Sleeping with Kanji Style

The Chinese writing system, kanji, is an inseparable part of the Japanese language, the same way Latin or Greek is a part of Western languages, and this relationship with the written word pops up in the language in interesting ways. In Sazae-san, the long-running anime that captures in calming, peaceful tones the happiness of a traditional Japanese family, Sazae and her husband Masuo sleep on futons with their son, Tara-chan, sandwiched in between. This is called sleeping in kawa no ji style, literally "sleeping like the character for river" since it imitates the three flowing lines that make up the kanji for river. Back when my daughter was young enough to want to sleep with us, she would invariably lie in the center of the bed in a pose called dai no ji, or the shape of the character for "big", with her arms and legs spread as wide as possible, leaving very little room for her mom and dad.

An example of sleeping dai no ji style.

Japanese Humor and Puns

One aspect of learning a foreign language is getting a handle on its jokes, gags and other forms of humor. Why a given language group finds some things hilarious but not others is an extremely complex question, and is no doubt linked closely each the kokumin-sei (national character) of the group. Comedy in Japan takes many forms, including the straight man/tsukkomi vs funny man/boke comedy team genre known as manzai; comedians who cast around for a bizarre act that will resonate with the public, such as Razor "Hard Gay" Ramon's outrageous hip motion; or bizarre physical humor, like the Sasuke/Ninja Warrior obstacle course series. For some reason, various types of puns are common in Japanese, either in spoken form as bad dajare jokes uttered by middle-aged men, or in the form of visual gags as seen below. Do you get the jokes?

(On the left is "Hatsune Niku," niku meaning "meat" which is the nickname of Sena from I Have Few Friends. The girl on the right is holding a "muffler" she made for a boy, but instead of being a hand-knitted scarf, it's a car muffler.)

Puns are a big part of humor in Japanese.

J-List T-Shirt Update

J-List has been making wacky anime and kanji T-shirts for years, and we have some great original and licensed T-shirts for you. If you click through to a T-shirt page -- for example, our epic new Vintage Domo-kun shirt design we posted on Friday -- you'll see the sizes each shirt is available in more clearly at the bottom. You can now click on your size and bring up all other San Diego-based T-shirt and hoodies in your size, which makes it easier to browse. Click here to see the top J-List anime and kanji T-shirts, as ranked by our customers.

Light Anime: Makoto Shinkai Edition

The other evening I was sitting in front of the TV, wanting to watch some lighthearted and relaxing anime, so I chose Voices of a Distant Star by Makoto Shinkai. (Warning: this is sarcasm.) Mr. Shinkai's films are good examples of the ability of animation to affect us emotionally by creating believable characters in uniquely tragic situations, usually involving really beautiful images of skies. "Voices" is the story of Mikako, a middle-school student who's chosen to travel into space and fight an alien race called the Tarsians. She enjoys typing mails to her classmate Noboru, pecking away on the keypad as she tells him about each stage in her journey away from Earth. As the story progresses, the mails take longer to reach him, with each message eventually taking eight years to arrive due to her distance from the Earth. Waiting that long for your phone to beep with an incoming message becomes an exquisitely painful concept, and I was really drawn into the story.

I'm a fan of the grand stories told by Makoto Shinkai.

Cool Products Monday, February 27, 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.

	Hollow Material. ~ Fate/Complete Material V Grab the 5th volume of the awesome Complete Material artbook series, loaded with over 300 pages of top-quality material from Fate/stay night and Fate/hollow ataraxia. You won't find a thicker or more content-packed artbook than this, with plenty of gorgeous visuals to browse as well as the highest quality printing in the world. View products »
	Hardware Girls Magazine vol. 1 Nothing is hotter than a girl who knows her gadgets. Check out this brand-new magazine full of cute geek girls surrounded by cool toys.
	Sweet Chocolatetier Sweet! And we mean it literally this time. With this easy to use set, you can make your own chocolate treats with just a few basic ingredients and a microwave.
	Gorgeous Evangelion Figures In Stock And if you're an Evangelion fan, we've gotten the gorgeous new Asuka and Kaoru figures in stock too, as seen in the Evangelion 2.22 film.
	Evangelion GALAXY SII Case ~ Nerv Black *Preorder* Eva fans will also want to check out this very cool black phone case with the NERV emblem, designed to fit your GALAXY SII phone.
	Kitty Gothic One-piece Dresses Get ready for the upcoming season of Cons, and arrive in style as a very cute neko maid, just like those found in Akihabara.
	Pink Skull, Panda Fashion Items Restocked Check out our newly restocked selection of fashion outerwear, accessories and other stylish items that can only be found in Japan.
	90cm Loose Socks . Socks Glue Great for cosplay, but also great fun just to wear -- these are the socks Japanese school girls wear to get that unique baggy sock look.
	Awesome Cosplay Products Restocked We have kits if random anime cosplay products for you, including the "battle damage" eye patch and that awesome horse head, great for flash mobs.
	Crystal Lucky Cat Display, New Stacking Box Some great new traditional items to add that authentic Japanese flavor to your life. Try the lucky Crystal Cat Display, the Jubako bento, and more.
	Beautiful Kimonos and Yukatas from Japan Live the life of a samurai or geisha with these cool, authentic kimonos from Japan, for both men and women.
	Felt Camera Case, Other Items Restocked Longing for the classic camera look in the age of digital? Check out this stylish case for your camera, patterned after the photographic devices of yore.
	Chu Totoro Window Mascot Stick them to your car, home, or friend's forehead. These cute and fluffy Totoro plushies love to go wherever you go.
	New and Restocked Queen's Blade Books Also see the beautiful Queen's Blade Annelotte in her new fanservice storybook form, complete with limited edition Revoltech action figure!
	Great Anime Figures In Stock We've got dozens of great Hatsune Miku products for you, including the new meganekko figure and more.
	Steins;Gate, Super Sonico and More! We love to carry fun games for PC from Japan, and we've got Steins;Gate, the Super Sonico photography game, the Touhou series, and more for you.
	Restocked Anime Artbooks, Too Artbooks are the best, and we've restocked the new Steins;Gate dating-sim game fanbook plus the Otona no Anime Yearbook and Hetalia guide to Italy.
	Touhou, Other Anime T-Shirts from J-List Our Touhou "Bad Apple" T-shirt is a hit, so we decided to offer it in 2XL so more customers could enjoy it. If you love Reimu, Marisa and Cirno, get it now!
	New 'Let's Make Original Sticker' Pens Make your own accessories with this easy to use sticker seal pen, allowing you to make anything extra glamourous.
	Restocked Stationery, Traditional Brush Pens See the popular Coffret du Couturier Letter Set restocked, plus an those traditional fude brush pens that let you write Japanese calligraphy.
	Neru Neru Nerune ~ Peach Flavor (Nerunerunerune) Set of 3 Then see Peach Neru Neru Nerune, the bizarre Japanese powdered candy you mix and eat. It's fun and very random, plus other great snacks.
	Deluxe Kyoto Tea Assortment Set A premium set of teas that are picked in the fields of Kyoto, Japan. Made with experience and precision that produces a luxurious tasting tea.
	Mugicha & Green Tea, Other Fun Drinks We restocked our popular mugicha barley tea and green tea, great for a healthy refreshing drink anywhere. Also, Aojiru, a very healthy vegetable drink.
	Today's Restocked Snacks See Puccho Ball Ramune and Grape, delicious traditional mochi candy (!), Kracie Gummy Fishing, the Felix Gum Box and my favorite Pocky of the year.
	Great Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked Also, some of our most elegant traditional bento boxes are restocked, including the Blue Rabbit x Moon bento (both colors) plus the Sakura Saku Bento.
	Kawaii Bento Sauce Bottles A large restocking of soy sauce bottles for bento fans, shaped like fish, flying pigs, anything. Sometimes it's the little things that make you love Japan.
	Traditional 'Kiseru' Pipes from Japan Feel like a samurai as you smoke from a traditional pipe, plus others great gifts for those who love sake, sumo and Edo-era Japan.
	Mini Magic Sakura Tree Spring is still a couple months off, but you can get an early start with the magic sakura tree that blooms right on your desk. Spring has come early!
	Black Rock Figure Dead Master Figure Reissue Great news for Black Rock Shooter fans. The awesomely cute and cool figure of Death Master from the BRS anime is getting reissued! Preorder now.
	Kobato's Plush Toy ~ Haganai *Preorder* Haganai not only has cute girls, but cute plushes too! Check out these large and squeezable plush of Kobato's stuffed bunny. Perfect for cosplay.
	SEGA Heroine Collection *Preorder* Nine rare collectable straps, each showcasing one of Sega's many iconic heroines from its most famous of games. So cool.
	Anime Mug Cups & Green Tea Cups Get a cup for your office that shows your love of anime or video gaming, with characters from series like Another, Dragon Quest, Evangelion and more.
	Dengeki Moeoh April 2012 The newest issue of Dengeki Moeoh has all the awesome art of an artbook plus many extras and free stuff. We love this amazing snapshot of all that's awesome about 2D anime and game culture in Japan. Definitely one of the best magazines on the site, if you really love sexy anime and moe culture. View products »
	Deliverance of Strays Magicarat Radiant Visual Fanbook Dive into an artbook that features the adorable girls from two of Japan's most moetastic erotic visual novels.
	New Ikki Tousen Cast Off Figure, More Check out this smoking figure of Ikkitousen's Chou'un Shiryuu. Such an amazing "cast off" figure, with others in stock today too.
	New Amagami Parody Onahole Toys See more anime-inspired parody toys, including this Yawa Kano (an Amagami parody), and spend some special time with Ai, Tsukasa or Rihoko.
	Our Favorite Parody Anime Toys Plus several other parodies of awesome girls from famous series like like A Certain Magical Index, K-On!, Oreimo, Hatsune Miku, Ano Hana and more.
	OTOKONOKO? ~ Futanari Stress Toy This body-shaped stress relief toy is one of a kind, being the first futanari onahole toy we've ever seen. Why not?
	Awesome Import Eroge Restocked Today's restocked titles include For My Precious Sweetheart, The Best Thing I Can Do, Custom AI-Droid Ai, A Little Queen of Kingdom, Shion's Blood Family, more.
	Great Eroge in English by Download Since you can buy our great English translated eroge via convenient Internet download, everyone can enjoy great titles. Why not browse today?

You've Been In Japan Too Long When...

Back in the early days of the web and Usenet, foreigners living in Japan started a list called "You've been in Japan too long when..." about what can happen to foreign expats who deign to stay here for many years. Here are a few for you. (The full listing is here.)

You've been in Japan too long...

• when you return the bow from the cash machine.
• when you are only slightly puzzled by the concept of Vermont Curry.
• when you buy a strawberry-and-whipped-cream sandwich for lunch at 7-11.
• if your favorite dessert is Coffee Jelly.
• when you pronounce the 'e' in 'aloe' and think aloe flavored yogurt could catch on back home.
• if you have mastered that squeezing a lemon slice with the chopsticks thing so that you don't get lemon juice on your fingers.
• when you know what an 'American dog' is (it's what a 'corn dog' is called here).
• if your weight, shoe size, and height in the Imperial measuring system (if you're American) have ceased to be relevant for you.
• if you have mastered the art of starting your car without getting in it yet (possible since the key is accessible from the right side of the car).
• if you politely turn off your headlights while at a stop light to avoid blinding the driver across the intersection from you.
• if you think cod roe spaghetti with chilled red wine is a typical Italian dish.
• if you can't find the "open" and "close" buttons in the elevator because they're in English
• when you can't read your kids the Three Little Pigs without giggling when you get to the part about "Not by the hair of chinny chin chin" (chin chin is a cute word for a penis in Japanese).
  
  
  
  Did you think I was kidding about the strawberry and whipped cream sandwiches?

Japan's New 'Crooked Teeth' (Yaeba) Boom

I've learned a few things about Japanese females over the years. First, they love cute things, especially kawaii phone straps attached to their cell phones, and they all seem to suffer from chronic constipation, no doubt from eating a large serving of white rice with every meal. Also, it's quite common for Japanese females to have horrendously crooked teeth, often with canine or "eye teeth" that jut outwards like fangs. While these crooked teeth -- called yaeba (yah-eh-ba) in Japanese, literally meaning "eight layered teeth" -- probably look strange to Westerners, the Japanese think they're extremely cute, and many girls will opt not to correct crooked teeth. Right now Japan is having a yaeba boom, with many cute pop stars sporting fangs, a phenomenon sparked by the popularity of AKB48 member Tomomi Itano. Yaeba are a staple of anime character design too, represented as a single fang in the mouth, a slight visual imperfection that makes the character more charming.

Yaeba fangs are considered cute in Japan, and are really popular now.

Learn About Japan Through its Snack Culture

Thare are many ways to go about gaining an understanding of Japan, including language, culture, history or popular culture. Another fun approach to Japan is through its delicious snacks, and J-List is here to help. We've got hundreds of the most exotic varieties of chocolate and candy from Japan and candy. During the month of December we're giving 2x points on all chocolate items too -- what are you waiting for? Click here to view all Japanese candy and snacks as ranked by our awesome customers.

Sick in Jpaan

Every once in a while I feel like I'm living inside an anime. One weekend I might find myself at my daughter's school Culture Festival, visiting haunted houses or maid cafes put on by the students just like in series like K-On!, and in Okinawa I'd feel like I'd stepped into one of those "swimsuit" episodes. This week I somehow managed to catch a bad cold, so suddenly my life has turned into a "sick episode," another staple of anime stories. Being sick in a foreign country is never fun -- although I love Japan, I can't trust the local cold medicine to work for my giant gaijin body, so whenever I'm back in the U.S. I'm careful to bring back Nyquil, Alka-Seltzer Plus and other cold medicines for use in emergencies. The Japanese have many folk remedies for curing colds, including putting a raw egg in sake and drinking it down and steaming a leek (spring onion) and wrapping it around your neck. Maybe I'll try one of those tonight.

There's a lot of moe art featuring characters with colds.

Cool Products Friday, February 24, 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.

	A New Domo-kun T-shirt for You J-List has been closely associated with Domo-kun for more than ten years, and we're happy that we were able to help make Japan's cutest TV-watching monster popular. Here's a new Domo T-shirt with a cool vintage design that will look great on you. Rock on with Domo-kun! View products »
	UTB Feb 2012 ~ Up To Boy Feb 2012 We love it when Japanese idols show off their singing skills and fashion sense, especially when they are in shimapan style swimwear!
	Cooling Pad for Fever ~ Netsu Sama Sheet Beat colds this winter with netsu-sama sheet fever reducing sheets. Any girl you attach them to will become 100% more moe.
	Gorgeous Oreimo Figures In Stock The moe girl who loves kawaii girls in "H" games has some awesome figures in stock now, plus may others similar moe goods.
	Erio Towa Beach Queen Figure In Stock It may be winter here in Japan, but we still love these Beach Queen figures, with characters like Erio, Ika Musume, Mayuri Shiina, Sayaka Miki and more.
	I Have Few Friends Portable Limited Box for PSP The PSP adaptation of Haganai is here! Hang out with the crazy Rinjinbu girls, play fun minigames, and find the romance of your dreams.
	Big Restocking of Touhou Project Games You'll be amazed at some of the great items we've got from the Touhou universe, like Ten Desires, Immaterial and Missing Power, and Shoot the Bullet.
	Alien Ice Cube / Chocolate Molds Restocked Now that we live in the age of silicon, enjoy a chocolate alien head while drinking tea with alien egg ice cubes. It feels like the sci-fi future.
	Kawaii Madoka Magica Products We love to carry popular anime products like the Madoka Magika music boxes, which play beautiful versions of your favorite Madoka music.
	Panda Hoodie Vest J-List brings you the best in warm and kawaii winter fashion with this fabulous panda-eared hoodie whose cuteness level is over 9000.
	Japanese Bloomer set (Navy) ~ size M, 5L Great for cosplay or just for daily exercise, these matching pair gym clothes are the standard for all Japanese high school students.
	Striped Stockings, Shimapan Restocked More than just shimapan (striped underwear) we also carry a wide selection of similar styled stockings and socks to match.
	Microwave de Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki Enjoy delicious takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomiyaki (Japanese "pizza") in the comfort of your own home with this amazing cooking tool.
	Jewelry Making Sticker Pens and More Decorate anything in your home, from your hairpin to your cellphone with these kits to make them glitter and shine. Many fun pens restocked.
	Hiragana Study Pencil Board  Learn Hiragana the fun and fast way, with a pencil board that can go everywhere you go. Learn the basics with colorful art.
	Totoro & Catbus Melody Music Boxes Bring some Ghibli spirit into your home with these delightful music boxes. Available in Totoro Acorn Car and Catbus version.
	Hello Kitty Face Wiener Cutter & Picks, More Make the cutest little wieners you've ever seen with a little help from the magic of Hello Kitty. Or try another of our many Hello Kitty products.
	Delicious New Pretz, Pasta Snacks from Japan Yum, we're got some great new snack flavors from Glico, like Ceaser Salad and Mentaiko Butter, plus many other favorites for you to enjoy.
	Fun Snacks Restocked, Too Enjoy Takoyaki Gummy Making, Meiji Poiful, Hi-Chew Fanta Collection, Meiji Wata Gum, Morinaga Pudding Caramel, UHA Shigekix plus Takoyaki puffs!
	Totoro Stainless Thermal Bento Box Set ~ Clover If there is anything we've learned from the movie Totoro it is that friends and family are very important, and sometimes the best way to share that love is with some delicious food. Take the wonderful Totoro with you in the full bento set, great for family picnics and outings. View products »
	Zojirushi Dot Thermal Bento Box Set We also restocked the svelte Zojirushi Dot Thermal Bento, an elegant lunchbox for guys who don't want to take a kawaii bento to work.
	Kawaii Anime Bento Boxes From the popular Pokemon bento boxes to the classic Hello Kitty Face Bento Box and Nina Nino Panda Bento, we've got some cute items restocked.
	Bamboo Whisk for Stirring Matcha It takes the right tools to make a truly exceptional cup of tea. Prepare your green tea like the Japanese masters with this authentic bamboo whisk.
	Restocked Wiener Shapers for Bento We've restocked several cute Wiener Cutters which turn boring sausages into cute flowers, penguins and other shapes, which are so much fun.
	Kawaii Hello Kitty Spoon & Fork, Chopsticks And you just can't have a real tea party without a complete set of Hello Kitty silverware, perfectly sized for small hands.
	Lucky Cat Maneki Neko Coin Bank ~ White Bring home some extra luck this year, with some wonderful fortune items for a better life, like charms and maneki neko.
	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.
	Elegant Sakura Business Card Box, Jewel Box Feel the illustrious stylings of traditional Japanese artwork, like with our supply of jewelry boxes, antiques and art.
	Anime Songs on the iTunes Japan Store There's lots of anime music on iTunes Japan, like this playlist of the new 2012 anime series or the new Toradora Best Album.
	Fruit Tart Letter Set ~ 10 Letters & 5 Envelopes & Stickers  Send this year's invitations and thank you cards on a note that is equally as fun to receive as it is to read.
	Yugi Yami 1/7 Figure ~ Yu Gi Oh!*Preorder* Fans of the card-battling epic Yu Gi Oh! will definitely appreciate this cool figure of Yugi Yami in his classic card-drawing pose. Nerdgasm!
	Hiei 1/8 Figure ~ Yu Yu Hakusho *Preorder* We also have this equally cool figure of Yu Yu Hakusho's resident fire demon, Hiei. This guy is one of the most popular characters ever. Check it out!
	Ryomou Shimei 1/4 Figure Bunny ver. *Preorder* And if you're looking for something to get the juices flowing, try this smoking hot figure of Ikki Tousen's Ryomou in a super-sexy bunny suit. Wow!
	Touch Detective Mushroom Garden Tape *Preorder* Cute mushrooms invade your life with this fun decorative tape based on the character Funghi from Touch Detective Mushroom Garden.
	Kimi to Boku to Eden no Ringo - Visual Fanbook This beautiful eroge artbook is loaded with moe girls in all sorts of cute and sexy situations, plus material for joso (trap) fans.
	IBO MAX A new stress toy maker is on the block, and their flagship design will blow your mind. Check out the ridge-filled IBO MAX for maximum stimulation.
	MIRAI no MEIKI DX Stress Toys A sex toy from the future, where man is fallen into a dystopia (utopia?) surrounded by bizarre sexual creatures? An epic SF-themed new toy series.
	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 Azunyan lotion.
	Restocked Love Dolls, Lotion & More Dress up your night mistress doll with accessories to meet your own personal preferences and wants. Many awesome items restocked.
	Le Labyrinthe De La Grisaia Learn the secrets of Yuji's past in this sequel to Le Fruit de La Grisaia, voted Best Moe Game of 2011 for its great characters and beautiful art.
	Today's Recommended Eroge: Crescendo I love story-centric visual novels with great art and characters, and Crescndo is one of my favorite English eroge titles. Great emotional story!