Greetings from J-List September 10, 2004

Hello and TGIF from all of us in Japan!

Ever heard of Zena, Yunker and Aspara? They're Japanese energy drinks, a major category of product in Japan that promises to improve your health, remove tiredness and give you the energy you need to be successful in business. Although the small single-serving bottles usually provide nothing more than caffeine and vitamins in a sweet syrup, the marketing muscle behind the drinks has turned them into a consumer sub-culture, Japan style. The first health drink was Lipovitan, released in 1962 by Taisho Pharmaceutical, and it's still the industry leader, with a staggering 2 million bottles sold every day. For four decades Lipovitan's TV commercials featuring a pair of burley men who cry out "Faito! Ippatsu!" ("Fight! One more push!") as they perform some athletic activity have been as famous as Mr. Whipple. Back in the 90s another Japanese energy drink, Regain, served as a symbol of the differences between Japan, Inc. and the U.S. In addition to giving you back your "genki" (pep), some energy drinks promise to revitalize men (wink wink) with Chinese herbs, cure your cold symptoms, and remove your hangover in record time. Governor Arnold also made a splash when he appeared in ads for Arinimin V back in the early 90s. See one of his silly CMs here: http://homepage.mac.com/alan31/clips/schwarz4.mov (Quicktime required).

You probably know some of the Japanese name suffixes that are used at the end of names. The most famous is -san, which is added to the names for politeness (e.g. Fujita-san). Two other suffixes that are heard often are -kun and -chan, for boys and girls respectively, used to refer to children or close friends (e.g. Taro-kun, Hanako-chan). One suffix that comes up in anime frequently is -sama, for addressing high-ranking persons, samurai lords and so on. Actually, -sama is rarely used in regular Japanese life except in certain situations (addressing letters, for example). There are several polite phrases that have the -sama suffix in them, though, such as "otsukare sama deshita" ("job well done," said at the end of the work day) and "gochisou sama deshita" (lit. "it was a feast," said when you're finished eating).

I remember first coming to Japan back in 1992, totally dazed at everything around me as I struggled to find my "gaijin legs." Happily, I met many other foreigners who helped me out and showed me the ropes about living in Japan. One of the people I met was a local American who is kind of the "First Foreigner" in our prefecture, who came to live in Japan during the Vietnam era as a conscientious objector and has stayed here ever since. When I met him he'd lived in Japan for sixteen years or so, and at the time I was amazed that anyone could live away from his home country for so long -- of course, now I've been here for thirteen years myself. He's quite a famous local personality -- he writes articles for the local newspaper and also had a local radio talk show, mainly because he'd been here so long.

At J-List, we love Shirow Masamune and carry dozens of products. Among the most popular Shirow items are his poster books and art books, which feature his remarkable female characters and illustrations. Issued along with his posterbooks are Shirow trading cards which are very hard to get, because they're only available by mail to people living in Japan. Through the hard work of the J-List staff we've obtained stock of these excellent laminated trading cards for J-List customers, along with very cool binders to put them in. Get your Shirow cards before they're gone!

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

• For Macross fans, enjoy a dynamite item: "book figures" (glossy art books that come with boxed figures) of Lynn Minmay and Mylene Jenius
  
• We love the cute "Nyanko" series of cat toys from San-X -- now enjoy cute kitty fast food with kitty cats cooked inside, with the new Nyanko Burger series
  
• Hello Kitty fans, we've added a new color of cool desktop vacuum cleaner, which removes dust and dirt from your computer area or desk and looks darned cute
  
• Fans of the classic video game Dragonquest, we've got a great candy toy series of the characters (full sets in stock)
  
• Japanese idol fans, we've added some nice photobooks of popular swimsuit models like Yuko Ogura
  
• Japan is going wild over frogs, and we have a cool Frog Style plush toy for you
  
• Also, a traditional frog item: a gorgeous windchime from the Frog Style line -- hang it up and listen to the
  
• We have authentic chopsticks made of bamboo, and very easy to eat with
  
• We've got tasty snacks for you, including traditional cakes from northern Japan, Lion cola candy, soft vitamin C candy and more
  
• Next, a great parody item from Japan: a memo holder in the shape of the famous peeing statue in Belgium, which is incredibly famous here for some reason
  
• Study Japanese with the excellent Chobits and Ghost in the Shell bilingual manga, which feature both Japanese and accurately translated English right on the page
  
• Always have a place to sit with a handy tripod chair, which folds up for easy storage and is very small
  
• Finally, look for various restocked items, including snacks, wacky things from Japan, kitchen items, more collection boxes for your miniature toys, and more!
  

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

• For fans of Japan's famous 18+ magazines, enjoy the new issue of Urecco, filled with startlingly beautiful Japanese girls, professionally photographed in high style
  
• Also, enjoy the new issue of Yappari Hitozuma Dechu, or "You know, I really like married women after all"
  
• For photobook fans, enjoy the delightful hardcover offering of Arisa Oda, a beautiful angel from Japan
  
• Also, we've got a dynamite special sexy idol photobook from Sabra, which comes with a fabulous DVD for you to enjoy (region 2)
  
• For fans of H manga, enjoy some great new works, including a comic about very mature girls from Mujin Comics, a sexy "watermelon announcer" from Toen Comics, and a great
  
• Also, a shockingly beautiful color large-format art book/manga by the famous LINDA, Hitozumania
  
• There's plenty of back-in-stock manga too, including Black Mass 1 & 2, popular works from Shiwasu no Okina, Queen Bee, Amazoness, and the fabulous Take On Me
  
• Doujinshi collectors, we haven't forgotten you: look for some great new doujinshi books in stock
  
• For yaoi fans, we've added fresh stock of several popular books, including Lord of the Boy's Dorm and You're My Love Prize in Viewfinder
  
• For our DVD customers, we have some truly amazing products for you today, starting with a new Aoi Sora offering (region free)
  
• Next, enjoy a dynamite new product by famous director Hajime: the gorgeous girls who work at Roppongi's cabaret clubs show you their "whale spouting" (region free)
  
• Then enjoy a great Nao Oikawa special by Soft on Demand, featuring her most memorable performances ever -- a 4 hour disc! (region free)
  
• Then enjoy a bold new "Zenra" offering from Moodyz -- gorgeous Chinese acrobats who perform amazing gymnastic feats in the buff (region 2)
  
• From Waap Entertainment, a new Star Box offering featuring the "cutie mermaid" Mai Sakashita (region 2)
  
• Finally, newly restocked DVDs include Y-Setsu Model, more Gock'n Roll "gokkun" titles, the Ai Kurosa vs. Mai Sakashita Battle Tournament, Akira Watase's lovely see-through DVD, and more!
  

Remember that J-List stocks a wide range of cool DVDs from Japan including Japanese films that don't get distributed outside of Japan (complete with English subtitles, in most cases) to the world-famous anime films of Hayao Miyazaki. The newest Miyazaki film is The Cat Returns, the story of a girl's amazing journey to the World of Cats. While most of our adult DVDs are "region free," anime DVDs from Japan are zoned for region 2, so you'll need a region-free DVD player unless you have one already -- we humbly suggest the three excellent units we stock. We hope you'll check out our selection of Japanese DVDs!

Greetings from J-List September 8, 2004

Hello from Japan, where a cleft chin is known as "ketsu-ago" (KEH-tsoo AH-go), literally meaning "butt-chin."

Japan is the home of manga, the uniquely detailed comics that are famous all over the world. The term manga literally means "whimsical pictures" and was coined by ukiyoe artist Hokusai to describe a book of wookblock art he'd done (he's the artist of the famous Red Fuji and The Wave you may have seen). Early forms of manga had existed since before World War II, but the father of manga in its present form is Tezuka Osamu, creator of virtually all of the popular early works. His stories, often laced with challenging philosophical themes, set the bar high for the generations of manga artists that would follow. Today Japanese buy a staggering 2.2 billion manga books annually, 40% of all printed books sold here, and manga is generally read by people of all ages. At our liquor shop, we sell the weekly manga magazines like Shonen Jump and Shonen Magazine, and it's not uncommon to see a businessman get out of a BMW to buy this week's issue of his favorite comic. While Westerners use the term manga to refer to Japanese printed comics, most Japanese over the age of 25 use the word to refer to animation as well; only the younger generation uses the term anime.

Currently Japan is having a "manga revival," with many of the classic golden age comics back in print for fans to enjoy again. Fist of the North Star, Golgo 13, Lupin III, The Rose of Versailles, Ashita no Joe -- they're all being reprinted and sold in convenience stores for the next generation of Japanese. I'm currently re-reading Touch, the 80s high school baseball manga by Mitsuru Adachi, which I used to study Japanese with back in college. It's very "natsukashii" (nats-ka-SHII, meaning nostalgic)

The most profitable Disney theme park in the world is Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983 and has broken all records for money-making in the history of theme parks. The Japanese penchant for spending money on souvenirs for family members, called omiyage (oh-mee-YAH-geh), helps make this profitability possible -- the average guest spends around $300. Disney's second Japanese park opened a couple years ago: DisneySea, centered around themes of the ocean. The park features a volcano, a recreation of the Arabian town of Agrabah from Aladdin, a fun under-the-sea area for younger kids, a cruise ship, a "jet coaster" (as they say in Japan) based on Journey to the Center of the Earth, and even a hotel where you can get married, right inside the park. We had fun when we went, but my son said it was "kakko warui" (uncool) for Mickey Mouse to speak Japanese when he should be speaking English. The biggest problem with theme parks in Japan are all the people: no matter what day you go, it seems they're brimming with guests, and waiting 3-4 hours for popular rides can really suck.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you, including updated and restocked toys, manga, DVDs, snacks, wacky things from Japan, and much more. J-List has over 2000 cool things from Japan -- you can view items updated in the last 3 days with the handy 3-day link, http://www.jlist.com/UPDATES/3/

For anime fans in Germany, there's a cool convention starting September 10-12 in Kassel, and many of our game and T-shirt products will be at the show (although we won't be, unfortunately). For more information on the show, see the Connichi website at http://www.connichi.de/

Remember that J-List stocks the incredibly detailed classic food replica items from Re-Ment and other companies, which recreate famous foods of the world -- sushi, Japanese traditional dishes, classic American food, Asian treats and more -- in such detail you won't believe they're not edible (you even get little silverware/chopsticks). Although Japanese have to buy these individually, we go out of our way for you, making full sets available so you can avoid buying duplicates and throwing them away. These amazing toys are perfect for doll collectors, too -- and they make thoughtful gifts, too.

Greetings from J-List September 6, 2004

When I was six, I lived in New Zealand for a year. I was just a child at the time, but I have many fond memories of Big Ben's Meat Pies, the fountain in Christchurch, glow worms, and lots of sheep. I also learned a lot about the history of British royalty because of the many historical dramas I watched on the BBC. Japan also has a strong tradition of reliving its history through historical dramas, called "jidai-geki" (period dramas) -- George Lucas borrowed this Japanese word for his Jedi Knights. Samurai dramas documenting Japan's past are quite popular with Japanese of all ages, who get a lot of appreciation for the various people who shaped Japan into what it is today.

Currently, the most popular samurai drama on TV is Shinsengumi, which tells of the events surrounding the fall of Japan's feudal Shoganate and the Meiji Restoration, which marks the beginning of Japan's history as a modern nation. After Admiral Perry forced Japan to trade with the U.S., there was widespread mistrust of the Shogun's government, which was unable to stand up to the foreign powers. With their battle cry "Respect the Emperor, Expel the Foreign Barbarians," many samurai opposed the Shogun's government and assassinated its officials. Shinsengumi, which means "newly selected group," was a sort of counter-terrorism police force organized to fight on the side of the Shogun against those who wanted to overthrow the government in the name of the Emperor. Over the weekend, we took a trip to northern Japan to Aizu-Wakamatsu, a city that was one of the battlefields for Japan's changeover from a feudal nation to a modern one. During a battle in 1868, nineteen young samurai who thought their castle was taken and their lord killed committed seppuku (aka hara-kiri, ritual disembowelment). These events are a famous to Japanese as Pickett's Charge is to Americans, and the mountain where they killed themselves is a very solemn and hallowed place.

One English word the Japanese get a lot of mileage out of is "the" (pronounced "za" in Japanese). Ito Yokado, a large chain of department stores in Japan, has a biannual sales event called "The Sale" (za see-ru). A popular brand of curry is House's "The Curry," and not far from the J-List office there's a laundromat called "The Sentakuya" ("the laundromat"). There's a series of Playstation games with names like The Pinball, The Mahjong, and so on. Using foreign words as a decoration is done in the U.S., too -- I remember the old parody TV commercials on Saturday Night Live for a French-made shoe called "Le Shoe."

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

• First, for any and all fans of beautiful anime girls, we've got Moe-Kan, a fantastic art and data book that contains information on virtually every gorgeous anime female over the past 15 years
  
• Also, we've got a fantastic new Heaven's Prision manga + figure set in stock again, a beautiful item for collectors
  
• Japanese love pets, and we've got a really cool new toy set in stock: famous dogs doing very human things like drinking green tea or taking a bath -- full sets of this detailed hand-sculpted toy series are in stock
  
• We've restocked a very popular item: the Hello Kitty desktop cleaner, which vacuums dirt and dust from your desk, and looks really cute at the same time
  
• Japan's Race Queens look great as they promote F-1 racing in Japan -- we have a new RQ photobook in stock for you
  
• Bento fans, we've got a deluxe new item for you: a super double-decker Hello Kitty bento box that is great to take your lunch in, with many great features
  
• We've got other Sanrio items from Japan too, including a cute Kitty sponge for the bath, a "doremi whistle" your little one can play, and more
  
• Fans of our Japanese snacks, enjoy a traditional Japanese caramel treat, tasty Fruit of the Pie by Lotte, and healthy snacks made with tofu milk (it's good, trust us)
  
• Next, enjoy fresh stock of our popular snacks, including Bubble Ball traditional fizzing hard candy; Pocky Reverse; Black Black caffeine gum and many more items
  
• Studying Japanese? We have the most famous children's stories from Japan for you to practice reading with
  
• Also, a cute "hiragana sponge puzzle" that's fun to take apart and put together
  
• We love the popular character line known as Frog Style, which feature highly stylish frog-themed toys and other products, very popular in Japan right now -- we've got some super Frog Style large plush toys in stock today
  
• For fans of Japanese film, we've got "Iten & Tity," a movie about music and live and dreams (subtitled in English, region 2)
  
• We have a handy all-purpose wallet, fresh stock of the excellent Hello Kitty Kabuki ceramic dolls, more "collection box" for storing your toy collections, a restocking of the best-selling FX Neo minty eyedrops, and more!
  

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

• We've got the new issues of Best Video and Video Boy, two great magazines that track the professional JAV world for you, with lots of photos, posters and more
  
• Next, for fans of magazine + DVD combo items, we have the new issue of "More and More" featuring 2 hours of great footage starring Yuria
  
• Photobook fans, enjoy the dynamite hardcover glossy photo works of Nao Nagasawa
  
• Next, we have the gorgeous photobook of Ai Itoh, an amazingly beautiful Japanese model and actress
  
• We've also restocked several photobooks including Jun Nada's photomagazine, the gorgeous boxed photobook of Mai Hagiwara, and more
  
• Figure designer and artist Shinichi Yamashita's Figure Complex artbook is in stock, featuring the incredibly beautiful and eerie creations of this amazing artist
  
• For H manga fans, we've got some truly amazing items for you, including a deluxe comic from Megahouse Comics, a wonderful exploration of women being forward about sex, and more
  
• Restocked manga books include It Is Vulgarity, Girl, Cloop, You're My Love Prize in Viewfinder, and many other excellent manga that have sold out
  
• We also have super doujinshi in stock for you, including Evangelion and Soul Caliber books, and great books by the famous circle famous Okachimentaiko (including a tribute to City Hunter
  
• Then for yaoi lovers, a treat: an amazing story by Yonezoh D. Yamada that yaoi collectors will surely want to pick up
  
• DVD collectors, we've got some great new works for you, starting with the "sayonara performance" of Maria Takagi (region free)
  
• Enjoy a great new release from Nana Natsume, the star of Soft on Demand's lineup -- take a virtual trip through Japan with her, with her as your virtual girlfriend (region free)
  
• Relive the very popular "Zenra Sports" with Deep's new Zenra Basketball & Volleyball 2 Hours Special (region free)
  
• Then, the very sexy Yuria Yoshinaga (G cup, 100 cm) performs in a festival of gokkun, tekoki and more a new release by Moodyz (region 2)
  
• Enjoy a super new release for fans of the lovely Mirei, who worked as a fashion model in Italy before being discovered as a JAV idol -- see everything you ever wanted to know about Mirei in a new 2-disc release! (region 2)
  
• Finally, we've added stock of popular DVDs, including Hasha Go! Go! Go! director by the famous M's Video Group, Beautiful Woman's Kiss, Restrictive Chair Trance, and the very cool Best Friends Series by director Hajime, and more!
  

Remember that J-List sells warm hoody versions of several of our popular Japanese T-shirts, with long sleeves and pull-over hoods, great for keeping warm in these cold months. For our normal men's shirts, we offer a great selection of sizes, from small all the way to 3XL for most colors. Not sure what your size is? Click the handy size link in the description of each shirt and see all measurements in inches and centimeters.