How taxes are structured in Japan, all about Japanese kimonos, and the Sino-Japanese Counting System

Although Japan likes to take a lot of cultural cues from Europe, and even pretend that it's a part of that continent rather than Asia (this theory of mine is supported by the fact that Japan and Europe share the same DVD region code), when it comes to taxes Japan emulates the U.S. The bulk of tax revenue in Japan comes from the income tax that all individuals pay, and the rates are similar to those in the United States -- four levels of 10, 20, 30 and 37%, compared with six levels between 10-35% in America. Just as the U.S. tax code tries to benefit certain areas of society with tax credits, Japan's tax system is set up to protect aid groups, among them Japan's ever-shrinking family farms. One of the great loopholes in the Japanese tax system is the "salaryman/farmer," families where the father works at a normal job in a company but farms his land on the weekends, enabling the family to get the tax benefits of agriculture while enjoying a regular salary. In addition to income taxes, there's a 5% consumption tax on almost all products sold, passed over the protests of consumer groups, who screamed bloody murder every step of the way. Over the past year, Japan has required that all prices be displayed with tax already included in the prices, so we've had to get used to seeing products priced at, say, 525 yen instead of 500 yen.

Kimonos are one of the most recognizable symbols of Japan, famous all over the world. Literally meaning "thing that you wear," kimonos were worn as part of daily life throughout Japan's long history, until Westernization started to take hold after the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Nowadays, kimonos are mainly ceremonial, usually worn only a few times during a person's life, such as at weddings, the "7-5-3" ceremony for children, and Coming of Age Day, a ceremony for 20-year-olds that officially marks their entry into the world of adulthood. There are several styles of kimono, including standard kimonos for women, beautiful bridal kimonos, cotton kimonos worn at summer festivals (yukata), and tuxedo-like kimonos for men (hakama). Since young people wear kimonos so rarely, putting one on by yourself is becoming a dying art in Japan. (Incidentally, we've got an interesting book on kimono art and photography on the site today).

"You've been in Japan too long when you're speaking English with your gaijin friends, but all references to money are in Japanese." This is a funny phenomenon, but true: even when speaking English, foreigners living in Japan will tend to use Japanese for numbers and yen money amounts. The number system used in Japan and China revolves around the unit 10,000 (man, always pronounced mahn), rather than 1,000 as in the Arabic system; thus, the number 10,000 is "1 man" (ichi mahn), 20,000 is "2 man" (ni mahn), 100,000 is "10 man" (juu mahn) and so on. The conversion from one numeric system to the other is just frustrating enough that most foreigners will be happy to leave their numbers in the Japanese system, if the person they're talking with understands the words. Thus a gaijin living in Japan is likely to say, "I bought a new cell phone, but it cost me 2 mahn en" (20,000 yen), or, "My car broke, and it's going to cost 10 mahn en to fix it" (100,000 yen). Currently my son is learning big numbers in English, and regularly reads very large numbers out loud, such as the population of the Earth, which perplexes my Japanese wife, who can't think in big numbers in English.

Announcing the Pre-Summer Chocolate Sale! Since Japan's summer months are hard on food items that melt, we clear out all Pocky and other chocolate items during this time of year. Currently we've still got stock of many items, and so we're having a super sale. Get 5 or more items included in the sale and get 25% off -- and you can mix and match any way you please, to get just the right mix of delicious snacks.

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.

	Grammar (Bunpo) Level 3. We carry a lot of Japanese study books at J-List, since I wanted to find these items before I came to Japan but they were very hard to find. These books will help you prepare for the Nihongo Noryoku Shiken, the primary test that Japanese students take.
	Figure Maniacs vol. 13. This is a very popular "mook" (cross between a magazine and a book) that brings you gorgeous pictures of the most amazing anime figures, garage kits, and commercial pre-painted figures you have ever seen.
	Totoro Glass Mug Cup -- Mushroom. A new line for J-List, these are Totoro glass mugs and normal glasses, and they're really cool. This is useful as a standard coffee cup, and the design looks great.
	Sabra 009 May 2005. Photography of beautiful women is not something new to Japan, but Sabra really takes it to the next level, with the most amazing photographs we've seen. Each issue features lots of great photos, and of late, a 2 hour DVD of stuff to check out.
	Macchan Mini Plush -- Maccha ~ Occhan Series. Green tea is ocha in Japanese, and the word for a middle-aged man is ojisan. Put a middle-aged man in a cup of tea and you have Occhan. This is a new plush toy series we've just gotten in.
	Elecom Earphone *ON* -- White. Elecom is a Japanese computer peripheral maker, and they've finally discovered the iPod, making cool things for the Japanese iPod market. This is a replacement set of earphones, which look and sound great.
	AG Super Erotic Anthology Comic vol. 13. In addition to the $1 "summer teaser issue" posted Monday, we've got the next issue of AG for you. This is frankly the "last, best hope" for hentai manga in the English speaking language, and we sincerely hope that all fans of hentai art will support the publisher by buying each issue (which are only $4.99, very affordable).
	More and More -- Yua Aida. Requested by many J-List customers, we finally have some Rua Aida DVDs and other items in stock for you. We recommend you check out the gorgeous issue of More and More, as well as her debut on the Kuki label (on the site).

How corporate brands work differently in Japan, and on a "super-brand" you've probably never heard of

Hello again from Japan, where the Disney film Lady and the Tramp is known as Wanwan Monogatari or "The Tale of Woof Woof."

Structurally, Japanese is very different from English, with many elements that don't exist in Western languages. One of the first a student of Japanese encounters are the grammatical particles, which "flag" parts of a sentence in interesting ways. First is wa, the subject marker, which indicates the subject of a sentence, e.g. Watashi wa America-jin desu ("as for me, I'm American"). Note: this is unrelated to the wa that means harmony. There's a flag for the object of a sentence, conveniently pronounced o, and particles used like prepositions in English, like ni, which can be used like "in" "at" or "to." One useful particle is no, the "glue-like element" (to use the words of my old SDSU teacher) that joins two nouns to show ownership or relationship, e.g. Keiko no kuruma ("Keiko's car"). Some of these grammatical particles go on the ends of sentences, like ka (which makes the sentence a question) or yo (which adds emphasis to the sentence). One particle that's well-known to anime fans is ne, which can mean "isn't it?" or "aren't you?" and is used to add a level of cuteness in feminine speech.

The concept of how company brands work is a little different in Japan, and it's common to see companies selling things that may surprise you0. All the major beer makers also have beverage bottling businesses, and sell various kinds of bottled teas. Coca-Cola Japan has even gone the other way, offering a low-alcohol beer as a Coca-Cola branded product. Yamaha makes motorcycles, pianos...and our IP router, which threw me for a loop when I noticed it. Sony also has its hands in many businesses, with Sony Online Bank, a line of high-end make-up, and Sony Life Insurance -- they are also the licensor for all Thomas the Tank Engine toys in Japan. Other interesting businesses in Japan are Panahome, the construction company operated by Panasonic and Kanebo, famous for make-up, chewing gum and the little sake bottle miniatures we have on the site. I never cease to be amazed at Japan.

Another interesting Japanese twist on branding is "WiLL," a kind of super-brand hatched by department store Daiei. The idea was to create a line of unrelated products which are all sold under the brand name "WiLL" with the same orange logo. There's a line of WiLL make-up products, and some interesting WiLL-branded electronics, including a stylish refrigerator. The most recognizable WiLL product is the WiLL Cypha, made by Toyota, one of the most original -- or bizarre-looking -- cars on the roads in Japan.

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.

	My Neighbor Totoro Film Comic Full set 1~4. This is something I'd have loved to have back in college -- the complete film comic of Totoro, with all the lines from the movie readable in written form. I have loved Totoro ever since it came out -- and I was, I think, one of the first 20 people to see it outside of Japan, since I happened to be at the San Diego Comicon that day when the guys from Tokuma Shoten came in to show it to people and ask their opinions.
	Deluxe "Urara" Bento Box Set -- Red (Rabbit). A nice bento box, that has two levels (one for rice, one for your other stuff), matching chopsticks, and a carrying bag (not shown). It's really cool.
	Akane Pearl -- Akane Suzuki. I'll teach you a word of Japanese: giri giri, which means "barely" or sometimes "at the last minute." In this case it means a photomodel who is "almost" nunde, but not quite. Actually, I prefer this elegance to yet another nude model.
	Calcifur Window Mascot. Want to take the cute Calcifur with you in your car? Here's a cute little window mascot that comes with a suction cup for sticking to your window. This is from the upcoming Howl's Moving Castle, and trust me, you should make sure you go see it.
	Urecco Gal Feb. 2005. Another issue of Urecco Gal, which is one of the more popular magazines we sell (although less popular than its sister publication, Urecco). I love the sassy style of the costumes and the love hotels in the photos. Especially cowboy hats, I am ape for those.
	Morinaga Green Tea Caramel. Every once in a while, I am floored by something cool, and these really made me happy. They took the 100+ year tradition of caramel made by Mr. Morinaga, the founder of the company, and added matcha powder. Delicious! And green!
	Glico Maple & Butter Pretz w/Cinamon Sugar Pack. Another cool idea. I like Pretz, the flavored pretzel sticks, a lot, and maple syrup & butter sounds really good. Then, they give you a packet of cinnamon sugar that you can spread all over your Pretz by shaking them in the bag.
	AG Super Erotic Anthology - Summer Teaser Special. AG is a rare item -- a manga magazine put together by a cool publisher in Colorado who works his butt off to license famous comic works so he can translate them into English for everyone. This is a special treat, a $1 32-page "summer teaser" issue for people who aren't sure if AG is right for them. Buy it and see!