What Japanese think of foreigners who learn their language, odd ways to get cell phone customers, and American politics seen through Japanese eyes

I'm often asked what the Japanese think of foreigners who go out of their way to learn the language. I guess the idea is that Japan, with its long and unique history that included 250 years of isolation from the rest of the world, might not always be happy that "foreign barbarians" are taking in their linguistic secrets. I've found that nothing could be further from the truth, and by and large, Japanese are always pleased to meet a foreigner who has learned their language. Most of them have gotten over the silly idea that Japanese is the most difficult language in the world, and they can even handle the idea of "white boy" foreigners being able to write kanji. Popular variety shows often include a token Japanese-bilingual foreigner who can make witty banter with the other "talents" and add a bit of spice to the show. Some of the more interesting guests include godfather of gaijin Dave "dyes his hair blonde, ha-ha" Spector, the attractive former model Caiya, and Wikki-san, a Sri Lankan who studied so hard he got into Tokyo University using the test that normal students take (not the easier one for us foreigners). Of course there is one downside to learning "too much" Japanese, that more than few gaijin out there will back me up on, I'm sure. It seems that the more nihongo you know, the less mysterious and attractive you can seem to some members of the fairer gender, and I've known foreigners who spoke less Japanese than I do to be more popular with girls than me (although YMMV, of course). Since this phenomenon doesn't seem to have an official name, I'll christen it Peter's Inverse Law of Japanese Learning and see if the label sticks.

Well, the U.S. elections are over, and the dust has been settling all week long. American politics are covered closely in Japan, as they are all over the world, and once again I got a strange out-of-body "gaijin experience" watching the coverage in the local language, not unlike the bizarreness of seeing an American football game with sportscasters giving the play-by-play in Japanese. America's system of government is quite unique in the world, and isn't well understood by most people here, so there was plenty of explanation about how the various aspects of our system works. In Japan, elections called immediately after, say, a vote of no confidence by the Diet, or the Prime Minister dissolving the Diet himself, as he did when he ran into opposition to his privatization of the post office last year. Only familiar with this system, my Japanese father-in-law mistakenly though the election meant a immediate change in President, which would have been the case here.

The decision to allow cell phone users to take their phone numbers with them when they change carriers has had a big effect on the industry, with Japan's "big three" phone companies trying to take market share away from each other. Mammoth NTT DoCoMo has the largest piece of Japan's multibillion portable phone industry, and they're under attack by rivals who are daring to actually compete head to head with them. Newly christened Softbank/Yahoo hired the sexy Cameron Diaz to pimp their new phones, which worked so well that the company had to stop taking new applications, as their system was quickly getting overloaded. But it was AU by KDDI that stole the most users away from competitors, grabbing 200,000 new customers in two weeks by directly touting their leadership in customer satisfaction. However, their choice of a hip rock song by the Stones for their commercials was a little odd, since "I can't get no...satisfaction" has the opposite meaning from what they seem to think it does -- which tells you how carefully Japanese listen to song lyrics. This reminds me of the time I went to a friend's wedding and they were playing "Alone Again, Naturally" by Gilbert O'Sullivan, basically the last song you'd ever expect to hear at such a setting.

You may have noticed those phone straps that we sell on J-List. These are "netsuke" (net-TSOO-keh), a Japanese tradition that started out as hand-carved good luck charms carried on the end of a draw-string money bags back in the Edo Period. When portable electronic gadgets like cell phones came along, Japanese adapted these traditional cute objects for the modern age, attaching them to just about anything from cameras to keys to Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. Today we've got some attractive "Kimono Netsuke" on the site, in a variety of colors and styles, with a single beautiful printed on each.

We're big fans of Dan Kim, creator of the many quality webcomics over at Clone Army. In addition to his "serious" works like Penny Tribute and Kanami, he does hilarious parody comics his classic take on the relationship between Sakura and Tomoyo from the CLAMP anime, called Tomoyo42's Room. Check out a great tribute to his creative works with two new shirts we've just released, a standard size and fitted girl's cap sleeve, featuring his great art.

Tomorrow is 11/11, and you all know what that is, right? Pocky Day, of course! To help you celebrate, or just give you an excuse to buy Pocky, we're giving an extra 5% off any purchase of ten or more boxes of Pocky, in any combination, this weekend only. This is in addition to the normal discounts you get from buying full shrinkwrapped cases.

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 Aug 2006 vol. 242. Urecco, this is the #1 magazine at J-List, always loaded with gorgeous photography. Scary to realize that I've been reading this magazine for 15 years and selling it for 10.
	Clone Army Shirt - Standard T-Shirt - Tomoyo42's Room. We've finally got the cool Clone Army shirt printed and ready for you. We just love it!
	nnn -- Nami Ichinohe. I wonder if this girl comes from Aomori Prefecture, where the city of Ichinohe is? I hitchhiked through there once. She certainly is very nice!
	Hiragana Times No. 240 Oct 2006. Popular magazine with articles in both English and Japanese.
	Club Girl Hunting 002. Dancing in Japan is invaiably called Disco, and was even when that word was tabboo in the U.S. Here's a wonderful blending of hot, sexy dancing club girls and "H".
	Ma. K. Sketchbook vol. 1 -- Kow Yokoyama. Man, I love the mecha designs of Kow Yokoyama. Among his other accomplishments, he's designed some of the Zoids toys.
	Adezakura -- Yakkun Sakurazuka. This is a very attractive person, considering the source. Don't you think?
	Saber *Holiday Ver.* 1/6 Scale Figure -- Fate Hollow Ataraxia. This is a really nice figure from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. Damned nice!
	Beautiful Breast Investigator Ayako - Binyu Chosain Ayako. Yes, she really is a beautiful breast investigator.
	Super Mario Trading Cards -- Nintendo. Mario Cards are popular in Japan right now, and here is the newest series.
	Mamegoma Plush (L) -- White. Mamegoma. He's a little bean (mame, pronounced ma-MAY). He's a sesame seed (goma). He's kawaii!
	Japanese Mug Cup -- "Honobono". A cup that sums up how I feel after taking a bath at a Japanese hot springs.
	Hello Kitty "Chirimen" Gamakuchi -- Purple. Chirimen little wallets, purses for you ro keep your money in Hello Kitty style. Cool.
	Feng Shui Ninja Netsuke -- Blue. A ninja phone strap that brings you happiness? I'm there!
	Snoopy Plate -- White. We have a few limited Snoopy plates and bowls, in case you would like to have them in your house.
	Handy Accessory Pouch -- Gray. Theser are just too cool, little accessory pouches that you can keep money in, or all your other stuff.
	Serget Keroro Snack -- BBQ Flavor. Delicious, a Sgt. Frog BBQ snack with a collectible card.
	Caine *rmp003* -- Range Murata Pinky Street. A new Range Murata Pinky figure. Man, this is cool!
	Kimono Netsuke -- Koi *Love* ~ Red. These are the new Kimono Netsuke, which you can put on your phone, keys or anywhere.
	Glico Green Tea Mousse Pocky - Matcha. Nov. 11 is Pocky Day (11/11, get it? four Pocky sticks lined up?), so we're having an additional 5% off all purchases of Pocky sale. Act fast!