Superstitions and ghosts in Japan, and buzz about the new Zeta Gundam movie

Japan can be a superstitious place, with many beliefs that aren't always easy for Westerners to accept. In addition to some old wives tales that are a bit off the wall -- don't cut your fingernails at night, or you won't be able to be with your parents when they die -- a lot of Japanese beliefs revolve around ghosts. The Japanese seem to believe very strongly in all manner of apparitions, and there are many TV shows that feature, say, ghost photographs with pale faces floating in the background, or videos of babies reacting to an unseen entity. Sometimes they take a lighter tack, filming popular television personalities with hidden cameras as they are forced to spend the night in a haunted house, rigged with fake ghosts by the studio staff, of course. Considering what a death-oriented place Japan can be (many holidays, such as Obon, are celebrations for the dead), it's no surprise that the Japanese think about ghosts more then most people.

Then again, sometimes there are supernatural happenings closer to home which give me pause. Once we stayed in a old hotel in Kusatsu, a town that's been famous for its natural hot springs since the Edo Period, and my wife was suddenly unable to move her head -- she was sure that someone had committed suicide by hanging themselves in the room in the past. Another time we went to the "Niagara of Japan," a local waterfall that is a popular tourist spot. It's beautiful, but also dangerous, and claims several lives each year. As we were walking, my wife felt something grab her leg and pull her towards the water, which gave us quite a scare. My daughter seems to have some connection to the spiritual world, too: shortly after my father passed away, she turned to an empty hallway and started shouting at empty air. My wife thought it was me, peeking from around the corner, but I was still asleep.

The world is buzzing about Star Wars right now, but for Gundam fans (like my son and I), there's something else to get excited about, the Zeta Gundam: a New Translation movies, which compress the 50-episode series into three movies, imitating the successful three films made from the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. My son and I went to see the film on opening night on Saturday, and really enjoyed it. The movies add quite a bit of new animation as well as some new scenes and side-plots, and the new animation is very nice, although having two different character designs in one film took some getting used to. Zeta is very close to my heart as an anime fan, the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Gundam universe, with its darker character-centric story and superb redefinition of the classic mecha anime genre.

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.

	Leiji Matsumoto Mechanical Collection. At an old Anime Expo in the early 90s Leiji Matsumoto (creator of Yamato/Star Blazers, Harlock and much more) was supposed to show, but we dota-can, cancelled at the last minute (this word is really popular in Japan right now, don't ask me why). Here is a really cool set of toys from his universe.
	Wasteland Woman Prisoner Rider XXX. The amazing trend of giving a beautiful figure boxed with a manga volume continues in Japan, and this is a very nice figure: a beautiful and terrible woman standing in a hellish landscape.
	Cherry Blossom Lacquered Wood Sandal For Women. Sorry guys, we've got some more cool shoes for women but nothing for guys (although there's a bunch of stuff on the site already). These are really nice wooden sandals, traditional geta except that they have actual heels, for sex walking. The wood scraping sound of the geta on the ground is one of the best sounds from Japan.
	Chijo in Flight -- Ann Nanba. I'll teach you another word of Japanese: kikaku, which means plan or "planning." Indies JAV is often very kikaku oriented, with a core idea at the center of a production. In this case, it's seeing how far they can take Japan's well-developed stewardess fetish.
	Joke Blue Lucky Charm for Safe Driving/Horse Race ~ Pink. The Japanese are big on omamori, lucky charms that are blessed by the local Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, and there are good luck charms for specific things, like "traffic safety." Here is suck a good luck charm, also useful for horse riding.
	Midnight Erotic Mood -- Yua Aida. I must say, where did Yua Aida come from? A month ago she was a pretty, although fairly unknown, adult starlet, and now she's breaking all the records at J-List. I like her because she bucks the trend of huge, H-cup breasts, having a beautiful, but not overly proportioned, body.
	Elecom Compact Speaker *ON* -- White. Here is something cool -- speakers for your iPod which fold up into a cool ball when not in use. Open them up and plug them in to any audio source for instant sound. A cool item from Elecom, Japan's elegant computer peripherals company.
	Sister Festival - Anime Parody Anthology. This is a special item: a hentai manga that specifically parodies famous anime like No Need for Tenchi, Sailor Moon, Yamato, Pretty Sammy, and more.
	*Benkei* Domo-Kun Plush Doll. A new limited edition Domo-kun plush toy based on the Japanese historical period when the Heike clan battled the Genji. The subject of a fantastic drama by NHK right now, this is Domo-kun dressed in the costume from the period.