All about the busy month of December, Japanese dialectology, and the new color of money

We've entered that hectic time near the end of the year that the Japanese call shiwasu, which was originally the name for the 12th month under the lunar calendar, and which now describes that extra-busy few weeks at the end of the year when no one has enough time to do the things they need to get done. This is the month companies will have their bonenkai (boh-nen-KAI) which literally means "forget the past year party," a long tradition going back to the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). A bonenkai is a big party held by companies or other groups where everyone eats, drinks and looks back on the events of the past year -- it's a great stress reliever, and lots of fun. December is also the season for OH-soji or "big cleaning": you always clean your house from top to bottom in December so you can start the new year with a clean house (especially the doors -- for some reason clean doors are very important). Every third TV commercial these days is an advertisement for cleaning supplies with bizarre names like "Quickle Wiper" and "Charmy Green."

Like all languages, the Japanese language has many dialects, from well-known ones like Osaka-ben and Kyoto-ben to the unintelligible utterances of people from the Tohoku region of northern Honshu, whose strangely inflected speech is caused (according to one theory) by centuries of living in the cold, which encouraged people to learn to speak with shorter words and not open their mouths as widely while talking. When the capital of Japan was officially moved from Kyoto to Edo (which was renamed Tokyo or "East Capital" in homage to the cities of Beijing and Nanjing, "North Capital" and "South Capital" respectively), the official language of Japan became the dialect used in Tokyo. Today Japanese from all regions of the country have to come to terms with this bi-dialectical aspect of their language, the existance of their own local dialect in relation to the "official" language taught in schools, which can differ quite a lot. In the U.S., we don't have a physical region that we define standard American English by, just as we lack an official body to define the boundaries of our language like the L'Académie française in France -- whatever dialect they're using on the evening news is the most accurate bellweather of standard American English, for the most part.

I see that the U.S. Treasury is going to be adding color to its bills soon, introducing shades of blue and orange to the $20 and $50 bills. The Japanese have always used money that was colored very differently -- blue for the 1000 yen note, purple for the 5000 yen and brown for the 10,000 yen note. Having differently colored money makes it easier to use and lessens the chance you'll plunk down the wrong bill at the supermarket, an important consideration in a country where 20% of the population is age 65 or older. When Japanese go to the U.S., they need to be careful to avoid making mistakes with their dollars.

It's 2006 calendar season around here, and we're happy to announce we got about 20 restocked calendars on the site, including lovelies Leon Kadena and Ryoko Mitake, lots of Japanese gardens, castles and beautiful kimono idols, anime calendars like School Rumble and Fullmetal Alchemist, and other cool calendars like The Dog, Gamera, and more. Our calendar stock continues to be under a lot of pressure as dozens of orders flow in daily, so browse our restocked calendars today before the items you want disappear. J-List products make great gifts for those special otaku on your list, and we hope you'll check out our new products and put in your order!

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.

	Sabra 020 nov. 2005 (with DVD 100min). Love the new Sabra, which has a very different style from the other magazines we sell (it's published bi-weekly, maybe that has something to do with it -- totally different staff and distribution system). The DVD is extra gravy, too.
	Ura Maid DVD 120min. Maid fetish has hit Japan in a big way, with maid cafes sprouting up all over Tokyo. Here's a nice magazine w/ DVD exploring the warm, soft, wet side of this genre.
	Hazukashii Katachi -- Arisa Nozaki. Elegant photobook from Ariza Nozaki, a charming and beautiful swimsuit idol who looks darned good in this new glossy photobook.
	Tokyo Style. Okay, this is cool -- a photobook documenting apartments in Tokyo, but apartments that are filled with the refuse and old junk of bygone eras -- the mid and late Showa period.
	Pretty Nurse Sex Therapy -- Mihiro. Mihiro's latest DVD looks to be her best, with an incredibley erotic multi-angle romp with Japan's top JAV star. Many fetishes will be satisfied, believe me.
	Black & Female Fucker -- Izumi Hasegawa (region 2). Always a popular genre at J-List, this is the latest "Japanese girl vs. big black guys from the USA" release from Moodyz. Izuki Hasegawa looks darned pretty while she lets those guys do that to her. Wow...
	Stop the Time! Part 3. The third installment in the "what would you do if you had a watch that could stop time?" series from SOD. This is an example of how Japan's indies adult video world is largely run on "kikaku" (concept-based productions) rather than big famous names.
	Naru Narusegawa 1/8 Scale Figure -- Love Hina. Nice large size figure of Naru from Love Hina. The cool thing is, she has these cut off shorts that you can optionally put on her, if you want. That's so cool.
	Hello Kitty *Hot Sake* Set -- Rose. Want some hot sake? Want it served in a Hello Kitty sake warming pot? This is too cool for words!
	New Flying Doraemon. The most loved anime character isn't Atom Boy, or Pikachu, or Son Gokuh. It's Doraemon! Here's a cute "flying Doraemon" toy for you to play with.
	Totoro Lacquered Bowl w/ Bento Box. This is cool! It's a round bento box that you put the standard rice and other fare in. The top, however, conceals a little tupperware type container that can hold miso soup, and the top itself is a miso soup bowl with dancing Totoros on it. A great item!
	Yamato Cosmo Fleet Collection -- Full Set *Set of 5* ~ Space Battleship Yamato. I am a Yamato fan, and I'll always been a Yamato fan. Despite the fact that the show was one big alegory about the bombing of Japan by kichiku beihei (Dirty American Devils like me), the show was the first anime to have a soul. This is a very nicely made collection of battleships from Yamato.
	Writing Hiragana ~ An Introductory Japanese Language Workbook. Another excellent book to help you learn to read and write hiragana, since that is where Japanese begins, after all.
	Figure Maniacs Bandai Vender Figure Special. A very nice special item for Figure Maniacs collectors, this focuses on Bandai's characters and toys, and comes with a Sailor Moon figure.
	Set of 2-- Star Train ~ Panorama Express. Another Star Train series has been released -- awesome! These are plastic replicas of some of the most famous trains in Japan.
	2006 Calendar -- School Rumble. Just a reminder on the calendars -- we are seeing these go so fast we can't get them in fast enough. We're down to 160 different calendars or so, from 200+ just a week ago. Browse our calendar selection now, or forever hold your peace.

More pictures from Japan (my wife is out eating Thai food without me, so I've determined not to bust my arse to get home on time today). This is me in Santa Mode.

Went with my son up to Karuizawa last weekend. With only two of us instead of the usual four, we were able to take...my Miata! Despite the snow and freezing temperatures around us, we had fun.

These mountains are a bit more beautiful when it's not the dead of winter.

The tip to Karuizawa was enjoyable, but getting the car stranded and needing to ask some passersby for help was ot exactly fun.

Not all Lucky Cats are cute. This is the mangiest Lucky Cat I've ever seen in my life.