Buddhism and Japan's identity, an air-raid siren at noon, and

Japan is a Buddhist nation, and despite many other influences such as the indigenous animistic Japanese religion of Shinto, Confucianism from China and Christianity from the West, Buddhism is really what's at the country's core. One observation foreigners who come to live for a time in Japan is that "everything is about death" -- and there are quite a few customs, such as avoiding giving gifts in sets of four since the number can be read as "shi" which also means death in Japanese, or lighting incence at the Buddhist altar each morning, that seem to show a fixation on the subject. One word I've always found interesting is Hotoke-sama (ho-toe-kay sah-mah). Ostensibly the word is a reverent term for Buddha, but in practice, it's used to refer to any deceased spirit, since Buddhism in Japan is largely about revering one's ancestors, without whom (my wife has pointed out to me) you wouldn't exist at all. Once, my daughter saw beautiful sakura blooming near a graveyard, and she said, "That's so nice, the flowers are so pretty, the people buried here (the Hotoke-sama) will be so happy." Every day while working in Japan, I immediately know when noon has rolled around because a siren located in the center of town goes off. It's not just any siren -- it's essentially the same type of air-raid siren that sounded half a century ago when Japan was being bombed by Allied B-29's. The siren sounds every day at noon to let people know that it's lunch time, but it serves some other purposes as well. First of all, it's used to let people know when there's a local disaster such as a fire, and hearing the siren at night means everyone should check their neighbors to make sure everything is okay. In this way, it kinds of provides a little "community glue" for the people living in our city, unconsciously making everyone feel a part of the same happy group unit, since practically everyone in our city is within hearing distance of the loud siren. When I first heard it, it was somewhat un-nerving, since it's not a sound you normally hear outside of movies about World War II. But now it's just a part of life in my home in Japan. The Japanese drink a lot of tea: hot green tea, thick matcha, refreshing Chinese oolong tea, an array of Western black teas, and an endless number of blends. In the summer, perhaps no tea is consumed more than mugi cha, or Japanese barley tea, refreshing beverage made with barley that's always served cold to combat the heat and humidity outside. When businessmen call on a client, they will be served mugi tea to refresh them while they wait, and in the J-List kitchen downstairs, barley tea is what you'll find in the fridge (we drink it all summer long). Naturally caffeine-free, Japanese barley tea is a refreshing and totally healthy drink that's popular throughout Japan. We just happen to have this year's mugi cha on the site for you, which make it easy to keep barley tea handy any time, with easy to use cold-water tea bags. We hope you'll try some! J-List carries a great item for fans of yaoi / bishonen and all fans of great gothic style art, Animamundi - Dark Alchimist, the newest release by Hirameki International. A superb interactive game with 12 fascinating game scenarios to explore, it comes packaged with a great soundtrack/movie disc. Best of all, you can enjoy this great game not just on any standard Windows PC, but on Macs, too, since the game is fully compatible with Mac OS X. It's in stock -- order now! 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.

	Sabra Magazine 009 May 2006 Sabra, always a great addition to our fine website.
	Renzu A nice hentai offering for fans of H-anime.
	Non Non -- Nozomi Fujikawa Nozomi Fujikawa is, well, she's wow, that's what she is. This is her very nice hardcover photobook.
	Cure June 2006 vol. 033 We've become fast fans of Cure, the leading JROCK magazine in Japan, which we've started selling as part of our magazine subscription service (and occasionally in individual issues, as here).
	Yureru Omoi -- Hitomi Kitamura A very nice DVD featuring Hitomi Kitamura, a sexy, elegant Japanese woman who will delight you.
	Hime First -- Rina Himekawa Rina Himekawa is not someone I've noticed before, but she certainly is lovely -- I really like what I see in this DVD.
	Ayano Kunugi PVC Figure -- Welcome to Pia Carrot G.O. (Grand Open) Another really cute anime character recreated in 3-D dimensions.
	Nami SOS! ~ Naoko Black Bird Chataro is one of our favorite artists around here, and this is his newest Nami SOS! series release. Damn this guy's art is amazing.
	Walkie Bits -- Gamera The 40th Anniversary Limited Ver. Walkie Bits, despite the rather silly name, is destined to be the top product of the year, the way things are going. This is a cool Gamera Limited Edition.
	New Family Restaurant -- Full Set *Set of 10* ~ Re-ment Minna de Famires More super-detailed miniature food items from Japan.
	Kokeshi -- Harumachi An elegant authentic kokeshi doll, made of wood. I love the head tilt on this thing.
	Hiromoku Dragon Sandals -- Beige These are sandals that are worn a lot in Japan, especially by boso-zoku tough guys walking around the matsuri (festival).
	Tomica 30 -- Mitsubishi Pajero Mitsubishi's super muscle SUV, recreated in miniature by Tomica. If you speak Spanish, you might chuckle at the name, since pajero basically means, er, one who provides pleasure to himself with his hand. But the car is very cool.
	Tatami Pillow for Nap -- Dragonfly A pillow made of igusa grass for resting in the summer.
	Nekosuke Otedama -- Blue ~ Chirimen Type *w/ Zabuton* We like these cute Lucky Cats that are filled with beans. We live to find things like this to sell you.
	Mugi Cha Mugi cha is one of the great treats of the summer. Caffeine free and of course sugar free (er, don't ever put sugar in any Japanese tea, please), it's really something people around the world should pay more attention to.

We interrupt whatever I was going to show yu last time with....kittens! Our beloved cat Mimi-chan (who J-List's Kaori had found, and named Nyanko Sensei) died recently (hit by a car, and yet she trekked very far to come say goodby to us). Happily, we were given two very cute kittens to replace her.

Their names keep changing, but last time I checked they were Shiro and Kuu-chan.

This is Shiro. She's kind of rambunctious, and likes to play...then sleep.

Kuu-chan is more mature, and was able to use the litterbox right away -- very smart. If you ever want to bond a cat to you forever, get a good brustley brush and brush them, and they'll be as loyal to you as dogs

Coming soon...more on Pete's trip to Tokyo and Ueno Park.