Japan Fashion WTF Moments: Playboy Edition

There's no place quite like Japan for that paradigm-shifting-without-a-clutch experience. When my daughter started junior high school, she went online with her mother to buy some clothes she needed for the coming school year, including brands like Beverly Hills Polo Club, School Scene, and of course, Playboy. Say what? It turns out that in Japan, the famous bunny logo is extremely popular with fashionable girls, who think it looks oshare (oh-SHA-reh), or stylish, elegant and chic. Hiding my surprise, I asked her what "Playboy" was, and she replied, "It's a famous maker of girls' clothes. Don't you know anything, Dad?" I shrugged -- if the symbol was removed from its special meaning in the U.S., I guess it didn't matter if some 13-year-olds had little bunnies sewn into their socks. It's similar to the way the perception of cursing changes in Japan, a country that has no "foul" language or anatomically-based swear words to speak of, with the most common insult being baka (stupid). If my son were to use the "F" word around me I'd likely not bat an eye, since it has no power in a country where no one would be shocked by it.

The perfect fashion symvol for young girls. Don't you agree?

Japanese Honorific Prefixes

Last time I wrote about the word gohan, which is Japanese for steamed rice that's ready to eat. (Uncooked rice is called kome, in case you were wondering.) The go part of gohan is quite an interesting aspect of the Japanese language, essentially an honorific word that goes in front of some words to give them a higher status (it's exactly the same as the o prefix that goes on words like okaasan/mother or oneesan/older sister, using the Chinese reading of the kanji instead of the Japanese one). Words that are especially important in Japanese society receive the go/o prefix, like money (okane), ohashi (chopsticks), ocha (green tea), oyu (hot water for a bath), and so on. It's interesting to notice the patterns of words that take this unique honorific. For example, words having to do with death or Buddhism tend to take the honorific prefix (otera = temple, okoh = Buddhist incense, ohaka = gravestone), yet words related to Japan's Shinto religion usually don't. Adding the honorific "o" to words sort of "softens" it, so words related to children or babies often feature it: omaru = child's potty, omutsu = diapers, oshiri = a cute word referring to a person's rear end, or with the 'o' removed, voice-recognition software by Apple. aka SIRI.

Buddhist terms receive the honorific o prefix.

Popular Snacks and Drinks from Japan

J-List, of course, carries hundreds of fun snacks, drinks and gum direct from Japan. Whether you want to try the latest bizarre treats from Kracie like Popin' Cookin' Sushi or Neru Neru Nerune or are looking for unique drink experiences such as Japan-limtied Mountain Dew Tentacle Grape flavor or Salty Watermelon Pepsi or love anime snacks, we've got a lot of fun items for you. Click here to view the most popular Japanese snacks!

What's Your Favorite Anime Meme?

It's fun to study the history of the memes that pop up in anime. Every time you watch an onsen episode, where the characters suddenly head off to the mountains for a fanservice-heavy dip in the hot springs, or a baseball episode, or a school festival episode, or anything involving shimapan, you're taking part in the evolution of these fun "units of popular culture" which are seeded by anime creators and fed by feedback from the fanbase. One of the biggest anime memes around is the ubiquitous "beach episode" in which the plot grinds to a halt so everyone can go to the beach (usually Okinawa, though sometimes it's the local pool) to show off the female characters in swimsuits and provide fanservice for viewers. Some of these memes may fade -- back in the 80s there was a running gag with anime series that reenacted the final scene from the film The Graduate, with a character banging on a glass window to stop a wedding -- but other memes will always rise to take their place.

The "beach episode" is a staple meme of anime today.

Cool Products Wednesday, June 6, 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.

	Easy Cosplay Design Book Here's a great new book for cosplay fans: Suguni Tsukureru Cosplay, which will help you create your dream cosplay outfit and step into the world of Pro-Cosplay. Whether you're making outstanding cosplay outfits for the summer anime conventions or want to improve your costuming skills, this book will help you meet your personal goals as a 'layer (cosplayer)! View products »
	Nakayoshi July 2012 This is Nakayoshi, the manga magazine for girls that is always filled with great manga and cool omake gifts, and this month is no exception.
	WORKING!! Official Fanbook ~ Special Menu Fans of the seriously funny series WORKING!! are sure to love this wonderful fanbook filled with tons of color illustrations. Enjoy it!
	Items for 'Fujoshi' Restocked We restocked some popular items for fujoshi, fangirls who love yaoi and BL and "otome" games. Click to view them now.
	Touhou Reimu Hakurei Figure This magical figure of Reimu, from the Touhou series, is a great addition for fans and collectors who need a bit of spiritual healing.
	Fun Monster Hunter Products Restocked J-List customers know we love "Mon-Han" as the Japanese call it, and today we've restocked some fun items, including keychain figures, playing cards and more.
	2D Bag for Interesting Anime Cosplay These are so awesome: a bag for carrying your stuff which looks like a 2D bag. Such an epic idea! In stock now.
	Restocked Shimapan, Other Fun Cosplay Items And for all you lovers of Japanese cosplaying and fashion, we've got Shimapan in stock in a variety of colors and sizes (even some for Hideyoshi fans).
	Fuwa Fuwa Nyanko Cat Gloves ~ White Unleash your kitty spirit with these soft and fuzzy nyanko cat gloves. Very popular with our customers, restocked today!
	Nyanpire Coffin Tissue Case The cat who is also a vampire, is not scary at all. We think this new product, a coffin shaped tissue holder, is super kawaii. In stock now!
	LED Light Umbrella (Blade Runner Style) We carry a lot of interesting umbrellas from Japan, and today we restocked the popular LED Light Umbrella from Blade Runner. Looks awesome!
	Spirited Away Train & Station *Preorder* From Studio Ghibli, this Spirited Away model set will let you recreate memorable scenes from the award-winning film.
	false The latest entry in the Project Diva series of Vocaloid rhythm games is on the PSVita with improved graphics, new costumes, and more.
	Great PG Games for Windows We carry lots of gorgeous import visual novels, doujin shooter games and more for Windows, and today we restocked Mahou Tsukai no Yoru by Type Moon (!!).
	Fun Hello Kitty Item Restocked You can depend on J-List to bring you awesome Hello Kitty items from Japan, and today we've got the Hello Kitty Deodorizer for your car or room.
	New Rilakkuma Products Too Although he's often confused with another famous bear from Japan, Rilakkuma ("Relax Bear") is kawaii and relaxing. Glasses stand restocked!
	Morinaga Almond Caramel As you know, J-List is a big fan of learning about Japan through its delicious snacks, and we've got some nice items today, including the new Morinaga Caramel Almond flavor, so much fun to eat, plus other items too. What amazing Japanese snacky goodness will you try today? View products »
	Fun Drinks from Japan We carry a lot of fun Japanese drinks, like the new Salty Watermelon Pepsi and Mountain Dew Grape (Japan Limited). See Pocari Sweat restocked today!
	Awesome Restocked Japanese Snacks Lots of Japanese snacks today incl. the Kyoto Candy Bento with Kompeito (!!), Green Tea + Sakura Kocochi Gum, Takoyaki Gummy + Milk Collon snacks!
	Kawaii New Bento from Japan This is a nice bento box set for fans of extremely kawaii things from Japan, featuring a fun pig on the lid. So cute and fun to eat with!
	Other Bento Boxes Restocked Our cute Pink Rabbit 3D Bento Box is back, plus the well-engineered Lunch-de-DON Bowl Style Bento Box, so much fun to eat with.
	PANDA-Shaped Kawaii Sandwich Maker Make lunch into a super fun experience with this DIY panda sandwich maker. Great for making snacks too.
	Mama's Assist Animal Friend & Leaf Picks See our cutest bento accessories restocked, including the Mama's Assist Animal Friend Bento Picks, Vegetable Cups and other cute items.
	Our Most Popular Taiyaki Cooker Ever Make delicious Japanese treats, like Taiyaki and Takoyaki, with these amazing cooking utensils and tools. Easy and fun to use.
	Ramen Microwave Bowl Restocked Make ramen fast with our popular Ramen Microwave Bowl, so excellent for university students. Other items restocked too.
	Seven Gods EMA ~ Japanese Wishing Board Take home a wooden "wishing board" then hang it somewhere lucky such as a Shinto shrine, though you can hang it just about anywhere.
	Woman's Kamakura Geta (Several Styles) The Japanese geta sandal is among the most well-known around the world, with elegant style and quality design. Great for summer!
	C.C. from CODE GEASS Figure *Preorder* This kawaii and chibi version of CODE GEASS's C.C., the pizza eating cutie, is wonderful.
	Erio Towa 1/8 Figure *Preorder* A beautiful 1/8 scale figure of Erio Towa, the wacky heroine of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko. So moe you might just die!
	Aya Kagura, Izumi Shizuno Figures *Preorder* From the game Se Kirara comes this wonderful figures of Aya Kagura and Izumi Shizuno. Too beautiful for words.
	Mari Figure - Plug Suit ~ Evangelion 2.0 *Preorder* Pick up this stunning figure of Mari, the newest character from the Evangelion saga. Mari is a cute girl with cute glasses, a great match for any otaku.
	The Best Magazine Special July 2012 NO. 228 Here's another month's work of the absolute best in Japanese AV idols in the magazine simply known as "The Best Magazine."
	Super Pose Books w/ Nana Ogura The lovely JAV star Nana Ogura knows it's difficult for artists to see the lines they should draw, and she's made a great photobook to help (pervy) artists.
	Restocked Artbooks & More Some great 2D artbooks and ecchi manga magazines, including Canopuri, loaded with art from Shirow and other artists, plus red-hot ecchi artbooks.
	Ama From ToysHeart of Japan comes this powerful and enjoyable novelty item from Japan. Hits the spot! Great for our stressed-out female customers.
	Stress Toys Based on Your Favorite Actresses See the amazing deluxe "Dignity" toys and lotions from Zhang Xiao Yu and Japanese starlet Sarah. The closest thing to living the dream.
	Air Dutch Dolls & Related Fun Products Enjoy fun "Air Dutch" (apologies to our friends in The Netherlands), with several dolls restocked, along with "Sweat Scent of Virgin Spray" if you like.
	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. Wow!
	KonoSora ~ First Limited Edition From the developers of Princess Waltz comes a new visual novel with a lighthearted atmosphere and beautiful heroines.
	Great Import Eroge Restocked Then see great eroge titles from Japan like Artificial Academy, Custom AI-Droid, School Days sequel Shiny Days, Do Love Me Seriously/Majikoi + More.
	Best Combination of Lesbian Story 3 *353 MIN* The Lesbian Story series is a real classic from the Lesbian Japanese AV, with beautiful settings and girls, for superb sensual lesbian sex scenes.

Sometimes Japanese is Easy to Learn

With a sentence structure and grammar unlike anything used in the West along with three different writing systems, learning the Japanese language can certainly be challenging. Then again, there are times when Japanese learners get off easy. First, there are whole swaths of words that are simple to learn, thanks to the way kanji words can be appended to the ends of other words. If you need to specify a language, just add the kanji for language (go) the end of a country name, resulting in France-go, Russia-go and so on. Similarly, nationality can be specified by sticking the character for "person" (jin, pronounced "jean") on the end of a country name, for example America-jin, Nihon-jin, etc. When the Japanese adopted the Western calendar during the Meiji Era, they wisely named January ichi-gatsu (1-month), February ni-gatsu (2-month) and so on, so gaijin don't need to learn complex names of months in Japanese. One of the most difficult areas of English for Japanese to learn are verb tenses like conditional, past perfect and present progressive, but I'm happy to report that none of these forboding structures exist in Japanese -- incredibly complex sentences like "next year he will have been to Kyoto five times" get reduced to simpler forms. There's more good news: Japanese is not a tonal language like Chinese or Vietnamese, making it much easier for English speakers to pronounce. There are some difficult patches in the language, of course, including concepts like "sister" which get split into two, oneesan (older sister) and imouto (younger sister), or samui (coldness in the air) vs tsumetai (coldness to the touch), but all in all not everything about learning Japanese is difficult.

America-jin, Furansu-jin, Itaria-jin, etc...

Coming to America: Jet Lag Edition

Hello from sunny cloudy San Diego. I've made the 5443 mile (8759 km) journey from Japan to my home city, leaving the world of sushi and bullet trains and aloe-flavored yogurt in order to help our San Diego staff make preparations for Anime Expo later this month. Although I love Japan, it's great to be back home and enjoy all the little things I can't find in my adopted home country, like microwave Hot Pockets, pre-cut carrots and celery in water, soup varieties other than "corn soup" and "clam chowder" and Pop Tarts. One downside to coming to the U.S. is jet lag, and right now I'm feeling extremely sleepy thanks to my body's internal clock being upset. If this update should cut off in the mid-sentence, it means I fell asleep while typing. Apologies in advance if that happens, zzzzz...

One challenge of international travel is jet lag.

The Japanese [heart] Rice

One thing you have to know about the Japanese people: they really love rice. The Japanese eat it with most every meal, a big plate or bowl of steamed white rice along with whatever meat or vegetable dish they're having. In the same way that sake is both a term for rice wine as well as a generic term for all types of alcohol in general, the word for rice (gohan) can also refer to any food or meal. The best rice is a type called koshi-hikari that's grown in Niigata Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan, and restaurants go out of their way to advertise when the new crop of freshly-harvested rice (shin-mai) has come in, to attract customers who want to eat the most delicious rice of the year. The Japanese know that Westerners eat "bread" instead of rice, and picture us enjoying every meal with a large basket of rolls or baguettes, three times per day. The K-On! song Gohan wa Okazu sums up how Japanese feel about rice, with lyrics like:

Rice is amazing / it goes with anything. Warm, warm!

Kimchi, natto, raw eggs and so on.

White rice is a pure white canvas, for an infinite imagination!

The Japanese truly love gohan (rice).

Cool Products Monday, June 4, 2012Cool Products Monday, June 4, 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.

	Gothic Lolita Bible vol. 44 Summer 2012 Another elegant and beautiful issue of Gothic & Lolita Bible, the magazine dedicated to Japan's awesome gothic cosplay culture, complete with a sewing pattern in each issue. You will love submerging yourself into the wonderful world of Gothic and Lolita Bible. View products »
	Dengeki Daioh July 2012 The new Dengeki Comic Daioh, a thick, slick, hip manga magazine featuring some of the best artists and stories in Japan today. 800 pages to enjoy!
	Monster Hunter Products Posted We stock lots of Monster Hunter products, and we've gotten that cute Airu Postman Coin Bank in stock, great for saving your pennies.
	More Anime Wall Scroll/'Noren' Door Curtains When we posted these cute anime noren door curtains, which provide privacy between rooms, we had no idea how popular they'd be. Restocked today!
	Kawaii Nyanpire Noren Curtains, Too We also got the kawaii door curtains in for Nyanpire fans. Can also be used as a standard wall scroll in your room.
	Premium Japanese Cotton Kimonos Feel beautiful in a Japanese yukata, the light fabric robe that's used year round, but especially during summer.
	New Lacquered Paulownia Woman's Geta When it comes to famous images of Japan, the traditional wooden geta shoes are among the most well-known around the world.
	More Japanese Fashions Restocked We love to find random Japanese fashions to add to the site, and today the Panther Eye Glasses T-Shirt is restocked. Innovative and fun fashions from Tokyo.
	Japanese Socks, Socks Glue and More We love the 3-cm space between a girl's over-knee socks and where her skirt begins, and we've restocked Japanese socks, sock glue and more.
	Popular Cosplay Products Restocked See other fun cosplay products restocked, including the classic anime eye patch, as seen in Evangelion, Ikki Tousen and Another. Also good for eye injuries.
	Restocked PSP and PS3 Anime Games A nice restocking of popular PS3 and PSP anime games, including several Steins;Gate titles, PapaKiki, and something for Hatsune Miku fans.
	Evangelion 2.0 Mouse Pads Restocked Each of these awesome ergonomic mousepads features one of the lovable Evangelion heroines in an attractive pose. Comes in Rei, Asuka, or Mari.
	Evangelion New Movie Stereo Earphones Whether your flavor is unit 00, 01, or 02, these new stylish earphones let you compliment your Eva and NERV swag in style.
	Hello Kitty Muffin Mold, Car Accessories The adorable Kitty-chan comes out pipin' hot and fresh with these muffin molds. We also have the Hello Kitty Good Luck Mascot Figures in stock today.
	Hello Kitty Ice Cube Tray Also: if you're still using boring square ice cubes, why not upgrade to these incredibly cute Hello Kitty ice cube tray? The cutest ice for your scotch whisky.
	Restocked Ghibli Products, Too We love selling Totoro products, and the soft Totoro cushions and nap pillows are among our favorite products ever. Several restocked today.
	Mousse-chan Fuwa Fuwa Paper Clay Set See a fun restocking of the Fuwa Fuwa Mousse-chan Paper Clay toys, air-drying clay and molds you can use to make great toys, or anything!
	Microwave Boiled Egg Maker ~ 4 Eggs Cocker You were told you to never cook an egg in the microwave, but now you can! This convenient item will let you cook eggs really fast!
	Cook Delicious White Rice in your Microwave Enjoy delicious steamed white rice anytime with our handy microwave rice cooker, great for making bento or any Japanese dish.
	UHA Puccho Three Flavor Set Puccho mimics the delicious chewing sensation of Japanese gum, but is actually a fun soft candy. Also available in Fanta flavor!
	Restocked Japanese Snacks & Drinks Enjoy DIY Microwave Panda Treats, Morinaga Hi-Chew, sake candy, Happy Kitchen Soft Cookie + "Every Burger" chocolate cookie hamburgers!
	TAIYAKI 2 Sized Bento Box Set w/Elastic Band  Here's a great item that's perfect to get for decoben (Bento Decorations) fans. They look like delicious Taiyaki fish-shaped Japanese cakes.
	Nico Mimi Pink Cat Bento Band If you've lost your elastic band or wanted to replace it, here's a great decorative band that's perfect for any bento lover.
	Kawaii Sanrio Bento Boxes Restocked We've got a bunch of cuteness today from Japan, like bento boxes for Hello Kitty and My Melody fans. So cute!
	Ghibli Bento Restocked But wait, we've also got new Studio Ghibli bento boxes for you, including Kiki's Delivery Service , Totoro and more. Both kawaii and great to eat from!
	More Fun Items for your Kitchen We have a big update of random kitchen items, including the PIttato Sealer for Snack Bags, the Pan Pita sandwich shaper and Food Freshness Spout.
	Fun Chocolate Molds Restocked Plus we've got a plethora of silicon molds of popular characters and designs, including our Chocolate Stick Silicon Decorator and more.
	'Learn Hiragana' Towel, More Restocked We restocked that Kawaii Hiragana Towel which helps you learn the basic writing system of Japanese while you get clean. Other fun towels posted too!
	Bilingual Books, Japanese Study Books Some good Japanese study books restocked today, including the bilingual book Living Japanese Style and JLPT study books.
	Japanese Face Stamps & More Express any emotion with our fun Faces Stamp series, a great idea from Japan. We've also restocked our Original Eraser Stamp Making Kit and kanji stamps.
	ONI-NEKO Lucky Cat Display ~ Sea Bream (Tai)  Cats, neko in Japanese, have a long tradition of being seen as a creature of luck and fortune.
	Black Lotus Figma Action Figure *Preorder* A beautiful, posable action figure of Black Lotus from the series Accel World. I need to start watching this show now, apparently.
	Super Sonico S.K series Action Figure *Preorder* A fun, posable action figure of Super Sonico fans of Nitro Plus will want to have. An incredibly cute new figure for Sonico fans!
	New Revoltech Figures *Preorder* And this fantastic Revoltech action figure of Spiderman, coming from Japan, is a must have for Marvel fans. Also a new Buddhist God figure!
	Hetalia Monthly Calendar 2013 *preorder* For fans of Hetalia Axis Powers, we've got a great new calendar posted for preorder, which Hetalia fans can jump on now.
	Wonder Girl ~ Yuu Asakura Every page of this extravagant photobook shows off the erotically gorgeous Yuu Asakura, restocked today. See other great books in stock, too.
	Gucho Nure Monster ~ Kakusei An amazing new stress relief toy for men engineered to give you a level of pleasure rarely attained with other onaholes.
	Your Favorite Anime Parody Stress Toys Then enjoy a big restocking of ero ero stress toys from Japan, including Madoka Magika, Koihime Musou, Sena and more.
	Love Body Miyu Doll, Onahole  The newest Love Body figure is Miyu, an amazingly realistic inflatable "Air Dutch" that can wear clothes. Buy with the matching onahole.
	OTOKONOKO? ~ Stress Toys for Trap Fans This body-shaped stress relief toy is one of a kind, being the first futanari onahole toy we've ever seen. Why not?
	Shigeo Hamashima, Shirow Artbooks Restocked If you're a fan of gorgeous 2D artbooks from Japan, we've restocked several of our best ones, including Shigeo Hamashima and Shirow Masamune's best new works.