Greetings from J-List February 6, 2004

Hello and Happy Friday from all of us in Japan!

One of the coolest "needless items" that can be found Japan are the massage chairs, made by National (Panasonic) and several other companies. These chairs use little wheels built into the unit to massage your shoulders and back, and they're really quite advanced. The newest models massage your legs and feet along with your back, and have optional "minus ion" (negatively-charged ion) generators that makes the air around you feel like it does when a thunderstorm has just gone past. Another neat needless item the Japanese have come up with are the famous washlets, toilet seats that will wash your butt for you with a stream of warm water, then dry it with warm air -- they have bidets, too, if you have guests visiting from France (ha-ha). Other features of toilet seats in Japan are lids that close slowly when you let go of them, and a heating elements built into the seat, which are great in the winter (these toilets are called "warmlets").

You've been in Japan too long when you get a 'nihongo ga jozu' and feel really insulted. It's an odd fact of life in Japan, but foreigners who are learning Japanese strive for that magic moment when people will stop complimenting them on how good their Japanese is. Being told "your Japanese is very good" ("nihongo ga jozu") is a sign that your language ability is good, but not quite good enough -- if it were, the person you're conversing with would just shut up and talk to you normally. After studying Japanese for four years at SDSU and living in Japan since 1992, I am hopefully as fluent as I will ever need to be, although there are still occasional difficulties. I went to KFC a few months ago, but for some reason, I couldn't make myself understood by the girl taking my order. It turned out that she was a foreigner herself, a university student from China, and hadn't understood my American Japanese accent.

The Japanese can be very expressive with English words sometimes, making new words that capture emotions in interesting ways. Soft-serve ice cream is called "soft cream" here, and the love between a parent and child is called "skinship." Sometimes the Japanese take English words and turn them into sexual things -- words like "fashion," "health," "image" and "pink" all tend to be sexual in nature, usually related to establishments where men can go for professional service of one kind or another. The Japanese also make up some interesting words of their own, too. Opening a bag of potato chips down the middle so that it opens like a flower, allowing everyone to share the contents, is called "manko-ake" which means "to open the bag so that it looks like female genitalia." Also, that really cute thing that Japanese actresses do of leaving their panties on one leg while making love is called "kata-ashi-pan," literally "one-legged panties."

For today's BIG update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:

• First, for all fans of wacky things from Japan, we've gotten in the next Vermilion Pleasure Nights, a wacky selection of late-night short films that has a huge cult following in Japan -- fully subtitled in English! Our favorite story is the one about the girl who finds herself in an OH! Mikey like world of mannequins
  
• Speaking of OH! Mikey, we were able to get more stock of the very popular first three discs, so fans of this bizarre and funny Japanese creation can enjoy them all
  
• If you don't have a region free DVD player yet, we humble recommend the three units we have -- two great transportable players and a new low-cost model that's just $78, all in stock now!
  
• For Japanese snack fans, enjoy delicious kim chee flavored fried nori, tasty rice crackers, tasty dried sardines which Japanese actually eat, and delicious Milk Cocoa chocolate cakes by Morinaga
  
• Also, we've done a major restocking of popular snacks for you, with Pocky (Sweet Pumpkin, Almond Crush, Cocoa Powder and Men's), Pretz (Tomato, Milk and Cocoa, and Crispy Pizza), and the very last stock we'll be getting of the best-selling Gummi Sushi (fruit flavored sushi pieces on marshmallow rice)
  
• A rare item for fans of the Ragnarok Online game and characters, we've got the Premium Illustration File in stock (but stock is limited)
  
• For Godzilla fans, we've got a most excellent soft vinyl Godzilla toy from Bandai, for the new Godzilla film in Japan -- 12 inches long
  
• We've got several great photobooks back in stock, including Boa, Yuko Ogura, and the Encyclopedia of High School Uniforms
  
• We have two positively beautiful soft vinyl pre-painted figures from Welcome to Pia Carrot, which would look great in your room
  
• Also very cool, we have a highly detailed series of figures from the longest-running TV show in history, Mito Komon, a samurai drama that's been on the air without a break for 34 years
  
• Do you like Crayon Shinchan, the Bart Simpson of Japan? We've got plush versions of Shinchan and his dog, Shiro
  
• We love cute things from Japan, and one of the cutest things around is the Usagi Collection series -- see some cute Usa-Colle erasers with little flying rabbit pods inside
  
• We love to bring you bizarre things from Japan, and we've restocked our "beginners' mark" magnets which you stick to your car -- they're really for anyone whose been driving for a year or less, but I had one on my car while in college because I thought they looked cool
  
• We've got more wacky pins with funny images and messages on them, and more Japanese signs and stickers too
  
• For all your wacky interior decorating needs, we have more maps of Japanese cities, including Tokyo and Osaka
  
• A popular board game played in Japan is Shogi, the Japanese version of Chess -- we've got a deluxe Shogi board with wooden pieces in stock for you to play with now
  
• For bento fans, we've got some great items for you, including the Kyoto DX and Kani Kani bento sets, fresh stock of chopsticks, and more
  
• For Hello Kitty fans, we've got more of the popular Kitty mayonnaise cups, onigiri makers and printed chopsticks, too
  
• Totoro and Hayao Miyazaki fans, we've got several excellent new items for you, including toys and music boxes from Laputa, Kiki's Delivery Service and more
  
• For students of Japanese, we've added stock of our inexpensive mini dictionaries
  
• We've restocked our Japanese "kairo" hand/pocket warmers, amazing little pockets of sand that keep you toasty for up to 18 hours, which we highly recommend to everyone living in cold parts of the world
  
• Finally, we've got some great "wacky things from Japan" for you, including a portable opener that can open anything, a handy cutter, and more!
  

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

• For fans of deliciously beautiful Japanese women, we have the new issue of Urecco Gal, filled to the top with stylish and sexy kogals
  
• Photobook fans, we've got some great items for you, starting with a new sassy nude photobook offering by Miwa Tosaki
  
• Then enjoy the dynamite nudes of Ryo Uehara, a fantastic new busty idol who has exploded onto the scene here
  
• Next up is a super cute hardcover photobook by swimsuit idol Junko Fukada, with the ponderous title of "Bloody Cherry"
  
• Also, various restocked photobooks for you, including hardcover works by the super Kaori, Mayu Koizumi's "Bazooka" and Miri Hanai's "First Experience"
  
• For fans of the fetish of "New Half," we have a new gouka-bon deluxe photobook in stock
  
• Then enjoy our great new hentai manga, with many newly posted adult comics for collectors, including Glossy Leg by Mint Mizutani, as well as a giant update of sold out titles for you
  
• For yaoi customers, we've also got several popular books in for you, including several issues of Muscle Men and b-Boy Zips
  
• We've got another bunch of great brand-new doujinshi for you, including parodies of many of the top anime shows
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great new titles for you, starting with the super Max-A Anniversary Special, a whopping 4 hours of sex from the best names in Japan (region free)
  
• Then for fans of the super-busty Marina Matsushima, one of the most buxom women we've ever seen, we have a great new offering from TMA (region free)
  
• From Dogma and director Hitoshi Nomura, enjoy superb girl/girl action with Akira Watase and Yui Kayama (region free)
  
• From SOD, we have the Sperm Bible, in which you will learn about the Seven Deeds of Bukkake Happiness, starring Kokoro Amano and directed by the famous Kazuhiko Matsumoto (region free)
  
• Then we've got a great performance of all "girl on top" (called "horse riding style" in Japanese), a great DVD release from Soft on Demand (region free)
  
• Finally, enjoy a major update of DVD titles for you, including Marina Matsushima, Anna Ohura, Mizuho Kano, Aoi Sora, Asuka Sawaguchi and more.
  

Remember that J-List still has many great 2004 Japanese calendars in stock, at great prices because they're all being closed out. We've got anime, traditional, cute character, JPOP and nude calendars available for you -- click to see our remaining stock. Still over 50+ great calendars to choose from, starting at just $3!

Greetings from J-List February 4, 2004

Greetings programs, from all of us at J-List!

February is here, and that means one thing to retailers in Japan: time to push chocolate molds, cake decorations and other Valentine's Day themed products. Valentine's Day in Japan is a little different from what you might be used to in your home country: here, women give chocolate to men to show their feelings, and February 14th is a day when a girl who has a crush on a boy can confess her feelings (this comes up in anime quite a lot). It's also a kind of day of giving thanks, when daughters and wives give something special to fathers and husbands as a way of saying "gokuro-sama" (go-KOO-roh sah-mah, "thanks for working so hard for us"). In companies, women often feel the pressure to give chocolate to the males in the office, which is called "giri-choco" (obligation chocolate). Men who receive chocolate must give a gift in return on March 14, dubbed White Day.

No study of Japan is complete without mention of two major themes, tatemae and honne (TAH-tay-MAH-ae and HON-neh). These are two difficult concepts, which are woven into the fabric of Japan as a nation. Tatemae could be translated as the ideas expressed in public or the way we pretend society is, while honne is the way we really feel, or the way the world really is. Often tatemae are the things you say to people in certain social situations, even though you don't feel that way inside. When I see my wife, who has mastered English and lived in the U.S., talking with the other mothers in the neighborhood who have never been outside of Japan, I can see some tatemae in action: she has to hold her own real opinions back much of the time. Tatemae can also exist in the society at large. For example, gambling is illegal in Japan, so you win "prizes" at Pachinko parlors, which you "sell" for money at small shops located conveniently next door. Prostitution is also illegal, yet there are "soaplands" where a beautiful girl will give you a full body wash in a bath (including one in Shibuya, located right behind a police station). And on Tokyo's busy Kan-Nana Bypass, the speed limit is a meager 40 kph (24 mph), but anyone actually going that speed would surely cause an accident -- so everyone speeds along at 90 kph (55 mph).

Another core concept that any pop Japanologist needs to know is the often-quoted-by-gaijin-who-are-experts-on-Japan phrase "deru kui wa utareru" (DE-ru KOO-ee wa oo-TAH-reh-ru), which translate as "the standing nail is driven." This describes the tendency of Japanese society to react unfavorably to those who don't conform as they should, and force them back in line -- individuals who stick out too far are "hammered down." In school in Japan, for example, there's subtle pressure on kids to behave as they're expected to. There's one way to put your backpack in your cubby hole, one way to sit in your chair, one way to hold a pencil while writing. While conformity is not something Americans view in a favorable light, the kind of subtle conformity in Japan can be described as "compulsory inclusion," with teachers making sure that everyone feels they're a part of the group, be it a school classroom or society as a whole.

We've been promoting the wacky Japanese drama OH! Mikey for a long time here at J-List, and selling the English-subtitled DVDs -- now we've got the long-awaited vol. 4 of this hilarious series, a parody of gaijin living in Japan acted out with fashion mannequins. We expect to get the other volumes in stock again by next week, so you can order them if you like, and we'll hold the items until they're ready to go out to you. (OH! Mikey was written up in the current issue of Wired, which has made it difficult for us to keep the DVDs in stock.)

J-List sells low-cost region-free DVD players that allow you to watch region 2 discs from Japan as well as PAL discs from Europe on your NTSC TV. In addition to the "transportable" units we currently sell, we've got a new unit coming from Lasonic that allows you to watch DVDs from any region -- and at a really great price. Perfect for fans of OH! Mikey and other region 2 DVDs who don't want to spend a lot of money on a region free player. We'll also be getting the popular DVF-982 transportable DVD player back in stock very soon.

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

• At J-List, we live to bring you cool things from Japan you wouldn't be able to find any other way. For fans of our Japanese candy and snack items, we've added traditional Japanese "fizzing hard candy" called bubble balls (awa-dama), delicious cola, melon, grape and ramune flavored candy that's fun to eat. They've been around for decades in Japan. Mix and match your candy or buy a whole display case
  
• Another item that's well known to Japanese is Lilly Baseball Gum, a pachinko-like baseball game which spits out a gumball -- totally fun, and in stock now!
  
• We have a fun Soft Glider in stock, lightweight styrofoam replicas of airplanes from World War II that are very popular with Japanese boys right now
  
• For Gundam fans, a very special series of "Char's Customized Mecha" used by the Red Comet Char Aznable -- we have full sets!
  
• We've restocked several popular toy items, including the Tomica Anniversary Collection (die-cast replicas of the coolest classic Japanese cars), the Reservoir Dogs Kubrick figure sets, cool Blythe dolls, the Gundam Haro alarm clock, and more
  
• Also, fresh stock of the Hot Wheels K.I.T.T. from the 80's shot Knight Rider, made only for the Japanese market
  
• Interested in Gothic & Lolita fashions, and wish you could make your own outfits? We've restocked the Homemade Gothic & Lolita book, which features patterns you can pull out and use to make clothes
  
• Then see a super cute anime figure from the popular manga and anime Futari H, featuring a character you can change the clothes of
  
• We just love the super-detailed miniature food toys from Re-Ment, which are based on the wax food that is displayed in front of Japanese restaurants -- we've got a brand new series in stock for you, featuring ten different delicious meals you could find at a great cafe restaurant, complete with plates, drinks, and silverware! (we have both individual boxes and full sets available)
  
• Dried ramen noodles with peanuts are a delicious snack from Japan - we've got them in stock, so try some!
  
• We've made a major restocking on the Japanese candy page, adding Black Black caffeine gum, sake candy, Hello Kitty chewing candy, Mushroom Mountain chocolate mushrooms, traditional Okinawan "black candy" and many other items -- enjoy all our restocked snacks!
  
• Need to count things? We've got a really spiffy Japanese automatic counting clicker that you can use to keep track of just about anything
  
• For fans of Licca-chan, the famous line of fashion dolls from Japan, we've got a really cool limited-edition Denny's Licca, whose uniform is made from real Denny's uniforms
  
• Remove unwanted oil from food with a cool oil-removing sheet from Japan, great for improving health
  
• In addition to the new OH! Mikey, above, we've got a deluxe new version of The Vermilion Pleasure Night, a collection of bizarre short films shown on late-night Japanese TV (the original pilot episodes of OH! Mikey is part of this)
  
• Finally, look for various wacky things from Japan, such as deluxe food forks that will impress your guests, a keychain guaranteed to make you happy, a unique Japanese hanger, and more!
  

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

• For fans of Japan's quality adult magazines, we've got the new issue of Gokuh, the oversized magazine of bold and beautiful Japanese women
  
• Japan's hardcover photobooks are a beautiful way to enjoy high-quality glossy photographs of Japanese women -- see a great new photobook featuring Takako Inoue
  
• Then enjoy a nice nude photobook featuring the charming body of Minori Kousaki, photos by Nomura Seiichi
  
• Super sexy swimsuit idol Miwa Oshiro (Miwa Ohshiro) shoots a beautiful photobook in Los Angeles, a very cool offering for you
  
• We've also restocked several popular photobook items for you, including sexy "girls in underoos" stylish nude books, sexy photobooks by Yuko Ogura, and more
  
• Then see the sweet and charming photographs of sexy idol Sayaka Numajiri
  
• J-List carries hundreds of great hentai comics from Japan, and we've got another excellent selection of new books for you, including manga by Japan's top artists and studios
  
• For our manga customers, we've worked extra hard for you to restock many popular manga items -- many books have been restocked including Gehenna, Virgin Nakadashi, Please Enjoy the Pretty Girl and more
  
• For hentai doujinshi collectors, we have yet another great volley of erotic parody doujinshi for you -- check out all the all-new titles before they sell out
  
• For CG girl fans, we have a cool new magazine: AI Idol, which features tons of information on the latest 3DCG hentai games, how to make your own characters, and more (comes with a CD-ROM too)
  
• For our DVD customers, we've got some great titles for you, starting with 210 luscious minutes of performances by Riri Yuuki (region free)
  
• From Dogma, we've got the amazing return to AV by Haruki Mizuno, one of the top big-breast stars of the 1990's and one of our favorites at J-List - enjoy her bukkake performance! (region free)
  
• From Soft on Demand, Kokoro Amano performs as a super high-class soap lady (region free)
  
• Next the beautiful Mirai Hoshizaki gives up her back-door virginity in a super new DVD from Wanz Factory (region 2)
  
• Also, explore the world of les-play with a great new release from Waap Entertainment (region 2)
  
• We've made a major update to our DVD page, too, adding the Animation & Marchen, Japanese adult video wrestling, Marina Matsushima's wonderful DVD releases, and Skeleton Fetish, the fetish of women wearing see-through clothes.
  

Remember that J-List carries various only-sold-in-Winter treats like Melty Kiss, Cocoa Pocky, March of the Koalas and other tasty items. Get them now before the weather gets too warm and the items disappear. We don't sell any chocolate products in the hot summer months, so it's a good time to sample the great snacks we've got for you.

Greetings from J-List February 2, 2004

Hello from Japan, home of cars with funny names like the Honda That's.

We've taken to spending our weekends getting to know our own prefecture, exploring the backroads of Gunma, where we live, in our Mazda Bongo Friendee. A rural prefecture with a population of 2 million located right in the center of Japan's main island of Honshu, Gunma is famous for mountains, water, poetry (a famous Japanese poet was born here), politicians (three of Japan's past prime ministers hail from our prefecture), and cold, biting wind in the winter, called kara-kaze. Some of the best hot springs can be found in Gunma, and quite frequently we roam around looking for undiscovered places to take a hot bath. There are other fun attractions, such as Gunma Flower Park, where you can see flowers from all over the world; Tobu World Square, with scale replicas of architectural wonders of the world; and Green Bokujo, a kind of mock farm where city folks can interact with farm animals. For something entirely different, go to Kronenberg, a mock-up replica of a German village in the mountains near us, complete with embarrassed-looking German gaijin standing around. But they have good beer and sausages! Last weekend we went to Gunma Safari Park, where you can see animals of Africa from inside your car, although my kids love the game Zoo Tycoon, so they were more interested in seeing zookeepers raking up poo, like they do in the game.

When I got here 12 years ago, I noticed many things that the Japanese were very fond of, which seemed odd to me and my fresh-from-the-States sensibilities. The Japanese just love corn soup, and you can buy it in most restaurants -- they even have canned corn soup sold in vending machines, which is great to hold in your hands on winter mornings. Audrey Hepburn is the favorite actress of many Japanese, and her film Roman Holiday is one of the most well-known movies among Japanese women. Sydney Sheldon is one of the most popular Western authors, and his books are all translated into Japanese and appear in most every bookstore (usually alongside the translated works of Agatha Christie). Then there are some things from the U.S. that Japanese aren't so fond of. Mexican style beans are one -- Japanese nearly always hate these when they eat them for the first time, because in Japan, beans are supposed to be sweet. (Foreigners usually hate Japanese beans for the same reason.) Another product the Japanese usually can't handle is root beer, which is detested universally by Japanese, who think it tastes like the pain relieving Salonpas. Most Japanese can handle Dr. Pepper okay. Japanese also tend to not eat bread crusts, and in fact you can buy bread in the supermarket with the crusts already cut off -- which might explain why Japanese women are seemingly all constipated.

We've become aware that more and more, emails sent from the jlist.com domain are being blocked by ISPs, due to the ever-worsening problem with spam. AOL blocks our mails quite often, which obviously makes it impossible for us to send you updates on orders have made. If you ever feel you're not getting a mail you should have gotten from J-List, please email us and we'll look into your order and try to mail you from another account. Thanks for your understanding.

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

• First, for fans of our delicious Japanese snacks, we've got delicious winter-only March of the Koalas candy, as well as a traditional Japanese "kneading candy" which you mix in the air with chopsticks to make it ready to eat -- really fun
  
• Also, we've got some new varieties of sugarless gum from Japan, featuring the popular xylitol, a delicious sugar substitute that strengthens your teeth (it's from Finland, go figure)
  
• We have a great art book for fans of Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball, featuring some of the most realistic and beautiful CG gals we've ever seen
  
• Japan is home to many cute things -- now we've got a cute little electronic pen that comes out an egg right before your eyes
  
• Also, we've got a really cute mini hamster fan which will keep you cool in all seasons, and it's adorable, too
  
• For Gundam fans, we have a really cool line of detailed Gundam candy toys, which include a Gundam toy you can put together along with candy to eat
  
• The Groomy line of plush pets, which include soft leather undersides for wiping your computer monitor -- now we have Strap Groomy, cute plush pets with phone straps, which allow you to attach them to cameras, cellular phones, etc.
  
• For our "wacky things from Japan" fans, we've got more Japanese maps, of Nagoya, Tokyo and Gunma Pref.
  
• Domo-kun fans, we've added stock of many different items, including the Domo-kun phone straps, Domo-kun plush toys and square cubes, Domo-kun stationary and more
  
• We love to promote the study of Japanese, and we've got more wacky mini-dictionaries in stock, as well as the infamous "kanji toilet paper" with kanji quizzes printed on each roll
  
• For fans of really Japanese things, we have some cool chopsticks with "lucky cat" printed on them
  
• Also, a major restocking of our bizarre Japanese headbands (hachimaki), with slogans like "certain victory" "I will pass the test" "Guts" and more
  
• We love the cool toy line Panda-Z, which features a cute panda boy who pilots a giant panda robot -- now you can play with his enemy, Black Ham Gear, featuring the evil Dr. Jangarly
  
• Japan is having a big boom of samurai dramas on TV now -- join in the fun with a toy replica samurai sword set
  
• Finally, we've got great items for your kitchen, a cute metal sign in Japanese, pocket igo for anyone who wants to try the ancient Japanese game of go, fresh stock of wacky Hello Kitty items, and more!
  

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

• For fans of Japan's extra-wide adult magazine Bejean, we've got the new issue, packed with such lovely professional JAV idols as Sola Aoi, Sakura Shiratori, Ai Kurosawa and more
  
• Next we have limited stock of the new Bachelor, featuring beautiful women from the around the world, including Eastern Europe, the U.S., Russia, and other countries
  
• For fans of Japan's beautiful photobooks, we have the lovely new hardcover offering if Miku Matsumoto, featuring her latest photos
  
• Also, a great hardcover photobook by a beautiful idol with the unlikely name of Cutey Suzuki
  
• See a beautiful selection of photos of the sexy swimsuit idol Maiko Tohno, shot in Indonesia
  
• Then follow the best indies adult videos in Indies Best Title 737, featuring sample shots of 737 different productions
  
• J-List's stock of erotic hentai comics from Japan is second to none, and we've added even more titles to our stock for you: a collection of top-notch erotic stories by Kirara Moe, sexual adventures with a home tutor (a major Japanese fetish), the newest installment of Lewd Diary, and more
  
• Next we've got even more great erotic doujinshi for you, sexually parodying the most popular anime series in Japan right now
  
• Also: a real treat, a set of four CD-ROMs with the four chapters of the Urotsukidoji (Wandering Kid) hentai series on them, a classic for all hentai fans to see
  
• J-List carries a line of Japanese adult toys and other products, including parody items -- we've got more wacky Pokemon condoms in stock for you
  
• Enjoy some fantastic new adult DVDs from Japan, with Nao Oikawa's 4 Hours Special from Million -- 240 minutes of superb sex with Japan's top JAV idol! (region free)
  
• Then enjoy the "Shameless Costume Play Venus" of Ayana Nanjo, a fanatically erotic actress who performs for you in a variety of sexy costumes, stewardess, SM queen, maid, and more, by SOD (region free)
  
• Then sit back and enjoy the erotic Kei Morikawa, a solemn and beautiful goddess who shows you her erotic kiss, tekoki, fella, and sex (region free)
  
• For fans of girl-on-girl action, enjoy a great all female production by Wanz Factory, featuring five fabulous Tokyo kogals (region 2)
  
• Then, Yui Hasegawa provides "lip service" in a great new indies release by Wanz (region 2)
  
• Finally, look for a huge number of "back in stock" items, including photobooks, DVDs, manga and more, which were out of stock but are available again for one last time. (Remember you can check the entire J-List with the View All Products link in the upper left hand corner of the site.)
  

Remember that J-List carries a wide variety of snacks from Japan, with about 100 different items in stock at all times, with everything from Pocky (popular chocolate covered sticks) to Japan's famous spicy caffeine gum, Black Black. Because J-List is based at the source, right there in the heart of Japan, we've got hundreds of cool and fun items that have never made it out of Japan, which you can order. We are always adding to our snack section too, so check back often!