The end of Anime Expo 2006, North Korea and their damn missles, and views on my ESL teaching days

Once again, Anime Expo has come to a close, and we're all going home, tired but feeling very energized. The show was a blast, a real matsuri (festival) in the Japanese sense, and we had more fun than than we thought possible. As usual, there was more than one event being hosted in the hotel we were saying at -- this year there were cosplay-clad anime fans alongside participants in the leading gay square-dancing convention in the U.S. ("When You Wish Upon a Thar"), and a conservative Christian group, all rubbing elbows with each other. By the time the weekend was over, the hotel staff's eyes were spinning like cute little manga characters. Once again, thanks to all readers who came by to say hi!

Japan is hopping right now over the missile that North Korea's Dear Leader has test fired. The Taepodong-2 is designed to reach all the way to the U.S., and it therefore causes a great deal of worry to Japan, who lie well within its range. The test appears to have failed, but it's still causing plenty of worry throughout Japan, with every channel reporting on the crisis. Yasu, here in San Diego with me, is filled with worry that the missle test might lead to something more serious, that would affect his wife and two daughters. We certainly hope for some sanity in North Korea already.

Before starting J-List, I did what most "white boy" gaijin in Japan to: I taught ESL, or English as a Second Language. I really enjoyed my time as a teacher, which allowed me to meet literally hundreds of Japanese students of all ages, and I got a lot out of my experience. One odd by-product from my teaching years was, I developed the innate ability to speak "easy English" to Japanese people, unconsciously altering my speech to make it easier for them to understand, by avoiding difficult words I knew would cause problems for them, or repressing some elements of my native California dialect ("gnarley tight, dude"). The problem is when this "reduced English" became my natural way of speaking, which would happen when I went for months without meeting any native speakers. Once I even met a Japanese person whose English was so good, she realized I was speaking "easy" English, and called me on it. It was rather embarrassing and I didn't quite know how to react.

We're happy to officially announce a new game today, which is being translated for future release in English: YUME MIRU KUSURI :: A Drug That Makes You Dream, a great title from RUF that explores life, love and growing up in modern Japan. Loaded with teenage angst, confusion, frustration and wonder, and beautiful artwork that draws the player in, this is a dating-sim like no other. We hope you'll preorder this game for free shipping when it's ready.

The longest-running movie series is Otoko wa Tsurai yo, or "It's Tough Being a Man," which told the story of traveling salesman Tora-san over 48 installments. In each movie, Tora-san goes to some region of Japan to sell his wares, and has an unlikely romance with a beautiful woman from the area, which invariably ends with him getting his heart broken. The movie is incredibly famous in Japan, and has fans all over the world. We've gotten in a cool T-shirt that features the well-known Otoko wa Tsurai yo logo, great for kanjiphiles who want to wear something cool and unique!

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.

	Miniska Daizukan DVD vol. 82 A nice new issue of my favorite leg and stocking fetish magazine.
	Lovely Time 09 Another in the series of Lovely Time videos, which takes a no-name girl, dolls her up, and takes you on a virtual date with her. It's interesting that they never tell you the girl's name.
	digi KISHIN -- Sonim Honesty time, I don't like Sonim, although she is cute. I saw her on a TV show seeming to boast about how good her English was, when it was no better than anyone who had learned Korean and Japanese. Oh well.
	KABUKI DANCE -- Bando Tamasaburo This is cool -- a DVD about Kabuki Dance, a really cool find from Japan.
	Bachelor Mar. 2003 A nice older issue from 2003, featuring Yulia Nova. Good for collectors.
	Tomica Leisure Car Collection This is a collection of Tomica die-cast cars, a rather nice set of "leisure cars" that's quite cool.
	"Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo" T-shirt This is a shirt from the "It's Hard Being a Man" series of movies, which numbers 48 installments (when the Japanese start out to do something they really do it). A rare shirt that is very cool.
	Ghibli Fuwa Fuwa Mascot -- Blue Totoro Very cute Totoro plush keychain.
	Tokyo Tower A nice photobook that shows you everything you've ever wanted to know about Tokyo Tower.
	How to make a Pretty Figure ~ Kawaii Onnanoko Figure wo Tsukuro! This is an interesting book that shows you how those super cute figures are created.
	A Celebrity that Pursues Pleasure ~ Yuwaku Celeb Here's a nice "H" manga for you, with really good artwork that's so subtle, I just love it.
	A-02 Lilith-XX -- Evangelion Lab Sample This I don't really understand -- Lillith, from Evangelion, reworked as a clone of Rei? Well, it's cool.
	Japanese Tapestry -- Takoyaki Takoyaki is one food you should try. This is a cute tapestry (wall hanging, whatever) that advertises the stuff.
	Clover *Koban Type* Bento Box Really, really cool bento box for everyone today.
	Re-ment Summer Vacation Here's a toy line that commemorates summer, with everything you'd need to enjoy summer vacation, if you were in Japan at least.
	Morinaga Bake -- Cookie A delicious new snack from Morinaga.
	Himegoto -- Kazusa Sato Now this is a really lovely thing from Japan, a red-hot idol who delights the senses with her existence.
	YUME MIRU KUSURI :: The Drug That Makes You Dream This is the newest game to be announced by Peach Princess, and a really cool game it is. We're hard at work on it now, and I hope fans interested in bishoujo games will show their support by preordering it.

Whenever we do a con, we tend to go to the same places to eat every year. This is the somewhat cool restaurant at a mall near Disneyland we always go to.

Ceaser salad with, er, a wall of baked parmesan cheeze.

This is the drink of the Gods, Sangria, which I didn't know about before we came here. It's really good, if you haven't had it. It's basically wine, fruit, and fruit juice (and gin, if you're lucky).

Dude! This place has s'mores! Without Saltine crackers too! I feel like photoshopping in a little Calcifur into this picture but I am too tired.

The marshmallow roasting commences...

Dekiagari!

Er, I hate to compare America and Japan here, but this little, lame-ass finger wipe is nothiing compared to the glory of a hot oshibori towel you'd get in Japan. So there .