On the inability of people living in Japan to fix their own cars, and days of the week in Japanese

For some reason, living in Japan robs a person of the ability to open the hood of their car. When I lived in the U.S., I was quite comfortable giving my car a tune-up, changing spark plugs and so on, but since coming to Japan I find I haven't touched my car's engine in over a decade. My wife is indicative of most Japanese on the subject of auto maintenance -- she recently said to me, "I opened my hood once, but I didn't know which one was the engine." This is partially due to excellent Japanese service -- a helpful uniformed employee will cheerfully check your oil and air when you buy a tank of gas -- but another reason is "sha-ken," a government-mandated automobile maintenance check-up you have to get every two years. Since sha-ken is expensive, costing $800 or more, which includes various road taxes, foreigners generally hate it, but the upside is that cars are safer and you get your regular maintenance done for you as part of the deal. The sha-ken check-ups have a somewhat cynical purpose too: since new cars get three years without having to get the check-up, it provides a useful excuse for Japanese to buy a new car sooner than they otherwise would, and no doubt contributes millions to car manufacturers' bottom lines. Motorcycles also have sha-ken, although those with 250 cc and smaller engines don't, which creates more demand for small-engine motorcycles than would exist in other countries. One of the most respected positions in Japanese life is that of shacho 社長, or company president, and like some other terms such as sensei 先生 (which literally means "the one who was born before me" and is said to teachers, doctors and politicians), it indicates a high level of respect. As in America, business leaders are looked up to, and the news media regularly reports on leaders like Goshn-shacho (the man who turned Nissan around), the hardworking Masayoshi Son-shacho of Sofbank, and of course charismatic Livedoor president Takafumi Horie, who recently tried to win his first seat in the Japanese Diet but failed in the last election. The term shacho is sometimes thrown around with little care for its actual meaning. If you go into a Japanese bar, the lady who pours your drink will likely call you shacho to make you feel good. Memorizing the names of the months in English must be difficult for Japanese, but it's easy going the other way -- the months in Japanese are all just numbers followed by the kanji for month (e.g. ichi-gatsu 一月　is January, ni-gatsu 二月 is February, etc.). They get their revenge, though: although the days of the month in Japanese are expressed with numbers, just like in English, there are special names for the first ten days of the month, which must be memorized, always a chore for gaijin learning Japanese. The days of the week are interesting, too -- each is associated with a kanji that represents the original European origin. The days of the week are getsu-yobi (月曜日, lit. "moon day"), ka-yobi (火曜日, "fire day" since the first character for Mars is "fire"), sui-yobi (水曜日, "water day," from the Japanese name for the planet Mercury), moku-yobi (木曜日, "wood day," from the name for Jupiter), kin-yobi (金曜日, "gold day," from Venus), do-yobi (土曜日, "earth day," from Saturn), and nichi-yobi (日曜日, "sun day," from good old Sol). 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.

	2006 Calendar -- Tsubasa Chronicle (A). A beautiful new anime by CLAMP, the team of artists that brought us Rayearth, Cardcaptor Sakura and X, this is one of two calendars this year for Tsubasa Chronicle. The anime/manga features characters from other CLAMP works, which is kind of eerie.
	Comic AG Super Erotic Manga Anthology vol. 19. Another issue of Comic AG, which is being printed about twice a month (makes it hard to keep up with it). This is the leading English hentai magazine and publishes great works by top artists in Japan (many of whom are popular at J-List).
	Kitty Classic Type Plush -- Red. I love taking a well known thing and making it into something odd, such as making "retro" Hello Kitty toys as if Japan's famous cat were around back in the 1930s.
	Urecco Jun. 2005 vol. 228. Nice issue of Urecco, the leading magazine at J-List. Very nice mix of all-Japanese models, and very stylin' nude photography.
	Japanese Sandal -- LL Size ~ Red & Blue Stripe Hanao. By customer request, we've finally gotten in some BIG ASS Japanese tatami sandals. Sorry for the wait on this. They are quite large, actually too big for my feet.
	Tokyo Windows. Another very nice photobook from Japan, showing scenes of Tokyo as shot through windows of tall buildings. By the photographer who brought us "Tokyo Nobody" (images of Tokyo with no people in them at all).
	Girls Mix Photo DVD vol. 4 -- Rin Aiba. This is a nice kind of item, a collection of photographs so beautiful and sexy you won't believe it, and yet, everything is tastefully done and very stylish.
	Athlete Cosplay International. Japan is in the middle of a "Maria Sharapova boom" thanks to her appearances on TV and in commercials for Panasonic ("Double okay!"). Here's a wacky cosplay DVD featuring a look-alike.
	Star Wars Helmet Collection -- Set of 7 *Full + Secret*. As a Star Wars fan, I was happy to see this: a really cool toy series made only for Japan by Tomy here, and very nicely done. And it's all "old school" stuff from the first three movies.
	2006 Calendar -- W (Double Yu). Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji are a sub-unit of Morning Musume, and they make a great team. Here is their 2006 calendar.
	2006 Calendar -- Leon Kadena. Another Leon Kadena calendar, showing the excellent photos of one of Japan's most captivating women (the woman Yasu announced was "the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life"). Since she's already got a nude calendar out (on our site), we're 99% sure this is her non-nude one.

Scenes from a Japanese convenience store. This is the famous aloe yogurt, yogurt made with the fully edible plant aloe. It's nice, not to sweet, and prevents dryness and cracking in the stomach lining.

Another fave of mine, Nata de Coco yogurt, made with bits of nata de coco, a firm geletin-like food from the Phillippines. It's so much fun to chew on the bits as you eat the yogurt.

Lest you think aloe is just a fluke, here's another company's brand of aloe yogurt.

Yogurt with...marshmallows? I thought the Japanese were supposed to eat healthy food?