to Japanese shoppers, I started to feel unsure whether I was in the U.S. or Japan, as if I'd stepped through a portal back to San Diego somehow. Rounding the corner in the drink aisle, I saw the store had started carrying Dr. Pepper, sold in giant 24-can packs, somewhat hilarious since you don't even see six-packs for sale in stores very often. I was surprised: despite the emergence of the drink as a fun Akihabara-related meme in Steins;Gate and other anime series, most Japanese seem hard-wired to dislike Dr. Pepper in the same way they almost univerally detest root beer and Mexican style refried beans. Maybe Dr. Pepper is going to be the Next Big Thing in Japan.

Is Dr. Pepper going mainstream in Japan?

Studying Japanese with Karaoke

There are many ways to help a program of Japanese study be successful, including taking an active interest in popular forms of media like anime, films or TV dramas, reading manga or light novels, or exploring traditional art forms like martial arts. Another useful tool for learning Japanese is...karaoke. Yes, going to karaoke is a great for anyone studying Japanese since ir provides a stream of kanji and vocabulary words on the screen (providing reading practice) and allows for social feedback from others if you sing the song well, and transcribing or translating songs you want to master is a great way to permanently input new vocabulary into your brain. Plus, if you forget a word when speaking, you can sing the song to yourself in your head until you recall it -- yes, this really works. Last Friday J-List had our official New Year's Party, to celebrate the start of the new year and deciate ourselves to bringing awesome wacky products to everyone this year, and afterwards we went out to the karaoke box to belt out some tunes. It was a blast.

Karaoke is a fun way to learn more Japanese.

Fun Eroge in English: Snow Sakura

One thing I like a about the visual novels and eroge from Japan is the great variety, which is mirrored in the English games we sell on J-List. One game you might want to try is Snow Sakura, a fun title in which you play a Japanese youth who moves to Hokkaido, Japan and find yourself surrounded by attractive girls (naturally). When you hear the mysterious tale of a sakura tree that blooms even in the cold of winter, it's the beginning of a great story... A nice iyashi-kei game (lit. a "healing" game, without any dark themes), Snow Sakura is a great game for winter. Click here to see all the English visual novels and eroge on the site.

Anime Snacks In Stock at J-List

Anime is more fun when you can eat it, and J-List carries dozens of awesome Japanese snacks that you can see in your favorite anime series. From the legendary Sakuma Drops seen in Grave of the Fireflies to the official caramels of the Totoro universe to fun snacks for One Piece and Pokemon fans, we've got lots of fun items to browse. Click to see the most popular anime-related snack items from Japan now.

Cool Products Monday, January 23, 2012

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

	Prince Animage 2012 Winter Every page of Prince Animage is designed with the fan girl in mind, featuring only the most popular male characters and series. Filled with 12 awesome posters of some of the cutest anime boys, plus a special omake gift from Uta no Prince-sama. View products »
	Ika Musume Shinryaku Houkoku Ki The definitive guide to the lovable girl from the sea, Ika Musume, in her newest TV animated season.
	Hiragana Times Feb 2012 The magazine that both enlightens about Japan and teaches you Japanese with an intuitive phonetic approach combined with kanji, another great issue!
	Cute Monster Hunter Plush Toys Super kawaii plush figures from the Monster Hunter series that is sure to make any monster fan very happy.
	More Awesome Monster Hunter Toys And for something a little more epic, we've got the next installments of the Monster Seitaizukan model series, numbers 5 and 6, in stock.
	Nyanpire Plush Ball Pen, PSP Case Collect these cute items features our favorite vampire kitty, Nyanpire, today with a new plushy pen and PSP case for you to own. Kawaii!
	Restocked Japanese Tall Socks We've got some great new and restocked fashion items, like the amazing knee high stocks that are so popular in Japan. We even have "socks glue" to hold them up.
	Restocked Moe Moe Encyclopedia These great encyclopedias use beautiful moe art to explore all sorts of topics, like dragons, swords, and monsters. So nice and moe.
	J-List is Loaded with Awesome Calendars Just a reminder that J-List's 2012 anime, JPOP, classic photo and other calendars are all going fast, like Madoka and Eva and Totoro. All on sale!
	Perpetual Calendar Restocked That "eternal calendar" that can be used year after year is restocked -- it's stylish and awesome and would go well in your room or office.
	Totoro Dishwasher Safe Cup A very kawaii way to enjoy your favorite juice, with this kid-friendly cup featuring the delightful Totoro.
	Restocked Totoro Plush Toys and More We love Totoro and Ghibli and have restocked some of our most beloved products, from classic Totoro plush toys to Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service and more.
	Kawaii Madoka Magica Products We love to carry popular anime products like the Madoka Magika music boxes, which present beautiful versions of your favorite Madoka music.
	Free Anime Apps for iOS, from iTunes Japan There are free apps in the iTunes Japan store that you can access if you get an account (i.e. buy at least one prepaid card from us), like the new official Lagrange app!
	3D Cake Shop Origami ~ Folding Paper  Bring a smile to a sweetheart's face this Valentine's Day when you present them a delicately folded origami cake.
	Japanese Plum Aroma Oil  Enjoy the traditional scents of Japan, today featuring the relaxing and unforgettable aroma essence of ume (Japanese plum).
	New Meltykiss Chocolates, for Valentine's Day Check out our selection of delicious chocolate treats from Japan, like today's Meltykiss Whips and Meltykiss Dew, both with delightful caramel flavor, which can make February 14th (or any day) extra special for someone. Click to see all the new and restocked J-snacks today. View products »
	Chocolate Decorating with Pocky ~ Wow! With this easy to use silicon tray, change your tasty pocky sticks into super mega deluxe chocolate explosions of cuteness and flavor.
	Restocked Anime Snacks, Too Enjoy traditional kompeito star candies, Kuro Ame Black Sugar candy, great senbei rice crackers, UHA One Piece candy and more.
	Clover Motif Wooden Style Volume Bento Box Capable of holding 900ml delicious rice, meat, vegetables etc, this is a great bento box for anyone with a larger appetite.
	Awesome Traditional Bento Boxes, Too Take home a bento box, either for your or your friends. With many great designs to choose from, you're sure to fine one you love.
	Niko Nori Punch, More  A fun way to decorate your lunch is to use one of our nori punches to cut sheet seaweed into cute and funny shapes. Very popular with our customers.
	Interesting Chopsticks & More While not quite as unique as those chopsticks we posted last time, we've got great extra-long cooking chopsticks, cooking spoons and more for you today.
	Make Anything in the Microwave See fresh stock of microwave products from Japan, including the Microwave Easy Spaghetti Maker, Food Steamer, rice cooker and more.
	Flavor Your Food the Star Wars Way Although we love anime, Star Wars is a part of our DNA too. Today we're restocking the nerd-tastic R2-D2 Soy Sauce Bottle, such a fun addition to your kitchen.
	Genki Textbooks Restocked J-List strongly supports your efforts to learn Japanese, which is why we've restocked the excellent Genki textbooks and other study aids. Highly recommended!
	Nice Japanese Good Luck Charms Restocked For lovers of the traditional and beautiful, check out our supply of Japanese traditional items, for both good luck and decorative display.
	Ikaruga Oppai Mousepad *Preorder* We know you've been hankering for a new oppai mousepad. Try this one featuring a massively-endowed moe ninja. Her expression is too cute!
	Fun New Monster Hunter Plush Toys *Preorder* Fans of Monster Hunter will love our new selection of plush toys from the epic MMO, including kawaii stuffed animals and cellphone straps.
	Dengeki G's Festival vol. 24 This issue of the number-one eroge magazine is packed with Majikoi S art and comes with an awesome dakimakura cover that has squeezable oppai! It's an amazing deluxe box with magazine that's filled with stuff you want, but be warned, as only a few are left in stock. View products »
	More Ecchi Artbooks If you are a fan of Moe artwork, enjoy the restocked Exhibition at Walhalla ero artbook set, plus other gorgeous books restocked.
	Imari Kurumi 1/6 Cast off Figure ~ Bible Black *Preorder* Fans of the Bible Black series will be drooling on their keyboards when they see this magnificent cast-off figure of Kurumi in leather. W- Wow!
	Private Beach - Mie Cast-off Figure *Preorder* Fall in love with Mie in this exquisite cast-off figure from Orca Works. Gorgeous curves and excellent craftsmanship. Preorder today.
	Gorgeous Onahole Stress Toys Browse our huge catalog of exquisite Japanese toys for male stress relief, including the Power of Love nurse "stroke holes" and Himekishi toy line.
	Bible Black Stress Toys Restocked We've got some amazing relaxation toys available, from one of the most infamous "H" series, Bible Black, now back in stock.
	Restocked Eroge from Japan Also: a healthy restocking of import eroge incl. Real Kanojo, Fate/stay night, Fate/hollow ataraxia, Starless and Devil on G-String. All so gorgeous!
	Snow Sakura, a Great Game for Winter Want to visit Hokkaido and find love? Then enjoy Snow Sakura, the English-translated eroge. Super characters and story that will warm you this winter!