Greetings and salutations from sunny San Diego. As is common here in San Diego in January, the weather is just about the best you can find anywhere in the entire U.S. I'm currently wearing a T-shirt as I work on the update and contemplate the bitter, biting cold wind that's blowing across Japan these days. The nice San Diego weather is what keeps our population steadily rising over the decades -- people come here once, realize how nice it is, then decide to move here despite the rather high cost of living compared with much of the rest of the country.
Have you ever noticed that Japanese girls sometimes have very crooked teeth? Because the Japanese really never got into the Western custom of fixing crooked teeth with braces, Japanese girls often have teeth that are quite oddly shaped. Fortunately, these teeth (which are called "yaeba" in Japanese, YA-eh-ba) are very cute to the Japanese, and many Japanese idols (including Seiko Matsuda) have made use of oddly shaped teeth as part of their appeal. Adult video idols like Madoka Ozawa also use that cute "yaeba" look to their advantage.
Although the Japanese use English and the Roman alphabet freely in their daily lives as their "fourth" writing system, it has no official status in Japanese law. Thus, foreign companies like Apple and Microsoft must register their official legal names in katakana (the Japanese writing system used for foreign words and names), not in English. When you see a commercial from IBM in Japan, the legal Japanese name they display on the screen is AI BII EMU (in katakana), and the English letters IBM are used mere as if they were just a logo. J-List is a registered Japanese corporation, and for all legal purposes, our company name must be written in Japanese as JEI-RISUTO in katakana. (If you're interested in a quick overview of the writing systems and grammar of the Japanese language, see my article posted at http://www.peterpayne.net/Merchant3/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD'Store_Code=PP' Product_Code=J-PAGE1'Category_Code=BJ)
Our dedicated staff in Japan has done a nice update to the J-List site, allowing you to find many new products to browse and check out. For our 18+ customers we've added new magazines (kogal, amateur and other), some very nice soft- and hardcover photobooks, including new leg and stocking fetish photobooks, a boatload of great new hentai manga (including a very nice new one from Drill Murata) and some new hermaphrodite doujinshi, many new videos and DVD products including S'M, Dream Shower, lesbian, cosplay and "Swimming Girl," new Tennyo photobooks, and much more! We've also got super cool "ring style" ear cleaners that I totally recommend, new Japanese calligraphy pens, new cute and traditional Japanese items, rare and fun anime toys including new Tinibiz figures, new Japanese snacks and food, the ultimate "Ham and Cheese Storage Box" (yes, we kid you not) and more.
Also: We've gotten in fresh stock of several of our most popular clothing items. First we've gotten in all previously sold out sizes for our "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" and "Hen na gaijin" T-shirts, which are a J-List original, and great fun. And for fans of authentic Japanese Loose Socks, those baggy socks Japanese high school girls wear, we've gotten in a huge shipment of both the 80 cm and 120 cm socks.
We've lowered the price on Three Sisters' Story, the "one that started it all," the first bishoujo game from JAST USA. It's now just $9.95 for this great game, which puts you in the middle of an interesting interactive story populated with many beautiful girls. This title is priced for closeout and we've got less than 200 copies left, so pick it up if you haven't gotten it yet.
If you're a Mac user who wants to view the WMA demos for some of the DVD titles from Soft on Demand, Windows Media Player for Mac OS X has been released. Check it out at the premier place to track software, http://www.versiontracker.com
Well, that's all for now. Thanks, as always, for being a valued J-List customer. We'll see you on the web!
Friday, January 10, 2003
Greetings from J-List October 10, 2003
Hello again from your friends in Japan and, er, Europe!
We've enjoyed our two days in Frankfurt, short though they were. During our time here, we catalogued many differences between Germany and Japan that caught our eye. One thing my wife noticed were many elderly couples walking and shopping together. In Japan, when a husband and wife get past a certain age, they don't spend that much time together outside -- older ladies hang out with their "obasan" friends, and men play golf or pachinko with their "ojisan" companions. (Obasan and ojisan mean "aunt" and "uncle" but also refer to middle-aged women or men in general.) My wife also fell in love with the incredibly cute children we saw here, with blonde hair and adorable faces. If a Japanese female sees a beautiful child, she will utter the words "Ningyo mitai!" ("Looks just like a doll!") 100% of the time, and my wife was saying these words every 20 seconds or so. And as in our last trip to Germany, we were relieved and grateful at the number of people who could speak English here, since my German is limited to what I gleaned from Hogan's Heroes reruns as a kid.
Germany is a very efficient place, though. All the trains ran on time, and there was no waste anywhere that we could see. Virtually every time we ordered a cappuccino, it was made by a machine with the press of a button, not by hand by a barista as in Italy. We also love the convenience of having the Euro to pay for items all over Europe.
In our absence, the J-List staff have added many great new products to the website for you. Included are new Blyth dolls that are so cool, more How to Draw Manga books for you, deluxe new Pocky with extra-creamy, extra-delicious chocolate covering, new Hello Kitty and other cute items, cute peripherals for your computer, new Totoro stuff, a cool case for your iPod or cigarettes, fresh stock of cool miniature food toys, and other cool and wacky things. For our adult customers, check out new adult magazines and new and restocked hentai manga, great new "dick girl" doujinshi from Behind Moon, great new adult DVDs including bondage, lesbian, bukkake and more, great new photobooks, and other wonderful items for adults. Please check out all the new items!
Well, now it's time to go back to the airport and catch our 13 hour flight back to Japan. I'm fully loaded with charged Powerbook batteries, a full iPod and the latest George Martin paperback, A Storm of Swords. We'll see you when we get back to Japan!
We've enjoyed our two days in Frankfurt, short though they were. During our time here, we catalogued many differences between Germany and Japan that caught our eye. One thing my wife noticed were many elderly couples walking and shopping together. In Japan, when a husband and wife get past a certain age, they don't spend that much time together outside -- older ladies hang out with their "obasan" friends, and men play golf or pachinko with their "ojisan" companions. (Obasan and ojisan mean "aunt" and "uncle" but also refer to middle-aged women or men in general.) My wife also fell in love with the incredibly cute children we saw here, with blonde hair and adorable faces. If a Japanese female sees a beautiful child, she will utter the words "Ningyo mitai!" ("Looks just like a doll!") 100% of the time, and my wife was saying these words every 20 seconds or so. And as in our last trip to Germany, we were relieved and grateful at the number of people who could speak English here, since my German is limited to what I gleaned from Hogan's Heroes reruns as a kid.
Germany is a very efficient place, though. All the trains ran on time, and there was no waste anywhere that we could see. Virtually every time we ordered a cappuccino, it was made by a machine with the press of a button, not by hand by a barista as in Italy. We also love the convenience of having the Euro to pay for items all over Europe.
In our absence, the J-List staff have added many great new products to the website for you. Included are new Blyth dolls that are so cool, more How to Draw Manga books for you, deluxe new Pocky with extra-creamy, extra-delicious chocolate covering, new Hello Kitty and other cute items, cute peripherals for your computer, new Totoro stuff, a cool case for your iPod or cigarettes, fresh stock of cool miniature food toys, and other cool and wacky things. For our adult customers, check out new adult magazines and new and restocked hentai manga, great new "dick girl" doujinshi from Behind Moon, great new adult DVDs including bondage, lesbian, bukkake and more, great new photobooks, and other wonderful items for adults. Please check out all the new items!
Well, now it's time to go back to the airport and catch our 13 hour flight back to Japan. I'm fully loaded with charged Powerbook batteries, a full iPod and the latest George Martin paperback, A Storm of Swords. We'll see you when we get back to Japan!
Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Greetings from J-List October 8, 2003
Hello again from your friends at J-List!
It's time for us to say arrivederci to Roma and hello to Germany, where we'll be peeking in at the Frankfurt Book Fair before taking our flight back to Japan. We're in Frankfurt now (it's much colder here than in Italy!) and are about to go out for some great beer, as soon as I post this.
Rome was great, and we got to see a lot of the city, both the famous parts frequented by tourists and some of the less well-known areas, thanks to friends who were able to show us some places known only to locals. If you ask one hundred Japanese girls what their favorite film is, a large number will tell you the 1953 classic Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Audrey Hepburn is especially popular with Japanese women because she was the first actress of her era that became famous despite having a small bust. It was fun to go to the places featured in the film, eat gelato at the Spanish Steps, and so on.
All countries have what the Japanese call a "kokumin-sei," a set of characteristics that make up what could be called a "national personality." There are some traits that make Germans very German, Americans very American, and so on -- learning what makes people from each country unique is part of the fun of traveling. It was interesting to make observations on the "kokumin-sei" of Italians we met, too, during our time in the city. We were surprised to find that most of the people we met were very "about," which is an English term that the Japanese use to describe someone who is very laid-back or vague about things, e.g. "Ano hito wa abauto na hito desu" ("That man is very laid-back"). I hope we'll be able to come back to Italy soon!
For the new update, our staff has posted many great new items for you, including a cool new miniature food replica series, new Hello Kitty items (including some cool items for Halloween), new "minus ion" products for you, delicious snacks and other foods from Japan, new Totoro items, more How to Draw Manga guidebooks, more cool Japan-only Hot Wheels, Melon Gum, and more. For our adult customers, we've got some great items too, including DVDs, magazines, photobooks, bondage-related items, many new and restocked hentai manga, doujinshi, a new issue of the excellent Hip & Lip, and more. Please see all the great stuff our staff has posted to the site!
Remember that J-List offers a stagging 2000+ products from Japan for you, with ever possibly kind of product covered. Looking for a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift for the Japan otaku on your list? We've got hundreds of great ideas. What about some cool kitchen or interior items for your house? Want to try some authentic bento boxes from Japan, or try a romantic dating-sim game? Something cool for Halloween? Remember that you can browse newly updated products through the handy link on the J-List first page -- you can even view all products at once using the "view all products" link in the upper left-hand corner, too.
It's time for us to say arrivederci to Roma and hello to Germany, where we'll be peeking in at the Frankfurt Book Fair before taking our flight back to Japan. We're in Frankfurt now (it's much colder here than in Italy!) and are about to go out for some great beer, as soon as I post this.
Rome was great, and we got to see a lot of the city, both the famous parts frequented by tourists and some of the less well-known areas, thanks to friends who were able to show us some places known only to locals. If you ask one hundred Japanese girls what their favorite film is, a large number will tell you the 1953 classic Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Audrey Hepburn is especially popular with Japanese women because she was the first actress of her era that became famous despite having a small bust. It was fun to go to the places featured in the film, eat gelato at the Spanish Steps, and so on.
All countries have what the Japanese call a "kokumin-sei," a set of characteristics that make up what could be called a "national personality." There are some traits that make Germans very German, Americans very American, and so on -- learning what makes people from each country unique is part of the fun of traveling. It was interesting to make observations on the "kokumin-sei" of Italians we met, too, during our time in the city. We were surprised to find that most of the people we met were very "about," which is an English term that the Japanese use to describe someone who is very laid-back or vague about things, e.g. "Ano hito wa abauto na hito desu" ("That man is very laid-back"). I hope we'll be able to come back to Italy soon!
For the new update, our staff has posted many great new items for you, including a cool new miniature food replica series, new Hello Kitty items (including some cool items for Halloween), new "minus ion" products for you, delicious snacks and other foods from Japan, new Totoro items, more How to Draw Manga guidebooks, more cool Japan-only Hot Wheels, Melon Gum, and more. For our adult customers, we've got some great items too, including DVDs, magazines, photobooks, bondage-related items, many new and restocked hentai manga, doujinshi, a new issue of the excellent Hip & Lip, and more. Please see all the great stuff our staff has posted to the site!
Remember that J-List offers a stagging 2000+ products from Japan for you, with ever possibly kind of product covered. Looking for a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift for the Japan otaku on your list? We've got hundreds of great ideas. What about some cool kitchen or interior items for your house? Want to try some authentic bento boxes from Japan, or try a romantic dating-sim game? Something cool for Halloween? Remember that you can browse newly updated products through the handy link on the J-List first page -- you can even view all products at once using the "view all products" link in the upper left-hand corner, too.
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