The Old West comes to Karuizawa, and World Peace through Japanese verb conjugations

This weekend we all got in the car and headed off to Karuizawa ("ka-roo-EE-za-wa"), our favorite mountain getaway, for a dip in the hot springs at the foot of volcanic Mt. Asama. Driving through the town, we stopped off at the Cowboy House restaurant, a hilariously overdone recreation of an Old West steakhouse complete with barbecue sauce, baked beans and even Coors beer. The cowboy atmosphere was so complete that a funny thing happened when we left: I momentarily forgot which side of the road I should be driving on. It seems my subconscious had somehow analyzed all the American stuff around me and decided to go into "America mode." Fortunately I caught myself and got back on the right (left) side of the street.

Japanese is an "agglutinating" language, which basically means that it puts lots of information (past tense, passive voice, etc) inside the verb form, which is good because you don't have a lot of helping verbs flying around ("he would have been able to help her if she'd told him"), but a little difficult because you have to memorize more verb forms. Most of the time learning the verbs is not a problem since they follow reliable patterns. For example, three verbs you learn early on are the formal verbs tabemasu (to eat), nomimasu (to drink) and ikimasu (to go), which act as both simple present and future tense (both "I go (every day)" and "I will go" in one verb conjugation). Change the masu to mashita and you have the formal past tense ("I went") -- very easy. Some other forms that exist are informal present tense (iku), also called dictionary form since this what you find in dictionaries; an informal past tense; a command form; and the useful "te" form which you can use to make requests (tabete kudasai, please eat) or join words together (take + come combine to form "bring").

Another verb ending students of Japanese learn early is masho, which corresponds to "let's...," as in "let's eat" (tabemasho), "let's drink" (nomimasho), or "let's go" (ikimasho), to use the above examples. This is more than just a handy suffix to allow you to say many things in Japanese -- it's actually a reflection of Japan's unique group-centric culture. In a non-smoking area in the U.S., you'd probably see signs saying something like "do not smoke," giving you no choice in the matter. In Japan, however, it's common for such notices to use the gentler "masho" ending, effectively saying "let's not smoke in non-smoking areas," (tobacco o yamemasho), "let's put our telephones into vibration mode" (manner mode ni shimasho) and so on. It seems to be part of the Japanese psyche that they respond better to an inclusive request rather than a specific command or rule. This "let's request" form has a very soft sound to it, and parents and care-givers use it to make even the most stubborn child do what's asked of them.

Remember that J-List is brimming with great 2006 calendars
right now, with more than 200 different anime, JPOP, swimsuit idol, nature photo, desktop, sports, and other items in stock. In addition to very popular calendars -- Studio Ghibli, Howl's Moving Castle, Mihiro, Reon Kadena -- we also make it our mission to provide an amazing selection of other calendars that are only sold in Japan, from the esoteric to the bizarre to the just plain fun. Studying Japanese, or just like the aesthetic look of kanji? We've got several calendars that feature Japanese words and slogans, beautiful kanji proverbs, and more. Interested in Japanese contemporary art? We've got some great art calendars in stock this year. Love Japan's attractive actresses or swimsuit models? We've got many to browse through. A word of warning though: Japan is a very seasonal place, and these great calendars are only available now. The best time to make your 2006 calendar order is now!

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.

	The Smiling Nurse ~ Warau Kangofu Limited ver. (with Doujinshi). This is pretty cool -- a boxed set of amazing H manga from Kengo Yonekura (one of the most talented artists in Japan these days). I just love to see Japan's erotic comics, which are so special anyway, brought out an in innovative package like this.
	Fujiya Japon Chocolat "Miyabi Hime". One of the keywords in the chocolate industry this year is "damned nice packaging," Hot on the heels of this year's quality Wine and Kit Kat Noir, Fujiya's Japan-themed chocolates are fantastic to eat and also to open.
	Santa Jack *Bendable* Mascot -- The Nightmare Before Christmas. Long before Nightmare Before Christmas was suddenly cool again, poor old Jun Planning was plugging away making cool products. Here are some of their latest, great for a scary Christmas this year.
	Kitty Chirimen Kinchaku Money Purse -- Red. Another cool Hello Kitty Kimono fabric thing, this is a plush Hello Kitty face with bag that's big enough to hold just about anything you need.
	Totoro Karuta. I was really impressed with this -- Japanese Karuta (a fun game that teaches kids hiragana) that features the Totoro art on it. Really beautiful!
	The Human Anatomy in Color -- Full Set + Rare Item *Set of 9*. Japan has long been famous for its super detailed miniature toys, recreating anime figures and meals in perfect scale. For those with a medical bent, here is the human body recreated for you in amazing detail!
	Teresa Testarossa 1/6 Scale Figure *Summer School Uniform* -- Fullmetal Panic Fumoffu. Wow, they don't get much better than this: a figure of Teresa Testarossa from Fullmetal Panic, in the middle of undressing for you, a fantastic 3-D recreation of a stolen moment in the sports equipment storage room. Ooo, I'm all aflutter.
	do-up! DVD vol. 1 (with DVD 90 min). Another issue of Do-Up! (which sounds like something wet dripping loudly to the Japanese), this one comes with a DVD for added enjoyment.
	Very Best of Smart Girls. We've always pushed the Smart Girls magazines when they were coming out because this is just too damned cool not to be known -- stylish photography of women, with the cutest underwear, camera angles and rooms. We've come to call this kind of photography "Japanese Girls in Underoos" becasuse they often shoot the girls with them on.
	"A" Class Busty Criminal DX 5. Another "A" Class Busty Criminal release, which parodies the top class of war criminals after World War II (which were called A-kyu Senpan, whereas this series is A-kyu Nyuhan). And they say historical humor is dead.
	Watermelon-cup Female Announcer -- Reira Kato. Another wacky "newscaster" fetish DVD, this time with the lovely Reira Kato. Newcasters (aka Female Announcers) are the cutest of the cute in Japan, and naturally some men whose minds work that way get to thinking about, well, you know.

More random pictures for you to browse. This is Dairy Domo-kun and Cabbage Domo-kun, a rural version of NHK's famous mascot to advertise Gunma's good quality foods.

Daughter holding rabbits at the petting zoo slash farm we went to.

Hey, this is where they sell the Frower Angels.

Pizza Hut's pizza is not bad, but darn if their salads aren't the best in all Japan.

I was amused to see what was written on my salad dressing.