New and old in Japan, and listening to the armed forces radio from Yokosuka

Japan can really be a place of contrasting images. On the one hand, it's a modern, technologically advanced country that makes some of the most amazing products in the world. On the other hand, other aspects of Japan can look -- at least to my outsider's eyes -- quite backwards sometimes. Up until three years ago, when my son entered the first grade, students were assigned a number in alphabetical order, and all the boys were numbered before all the girls. Starting with the year my son started school, however, the system changed, allowing boys and girls to be numbered and seated together. Before my wife went to the U.S. to study English, she worked as an OL, an "office lady" in a Japanese company, where she was required to put in several hours memorizing which green tea cups went with which male employees, which male employees liked their green tea served a certain way, and what order to hand the tea cups out in. Sometimes the tendency of Japan to preserve the old ways is good, though. Although I can buy incredibly advanced electronics less than a kilometer from my house, it's not uncommon to hear the voice of our local ishiyaki imo (EE-she-YAH-kii EE-moh) seller, who drives his truck around selling delicious stone-baked sweet potatoes.

Sometimes it does seem that the often-repeated idea that Japan runs a decade or more behind the West socially might be true. At least, Japan always seems to be in a state of imitating the U.S. and Europe in its institutions rather than taking the lead. Laws requiring child safety seats or forbidding sexual harassment in the workplace seem to have come a steady 10-15 years behind the U.S., and when Japan implemented a 401(k) type of system they gave it the original name of "Japan 401(k)." The next social change seems to be smoking: over the past few years, Japan has done a lot to limit where people can smoke, although usually tying this to politeness and good manners rather than fear of legal penalties. Now in most parts of Tokyo it's illegal to smoke while walking outdoors, and as a result, there are special "smoking corners" in parts of the city, establishments where all you do is walk in, sit down and light up, happy in the knowledge that you're "Smokin' Clean" (Japan Tobacco's slogan for smoking with good manners).

You've been in Japan too long when you air-drum in your car while listening to the U.S. Military radio news opening, which goes "here's what happening...around the Kanto Plain." The only English radio available in the Tokyo area is the Far East Network, the AM radio station that serves the U.S. military forces stationed in Japan, and it's a staple of civilian gaijin here, especially when driving somewhere. In addition to NPR news and other programming, FEN serves up top forty and country music countdowns on the weekend, an hour of Rush Limbaugh every weeknight, and the occasional football game. Because it's a non-profit station, in place of radio commercials they play short pieces on "our proud military heritage" which give interesting tidbits of military history from the past. As a result, I know quite a lot about the history of the U.S. armed forces.

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.

	Studio Ghibli Music Box -- Jiji Family. I'll never forget when I went over to my friend's house in 1990 to watch Kiki's Delivery Service, the (then) newest film by Hayao Miyazaki. It was a great film, very soothing in a way to watch, and Jo Hisaishi is at the top of his game n soundtrack making. Here's a nice music box for collectors of rare Ghibli items.
	Omamori Key Chain for Love. A nice item: a gold keychain that is also an omamori or good luck charm, which will bring you luck in one of several areas, or so the Japanese believe (there are good luck charms here for anzan or easy childbirth, for example).
	First Steps in Japanese -- Hajime no Ippo. A nice textbook for learners of Japanese, it's good for beginners because it features kanji, hiragana and romaji. While I still don't cotton to learning Japanese in romaji at all -- better to force yourself to learn with hiragana -- this is probably a more useful book for people who don't already read kana.
	Select Pose Collection vol. 1. An interesting companion to the How to Draw Manga books, this is Select Pose Collection, featuring a cute girl (surprise) making many different poses. Useful for artists trying to capture that special style.
	Pictorial Encyclopedia of Japanese Culture, This is a very colorful English book that nicely encapsulates as much as it can of Japanese culture and history for you. Very interesting, and pleasant to read, I found things that I didn't know yet.
	Figure Maniacs vol. 12. There are some cool things from Japan, and then there are the Figure Maniacs books, which capture hundreds of detailed anime figures (both commercial sale items and custom garage kit assemblies), which are so nice to look at. We've got a bunch of new back issues of these magazines on the site, each with a focus on different anime shows.
	Otchan Mini Plush *Green Tea*-- Occhan Series. You're witnessing the birth of a new character in Japan -- isn't it interesting? This is th Occhan series, featuring old men and old women who take baths in cups of green tea, lemon tea, and so on. Odd? Yes. But also very cute.