iTunes Music Store comes to Japan, on Japanese drinking culture, and some happy news at J-List

After a long wait, Apple's iTunes Japan music store has finally opened, allowing customers here to download Japanese and international music for around $1.75 per song. Despite the large number of digital-savvy users in Japan, it's not at all surprising to me that it took so long for Apple to get the iTunes store up and running. Japan can be a very conservative place, and to big companies with established businesses, nothing is more terrifying than change, any change at all. Apple has had to navigate between greedy record companies who have kept the prices of CDs at the artificially high price of $30 for decades, and industry groups like the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) and the Recording Industry of Japan (RIAJ), who have closed ranks against any kind of digital distribution of music that doesn't guarantee more profits for them than conventional CDs. A big problem was JASRAC's insistence that Apple follow "Japan's rules" when it came to selling music online, which apparently meant that the industry group was to receive 7.7% of every song sold in addition to what the actual copyright holders receive. It's all very silly when you think about the fact that in Japan, you can go into any one of thousands of CD rental shops and rent a whole album for $3 or less. Sadly, Japan's copyright-happy record industry lacked the vision to allow Apple to sell Japanese music to customers outside of Japan, so worldwide fans of JPOP are shut out from participating in the Japan iTMS. Apple isn't the first company that's had to endure pressure from the establishment in Japan: Amazon was blocked from selling products below list price on their site here, since price fixing is still allowed for some products, like books and CDs. If there's one good thing that's come from the past decade of recession in Japan, it's that many of Japan's closed economic doors have been forced open, letting the light of competition and common sense flood in. If you want to see a hilarious commercial that marries the iPod with Sazae-san, one the most popular anime in Japan's history, check this out (Quicktime required).

The Japanese do drink a lot, from beer to sake to harder stuff. Letting alcohol act as a lubricant in human relationships is a time-honored social practice in Japan, and one of the first words I learned when I came here in 1991 was nomunication, a word that combines nomu (to drink) with the English word communication. Japanese drinking establishments differ somewhat from those in the U.S., of course, with different mixes of atmosphere and menu. One of the most popular places to throw some back with friends at are izakaya (ee-ZA-ka-ka, roughly meaning "a place to sit and drink in"), comfortable Japanese-style restaurants that serve beer in large glasses along with various Japanese meals, from sashimi to squid pizza to yakitori. Back in the old days I used to frequent small bars called "snacks" (an odd word which came from the fact that they sell light meals along with alcohol), where you can sing karaoke and get a "bottle keep" (i.e. your own private bottle) for drinking with friends. There are also places that pattern themselves after American and European models, which use English words like "bar" or "pub" to describe themselves. Last week I was in Tokyo with friends, and we found the cutest Irish pub in Shibuya that served a good range of beers we can't usually find in Japan. Japanese usually learn to drink in college, where in the past they would be cheered on by friends while they chugged a huge class of beer. This practice, called ikki nomi (beer chugging) became a problem when a college freshman drank too much too fast and died. Now saying ikki! ikki! ikki! while someone drinks is quite taboo.

Congratulations to J-List's own Daisuke, who's baby boy was born yesterday. We're having quite a population explosion around here -- Yasu's wife is pregnant with their second daughter and is ready to pop any day now, Jun's wife has their first bun in the oven, and Dawn in San Diego (whose important job it is to cut the paychecks) also has a little bundle of joy coming too. If you want to see what we look like, check the About J-List page.

Are you in or near Louisiana and looking for an anime convention to go to? If so, then we recommend Mechacon, held on Aug 26-28. We won't be at the show, but some friends of our will, so please go and say hello to 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.

	NAS-O illustration works. This is a nice art book featuring the characters of NAS-O, a penname that appears to mean "King of Eggplants" although I can't be sure since it's not written in kanji. His art is fabulous, with vibrant colors and very original cute characters. Oddly, there are about ten nude pictures, with all the rest being non-nude. I wished he would have done a non-nude book so we could sell it on the PG side of J-List as well. Oh well...
	Gekkan -- Aki Hoshino. Aki Hoshino is one of the top names in Japan's pantheon of gravure idols. Gravure, if you aren't familiar with the term, is short for "photogravure." Oh, you aren't familiar with that term either? It's a photo printing process developed in the 19th century, which, through odd chance of fate, has come to mean "sexy busty idol" in Japanese usage.
	Dengeki Layers vol. 6/. Another issue of Layers, a very nice new cosplay magazine that's taking J-List by storm. Similar to Cosmode.
	Love Love -- Sola Aoi (region 2). We've been having a bit of a "softcore boom" at J-List over the past few weeks, with many of the softcore DVDs by Sora Aoi, Anna Ohura, Mai Hagiwara, and Mihiro, selling very nicely, in most cases more than the hardcore titles by these girls. In an odd way, that makes me happy, since there's more wabi and sabi (words that describe the Japanese aesthetic of beauty in simplicity) in these DVDs, to my mind.
	Would you like to produce Kaho Kasumi? Since we have a good relationship with SOD, we do our best to give them ideas, and to pass on suggestions from customers. This title seems to be the result of some comments from our customers that we sent them, a request for a title in which you could choose the costume, sex style, and personality of an actress with the DVD controller. Way to listen to your customers, SOD!
	G.C.U vol. 5 ~ Good Choice Ume-Tarou. I was not familiar with this is a great work with a bizarre FLCL-style art that I like a lot. This art reminds me of one of my goals, should I ever become immortal: to learn to draw.
	Futanari Shojo -- Mitsu Amai. One of the most popular themes at J-List is futanari, meaning "being two at the same time" (also known as chicks with dicks). Here's a great treatment of the subject by Mitsu Amai, who plays a shy girl with some unexpected plumbing.
	Ran Juku -- Mariko Kawana. Japan is the land of the fetish, and one established category of adult video is the jukujo, or "ripened woman." Often they use the term for girls over the age of 25, which seems ridiculous to me. Mariko Kawana is a very sensual woman, and very erotic. Still, it says she's 35 on the cover of this photobook, which I refuse to believe -- my wife and I are 37, and we look much younger than she is, IMHO!
	Soryu Asuka Langley *Gothic & Lolita Ver* Figure -- Evangelion. A fantasy come true for Eva fans, this is a PVC figure of Asuka that's really beautiful, featuring her sitting on marbled stone steps wearing a Gothic Lolita outfit. So cool!
	Tomy Star Wars Diorama Best -- Full Set *Set of 7*. Over the years, Tomy has put out some really cool Japan-only toys for Star Wars fans, including candy toy (so named becuase you get some candy in the box) figures and dioramas from the films. This is a "best of" series, featuring the most popular items from all the movies.