Lessons we could learn from Japan about "safety driving," pointing with the middle finger, and trivia on Japanese toilets

I've often thought that there are some really good ideas in Japan that the rest of the world could learn from. Right now it's the Autumn Traffic Safety Week, a special time when different groups come together to promote traffic safety, like the Lions Club gathering in front of shopping centers to hand out leaflets reminding drivers to buckle up and put kids in child safety seats (still somewhat rare in Japan). The police have an increased presence during this season, and do spot inspections of drivers on major roads. Drunk driving has become a big topic this year due to a tragic spike in alcohol-related deaths, and authorities are doing their best to combat the problem -- they even caught an off-duty police officer who had been drinking. Other ways of getting the message out to drivers include posting slogans like "Giving the right-of-way to others is a pillar of safe driving" and dressing up famous idols like Yuko Ogura in a police woman's uniform to bring attention to their cause. Using a bit of marketing dazzle to get people to think about "safety driving" (as its invariably called here) is something I'd love to see carried to an international level. Considering that 40,000+ people are killed annually in auto accidents in the U.S. alone, even making a small difference could save a lot of lives. Heck, we could un-do the 9-11 deaths by doing just a few things right on the traffic safety front!

No matter how long I live in Japan, there are some things I can't quite get used to. When Japanese point at something, they will often use their middle finger rather than their forefinger, since the middle finger has no particular meaning here, but it always feels odd. Having a Japanese person apologize for not being able to speak English even though I'm talking to them normally in Japanese is hard to get used to, as is having a vending machine bow to me to thank me for my purchase, by way of a little LCD screen (I try to avoid bowing back). The are many other odd things, too. Men in tailored suits riding a bicycle in the rain while holding an umbrella with one hand. Buying a six-pack of beer for 6x the price of a single can, or picking up a loaf of bread that has all of three slices in the package. Yes, one thing you can say for sure is that living in Japan is never the same old thing.

One of the great mysteries of living in Japan, as any gaijin will tell you, is those kanji for "small" and "big" (小 and 大, pronounced sho and dai) written on most toilet flush handles. Japan is incredibly wasteful of its natural resources, for example plastering the sides of mountains with concrete to guard against rockslides, but it also has a green side, taxing less efficient car engines at a higher rate, recycling many types of paper products, selling refill versions of products to cut down on trash volume and promoting low-energy lighting in homes and businesses. Japanese toilets are set up to conserve resources, too: you can turn the handle to the right to perform a normal flush ("big"), or hold it to the left for a few seconds to just let out a little bit of water ("small"). It took me a few years to make the connection, but of course the "small" character stands for shoben (小便, meaning number 1, literally translated as "small convenience"), while the other turn of the handle stands for daiben (大便、number 2, or "big convenience"). Apologies to Britain's most famous clock, whose sounds rather funny to the Japanese.

We've got some news for fans of our here
2007 calendars today: a huge volley of calendars have come in and are being posted to the site right now. The newly posted calendars include beautiful views of Japan in all four seasons, visually pleasing sushi, lovely idols like Jun Natsukawa and Aki Hoshino, cool calendars for students of kanji, the fantastic art works of Haruyo Morita, Japanese girls in traditional "onsen" hot springs, and more. Browse all our new calendars now!

This month's "Dating-Sim Games of the Month" are I'm Gonna Nurse You 1 & 2, two outstanding PC dating-sim games from Trabulance that blend cute female characters, nurse uniforms, hilarious stories and plenty of good, clean fun in a school for nurses-in-training. Special pricing on both titles this month, above and beyond Monday's price drop in our dating-sim games.

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.

	Jukujo Max -- Yuko Kazuki photobook. For fans of women who are grown up, sexy and experienced, here's a magazine + DVD for you. Man these women look great.
	Japanese Hat - Beware of Perverts. Our newest wacky Japanese hat. I like this one a lot.
	Amrita -- Megumi Kagurazaka. Extremely sexy swimsuit idol from Japan. Nice to have her photobook on the site!
	Gothic Lolita Bible vol. 22. New Goth-Loli Bible for everyone. This issue is super cool, focusing on gothic dolls.
	Mutsumi Sasaki Art Works 1998~2005. Really nice artbook of works by Mutsumi Sasaki.
	Gal Trance 2 -- Akira Shiratori. Super release from Deep's featuring authentic "kogals" from Tokyo.
	Serial Experiments Lain -- Yoshitoshi Abe Figure Collection. This is cool, a detailed figure from yoshitoshi ABe's famous anime. I hate people who mess up the capitilzation in their own names.
	Pudding. Drill Murata is one of the gods of the H manga scene, and we're happy as punch to have a new book by him.
	Comic AG Super Erotic Manga Anthology vol. 43. New issue of Comic AG for H manga fans.
	Cominica Mini Select Series *03* -- Totoro w/ Umbrella. Man, these Totoro keychains are getting cooler and cooler. I just love this one.
	Japanese T-shirt "Cheshire Totoro Face" - Alternate Sleeve. New Totoro shirt, which we accidentally printed. If you like Totoro, are female and are a size S or M, this is your shirt!
	Yaoi Hentai Vol. 1. We now carry the yaoi works by Yaoi Press.
	Natural Stone Magatama Strap -- Tiger Eye. I love these Magatama items, which have something to do with the ancient Japanese emperors. This one is made of Tiger Eye.
	Botan *Short* Tabi Socks -- Black *21 ~ 26cm*. Our white tabi socks are very popular, and these are even cooler, with kimono fabric patterns
	Hello Kitty Cotton Swab Container -- Pink. For all those who feel the insides of their ears isn't cute enough.