A new way of thinking about Japanese animation, and this year's Japanese slang words

Japanese animation has been a huge influence on the West over the years, and there are many ways that American media has reflected that influence, from the anime-style Colonel Sanders to the Powerpuff Girls to The Matrix. But no country is an island, even an island nation like Japan, and there are many ways that anime and related culture has been influenced by the West. In the Japanese dub of Bewitched, Samantha's husband Darren was named Darling, for phonetic purposes similar to why Americans think banzai and the bonsai trees are the same, and Lum calling Ataru her "darling" in Urusei Yatsura is a reference to this. Many anime series of the 80s have included tributes to the final scene from the film The Graduate, a long-running joke that pops up repeatedly. Increasingly, the popularity of anime outside of Japan decides the flow of things here. For example, manga-ka (comic artist) Shirow Masamune and Akira director Katsuhiro Otomo attained god-like status when their works exploded outside of Japan, and the popularity of Dragonball and Saint Seiya in the U.S. caused them to experience a revival in Japan, too.

Language is ever-flowing, always in motion, and it's always interesting to see what slang words become popular here. One year everyone was saying Bye Bye-Kin ("bai bai-KEEN"), popularized by a Listerine commercial that combined the English word "bye bye" and baikin (bacteria), the next everyone was saying "oh-HA!!" as the morning greeting instead of ohayo. The slang that's bouncing around these days is also fun to pay attention to. Since Japanese verbs usually end in ru (for example, taberu, "to eat"), some Tokyoites have invented a new word, caferu (cafe + ru), meaning "to enjoy a cup of coffee in a cafe." Another word you hear in the aftermath of the recent Japanese election is the Evangelion-esque Koizumi Children, referring to the young politicians who rode Prime Minister Koizumi's coattails into office over the Postal privatization issue. The most popular drama of the year was Densha Otoko ("Train Man"), and a lot of this year's words are "Akiba-kei" (related to the otaku culture you find in Tokyo's Akihabara area), such as moé (mo-EH) which refers to the passion fans feel for the manga or anime that they love, and Kitaaa!! ("Yes, this is it!"), which you can see on our Mona Neko shirts. Finally, comedian Masaki Sumitani has created a rather odd on-camera personality called Razor Ramon HG (you might not want to know what the "HG" stands for), who does a silly dance and shouts "Foh!" Currently Japanese from elementary schools to the elderly are hooked on this strange word, and imitate him often.

Last time we posted the new Hello Kitty soft acrylic blankets, which are extremely luxurious and stylish. Today we've got another treat for you: My Neighbor Totoro blankets featuring one of the most famous characters in all anime-dom. There are three sizes of blankets on the site -- full sized for use on a bed, a half sized blanket that's great for curling up in front of the TV with, and a handy lap blanket.

J-List works hard to bring you the fascinating PC dating-sim games from Japan, translated into English and great for fans of bishoujo ("pretty girl") games all over the world. Today we've added convenient sets of games by Peach Princess to allow you to buy these great games and save. There are three sets to choose from: X-Change 1 & 2, the Crowd set (which add Tokimeki Check in! and Brave Soul), and the Will set (four games by Will).

J-List is ready and eager to serve you this holiday season, and our hardworking Japanese and U.S. staff are ready to speed your order out to you with speedy speed. Please browse our stock and let us know what we can do for you?

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.

	Family Affair - Kinshin Soukan. I admit, the idea of "Marching Band Girl cosplay fetish" is a little odd, but I've always loved the art of Hitoshi Kino on this cover. We also have an actual figure of this girl, which is really a treat.
	COSMODE 010 ~ Costume Mode Magazine 10. We love Cosmode -- a magazine for cosplayers, by cosplayers. Filled with tons of great photos, how-tos, and even patterns (wow!). This issue has another treat -- a pull-out photobook showing a hundred costumes that just rock.
	98 Gram Adventure -- Rio Natsume (with Region 0 DVD). Rio Natsume is one of the most beautiful women in Japan today, and we love carrying her photobook, DVDs and more. Here's a great new photobook featuring her at her sexiest yet.
	Dokodemo Issyo Tight Bento Box. Dokodemo Issyo, aka Always With You, is a cute character made by Sony (from the same pantheon as Saru Get You). They decided to launch a cool wafu (traditional Japanese) series of bento boxes, and we've got them for you.
	Retro Style Mickey & Minnie Hidamari no Tami. Although Disney isn't a staple at J-List, when we see something cool, we pounce on it. This is a pair of "retro" Mickey and Minnie Hidamari no Tami solar powered toys. What could be cooler?
	Raise Ayanami Scheduled *Cat Ear* -- Ayanami Rei Ikusei Keikaku. Not sure what the Raise Ayanami Scheduled series is exactly, but it seems to be really cute figures of Rei from Eva. This is the cat girl version that's very cute. We also have a "blushing young wife" version that's pretty cool, too.
	Futanarikko Love 4. Futanari means "being two at once" and refers to the increasingly popular "chicks with dicks" art coming out of Japan. Here's a new anthology work that's very interesting.
	Mahou Sensei Negima 2006 Calendar. Another calendar, so late in the season, but this is a nice one, a desktop calendar that features 365 days (plus 19 free, not sure why) of art and characters from the series.
	Kiki's Delivery Service Shitajiki -- Plastic Pencil Board. I know shitajiki, or pencil boards, may seem a little old school, but they're still the coolest way to capture an image in a 2-D space, darn it. Incidentally, the way to say "buried alive" in Japanese is shitajiki in natta. Kind of gives you pause, doesn't it?
	Peach Princess Game Set - Crowd Set (X-Change 1&2, Tokimeki Check in!, Brave Soul). We've created some sets of our Peach Princess games because, well, they're cool, and we want to give people an excuse to buy them at one swoop. We have an X-Change 1 & 2 set as well as sets for Crowd and Will titles.
	Ghibli Short Short Special (region 2). I am so happy to be able to bring this to you -- it's a collection of all the short animation, from TV commercials to short films to the famous On Your Mark music video by Chage & Aska (which is nothing short of beautiful, as rich as any of Mr. Miyazaki's creations). The perfect item for the Ghibli Completist on your list.
	Closed Room and Kiss and Sex -- Mitsu Amai. Another wonderful title by Mitsu Amai, who is one of the loveliest, least pretentious JAV stars active today -- kind of like the second coming of Kurumi Morishita/ Enjoy her "private room sex."
	Ghibli Image Model Collection XI -- Calcifur & Fireplace ~ Howl's Moving Castle. Yowza, another amazing item for Howl's Moving Castle fans -- the hearth Calcifur sits on, along with everything else you need to recreate your own little satanic rituals. Seriously, this is one good movie, and I hope all fans of Studio Ghibli have watched it.
	Oyatsu Time Rilakkuma -- Relax Bear. Another fun Rilakkuma, aka Relax Bear, plush. This time he's eating little plush pancakes.
	Totoro *Large* Blanket -- 140 X 200cm. Are you cold? We've got just the thing for you: a giant Totoro blanket, very soft and warm, and only sold in Japan.

Japanese people I have known, what makes girls act so cute, and a fun day for parents

During my time studying Japanese and teaching in Japan, I've met many different types of Japanese people: hardworking salarymen and not-so-hardworking ones, serious students and not-so-serious ones, young people who love the literary works of Osamu Dazai (author of the powerful novel "No Longer Human") and others who read nothing but manga. I've always enjoyed observing the various types of people I've been able to meet during my time here, and teaching ESL was one of the best jobs I could have asked for -- it allowed me to come into contact with hundreds of people, from small children to young individuals trying to determine what path they want to take in life to older Japanese who could tell me about their past experiences.

One archetype of Japanese female I've been fascinated with over the years are the burikko (boo-RI-ko), girls who are extremely concerned with appearing "cute" and girlish in front of others. Coming from the words buru (to pretend) and ko (child), the term refers to girls who act coy and childish as a way of getting attention. The hallmark of a burikko is referring to herself in the third person instead using the word "I" (usually atashi for females). Girl children do this when speaking, and it's a staple of cute anime characters too, such as the character Michiru in the Air TV anime, who introduces herself by saying Michiru wa, Michiru to iu (lit. "Michiru is called Michiru"). This kind of cute behavior is also quite common on TV, especially in the adorable swimsuit idols like Yuko Ogura, who has cultivated the art of appearing cute as a way of turning her fans into melted butter. It's okay, up to a point, but when you see a young woman in her early 20s acting like a 13 year old girl, it can also be annoying.

In Japan, there's a fun custom called "753" which is pronounced shichi, go, san in Japanese. It's basically an excuse for parents to get extremely beautiful photographs of their sons (at age 5) and their daughters (at ages 3 and 7) taken. J-List's own Yasu has a daughter who is three now, and they got some really cute pictures taken of her, complete with pink kimono with little bunnies sewn into it. Kawaii!

J-List loves to bring you unique products from Japan, items that let you bring a little piece of the country into your home. In Japan, they sell high-quality acrylic blankets, so soft to the touch you find yourself stroking them like a cat. My mother is a big fan of these soft Japanese blankets, and regularly has me bring her back some when I go home to visit. This year we're happy to announce that we've got large-size Hello Kitty soft blankets in stock, a real treat for fans of Sanrio's flagship character. The blankets are full-sized, measuring 140x200cm (55x79 inches), suitable for any use, and boy, are they warm.

Announcing lower shipping on all T-shirts and hoodies! As our way of saying thanks for helping make J-List's wacky Japanese T-shirts and hoodies so popular, we've lowered the shipping rates for you. The new weight-based shipping is especially good if you're ordering multiple items -- for example, the shipping for ordering four T-shirts is now almost half what it used to be. This makes our unique T-shirts and hoodies a fantastic item to consider giving for Christmas, especially with our automatic discount for buying 3 or more. We want you to think of J-List when buying great items for your friends and loved ones, and we hope we can serve you in some way today!

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.

	Kanji Magnet -- Makoto *Colored Background* ~ Honesty *Shinsengumi Flag*. Another kanji magnet, from the new colorful series we got in. This is one of my favorite kanji, makoto meaning sincerity.
	*Black* Compact Folding Stereo Headphone -- Elecom. A nice fold-up pair of over-ear earphones for iPod or just about any other music player. Very stylish from Elecom, a company we're happy to be able to represent outside of Japan.
	Hello Kitty *Gold* Maneki Neko Coin Bank w/ Zabuton -- B ~ Lucky Cat Style. I'm sure all of you have wondered why there hasn't been a melding of Hello Kitty and Lucky Cat before now. I know I have. Now I can sleep at night.
	Hello Kitty *Pink* Blanket -- 140 X 200cm. Yes! For the past few years we've made a point of carrying the very cool character blankets from Japan. They are so soft, I just love 'em. However, last year they didn't release any, and we weren't sure if they're joined mangosteen gum and the Hello Kitty vibrators as products we would die to sell but couldn't get anymore. However, Sanrio came through for us.
	Tsubasa and xxx Holic Calendar 2006 (No Tube). I know it's odd to have new calendars at the end of November, but we bagged this great Clamp calendar for y'all. It's really cool.
	Want to be played by step-sisters. There must be a boom of "male virgin vs. very experienced woman or women" in Japan right now. This is one such offering from Dogma, very nice.
	New Virgin Hunter -- Hitomi. Aaand next we have a revival of the old Inexperienced Boy Hunter series, in which the lovely Hitomi takes on guys who have never done the deed. Since this is SOD, I believe them, too -- they don't jerk their fans around (which is part of the appeal of indies studios in Japan).
	Kiki's Delivery Service *2 Tier* Bento Box . A nice new Kiki's Delivery Service bento box, which comes complete with two levels, one for rice and the other for you okazu, or that which you eat with your rice.
	Zoid Genesis SR Series -- Le Mie. I honestly am not up on my Zoids stuff, but I know that this is the nicest figure I've seen in a while. The detail is just amazing.
	Gashapon Ochaken Mini House -- Set of 6 *Full Set* ~ Yujin. This is a really good idea -- gashapon, aka capsule toys, which are themselves toys, in this case little teapots that open up to create little Japanese-style rooms for the six tea dogs (or rather, five tea dogs and Coffee Cat) to sit in.
	Scarlet Desire Art Collection 2006. Throughout our many years at J-List (ack! I just calculated how many...), Tohru Nishimaki has been one of our best selling artists. Here is a new doujin CD-ROM put out by the artist, which features all art in full size, with a calendar you can print out, too.
	Sexual Yoga -- Yua Aida (region 2). Yua Aida is so beautiful on the cover of this new release I had to drop what I was doing and appreciate her for a few seconds. I mean, in what other country would they think of putting sex and yoga together?
	Hakugen Kairo ~ Large Warming Pad. I am not overstating my case when I say that the Japanese have conquored cold, with these outstanding pocket warmers (called kairo in Japanese, with one brand making the obvious Ho-Kairo joke, which sounds like Hokkaido). They last for 20 hours, and they are warm and pleasant. Endorsed by the Society of Gaijin from San Diego Living in Japan.

Hey, pictures from Japan! I finally found my card reader and grapped a few weeks worth of pictures off my phone. Here are the iTunes cards and iPods they sell in Seven Eleven, er, I mean Seven & iHolding, or whatever they're calling it. Looks kind of condomish.

The second Zeta Gundam movie came out a couple of weeks ago. Here is my oligatory "look, they have beer in Japanese movie theatres" picture.

Four Murasame looks really good with the new character design.

...Yet one of my favorite scenes, the kiss in the park, was done using hte 1985 footage. D'oh!

The other night was Jiichan's Birthday at our house, which always means a bit-ass plate of sushi. We ate ourselves silly, which is called tarafuku (eating so much you are about to burst) in Japanese.

Of course, beer is a requirement when eating good sush. Or even bad sushi.

All about Japanese roads, a Mongolian sumo wrestler does good, and goodbye Mr. Miyagi

You've been in Japan too long when you see a road with two lanes going in the same direction and assume the one on the left is meant for parking. Since Japan is quite a small country, with half the population of the U.S. crammed into an area 1/25 the size, it's not possible to make the roads as wide as some of us would like, and in some cities (notably, old castle towns that didn't get bombed during World War II) there are roads so narrow a car and a bicycle couldn't fit side-by-side. Since buying land for parking spaces is expensive, it's common for some business to expect customers to park on the street in front, despite the fact that cars stopping along the road effectively closes off one of the the two lanes. Many convenience stores are like this -- you can see five or six cars idling in front of a Seven Eleven, often with with the keys in the ignition and the cars running (since no one would steal your car in Japan). Other minor frustrations that make driving in Japan less than fun include railroad crossings (all cars must stop when they come to one) and of course Japan's never-ending road construction.

Well, Mongolian-born sumo wrestler is kicking butt again: Asashoryu won his 14th tournament victory, his 7th consecutive, and for the first time, a sumo wrestler has won every tournament in a single calendar year. At just 143 kg (315 lbs), Asashoryu is a lot leaner than now-retired giants like Hawaiian-born Konishiki or Musashimaru (both over 270 kg/595 lbs when they were wrestling). The emotional Asashoryu was actually in tears as he clinched his victory on Saturday. In other sumo-related news, Bulgarian wrestler Kotooshu (whose name sounds pretty cool -- it combines a Japanese harp (koto) with oshu, an old word meaning Europe) was promoted to ozeki, the second-highest rank in the sport. Sumo wrestlers fight 15 bouts in each tournament, held six times a year (three in Tokyo and one each in Nagoya, Osaka and Fukuoka). Sumo wrestling, the official sport of Japan, has been around for centuries, and is mentioned in the earliest written records (around 700 AD). Sumo wrestlers fight their bouts from lowest to highest rank, hence you can follow sumo by watching the last 20 minutes or so of each NHK broadcast, since the most interesting wrestlers appear last. This explains the "hurrying home to catch the last few minutes of sumo on TV" phenomenon you see in expat gaijin living in Japan.

I caught the news that actor Pat "Miyagi-san" Morita of Karate Kid fame had passed away at the age of 73 (along with the amusing tag line from Fark, "Cobra Kai wanted for questioning"). I've always felt an odd connection to the famous Japanese actors I watched on TV during my childhood, like Pat Morita and George Takei (although as a former ESL teacher, I can tell that all the grammatical errors Miyagi-san makes aren't ones a real Japanese person would make, since he actor spoke English as his first language). I hope Pat is enjoying a cold one in the Sapporo Brewery in the Sky.

J-List currently has an incredible stock of over 200 different 2006 calendars from Japan, including rare and popular anime (Totoro, Ghibli), JPOP (Gackt, BoA), Japanese idol (Leon Kadena, Yuko Ogura), traditional photo (Idols in Kimono, Famous Castles of Japan), and much more. This year we're also carrying the svelte 2006 Diaries (aka daily planners) sold every year in Japan, which are a great way to stay organized. All the diaries feature full monthly and daily calendars for 2006, allowing you to write in appointments and keep track of everything. Plus, they give you information like which days are the lucky and unlucky Buddhist days, feature maps of Japan, and great photos to look at all year long. Check out our selection of daily planners from Japan!

Remember that J-List sells the very popular iTunes Japan Music Cards, which are the only way to buy JPOP music from Apple's Japanese iTunes music store, unless you happen to have a credit card registered with an address in Japan (even I don't have one of those). Buying music from the iTMS Japan is incredibly easy -- just make a new account tied to an iTMS Japan music card number, and you can browse and make purchases from the iTunes already in your Mac or PC. All functions of iTunes work in your native langauge even when viewing the Japan store, and of course music from Apple's iTMS-Japan is fully compatible with iTunes and iPods from any country.

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 Aug 2005. More wackiness with the new issue of Urecco Gal, which focuses on Tokyo's stylish nude "kogals" for a dash of amateur action.
	*Green* Nakayoshi Totoro Plush -- M ~ Moko Moko Type. A great new Totoro plush toy that's just the right size for hugging, this is a great offering from Sun Arrow, the famous Ghibli licensee. Comes in green and classic grey. Stands a full foot high!
	Vivid in a World ~ Yononaka Azayaka. Really delightful erotic manga by Millefeuille featuring his signature erotic art and characters.
	Angels -- Rika Ishikawa, Sayumi Michishige. Morning Musume is like Madonna in the U.S. -- whether or not you're actively listening to her, she's always there, kind of like cosmic background radiation. Here is a nifty photobook featuring Rika Ishikawa and Sayumi Michishige (last name pronounced mi-chee-SHE-gay, as that looks like a hard one to say).
	"Gashou" Black Hagoita w/Shishimai for New Year Display. A fun New Year's decoration, this is something you can put by your front door to celebrate New Year's Japan style.
	J-List Best Seller Snacks Special Gift Pack. Here's something really cool -- a "Best Seller Snacks Gift Pack" that gives you a whole bunch of the most popular items sold at J-List -- nothing but the best fo rour customers -- in a cool stocking-shaped bag.
	Tattoo Lifestyle vol. 04 May 2005. Tattooing (irezumi in Japanese) has been around here for centuries, and the Japanese are very much into the art form today. Here's a book that covers the current state of the art in Japan.
	Senningiri vol. 032 (with DVD 100min). A new issue of Senningiri, or "more than 1000" -- one man's attempt to sleep with 1000 women, and document it too. He's up to 881 in this issue. Well, everyone's got to have a goal.
	Lunch Time -- Full Set *Set of 10* ~ Minna no Hirugohan *Puchi Sample Series*. Another darn cool miniature set from Japan's Re-Ment, this is a collection of lunch time favorites, from bento to thermos to a picnic basket and more. You even get little plastic paper plates. Wow!
	Bazooms Princess of Dripping Wet H-cup -- Aya Shirayuki (region 2). This is another one of those girls are that are so beautiful, it makes me wonder what the hell they're doing in this line of work. Not that I'm not happy with her choice, it's just a perplexing problem.
	Nyanko Memo Pad -- Japan Nyanko Tour. The cutest note pad you will ever see. Features pictures of "Nyanko Food" from the various regions around Japan.
	Kitty Ruler w/ Calculator -- White. A nifty item for your office -- a (metric) ruler featuring Hello Kitty with a built-in calculator. So cute!
	"Kin-Ga-Shin-Nen" (I wish you a Happy New Year) Stamp. Another neat item for New Year's Day, this is a stamp that stamps out a Happy New Year message.
	A Study of Men's Penis by Female College Students Part 2. Another "penis study" offering frmo Soft on Demand, this disc captures the natural curiosity I'm sure women really have about this sort of thing. This series is very similar to Moodyz's popular "CFNM" series.