The lack of pregnant women in Japan, more about how kanji works, and my karaoke pictures

My Japanese mother-in-law remarked the other day that, "You don't see women with big stomachs very often these days." At first I thought that women were getting thinner, but my wife said no, her mother had been referring to the dearth of pregnant women in Japan. It's true -- the birthrate here is the lowest in the industrialized world, just 1.38 children per couple, and it's getting more and more common to see companies offering products and services to those over 65 over baby-related items. Many products for the elderly that might be taboo to advertise openly in some other countries, such as incontinence products or baldness treatments for women, are advertised on TV regularly here. Part of the reason for the falling birthrate is the high cost and extra stress of raising a child in Japan, especially for Tokyoites living in their usagi-goya (rabbit hutch) apartments. However, not all couples have only one or two children: it's quite common to see variety TV shows documenting the daily lives of families with 12 or 15 children, showing what they do to help each other get through their day. Our favorite Japanese TV show, Hey! Spring of Trivia, had an interesting bit of information: according to current projections, the number of Japanese in the world in the year 3000 will be...7 people.

Japan's writing system can be the most complex aspect of the language, since it combines three separate systems: hiragana and katakana, two syllable-based systems used for expressing Japanese and foreign words, respectively, and around 2000 kanji from China. While the two kana are not hard to master (although they look difficult when you first start), the real neck in studying Japanese is usually kanji, at least for "white boy" gaijin like me. But while kanji can be a challenge, it's not nearly as hard as it looks. First of all, there's a structure to kanji that's quite logical -- for example most characters that have to do with water or liquid have the same left half, called a "radical," that refers to water. Kanji can usually be memorized by cutting them into four quadrants and writing them repeatedly, although be sure to pay attention to learning the correct stroke order. I knew that I would never be able to master something as difficult as kanji unless I really enjoyed studying it, so I came up with ways to reinforce my studies, for example reading manga or going to karaoke bars and reading the kanji on the screen. I had a Chinese friend who was taking level 1 of the Japanese Language Ability Test at the same time I was, and I made it my personal goal to get a higher score than her, despite her natural advantage in already reading kanji. I was lucky -- I managed to beat her score by ten points.

It's not very politically correct to say that all Japanese look the same, but when I first came to live in Japan, it took some time for my brain to get used to seeing so many faces with Japanese characteristics, which in some cases did look very similar to me at the time. After I'd taught English for a month, I took a train to Yokohama to see the sights of the city, and while there I kept thinking I was seeing my new students on the street, despite the fact that I was quite far from home. In reality, there's a lot of variation in the faces of Japanese people, with Mongolian, Korean, Ainu, Portuguese and other blood coursing through the country, but it took me time to get used to my new environment. For the record, gaijin can look the same to Japanese, too, and I've been mistaken for other foreigners on several occasions, usually by older Japanese who haven't had much experience with us. I usually smile and avoid correcting their mistake since it would embarrass them.

Here are today's "really cool products" that I thought were especially noteworthy. Note: the J-List links below may be for adult products and should probably be considered "not safe for work." To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	My Neighbor Totoro All-Purpose Container We sell many Totoro items at J-List, and the best are always the products by Sun Arrow, a great toy company that was established in something like 1902. This is the Totoro Toilet Paper Holder, which holds one stanard roll of toilet paper (shown with a roll of Hello Kitty toilet paper for extra bizarreness). This was a hit product from a few years ago and I'm glad to see it'll be available again.
	The Debutant ~ Mami Hayasaki. This is one of the popular magazine with DVD combos that have taken over a goodly portion of the adult magazine market in Japan. This is a debut DVD, featuring the first-ever works of this model, Mami Hayasaki. For some reason we've seen that debuts are always quite popular with our customers.
	TOKYO 360 ~ Day and Night. Like it or not, Tokyo is the concrete, steel and asphalt soul of Japan. Here's a spiffy book that shows the thoroughly modern city shows in 360 degrees, with many interesting scenes presented, in both day and night.
	Could you take a hot spring with only a towel? There are two sides of the adult video world in Japan, pro (larger, established companies) and indies studios. The latter are a lot smaller and must come up with interesting concepts for videos, sometimes with low budgets. Here's a fun one: girls walk into the men's bathing area unannounced, which causes plenty of confusion.
	AG Super Erotic Anthology Comic vol. 12. AG magazine came out only a few times last year, and they're trying to make up for lost time by publishing a much accellerated schedule. This is the premier magazine for H manga in English, and the quality is made very high thanks to the tireless dedication of the publisher.
	Occhan Neck Strap *Green Tea*-- Occhan Series. Another cool Occhan product, which is fast becomming a favorite with the J-List staff. This is a neck strap, which, if you're not in the know, is usually used so you can keep your cell phone (or your keys, or your camera) around your neck.
	Kitty Japan Doll w/ Case (S) -- Sensu *Traditional Fan*. When I saw the new Hello Kitty ceramic kimono dolls, I was jazzed by how great they looked. Not only are these beautiful renditions of Kitty-chan (her Japanese name) wearing a kimono, but this new series comes with display cases, too.
	Shuriken -- Juuji - Cross Type ~ Ninja Weapon. The shuriken is the weapon of the ninja, and now we've got cool shuriken in stock for you, in several shapes and styles. These are very cool just to hold in your hand.