Japanese Daruma, the seasonal nature of Japan, and a sad day for Japan's Adult Video World

One of the coolest images of Japan, to me, are the Daruma, the unique red, roundish dolls that are quite visible in Japan around this time of year. A Daruma is a representation of Bodhidharma, a historical figure from India who founded Zen Buddhism and what would become Kung Fu, and who attained his unique shape by fasting and meditating for so long that his arms and legs disappeared -- although I just know that if I were to ask my Japanese wife about this she'd throw up her hands and tell me she has no idea what I'm talking about. Like Japan's Lucky Cat, which beckons good fortune (especially in business or money) into your home, a Daruma is an object that promises to bring you good luck. The doll originally comes with no eyes drawn in, and when you make a wish for the New Year, you blacken one of the eyes with ink. If your wish comes true during the year, you color the other eye, and a Daruma displayed in a home or business with both eyes colored in is a statement of having attained success. While the Daruma is ostensibly a Buddhist icon, it's become associated with Shinto rites such as New Year's Day, and has kind of "jumped" from one Japanese tradition to the other. Every city in Japan stakes out a "meibutsu" or "famous thing," some object or food that it is famous for, and Takasaki, our neighboring city, just happens to be famous for these beautiful Daruma Dolls. Their official train station bento is Daruma Bento, too, which is well-known throughout Japan.

One of the first things I learned about Japan after going there in 1991 was that it was a very season-focused country, with specific customs and activities for each time of year. Want to buy a warm coat? Buy it in the winter months, since no store will stock them at any other time of year. How about a swimsuit? They're not available outside of May-August for love or money. Fireworks are popular in high summer, but if you wanted to get them at another time of year (for example, to throw your own Guy Fawkes Day bash), you're out of luck. Sometimes J-List customers will wonder why we don't have any stock of our cool "tatami" sandals (actually called "zori" in Japanese) right now, and the reason is that our shoe distributors shut down all production of sandal-type shoes when summer ends, and our backorder of these shoes probably won't be filled until April or so. Calendars follow a similar pattern, and as the very strict "calendar season" that lasts from September to December ends, no calendars will be available in Japan until the 2007 season rolls around. The moral of the story is that if you see something cool on J-List, such as our still-amazing selection of over a hundred 2006 calendars, it's better to snap it up sooner rather than later, since all too often the item will disappear from the site forever.

There's been a tragedy in Japan's AV world: innovative indies director Hajime, of Hajime Planning, has died suddenly. Hajime started out as a salesman inside Japan's maverick indies AV studio Soft on Demand, working his way up through the ranks until he was able to become a director, creating the kinds of videos he wanted to see made under his Hajime Kikaku label. He always had a knack for making interesting productions using off-the-street raw talent, with fresh ideas like "Study of Whale Shower." J-List's Tomo had a great relationship with Director Hajime, and attended his funeral yesterday. The ceremony was a Who's Who of Japan's AV world, with everyone in attendance, from SOD founder Ganari Takahashi to Dogma director Tohjiro to stars like Kurumi Morishita, and even the legendary Kazuhiko Matsumoto (who invented the most infamous AV genre to come out of Japan in the past decade) was there. Hajime was very happy to be able to have his works reach fans outside of Japan through J-List, and we were very glad to be able to help people around the world learn about his amazing works.

Remember, J-List is having a great free shipping sale (or half price shipping, for customers outside the U.S. and Canada) on our close-out T-shirt and hoodie designs. We've got dozens of wacky Japanese T-shirts, with original designs that are bold and interesting and show off your love of Japan to everyone. We've added our long-selling "It is forbidden to urinate" T-shirt (which is based on signs you can actually see in Japan, believe it or not) to our reduced price/free shipping sale. Browse our selection now, before your size sells out!

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 Magazine 021 Dec. 2005 with DVD. New issue of Sabra, a nice issue as always, with the excellent mix of top name stars and really sultry photography that brings out the dark beauty in all the girls.
	Kuradashi Senningiri ~ One GAL vol. 005. Somewhere in Japan there is a man with a dream: to porn 1000 beautiful girls. This is the next installment of that dream, a special "kuradashi" (which literally means "release it in the storage shed") issue for you.
	24 Hours Anytime and Anywhere Sex -- Akari Hoshino. Poor Akari is called upon to have sex anytime and anywhere in a 24 hour period, in this great new SOD release. Quote an innovative series.
	Straddling Position 8 Hours. Another fun release from TMA, this brings you an amazing 8 hours of "straddling position" sex, that is, girls on top with their legs wide as they do it.
	Army Cosplay. In case you're a little bored with maid, nurse or bus guide cosplay, we bring you a new genre: Army Cosplay, with real army uniforms on pretty, pretty girls.
	Mio Karen DX PVC Figure -- My Assistant. A very nice original (?) figure based on Magic Private Eye, which is a doujinshi creation. Love this figure.
	Erotic Sister - Ero Ne ~ Eronee. Really nice erotic comic for fans of Meganekko, which means "girls with glasses" (a fetish I would have to confess to).
	Original Type Kitty Doll -- Small. This is cool: a Hello Kitty plush toy modeled after the very first Hello Kitty toys from 1976.
	Lucky "Ema" (Wishing Board) w/Hariko Inu. This is a cool item that you write your wish on (like, I wish to pass my college entrance exam), then hang it up somewhere around the New Year. Very trad.
	Owl Couple Otedama - Set of Two. I don't know why but I really like these Owl Otedama, little bean bags that are fun to hold, juggle, throw around the room, or sit on your desk for when yuo need something to fidget with.
	Tamagotchi Plus Pocket Notebook w/ 2006 Calendar -- Entama Techou. A neat item for fans of the Tamagotchi art, which is actually a hell of a lot cooler than the game itself. This is a very special 2006 notebook/planner with calendar for you to keep organized with.