Japan's lack of faith in construction, new foods you can eat in Japan, and the J-List Year-End Party

Japan is a nation founded on construction, and much of the country's modern economy is derived from building roads, bridges, and tall, sturdy buildings. Japanese have a lot of faith that their excellent engineering and building codes will protect them from the earthquakes that plague the country, but that faith is being sorely tested now. An architect named Hidetsugu Aneha has admitted to designing numerous structures including hotels, condominiums and even an office building in our own city using deliberately falsified data about the construction and amount of steel used in order to to keep costs down. As a result, a staggering 73 buildings in 17 different prefectures may have to be torn down, as they may collapse in the event of a large quake. Already several hotels constructed using the falsified data have closed their doors to avoid endangering guests, and the full extent of the scandal may not be known for some time.

When you come to live in Japan, it's inevitable that you'll get used to eating some new foods. Being an island nation dependant on the sea, Japanese eat a lot of seafood, something I've really come to appreciate since coming to live hear in 1991. Between delicious sushi, beautifully arranged sashimi and various other types of fish, I eat a lot more seafood here than I thought possible back in the States. Another staple of Japanese gastric culture is rice, and steamed white rice is eaten with almost meal -- in fact, the word for cooked rice (gohan) also serves as a general word for food in general. (Japanese often imagine that Americans eat every meal with a big plate of white bread on the side.) I still love good old Vlassic Dill Pickles from home, but I've come to appreciate some of the local pickled foods, especially Korean-style kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage, although the stuff they make in Japan is never spicy enough for me). Chocolate came to Japan only in the last century, and it's still thought of as somewhat exotic. A much more "down to Earth" Japanese snack treat might be yaki-imo, or baked sweet potatoes cooked over hot stones, sold by a vendor who drives around in a truck playing an eerie song in imitation of the Ice Cream Man from back home. It took me a while, but now I can really appreciate the taste and warmth of baked sweet potato eaten on a cold winter afternoon. (Here the yaki-imo song in MP3 format.)

Tonight is J-List's bonenkai (boh-NEN-KAI), or Year End Party, a big tradition in any company in Japan. Literally meaning "Forget the Past Year Party," it's a time to look back on all that's happened over the past year and say otsukare-sama deshita (ohts-KAH-ray-sah-mah deh-SHTA, "thanks for your hard work") to all employees. 2006 has been an outstanding year for J-List -- we've brought many cool things from Japan to tens of thousands of customers all over the world, and we thank everyone for helping us grow. After eating at a local restaurant famous for its fresh fish (the fish all live in a big tank in the center of the restaurant, and the sashimi guy plucks them out and prepares them as each order comes in), we'll hit a karaoke room and belt out some songs.

We've been hammering out lots of cool new Japan-themed T-shirt designs this month, since our shirts and hoodies make popular gifts, and today we've got another cool design we think you'll love. Thanks to the popularity anime, a lot of obscure Japanese words have been finding their way into English, and one word we're hearing a lot is "sukebe" (pronounced "su-KEH-beh"), which means someone with a dirty mind, essentially the same thing as the famous "ecchi." Our new shirt is perhaps the perfect stealth design, since people who know what it means will laugh, but those who don't will think it's just a generic T-shirt. Totally wacky!

Want to visit Tokyo? Thanks to up-and-coming film director Joe Doughrity and his DVD documentary Seven Days in Japan, you can! Joe made a film of his adventures exploring in Japan's most populous city, and shows you just about everything you've ever wanted to see, from anime museums to the nightlife of Shibuya and more -- he even visit an animation studio. It's a great way to enjoy a visit to Japan for just $10.

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.

	Karami 31 -- Nao Yoshizaki. I just love the Karami series (incidentally, Karami means "winding" and would bring to mind the intertwining of limbs in sexual intercourse, if you were keeping score) because it features beautiful girls with nothing that's "dirty" -- just pure, excellent photography.
	Japanese T-shirt - Sukebe (Pervert). A new wacky Japanese T-shirt, this features the famous word "sukebe" (meaning someone who is sexually perverted, basically the same thing as "ecchi"). A really cool shirt with a minimalist design that will slip under any radar.
	Blue Eyes DX English Ver. vol. 2. The long awaited Blue Eyes vol. 2. Back when White Lightning as doing Blue Eyes, fans were given the very thin, somewhat lame American comic style books. But no more -- full perfect-bound TPBs are now available!
	Gothic Lolita Bible vol. 18. Newest G&LB, by which I mean Gothic & Lolita Bible. Darned nice photography in this, as well as a pattern you can use to make your own gothic outfit.
	A Study of Men's Penis with Innocent Girls. Just as Moodyz has invented the CFNM series (Clothed Female, Naked Male), Soft on Demand has carved a niche with their Study of Men's Penis series, in which girls who are somewhat on the naive side (if not virgins) poke, prod and squeeze a male member for the first time.
	Curvaceous Woman -- Shiori Inamori. Lovely new DVD by the gorgeous Shiori Inamori, who doesn't seem to mind getting creamed on camera to further her career.
	Tabloid Tokyo ~ 101 Tales of Sex, Crime and the Bizarre from Japan's Wild Weeklies. Want to learn about the steamy underside of Tokyo? This is an English book that presents articles translated from somewhat titilating tabloid articles. Articles you wouldn't be able to read anywhere else ^_^
	Pon Pon Doraemon. A very cool item if you're into Doraemon, basically a very well made soft ball with a Doraemon plush suit wrapped around it. Very nice for kids (although not recommended for babies as it's got little buttons and other parts that might pop off).
	Glico Sweet Potato Pretz w/Black Sesame. Since I talked about Sweet Potato (Yaki-imo, or more accurately Satsuma-imo), I thought we'd post something cool: Sweet Potato Pretz.
	Tomica Life 1970 - 2005. Okay, this is cool -- a photobook presenting the coolest Tomica (aka Tomy Mini Car) toys over the past 35 years. The 70s never looked so good.
	Why? What? Manga Classroom ~ Manga Naze Nani Kyoushitu. This frankly had the J-List staff in stitches all day long. It's an "H" manga that features great parodies of famous political themes, including the guaranteed first Saddam Hussain x George Bush x Rei Ayanami threesome you'll ever see. Really.
	Kitty Message Mug -- I Love You *Daisuki*. A really cute coffee cup with cute message, this is one of the top 10 cute things we've seen all year, and between you and me, that's saying something.
	2006 Calendar -- Namenayo Cat. This is one of the surprise hit calendars of the 2006 season -- the Namenayo (lit. "Don't lick me" but meaning something more like "Don't mess with me") cats-as-gang members calendar.