Greetings from J-List November 21, 2003

Hello and Happy Friday from all of us at J-List! We've got a great update for you tonight just in time for the weekend!

One of the most frustrating things about living in Japan is being on a different wavelength from everyone else -- the common pool of "joshiki" (common sense) that all Japanese plug into doesn't seem to work for us foreigners. Japanese change from winter to summer clothes pretty much on the same day, due to the standardization of the educational system on a national level, but foreigners don't know that just because the first of October has come we should suddenly stop wearing T-shirts and start donning sweaters. In Japan, shops are often closed one day during the week, usually Tuesday or Wednesday, but gaijin don't know this -- and it seems we always make a special trip only to find the place we want to shop at closed. Christmas music usually stops around the New Year's Day, but Japanese shops and radio stations often play it all winter long, which is slightly odd to my gaijin mind. Oh well, it's all part of the fun of living in a place like Japan.

One of my favorites from my YBIJTLW list, located on my personal homepage: "You've been in Japan too long when it takes you several seconds of deep thought to recall the first name of the President of the United States." It's true -- you'd be surprised what living in a foreign country can do to your ability to recall seldom-used information, or even remember some English vocabulary words. Try going years without ever hearing or uttering difficult words, like "gynecologist" or "irreplaceable" -- they can be quite difficult to dredge up from the depths of your memory, even if English is your native language. It's especially bad for native English speakers who work as English teachers in Japan, because you can go for months without hearing any English except the simplified speech of your students, which invariably begins to affect your English in a negative way. In the same way that living in a country like India or New Zealand would begin to affect your own spoken English over time, living in Japan can takes its toll, too.

Japan is not, all things considered, the country you should come to if you're disabled in some way. Standards about wheelchair access are haphazard all around the country, with some cities trying to modernize their facilities, especially public places like parks, so that people with disabilities can use them. Some platforms on some train stations have some kind of wheelchair access, but if the station you're going to doesn't have the same access, it's quite difficult to use the train. One of the primary motivating factors for the progress of Japanese society is how their country looks in the eyes of the foreigners who visit or live here, and Japanese are aware that North American and European foreigners tend to look down on Japan's record when it comes to dealing with its disabled citizens. As a general rule, though, many Japanese will tell you that Japan is a small country without much land (Japan has a population density of 335 persons per square km, vs. just 29 in the U.S.), and just can't have the same amount of access that people in wheelchairs enjoy in the U.S. About a kilometer from J-List there's an interesting sports center for disabled people, with facilities for swimming, wheelchair racing, wheelchair basketball, and other activities.

Remember that we're in the middle of 2004 calendar season, with hundreds of great anime, JPOP, art, idol, traditional and nude calendars in stock for you to order. The warehouse that we constructed this summer is serving us well, allowing us to stock more calendars for you than we ever have in the past. Please note, however, that preorders are now closed for calendars, and already our stock of calendars is starting to sell out, with a half-dozen calendars selling out every day or so. Please check out our stock before the calendars you want are gone! Remember, order 4 or more calendars and get an extra 15% off, and free mailing tubes, too.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, for fans of incredibly cute things from Japan, we've got Hidamari no Tami, a happy character who rocks his head from side to side via solar power - a special Christmas item!
  
• Also, a traditional wooden Christmas Tree that's popular in Japan this year
  
• If you're a Star Wars fans, be sure to pick up the deluxe soft vinyl completed model by Kotobuki, featuring Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper armor from A New Hope
  
• For all fans of Japanese pop culture, we've got a great set of four photobooks, loaded with information on Japan as seen through movie poster art, cosplay and more
  
• For fans of Japan's wonderful high-end character toys, we've got the new issue of Bean's, which features beautiful photography of cool Blythe, Kubrick and other great toys from Japan
  
• Masumi Toyooka is one of the popular stars of Battle Royale II, and she has many fans in Japan -- enjoy her sweet hardcover photobook in stock now
  
• For fans of Japan's famous school uniform culture, we've got two new photobooks that show many pretty models wearing some of Japan's most famous uniforms -- great for cosplay fans
  
• We have some great snack foods from Japan, including traditional Japanese mustard, Milky Cocoa soft candies and Hello Kitty mayonnaise flavored fried squid
  
• Also, we've restocked our popular Hello Kitty toilet paper (both colors)
  
• We've also got super cute Fruit Yogurt Pretzels from the Nyanko Restaurant character series
  
• Then enjoy the delightful swimsuit offering of Mai Mochizuki, a beautiful and popular cute idol in Japan today
  
• For fans of CLAMP, we've got a great 2 volume set of their newest manga work, XXX Holic
  
• We've got more wacky Japanese sign plates, including "Do Not Urinate Here" and a classic Japanese exit sign
  
• Also, new wacky Japanese colorful "pin badges" for your collection
  
• We've got some fun items for you, including more Japanese play money and Japanese train tickets (complete with ticket clipper)
  
• We have some cool traditional cloth drawstring bags with hiragana on them, very cool
  
• Finally, enjoy cute "Lucky Cat" stickers, more varieties of Pocky and Pretz in stock for you, a great way to make coffee in the Japanese style, Hello Kitty watercolor painting, and more!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, enjoy the new issue of Senningiri, featuring delightful kogals from Shibuya
  
• We've got the new issue of I'll Give Myself To You, for fans of erotic hardcore sex by Japanese amateurs
  
• For fans with an international eye, we've got the new issue of Bachelor, Japan's magazine for fans of busty women all around the world, with girls from Germany, Czech, Latvia and more
  
• Also: a great treat for our magazine customers, we've added abut 15-20 items that were previously out of stock, including many of our popular $5 magazine -- but they'll go fast!
  
• For hardcover photobook fans, enjoy the very erotic offering of Kaori, with her dynamite body that will amaze you
  
• For hentai manga fans, we've got some top-quality adult comics for you, with two great works by Sho Katase, Hiroshi Kawamoto's erotic Monstrous Big Breasts, and parody Shirow Masamune hentai
  
• We've also got lots of restocked comics, including Buttagiri Sisters, Kunoichi Premium, Sacrifice, and more
  
• For DVD fans, we've got some great new items for you, starting with a great parody of "sentai" or colorful combat teams like Power rangers, this time with a very erotic twist (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the erotic sex of Mai Sakashita, who stars in 24 Hours Bukkake Semen & Sex, a great work from Soft on Demand (region free)
  
• From SOD's Deep's label, enjoy a great 2-in-1 release of Lesbian Hospital vol. 3 & 4, collected on a great bargain-priced DVD for you (region free)
  
• The erotic gals of Eastern Europe are back again, with more erotic Czech girls from Prague (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the best lesbian sex of U&K's Lesbian Ecstasy Best Vol. 1, with their most erotic lesbian performances ever (region free)
  
• From Waap Entertainment, enjoy a great Cosplay Bukkake Special featuring Nao. fulfilling your erotic wishes (region 2)
  
• Then we've got a great treat for fans of our bargain-priced Soft on Demand Outlet DVD titles: a full dozen titles added to the outlet page, with great titles like Super Bishoujo Kiss, Cat Fight Network Manticore, Kiss Battle Royale and more available for a great price!
  

Remember that J-List carries something that's almost impossible to get outside of Japan: authentic, beautifully hand-sewn Japanese high school uniforms, made just for you by the famous Matsukameya of Nagoya. Each uniform is sewn just for you, to the sizes you specify on our detailed chart, and the quality is not to be believed. If you love Japanese "cosplay" and want to try on a real Japanese female high school uniform (the company takes pride in offering sizes large enough for men to wear them), please see the excellent items we have on our site. We also have uniforms for guys, too!
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Greetings from J-List November 19, 2003

Hello again from all of us at J-List!

I remember back to my first few weeks in Japan. It was a thrilling, exciting time, and I was captivated by everything I encountered, from vending machines selling UCC canned coffee to hearing the "when a body meets a body coming through the rye" music that plays at intersections as a signal to the blind that they can cross the street safely. One of my first impressions of Japan was that it wasn't a very safe place for kids. From the extremely steep hardwood staircases in the homes I visited to the lack of child carseats (Japan's first carseat was passed in 1999), I was often surprised at potential dangers to children. Japanese kids also do what would be unthinkable in the U.S.: walk up to several miles to school, with nary a school bus to be seen. Of course, it's very common to view things in other countries as being not as good as they are back home, so you always have to keep an open mind about other countries (Americans, I've learned, especially need to do this). On the other hand, Japan has definitely benefited from the collective observations of foreigners living inside the country, who point out things which could be improved, like requiring parents to put their kids in protective child seats when driving.

It's always interesting to compare the differences between Japan and the U.S. In America, many products like Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Wriggley's gum and Tootsie Rolls have been around for over a century, some since the Civil War, and they continue to dominate in their respective categories. Japanese consumers, however, seem to favor new products when they shop, forcing manufacturers to come up with new ideas at a faster pace. While there are some solid Japanese standbys that never change -- Original Pocky, or Peko-chan Milk Candy -- any visit to a Japanese "conbini" (convenience store) is sure you bring you into contact with a dozen or so products you've never seen before. The red-hot Japanese beer industry is an example of this: even in the small-town liquor store that my wife's parents operate, I constantly see new twists on Japanese beer, like beer formulated for ladies, or beer with dietary fiber added, or beer that tries to recreate the beers brewed in the Meiji era. I've had Japanese tell me that this is because Japanese themselves have short attention spans, and move onto the next big thing rather quickly. While it's always nice to find a new flavor of Pretz or a new blend of green tea on store shelves, it's also good to have a core of old favorites that never change.

J-List carries all the Japan-release anime DVDs from director Hayao Miyazaki, the famous creator of My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Now we're extremely pleased to have the Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind DVD in stock for you. Nausicaa is the film that really demonstrated to the world the genius of Mr. Miyazaki, and marked the start of his great rise to international prominance. Now you can enjoy the complete and uncut film with the deluxe 2-DVD release, which includes many extras added by the director himself. We've got the DVD with first-press soft case and the DVD with limited-edition ceramic figure set in stock for you now! (The Nausicaa Deluxe Collector's Box will come in on Dec. 5.)

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, we've got more calendars in stock for you, various anime, idol and traditional calendars that have come in stock
  
• We have a fantastic sexy manga for you, Gun Dragon Sigma, featuring live-action Taiwanese Race Queen Yinling acting in a beautifully drawn manga story by Cobra creator Buichi Terasawa -- don't miss this!
  
• Enjoy the cute photographs of Mitsuho Ohtani and her great hardcover photobook, Chance Meeting, filled with beautiful imagery of this vibrant Japanese idol
  
• Also, the delightful Kasumi Nakane looks great in her deluxe new photobook, which comes with a DVD, too
  
• For fans of delightful swimsuit idols like Yuko Ogura, we've gotten in fresh stock of the bargain-priced Hyper Product Revolution 2003, a great item for you
  
• For fans of unique toys from Japan, we've got some cool plastic model replicas of a fanciful weapon of the future, the Panzer Tier Road Skipper
  
• Our Japanese traditional music CDs have been well received, so we've posted more of these for you, including traditional songs of the sumo wrestling world, and beautiful folksongs from northern Japan
  
• For Kitty fans, we've got some rare and cool items, including Kitty pocket tissue, more delicious Kitty ochazuke and limited stock of the Hello Kitty hair dryer -- so cool
  
• We've got other fun snack foods and other items from Japan, including traditional plum nori, soft senbei rice crackers, more Fujiya chocolate crayons that you can eat, and fresh stock of various chewing from Japan, like Black Black caffeine gum and more
  
• We're big fans of the meticulously made miniature toys from, called "candy toys" since they usually come with candy inside the box -- see a very cool replica of a friendly Japanese cafe, rendered in every detail (full sets available)
  
• We've got a very detailed series of detailed toy figures from the famous Yamato company, great for fans of this popular anime
  
• For fans of the Kubrick-style block toys, we've got the cool Electronic Virus figures from Yujin, which come in a great display canister
  
• We love wacky Japanese signs, and we've got fresh stock of some fun plastic "sign plates" for you
  
• Look for a fun "happy face" pencil case, for fans of the "Niko Niko Club" character items from Japan
  
• Finally, for those who hate being cold in the winter (like me), we've got fresh stock of the large-size "nukukko" Japanese hand warmers, cloth packets that keep you toast for up to 18 hours.
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• First, we've got the new issues of Penthouse Japan and Penthouse Special, two beautiful magazines filled with only Japanese girls, photographed by Japanese photographers
  
• Then enjoy the new issue of One-X (oh-NAY-X), for fans of the "oneesan" (older sister/girl in her mid 20s) type sexually experience females
  
• For photobook fans, we've got some great new hardcover offerings in, starting with Akira Watase's super erotic pictorial
  
• Also, enjoy fresh stock of the dynamite Japanese Eros and Russian Eros -- great to compare the two!
  
• For fans of Japan's famous erotic manga, we've got some new works for you, starting with Sketching Doll, an erotic tale of naughtiness by Mujin Comics, Shinobu Naka's delightfully erotic Pure Heartea, and other great hentai manga works from Japan
  
• Also, we have a giant update of superb hentai manga comics, with a dozen items back in stock for you
  
• Also, for yaoi lovers, we've got another great new issue of the very hardcore Gush Mania, this time volume 5, with 280 pages of great content for you -- as well as fresh stock of several other yaoi comic works
  
• For DVD fans, we've got great new titles for you, starting off with Open Legs, a silky and erotic leg and pantyhose fetish release from Shueisha (region free)
  
• A new work from Soft on Demand's famous director Hajime, beautiful amateur girls are asked to look at men's penises from behind a curtain and guess which one belongs to their boyfriend (region free)
  
• Kirari Koizumi is a bright, happy adult star from Japan -- see her best-ever erotic performances in Remix of Kirari Koizumi (region free)
  
• European girls performing with Japanese actors is really popular in Japan now -- enjoy the sweet eros of girls from Sweden and Denmark (region free)
  
• We've been fans of the sultry Akira Watase ever since she appeared on the Japanese adult video scene five years ago -- now see her great new erotic release from Momotaro (includes underwater sex, a Japanese favorite fetish) (region 2)
  
• Then enjoy a treat, 4 hours of the most erotic Dream Woman series from Moodyz, a super item for bukkake fans everywhere (region 2)
  
• Then, we've got a major restocking of erotic DVDs for you, with fresh stock of Big Breasts Battle 8 Hours Special, Ran Asakawa 4-Hour Non-Stop Ecstasy, Natural Gokkun Girl with Nao., the superb Photo Shot DX DVD version, and more!
  

J-List loves DVDs, and we stock over 800 titles for our customers, including a wide range of innovative and fun discs only sold in Japan. Order 4 or more DVDs and get a great 20% discount off the total, automatically calculated at checkout. And we've also got special discs marked-down in price, and with free shipping too! Please take time to browse our great selection of only-available-in-Japan DVD titles.

There are just 36 days til Christmas. If you've got any Japanophiles on your Christmas list, why not check out the J-List site and see what unique items from Japan they'd like to have? From calendars to wacky T-shirts to tasty snacks from Japan to really cool toys, we've got items everyone on your list is sure to love. We've revved our staff up too, so we're able to get packages out the door very quickly. Let us know how we can serve you this Christmas season!

Greetings from J-List November 17, 2003

Hello again from Japan!

One thing I've learned about the Japanese is that they sometimes go overboard with love of things from America and Europe. There's a word for this -- seiyo suhai shugi, or worship of the West, which describes the tendency of some Japanese to view anything from America and Europe as better than Japan. I was reminded of this when Keanu Reeves came to Japan as part of the promotion of Matrix Revolutions. He was interviewed by several famous Japanese "talents" (television personalities), including Ai Iijima, who has a bit of an interesting past herself (she was the top adult film star of the 1990s until she quit to appear on talk shows). It's impossible to describe how excited all the Japanese talents were about meeting this big star from America -- Ai-chan could hardly breathe. In true Japanese fashion, the Japanese showered their guest with gifts, including a beautiful Japanese shamisen (he played it like an electric guitar).

It goes without saying that beside Keanu Reeves was Natsuko Toda, the Queen of Movie Subtitling in Japan, who never misses the chance to share the limelight of a visiting Hollywood star and interpret Japanese for him. Ms. Toda's translation skills are so much in demand by Hollywood studios that she effectively decides what movies Japanese will see and when. The art of compressing a complex film into two lines of subtitles is a difficult one, and if it's not done well Japanese moviegoers won't understand the story, and ticket sales will suffer. Big-ticket movies like Titanic and Spiderman and The Matrix all make sure to have her on board when releasing a film in Japan. In the case of Lord of the Rings films (the Japanese title for which sounds like "Road of the Ring" to Japanese fans, unfortunately), the choice of Toda for the translations may have been a mistake, because of her lack of familiarity with original works, either the English originals or established Japanese translations. As a result, there are several mis-translations and errors in the Japanese subtitles of the first two movies. You can see Natsuko Toda sitting beside Nicholas Cage in this funny commercial for a Japanese pachinko maker: http://www.tokyodv.com/feature/NickCageTranslate.html

There's a wacky thing that Japanese do to money: fold a 1000 yen bill so that Souseki Natsume (the 19th century novelist who adorns the Japanese 1000 yen note) makes sad or happy faces, depending on which way you look at the bill. I'll teach you how it's done so you can amaze your friends with this great Japanese trick. First, take a bill and make an outward fold where each of his eyes are. Make an inward fold through the middle of his face, so that his eyes are higher than his nose (like little mountains). If you look at the bill from above, the face will look sad; from below, and he'll look happy. Virtually all Japanese known this silly trick, and would be surprised if any non-Japanese knew it. Here's an example of what it'll look like when you're done: http://www.jlist.com/1000.html . If you don't have any Japanese money lying around, it should work pretty much the same with other bills, too. (If you like the way Japanese money looks, we've got some cool Japanese "money choco" in stock today that you should check out.)

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• Our new long-sleeved crewneck shirts and hoodies are off to a great start, and we're helping them out by adding new designs already: a hoody version of Emergency exit and hoody and sweatshirt versions of Beware of Perverts
  
• Our Totoro and Hello Kitty soft blankets from Japan are selling extremely well, and some have sold through more than half the stock we got in two weeks ago -- we've added three more deluxe Totoro blankets, which comes in beautiful gift boxes, to the site now
  
• For fans of the timeless Street Fighter games, we've got a very special item: a special set of figures of Chun Li and Cammy, featuring sexy and exciting poses from the games -- and full sets are available!
  
• Also: two new issues of Figure Maniacs, the last word in highly detailed anime figures from Japan, and the excellent volume six of Gothic & Lolita Bible, for fans of all things gothic
  
• I am personally a big fan of Castle in the Sky Laputa -- we've got a very rare licensed character mirror in stock that is great
  
• We have some interesting music CDs from Japan for you, one featuring famous folk songs of western Japan, and a bizarre item we couldn't resist adding to the site, "Reggae Christmas Carols"
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, we've got more of the cool bathroom accessories that will turn your guest bathroom into a conversation piece among all your friends
  
• Also, enjoy Hello Kitty ochazuke, delicious salmon, seaweed and rice cracker pieces that you eat over white rice with boiling water -- the nori comes in Kitty shapes, too!
  
• For other fans of our delicious Japanese food items, enjoy deluxe miso soup, tasty chocolate 5 yen coins, fresh new Hello Kitty Pretz and Fran Strawberrya great way to try Japanese mayonnaise, and more
  
• Ochaken, e.g. Tea Dog, is a super cute character from Japan who promotes healthy tea -- we've got some rare Tea Dog plush pets in stock for you
  
• Studying Japanese? We've restocked our handy dictionaries which are great for customers who have studied some Japanese
  
• For anime fans, we've got the original manga that Please Teacher was based on, a great treat for fans
  
• We've got some more Japanese hot springs powder, this time from Kusatsu Hot Springs, the most famous onsen town in Gunma prefecture (and my own personal favorite place to bathe)
  
• We've restocked the fun Japanese Money Chocolate, which looks like Japanese paper money and comes with fun-to-collect money cards inside
  
• Finally, look for wacky Japanese danger signs, happy hooks that will brighten your room, more Japanese "congratulations envelopes" that are so beautiful, more delicious Melty Kiss, and other fun items!
  

For our adult customers, we've got many new 18+ products. They include:

• For those who love big, busty Japanese girls like Alice Hoshi, we have the great new issue of Gal's Dee, featuring only girls of size "D" cup or bigger
  
• Then don't miss the new issue of Shuffle, featuring super erotic amateur having sex in love hotels
  
• For fans of the Japanese fetish of "hitozuma" or married women, we've got a new issue if Bizuma Hacker for you to enjoy
  
• For photobook fans, we've got some great items, starting with the hardcover offering of Yoshimi Asada, Dolce
  
• Then enjoy the super sexy photobook of Noriko Aota, a stylish and erotic Japanese woman with European elegance
  
• Leg fetish fans, don't miss the super sexy Micro Mini, featuring elegant long legs, silky stockings and short mini-skirts for you
  
• Also, we've got fresh stock of some great photobooks that had sold out, including Kaori Shimamura's PREM, Alice Ogura's erotic 2nd photobook, Ayuri Iisaku's erotic Flexible photobook, Kaoru and Kaoru Private Collection, and more
  
• We have some great hentai manga for you, starting with the sexual exploits of newscaster Miki, top quality erotica and tentacle sex with the oddly-named Do Tomorrow is a New Day?, the busty Secret Service and more
  
• Also, we've restocked our adult manga, including branded, Condensed Milky, Sexy and Charming Wife's Apron, and more
  
• For Shirow Masamune fans, look for fresh stock of Jashin Hunter (often translated as Demon Hunter) Japanese novels illustrated by the master illustrator, as well as fresh stock of the popular Intron Depot 3 art book
  
• For yaoi fans, we have another popular issue of the top-quality Gush Mania, featuring erotic stories by ten different yaoi artists
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got more great new releases from Japan, starting with a new Nao Oikawa's Bukkake Ittassho, the bizarre late-night sex TV series that is available on DVD (region free)
  
• Hitomi Hayasaka, one of our favorites here at J-List, satisfies your every wish in a new cosplay DVD -- she looks great dressing up in different uniforms as she performs for you (region free)
  
• From Dogma, see a great team of four "chijo" (slutty women, the opposite of the word "chikan"), who take on a roomful of virgin guys and take their cherries with vigor (region free)
  
• SOD's Fan Thanks Day tradition continues as Kokoro Amano shows her gratitude to her fans for supporting her, by gathering two dozen fans and performing sex acts on them (region free)
  
• See the best erotic works of Nao Oikawa in the new Remix, by Soft on Demand, featuring her great works at a great price (region free)
  
• From Moodyz, we have a new Clothed Female naked Male, featuring bold and fun adventures with girls who want to tease and perform experiments on the male penis (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for various erotic DVD releases, including fresh stock of Super Angle of Oppai and Tease Fetish Angles in Huge Boobies, by Anna Ohura, Triple Lesbian in Office, Manami Suzuki Drinks Semen, and the great "Best Choice Edition a Couple of Female Lovers from Cover to Cover." Also, fresh stock of the popular Gold Bird and Euro Angels!
  

Remember that J-List carries that great symbol of Japanese wacky pop culture, the Hello Kitty Vibrating Shoulder Massager, which is of course intended as massager for your neck and shoulders, although some would call it a Hello Kitty vibrator. A licensed Sanrio item sold only in Japan, the unit features high and low massage modes, and a beautiful image of Kitty and her rabbit friend. It looks just great, in or out of case -- display it as the objet d'art that it is. Why not get a few, and give them out as gifts? We now give you a hefty 20% discount for getting 3 or more, so they're a great idea for Christmas gifts. Production has totally stopped on this item, and we expect that our stock will run out sometime within the next couple of months.