Japanese concepts of friendship, my life as "Santa-san" and phone straps from the Edo Period
It's funny how how tenuous the meanings of seemingly basic words can be. In English, the word "friend" is pretty straightforward, meaning someone you are friendly with, or just maybe, someone you are romantically involved with, but don't want to admit it to others. Most of my English-speaking "friends" are close in age to me, but I certainly could have a friend who was 25, or 45, or 75, if I wanted to. It's not uncommon to classify someone I know only as a passing acquaintance as a "friend," too, for convenience or to avoid being rude. In Japanese, however, the concept of what a friend is can be quite different. The most common word for friend is tomodachi (which literally means "those who you go with"), and it has a more "close" feel to it than the English word. Tomodachi in school years are almost always the same age; otherwise you'd use the term senpai (for upperclassman) or kouhai (for underclassman), which are quite different concepts in Japan's vertically-oriented society. The other day, my son was playing dodgeball with a boy he's known since preschool -- they've played together for years. I talked about the boy with my wife, using the word tomodachi. My wife corrected me, saying the boys weren't friends in that sense, but were instead osana-najimi (o-SAH-NAH NAH-jee-mee). The word, which comes up in anime and bishoujo games quite a lot, refers to someone you were very close to since childhood, and it seems to be both more and less than the English word friend. "An osana-najimi is different from tomodachi," my wife explained to me. "They're always there, and you don't even notice them after a while. You get so used to being with each other, it's like air."
There comes a time in the life of every gaijin that he is called upon to perform a service for his Japanese hosts. I'm talking, of course, about dressing up as "Santa-san" (as he's usually called by Japanese kids) for the school Christmas Party. Christmas is a very bright and happy time in Japan, and no Christmas Party would be complete without a real live gaijin Santa Claus, dressed from head to toe in bright read "Santa wear." This year I was asked to play Santa at a preschool run by a friend of ours, and I was happy to oblige, handing out gifts to all of the kids with a hearty ho-ho-ho! and being careful not to speak Japanese so as not to break the mood. The kids were happy to see a "real" Santa Claus and thanked me as I handed out their presents. As usual, not everyone was happy to see a big, red foreigner invade their school, and several of the younger kids were bawling their eyes out while the preschool teachers comforted them.
If you've browsed our website, you've probably seen the "phone straps" we sell, which are popular in Japan as stylish attachments for your cell phone, although you can use the straps with camera, PDAs like Palm Pilots, Sony PSP, and as a keychain, since the nylon string is very strong. Well, did you know these phone straps were actually an updated form of Japanese art going back to the 17th century? Since kimonos have no pockets, men in the Edo Period needed a way to carry their money and other belongings, and they started using small cloth pouches with drawstrings and intricately carved figures called "netsuke" (net-TSOO-keh) on the ends of the strings. To help you add a little bit of classic Japanese tradition to your daily life, we've added some great netsuke straps featuring Lucky Cat Hello Kitty, which promise to bring you good luck in the form of business success, passing a difficult test, succeeding at finding love, and traffic safety. If you have a cell phone or similar portable gadget, why not snag a cool netsuke strap for it?
J-List sells region free DVD players for customers who want to be able to enjoy DVDs from all over the world, not just the Hollywood-approved region you happen to be living in. Our popular players include the Karaoke-enabled DVD-7880K and the excellent DIVX-capable DVD-7050. We also sell our outstanding portable player, the AMW M-280, a 7 inch widescreen DVD player that's loaded with features, including region free disc playback, PAL/NTSC support, the ability to output DVDs to the beautiful 7 inch 16:9 screen or to an external TV and also play external video on the build-in screen. The M-280 comes with a 1-year warranty, like all our DVD players. We've dropped our price on the M-280 by $10, to just $168, a fantastic price for a well-made portable player like this.
As a general rule, Japanese houses and many businesses have a recessed area called a genkan where you leave your shoes before entering. J-List's genkan is currently a massive mountain of hundreds of wrapped boxes, calendar tubes and other packages, waiting to be taken to the post office first thing in the morning (we fill up about two vans per day this time of year). J-List's staff is primed and ready to speed your order out to you ASAP, either from Japan or from San Diego. Please browse our site and let us know how we can serve you!
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.
 | Relax Bear Mug Cup -- Yellow *Polka Dot* ~ Relakkuma. Everyone is trying to out-Hello Kitty Hello Kitty with the next cute character. Currently, everyone is going ape over San-X's Rilakkuma, the Relax Bear that makes you relax. It's darned cute. |
 | Uniform Deluxe ~ Seifuku 1 Gou. Haven't seen actual bus guide cosplay hentai in a while -- I guess it fell out of favor for a while there. This is a manga dedicated to costumes, especially different kinds of uniforms women wear. |
 | iPod nano Leather Case -- White. Got an iPod nano? I've got an iPod with Video but every time I see one of these cases, I go oo, wouldn't it be nice to have a nano too, even though there'd be no point at all. This is one of the best cases I've seen for this little guy, |
 | Ayaya! H na Idol DVD 240min. I've been outside of my home country long enough to need to ask, but do they do sokkuri-san (look-alike) porn outside of Japan? I mean, are there adult video actresses who name themselves Brittany Steers who dress up like the otehr Brittany and wear her costumes and copy her dance routines? An interesting question. |
 | Hello Kitty *Pass The Test* Netsuke -- w/ Daruma ~ Red. A great traditional Hello Kitty Netsuke -- in fact, we've got four different ones, which bring you different kinds of luck (luck at studying, luck in love, etc.). Very cute! |
 | Japanese T-shirt - Girl & Mona Neko Cats - Fitted Girl's. We have two new shirts, which were actually not finalized when we did the post last time, so I'm mentioning them now. I love the way these came out, and the Panchira design is my own fave. |
 | Japanese T-shirt - Mona Neko Trio - Fitted Girl's. This is the other Mona Neko shirt, which shows the three cute cats dancing after they've had some sake (noma yay!). If you aren't familiar with these characters, by all means see this movie right away! |
 | Eye Patch -- String Type. An eye patch. From Japan. If you've got a thing for eye patches or bandages, like I do (and like Chiaki Kuriyama does, god bless her otaku soul), buy this before we sell out. |
 | Soryu Asuka Langrey Extra Winter Figure Ver.2 -- Evangelion. A really nice new Eva figure for you to display in your room. I just love how stylish Asuka looks. |
 | Hi To -- Aki Hoshino (with DVD Region2). Aki Hoshino is just about the top name in the gravure idol world these days, and she's so beautiful, she deserves it. This is her newest photobook, and it comes with a great DVD, too. |
 | Ayanami Rei Extra Winter Figure Ver.2 -- Evangelion. Here is the Rei version of the new figure set. Great as a pair. |
 | *Foxtail* Totoro 2 Tier Bento Box -- Neko Jarashi. For all your Totoro bento box needs, we offer the new Totoro 2 Tier Bento Box, a really nicely made bento box that will serve all but the most hearty of eaters. |
 | Dream Shower Legend 3. Bukkake was invented by Japanese AV director Kazuhiko Matsumoto (of M's Video Group), and it's changed the industry by adding a new art form to the world of sex...if your mind works that way, anyway. Here is a great compilation work of bukkake from Moodyz. |
 | P:Chara -- Street Fighter Chun-Li & Sakura ~ Pinky St. Nice new Pinky Street offering, this time featuring Chun Li and Sakura from Street Fighter II. Damn I love this series! |
 | Tall Cosplay Beautiful Leg Woman. Leg fetish has always been something the Japanese are good at, and we're happy with the popularity of the rejuvinated Shinkosha and their excellent new releases. |
 | Alice Memorial -- Alice Ogura. Alice Ogura has been a really popular JAV star, the kind of girl we always wanted to live next door to us. One weekend, our parents would be out of town, and her parents would be too, and she come over to borrow some sugar, and... |
 | A Guide To Writing Kanji & Kana Book 1 ~ A Self-study Workbook For Learning Japanese Characters. A nice workbook for students of Japanese, this is the kind of thing I've been wanting to sell on J-List for years. All the kana and kanji are laid out in logical order, with spaces for you to practice in. |
posted by Peter in Japan at 2:43 PM
9 Comments:
Boy it really sound fun to play Santa san! Wonder how would I go playing Sánchez Clos? lol
3:45 AM
Is that what he's called in Spanish? It's funny how Santa Claus gets filtered through each culture. The Dutch (I believe) brought their legend of St. Nicholus to the U.S. and that got changed to Santa Claus through language errors. Japan's image of Santa comes 100% through the U.S., not from, say, England (so the idea of a kindly Gandalf-like Father Christmas is replaced by a more lively, large present-giving type of guy).
10:42 AM
No really it is not; the Sánchez Clos is more a slang deformity in Spanish. Truth is he is also known as Santa Claus or Papá Noel (Father Christmas); but like I mentioned; Sámchez Clos is a deformation as we usually do to foreign words.
People actually want in Mexico for it to change its own official language, Spanish into English so it could help it become a top nation. Or in worse extreme cases; some want to give Mexico to the US, so it would become US soil and be on a better position and finish the job that the little bastard of Antonio López de Santa Anna started.
4:14 AM
Papa Noel, that's cool. When I went to Mexico two years ago, I was struck by the poverty, which is what happens when people who live in Japan go to Mexico. The guide was talking about college and how hard it was to go, and I thought of Japan's effort-based national university system, in which the best schools are the cheapest and that's why everyone wants to go there, hence there's competition and you must study hard to get in. It'd be cool if they could implement a system like this, if there isn't one. I mean, Mexico has so much going for it (good education, large middle class, oil), it should work harder to raise its level in the world.
10:14 AM
Well, truth is that a really small % call him Papá Noel. I believe they use that name the most in South America and/or Spain.
Actually I see Japan's system harder; but I did really had a hard time getting into high school. There are many colleges in Mexico, but mostly are "quacky" ones. Monterrey Tech is considered the best school here, but also it is the most expensive thanks to their hidden curriculum. Oh yeah, still the quacky ones are expensive even when they lack of resources.
Thanks Mr. Payne! We know we have lots of resources here; but sadly the ones in charge do not know how to run them. Like the rumors that Pemex (our national oil company) will be fully sold to the US by the hand of Vicente Fox. Man it really seems we have a grim fate, we could rise just like Japan did but none has iniciative and get seduced by "the dark side" and malinchism. If people in charge become honest, they will be shot like Luis Donaldo Colosio and Digna Ochoa.
Extremists want Mexico to be nuked and erased from the face of the Earth, so it won't belong to anyone. *creepy* And some ufologist named Jaime Maussan keeps saying that in 2012, according to he mayan prophecies, aliens will come and help Mexico become the interuniversal power. *extra creepy*
3:59 PM
Yes, it seems that there are some broken parts in the Mexican system, some functions of government that aren't working properly. It's a shame, and I hope you can do something to fix it. Make a "5 year plan" or something, start political activist groups and demonstrate against corruption. I have customers in TJ (do they call Tijuana this in Mexico? ^_^) who have to get PO Boxes in the U.S. and have products sent there, since things are stolen from the mails.
How about the press? In the U.S., although things have gone sharply downhill since the Republicans allowed relaxing of the rules of how few companies could own media outlets, there is still the basic idea that the press is a "fifth estate" and will work to find corruption. If America didn't have our free press at this point, we'd be in a terrible state right about now. Is there actual responsible functionality by the press in Mexico?
5:29 PM
Sadly the system is a total wreck. A 5 year old plan is not enough; as we are 100 years behind. And like mentioned, those who want to do something about it end up dead. You would have to be immortal in order to do something alike.
We call Tijuana, Tijuana plain and simple. Actually most people here hate Tijuana since it gives a bad image to the nation. It is also seen most as a tourist trap, when there are better places to see in the southwest, like baroque and colonial buildings.
And yes the same with the press, if they care for their lives, then stay quiet!
I could go into politics and give a change, but too bad I am not bullet proof.
8:36 AM
That is unfortunate. Maybe something could be done, though, a committee that was large enough to protect the members. You have a lot of advantages, like education and low costs, and not even large transportation costs to the U.S. since you're so close.
So how has Fox been as a president? It's hard for me to have an opinion from all the way over here, plus all world leaders who can speak English get extra support in the U.S. (part of the reason why we support Musharraf in Pakistan I believe).
9:49 AM
Those plans sound really good, but like I have been saying, most people are too lazy to organize. People here are indifferent because they believe it is cool; like my friends in high school, they hated me because I wanted to do something and they were cool because they do not care about things and turn their backs at me.
Well, while some for some reason consider our school sustem better than the US one (except for college); here things are very expensive, not to mention that we have lots of piracy and knock offs here; yet we are loosing to China as Vrigin of Guadalupe statues are now made there. About being close to the US, let me quote something: "Poor Mexico! So far from God, and so close to the United States."
Of course we hate Fox. He has not been as bad as others (which I won't name or they will order someone to kill me), but favors the rich and foreign companies. Some say he will sell all of our oil (PEMEX) to the US. He speaks English in a way we call it; "Mechanized English." The US has not helped him a bit, he is just happy to being used, and to get fights with others because he is a friend of Bush. But looks like lately there was some issue with something the US did. Others say he will sell all of the national territory to the US.
2:57 PM
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