Japan's discovery of asbestos, difficulties fitting in in Japan, and even more on Japanese and English

It's often said that Japanese society follows behind the West by one or two decades or so, and time and time again I see evidence that this is true. Various changes in Japanese society, from laws governing discrimination in the workplace to child safety standards and public smoking, as well as the slowly growing divorce rate here, seem to come between ten and twenty years after the U.S. and Europe. This year Japan seems to have suddenly discovered that such a thing as asbestos exists and that it causes various forms of terrible cancer, despite the rest of world knowing this for the past quarter-century. Incredibly, asbestos was only recently banned, and hundreds of schools still use it as their primary insulation, possibly my daughter's. Ack!

No matter how much we may try to fit in to our life here in Japan, there are inevitable differences that crop up between our family and our Japanese friends. We finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and went to see the movie the other day. A friend of my son's wanted to come along since he liked the books, too, but there was a problem: we always watch the subtitled versions of films rather than the dubbed one, which kids generally see because they can't read the difficult kanji found in Japanese subtitles. My son's friend was too young to read the subtitles, so we had to go see the movie without him. I've always made it our family policy to only buy movies in English, which has really helped my children get linguistic input in their second language, but sometimes they know so much English they can't interface with others well.

Yes, the Japanese preference for watching foreign films with subtitles rather than dubbed in Japanese is one of the great benefits to living here as opposed to say, China, where all film are dubbed into the local language. This is no doubt part of Japan's special relationship with English and general open-mindedness when it comes to mixing English into their own language. Still, there are many times when the "English" the Japanese use can be confusing, when a word is imported but assigned a slightly different meaning. Many anime fans know that the word for magic is maho, but the Japanese use the English word magic (majikku) too, however only in reference to slight-of-hand tricks that a magician might perform. If you put real milk in your coffee, you'd use the Japanese word (gyunyu); the English word milk (miruku) is also used, but only when talking about powdered or liquid creamer. Every foreigner in Japan has to unlearn the word "bike" (baiku) in reference to a bicycle, since the term always means motorcycle here. And a few weeks ago, we went to buy a new sofa, and I was confused by the salesman, who showed us sofas made out of real leather (kawa) as well as ones made with imitation leather (called "leather" in Japanese, pronounced lezaa). Of course, the differently-defined words aren't "wrong," just different from my own North American dialect, but it can still take some getting used to.

It's never too late to give the gift of wacky things from Japan, thanks to J-List's convenient gift certificates, which you can give to anyone very easily. Gift certificates can be given as physical items sent in a gift box from our San Diego office, or (since Christmas is so close) "virtually," as a printable PDF file sent through email. You can enter any name you like for yourself and your recipient, enter a customized message, and choose whatever amount you want to give. Best of all, email gift certificates are free (physical delivery ones are $3), and they never expire.

We've got one more treat for everyone: a price drop our very cool portable region-free player, the AMW M-280, a take-anywhere DVD player with high-quality letterbox screen that plays DVDs from anywhere in the world, be they region 2 discs from Japan, PAL discs from Europe, you name it. It's got many excellent features, like the ability to play DVDs on a TV or accept video from an external source and display it on the unit's screen, two headphone jacks, and of course it has a full 1-year warranty. At the new price of just $148, it's too good for you not to pick one up. (They're great for keeping in the car, too, for long trips with the kids.)

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.

	Urecco Gal Sep 2005. Another fine issue of Urecco Gal, which basically is Urecco with the "style" knobs turned all the way up.
	Beauty ~ Bi -- Misaki Ito. So, Misaki Ito is basically the most beautiful woman in Japan, at least to all otaku, having won our hearts in Densha Otoko, the dorama about a geek falling in love with a beautiful woman. Although I'd be lying if I said she looks natural in those bikinis.
	WANZ FACTORY THE BEST ver. WHITE. Wanz Factory has given up region '2' for their DVDs, and all future releases are going to be 'all,' meaning you won't have to have a special DVD player to enjoy it. This is their 3 hour Wanz The Best series, in red and white editions (which is a very Japanese thing, if you think about it).
	If you were... Part 5. What if the world were like men wish it would be like? Women would serve up sex as casually as they serve your food? An interesting concept by Soft on Demand.
	Love Love Love Love -- Sumire Sakurai. Sigh...another dreamy, beautiful photobook idol, this is Sumire (soo-MEE-ray, it means "violet") Sakurai. This is a perfect example of the giri giri trend in photobooks today, showing more by showing less (since women are sexier with their clothes on).
	Macchawan -- Nanban ~ Rikyu Bowl. I have to apologize for posting this yere -- it's a very, very nice bowl for tea ceremony and mattcha (not really for eating ceral with, but you could), made by hand in the Kiyomizu-yaki style, named for the Kiyomizu Dera area of Kyoto. But...we sold out already, like 30 minutes after I did the update. More are on order already.
	Hello Kitty "Donburi" Bowl w/ Lid. Another cool item today is our Hello Kitty Bowl, a donburi bowl for eating things like Gyudon, Oyakodon and so on. The Hello Kitty lid is just so cool.
	The Sierra Action Figure -- Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Another way-cool Final Fantasy VII Advent Children toy, from ArtFX/Kotobukiya. A very large replica of the Sierra.
	Toy Story Blythe -- Best Friend Cowboy *Dollcena*. This is a line of Blythe toys based on Disney characters. Basically, it's Tomy's Blythe girls doing Disney cosplay. Cool, no? I kind of like the wayo-setchu (a word meaning any meal that combines both Japanese and Western elements) thing.
	Pocky Almond Crush ~ Cocoa Chocolate. The Pocky Almond Crush is in for the season, and there are two different flavors, a standard milk chocolate and delicious Cacao (a slightly bitter, pure form of chocolate).
	Meiji Snow Apollo. Another old favorite from Japan, this is Apollo, which is usually strawberry on top of chocolate. This is the yummy winter version which has white chocolate "snow" on top.
	Kitty Chirimen Cosmetic Pouch w/ Mirror -- Red ~ Sakura. If I were a girl, I'd carry cool stuff like this. This is a Hello Kitty cosmetics pouch (but you can use it for just about anything) made from kimono fabric. Tres cool.
	Rilakkuma Face Plastic Mug Cup -- Relax Bear. If you aren't getting enough kawaii power from your regular coffee cup, why not try this Rilakkuma (Relax Bear) coffee cup instead?
	2006 Calendar -- Taikan Yokoyama. Another outstanding calendar this year, this is the fabulous art of Taikan Yokoyama, who makes beautiful dreamy images that blend very old styles with updated nihonga (an oil-less painting method).
	2006 Calendar -- Famous Castles of Japan . We love the Japanese calendars that we sell, and this is always one of the most popular. It shows you all the greatest castles in the country, from Himeji to Matsumoto-jo.