Broken stereotypes of the Japanese, Japan's love affair with "overseas dramas," and Autumn, season of healthy appetites

Stereotypes are really not good, since they cause us to make assumptions about people from other countries before we've gotten to know them. When I taught English as a Second Language, I used to do a lot of part-time work, going to people's homes to teach their kids once a week, and I was able to come into contact with a lot of people this way. One family I taught seemed to be a pretty average Japanese family on the surface: bustling mother overly concerned about her kids' education; bright daughter; younger son who loved Pokemon and "UFO Catcher" (crane game) machines; and a salaryman father who often worked late. The father surprised me one day by showing me pictures of his journey from Vladivostok to Moscow on the Siberian Railroad, which had been a lifelong dream of his, and I was immediately sorry I'd assumed he was such an average Joe who lives only for his company. The leader of my daughter's Girl Scout troop is another such person. At first glance, she's an average middle-aged Japanese woman, worrying over how to make her daughter study more and tending a small dairy farm. Turns out, she's also a published author of children's books, and quite well known in her field, which I never suspected, looking at her. I wonder if the Japanese I meet here have stereotyped ideas about what I'm like before they get to know me? They're only human, so I'm sure they do.

Japan continues its love affair with kaigai dorama, or "overseas dramas," with shows like Prison Break, Lost and of course '24' scoring big with viewers here. U.S. networks like Fox have built a very successful business for themselves, offering TV series in DVD rental stores for 300 yen per disc, then showing them on late-night television when the next season approaches to pick up more viewers. I'm bowled over with how innovative the American companies are at marketing these shows to viewers. For example, subscribers to the Japanese version of Newsweek got a free DVD loaded with the first episodes of several different series, and as a result my wife and I are now hooked on The Dead Zone. Even older series are popular right now, and NHK is broadcasting many classics in the wee hours of the morning. It's funny to see what shows are defined as a "drama" to the Japanese -- the list includes some old shows that were big here like Combat, "Mystery Zone" (The Twilight Zone) and The Fugitive, but also some shows that aren't very dramatic, like Bewitched and "Special Bastard Squad A-Team."

If you've found your appetite increasing of late, it might be what the Japanese call shoku-yoku no aki, meaning "Autumn, the season of healthy appetites," named for the natural tendency for people to get hungrier at this time of year. For those who fall into that category, J-List brings you hundreds of delicious treats direct from Japan, including both well-known snacks as well as items you never knew existed. We've a great announcement for hungry customers, too: the return of Pocky to our site! Every summer we are forced to remove chocolate products from our website due to the heat and humidity which turns our Pocky into so much Melty Kiss, but now that things are cooling off, we're happy to announce our the beginning of our Fall 2006 Pocky lineup! In addition to the original classic and Men's Pocky, we've added the deluxe new Cookie Crush and Almond Crush Pocky, which come in deluxe packages with a whopping 7 packs of Pocky (so you can eat them one at a time without the others going stale).

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.

	Wife Eater. Interesting themes in this erotic hentai anime from Kitty Media.
	Gothic & Lolita Bible 21. Always a pleasure to have a new issue of &LB. Filled with great photos of costumes, gothic rock, and you even get a pattern you can use to make a whole outfit.
	Melty -- Tina Yuzuki. Melty -- that's a word you can use to describe this fabulous nude photobook.
	Twin Dungeon Princess vol. 2 - TGWOA 20 ~ Futarino Meikyu Oujo II. For everyone who knows what "futanari" means, here's a great book for you.
	Super Model -- hiromi. Super beautiful former model makes a career change. There's been a lot of that lately.
	Dynamite Dancing Gals vol. 01. This is the most popular genre in AV this year -- disco dancing gals. We like, we like.
	Wet Gals -- Marin. (region 2). I had to post this since I think the cover looks really cool. This is a selection of "wet" themes (in-water, lotion play, etc). from Waap.
	Outrageous Japanese - Slang, Curses, and Epithets. Heh, learn some really rude Japanese with this book.
	Katsuya Terada Zenbu. The lovely new artbook by Katsuya Terada, one of the most popular illustrators in Japan today.
	Masane Amaha DX Figure -- Witch Blade. A really sexy figure from Japan that would look great in your room. Super detail, and very large size.
	Glico Cookie Crush Pocky. Yay, Pocky is back on J-List! This year in addition to Almond Crush, we have yummy Cookie Crush. Wow!
	Exodus Guilty 3 *preorder*. The third part of the Exodus Guilty DVD based game is available for preorder.
	Totoro Acryl *Large* Blanket -- 140 X 200cm. Totoro blankets are in stock! These fabulous blankets are frankly one of my all time favorite products at J-List, and I'm glad to have gotten in some good ones this year.
	Totoro Acryl *Small* Blanket -- Lap Robe ~ 70 X 100cm. They come in different sizes, by the way. This one is great for warming your lap, or put your baby on it.
	Animal Mask -- Horse. This is an obscure reference to a Japanese commercial that involved men with horse heads on. But anyway, it's a cool costume idea if you're in the market.
	"Style Vivant" Portable Ashtray. Do you smoke? Do you read French? If so, here is your ashtray!
	Gintama Shitajiki. A cool plastic shitajiki (pencil board) for anime fans.