The triumphant return of an old Japanese favorite, a milestone for my son, and a source of sadness in Japanese society

Imagine if a food you ate every day were suddenly unavailable, say, hamburgers, just to pick an example. With no more hamburgers available, restaurants would do their best with alternatives, bringing out, say, pork burgers or lamb burgers or veggie burgers. Consumers would probably be bummed about not being able to order their favorite food, but they'd muddle through somehow. This is basically what happened when Mad Cow Disease fears caused Japan to halt all imports of beef from the U.S., which rendered one of Japan's most popular dishes, gyudon or beef bowl, extremely rare. Beef bowl is the quintessential home-grown fast food in Japan, a simple dish of stewed beef and onions on steaming hot rice that costs around $3.50 and can be wolfed down in about two minutes -- I like mine with raw egg poured over it so the rice sticks together nicely while eating with chopsticks. Restaurant chains like Yoshinoya served millions of bowls every day before it all came to a screeching halt two years ago, when the ban went into effect. Finally, though, beef imports have resumed and you can get a delicious bowl of the artery- clogging stuff once again. I was so happy to have my old friend back again, I had to snap a picture for posterity.

Japan is a great country, with beautiful temples and shrines, friendly people and a fascinating culature. Sadly, not everyone can see how wonderful Japan is, and far too many here choose the easy way out by committing suicide. It seems that every day brings bizarre news of people who make this sad choice: a family of four in a strange suicide pact...a woman who lost her fiancee in the terrible train derailment last year and wanted to be with him...one of guards at the Imperial Palace. One terrible source of anguish are students who are the recipients of ijime or bullying, such as one 13-year-old who took his own life as a result of abuse from the other kids on his basketball team. School-related suicides aren't always limited to the students, though. Last week, the principal of a high school in Ibaraki Prefecture, just up the road from us, committed suicide when it was reported that his school was foregoing teaching some required G.E. courses to better prepare students for the specific subjects that they'd need for the upcoming college entrance exams. I'm not sure what's different about Japan and most other countries when it comes to looking out for No. 1. Some odd symptom of post-industrial society? Latent cultural memories from the time when samurai committed seppuku? I personally think the answer lies in the lack of open communication and resistance to adopting a system for counseling people in need.

Now for some good news: my son passed level 2 of the Step Test, the primary test for measuring English ability in Japan. Like the Japanese Language Ability Test (JLPT) that foreigners study for, the Step Test is organized into multiple levels, with levels 4 for elementary school kids, level 3 for junior high, level 2 for high school and level 1 for college-age and professionals. My son hates it when people at his school assume that his English is good because he was born haafu (half), so he went all out to study for the test, despite the fact that he had to cover both English and the kanji for the Japanese parts of the test, as he's only in the 5th grade and hasn't learned high school kanji yet. As is often the case in Japan, the existence of a rival helped motivate him: he wanted more than anything to beat Kimishima-kun, a very smart boy in his class who has been studying at Kumon schools, which have a very good reputation here. Although I have been critical of Japan's reliance on testing and measuring in the past, I've come to see that having a series of goals for self improvement, be it learning a language, mastering typing or learning to use an abacus, is really a good thing. It'd be nice if a universal system of tests like this existed in the U.S. (other than in Boy and Girl Scouts, which is actually somewhat similar, in the way they encourage students to aim for higher ranks).

There's nothing quite as mysterious as kanji, the writing system used in Japan to express ideas, and Westerners are often fascinated with how this aesthetically beautiful pictographic system works. We've posted two new wacky Japanese T-shirt for kanji lovers, a great way to wear something really unique. The first shirt reads "Ganko," which means stubborn and hard-headed and unwilling to sacrifice one's ideals, a cool shirt if this describes you. Then there's "Ore-ryu," a word that literally means "My Style" or "Going My Way" (or alternately, "I'm doing my own thing my own damned way," depending on how deep you want to get with the translation). Two great new Japanese T-shirts for you!

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.

	Mini Skirt Illustrated DVD vol. 84. Always a popular item, this explores the "low angle" shots of beautiful women in Japan, with lots of stockings, high heels, all that good stuff.
	Japanese T-shirt "Ganko" (Stubborn) - Standard. Are you stubborn? Hard headed? Hate to give in? Well, this is a new shirt for you.
	Animage Aug 2006. Great issue of Animage, focusing on Gedo Senki, aka Tales of Earthsea, the new Miyazaki movie.
	Kiss me, Baby... ~ Arisa Oda. I would love to kiss Arisa-chan, believe me...
	The Highest Quality Sex -- Nana Natsume. Yowza, I get used to how pretty Nana Natsume is, then she goes and re-reminds me that she's even prettier than that. Simply gorgeous.
	Totoro Petit Bag -- Flower & Clover. This is a cute little bag for carrying just about anything, featuring the image of Totoro.
	Jiji Petit Bag -- Flower & Butterfly ~ Kiki's Delivery Service. This is Jiji, the popular black cat from Kiki's Delivery Service.
	Dengeki Comic Gao Nov. 2006. Every time I see this I go wow, since it s so big and thick and full of great visual manga. Great for anyone wanting their manga the way the Japanese take it.
	Hinomaru Kun no Hen! ~ The Peculiar Hinomaru. Popular artist circle Saigado brings us a fun new offering. We used to carry them back when they were lowly doujinshi artists, it's nice to see them doing well.
	Japanese Sake Brand "Scissors Bag" w/ karabiner ~ Otoko-Yama -- Black. Man's Mountain, that's what Otoko Yama means. This is a cool "scissors bag" (so called because haircutters use them to hold their scissors) that I have been using for several years (I keep my wallet and keys together this way).
	Meshi Style Donburi -- Wave. Cool line of traditional Japanese bowls, similar to our Sake Style products from last time.
	Nanaka Shirakawa 1/8 Scale Figure -- Da Capo II. This is a cute figure with the requisite panties visible under her skirt, from the series Da Capo II, an H game turned novel and manga series.
	Space Warp -- Start *Level 1*. Wow, this is cool. Build a system of rails for meal balls to slide around on. A unique item from Japan. Note: we only have two of them, and no more will be available, so if you dig it don't delay or it might be gone.
	Goukaku Type Sunshine Buddies w/ Daruma -- Sakura ~ Pass the Test. Goukaku means "to pass a test" and that's what this little solar-powered buddy aims to help you do. Great gift for students.
	Souvenir Shirt Size XL ~ White & Red -- Dragon, Hawk and Fujiyama. A really cool button shirt from Japan featuring classic images of Japan.
	Hello Kitty "Chirimen" Hand Mirror -- Blue. Cool item for Hello Kitty fans. Carry this plush mirror around with you anywhere.
	Japanese T-shirt "My Style" (Stubborn) - Standard Another shirt I like a lot, this effectively says "I'm doing things my own f**king way." If you ever do things that no one else can understand, then "Ore-ryu" is a word you should learn.

It's here! It's here!

Ahhh, delicious, stewed beef on rice...

Time to show you some of the pictures from the Halloween bash that I've been forgetting to post. This girl was so cute!

The one on the right is Mozart.

Other students show off their costumes.

Here are my own. Anakin and Leia.

Here my son reinacts an exciting scene from Star Wars Episode II.