I've had many kinds of culture shock since I moved to Japan back in 1991. Vending machines selling beer, eggs and rice (as well as a few unmentionables). Advanced technology and old, dilapidated buildings set right beside each other. Squid on pizza. But when I married my wife and made plans to come live into her house -- since I am a son-in-law who did not take the last name of my wife, I am a "Masuo" (mah-suu-OH), named after the husband in the long-running anime Sazae-san, who is in the same situation as me -- I had another shock: the toilet in her house was a bo-ton (ボットン、pronounced bo-[small pause]-TON) (a "small tsu" if you know what that is), essentially a sceptic tank with a great hole over it. You squatted over the hole -- a Japanese-style squatting toilet, of course, not a sit-down toilet as we would have in the U.S. -- and did your business, waiting for several seconds until you heard the bo-ton (splat) sound. I wasn't too thrilled with living in a house with an old-style toilet like this, and laid down the law: if I was going to live there, we were going to have to "reform" (what they call remodeling) the house and put in a modern toilet, which we happily did.
When it comes to fast food hamburgers in Japan, you think of McDonald's, like most other places in the world. In addition to the usual hamburgers and "Biggu Makku" that you'd imagine, they sell Chicken McNuggets, (which are originally based on Japanese tempura), Teriyaki McBurgers, and the new Shrimp McSandwich, shrimp pressed into a patty and batter-fried, which is kind of gross to me. But according to many fans, the better fast food experience can be had at MOS Burger, the #2 Japanese hamburger joint. Established on March 12, 1972, MOS Burger set out to bring a higher standard of quality to the lowly hamburger, with better quality meat and organically-grown lettuce and tomatoes. Although the MOS in the name might give the occasional gaijin pause, it stands for "Mountain, Ocean, Sun" and does not make Japanese people think of moss being scraped off a tree trunk to be put on your burger. Every few months MOS Burger comes up with something new and interesting, like the Curry Naan Dog, a hot dog served on Indian naan bread with curry over the top. Although foreigners in Japan usually like the offerings of MOS Burger, the portions are so small that we usually need to order two sets in order to feel full.
Prime Minister Koizumi, hands down the coolest leader Japan has had in the past few decades, will be stepping down in a couple months, as his five-year term comes to an end. He's just finished his "sayonara tour" of the U.S. where he went with President Bush to Graceland to sing a duet of "Love Me Tender" with the President. A noted fan of Elvis, the Japanese Prime Minister thanked the U.S. for the great songs of The King.
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 Feb 2006 vol. 236 with DVD Ah, Urecco, which was one of the first products (along with JPOP CDs) we started out with, egads, nearly a decade ago. |
 | Hip! Step! Jump! -- Nozomi Araki A lovely photobook featuring a lovely model. Part of the giri giri genre in Japanese photography (meaning "almost nude"). |
 | Gals Paradise 2006 Race Queen Debut ver. Nice item for Race Queen fans, of which I am one. |
 | Gunkanjima ~ Forest of Ruins (region 2) Okay, this is amazing -- a man-made island which thousand of people lived on, which was abandoned a couple of decades ago. Go back and see what's become of the place now. |
 | Welcome to Pure Carrot!! Nice Pia Carrot parody, with lots of waitress fetish action going on. |
 | digi KISHIN -- Eiko Koike Eiko Koike has always been one of my favorite of the "Yellow Cab" (odd name, I know) girls, and here is her latest video release. |
 | Sigma ~ Satoshi Urushihara Illustrations It's always nice to have a new Satoshi Urushihara book on the page, since he's been one of the most famous artists since the 1980s. |
 | Tomitech No.5 -- Toyota Alphard This is a remote controlled Japanese car, kind of like a Tomica car that you can actually derive fun from driving. |
 | Bicycle Tire Sole Setta A nice new setta (kind of flat Japanese sandal) for your feet. |
 | Tomoko Hoshina 1/8 Scale Figure -- Private Ver. ~ To Heart Anime figures are booming, and this is a super cute figure from ToHeart for you. |
 | Blythe -- Mame Chiyo ~ Spring Chocolat Here's a cute Blythe figure for collectors of the eerie but cute doll. Originally a failed toy line from the 1970s but recreated just for you by Takara. |
 | Secretarial Section Drop 1 ~ Hishoka Drop 1 New "H" manga for your pleasure, featuring a focus on secretaries. |
 | Hello Kitty Mini Tower Electric Fan This is a great item for Hello Kitty fans -- stay cool and keep kawaii! |
 | Navy Tatami Sandals (Slipper Style) for Woman -- Pepper & Autumun Leaves Cute sandals from Japan for your feet. |
 | Shingen Takeda Kokeshi This is the new kokeshi doll we have for you. I think it's very cute. |
 | Maneki Neko Netsuke -- Black ~ Mayoke *Talisman* More Lucky Cat fun for you, a really cute item for your phone, keys, PDA, PSP, DS, or whatever. |
Pics from the show. These guys were makin' us happy, wearing our kanji T-shirts.
Cool Clone Trooper. My son would have been thrilled.
A really cool person who let me take her picture. She reviews our "H" games for some websites. Not your typical H-gamer, or is she?
Miyazawa from Kare-Kano.
Hey, she's got poop on her head!
Lots of goth-loli types at the show, like, maybe 10% or more of all cosplayers.
Not sure who the character is, but we like her.
Another lovely cosplayer.
Three lovely cosplayers.
Domo-kun! Arrrrgh!
At J-List, one of the most popular products we've sold was the Yatta! comedy DVDs by a group called Happa-tai (Fig Leaf Squad). These guys were way funny.
