Wedding bells in the Imperial Palace, beautiful autumn in Kyoto, and George Bush in Japan

Every autumn in Japan the leaves change to beautiful shades of red and yellow and vermillion, a spectacle called koyo (紅葉, lit. "crimson leaves"). And just as the leaves are starting to turn, we know we'll be tempted with a barrage of TV commercials by Japan's JR train line promoting Kyoto in the fall, showing incredible images of the city with autumn-colored leaves all around, along with the very effective slogan, So da! Kyoto e iko! ("Hey, I've got an idea! Let's go to Kyoto!"). Well, there's a very famous guest in Kyoto right now: none other than George W. Bush, who is in Japan for a two-day meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi. Last night the two leaders took in Kinkakuji, the famous Golden Pavilion, and today they're going to be discussing issues ranging from Iraq to U.S. bases to bird flu. The U.S. is also expected to press Japan to resume beef imports, which have been on hold since 2003 over Mad Cow. Mr. Bush will be the first guest in the newly completed Kyoto State Guest House, a sprawling facility constructed to house international events and foreign dignitaries. I wonder if he got to take a Japanese bath and sleep in a real futon? That would be so cool. As far as world leaders go, I can't think of anyone who needs to be exposed to some outside ideas more than Bush, and maybe he can realize there's an actual world outside of Texas and Washington in Japan. Fingers crossed that there will be no projectile vomiting on any Japanese Prime Ministers this time around...

Japan has been seized with a bout of "wedding mania" after the happy marriage of Princess Nori, daughter of the current Japanese Emperor Akihito, to an employee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The ceremony, while beautiful, was remarkable because it was just another Japanese wedding, despite the royal status of the bride. After a very traditional Shinto ceremony at the Meiji Jingu Shrine in which Norinomiya-sama wore a juni-hitoe, a traditional 12-layer kimono dating back to the 10th century, the happy couple had a fairly unremarkable reception at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. The news was all over the story, from interviewing some of the the 6000 people who lined up on the street just so they could wave to the princess as she drove by to giving full report on what was served during the reception. The reception itself followed the well-defined mold of Japanese weddings, starting off with a speech by the groom's boss (in this case, Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, who you may remember is the guy who wrote "The Japan That Can Say No" a decade ago) and ending with an emotional speech by the bride, thanking her parents for raising her and promising to find happiness in her new life. Princess Nori's husband is a sports car collector and loves driving his Lotus Elise, and the newscasters were laughing at the image of a the demure former Japanese princess zooming around at high speeds with her husband.

Over the years, J-List has been honored to bring anime fans from all over the world a direct link to Japan. Because we're fans of Hayao Miyazaki's films, we've always gone out of our way to bring great Studio Ghibli products to everyone. Today we're happy to announce the release of Howl's Moving Castle
on DVD, complete with full optional subtitles in English, French and Japanese, and full dubbed tracks in English and French as well. We've got both versions, too, the normal 2-disc set and the super deluxe 4-disc collector's edition, with making of, interviews with the director and more. Howl's Moving Castle is the story of a plain girl whose life is touched by the mysterious wizard Howl, and it's a great story for all fans of Mr. Miyazaki! (The DVDs are zoned for region 2, however, and we recommend the excellent region free DVD players we stock, starting at just $68).

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.

	Howl's Moving Castle (region 2). Ah, Howl's Moving Castle, that was really a great film, and I'm really happy to be able to bring it to everyone now. The story of a girl who finds a way out of her boring, average life, it's a great world of flashy and innovative characters, and Calcifur is cool too. Amazingly, this just-released DVD featurs English and Freench subtitles AND English and French dubbed tracks. And the dub is good -- at least the English one, couldn't judge the French dub.
	World of Yuboku Mukoyoshi -- Full Set *Set of 9*. How cool is this? Incredibly detailed Buddhist figures made by a famous sculptor (didn't know there were famous Buddhist sculptors alive today). Very cool full set of toys.
	Dears *Ren* PVC Painted Figure -- Renrenrennagranrenseer Rurunnren Nakora. Another neat anime figure, this is Ren from DearS. Very nice detailing, you could spend hours looking at this thing.
	Tamagotchi Playing Cards. A deck of very nicely printed playing cards. They're printed with art from Tamagotchi packages, which makes them pretty esoteric, and probably valuable in 50 years.
	Kit Kat "Tsubu" Strawberry. So, I thought Wine Kit Kat was pretty cool. And Kit Kat Noir. And Canadian Maple Syrup Kit Kat. But this, THIS, is the stuff: Strawberry Kit Kat with bits of fresh, real strawberry inside.
	H.M.P Premium Girls. All owners of Sony's PSP, enjoy this great new region free release from HMP, which focuses exclusively on shinjin or "new faces," i.e. girls who are debuting for the first time.
	Front Innocent vol. 1. If you've been into hentai for any length of time, you'll probably know Satoshi Urushihara, one of the greats in the industry. Enjoy his new hardcover illustration collection in which he takes his characters where they've never gone before.
	Mini Skirt Illustrated vol. 78 DVD 120 min. This is one of my all time favorite magazines, because the women are so sexy, and the photography is so nicely done, and the heels are so long, and...
	Kitty Japanese Doll -- Ao Momiji *Blue Maple* ~ Kimono Style w/ Fan. We have more Hello Kitty Kimono Dolls, real ceramic traditional dolls featuring Hello Kitty. The printing on the kimono's is amazing and looks great.
	The Mach 5 Full Ver Plastic Model -- Mach Go Go Go. Here's somethiing cool: a beautiful Mach 5 model for Speed Racer fans, that does it all -- opening engine compartment, cutters, opening trunk, underwater cover, and jumping legs.
	Exodus Guilty *PREORDER*. A new DVD-based game from Hirameki that's coming soon, this looks like a good one, with really good art and a story that you determine.