Language reflects on culture, fun with kanji and English words, and the mysteries of April 1 in Japan

I've always thought that language both reflects culture and influences it, and part of the reason the French are so French or the British are the way they are comes from the language that they speak, and vice-versa. During my years of study, I've noticed that the Japanese language seems to be specially set up allow for the subtle nuances and indirectness that people here are famous for. First of all, it's common for various parts of a Japanese sentence to go unstated, and you might invite someone to go somewhere by only saying the verb "to go"-- Iku? -- with the who, what, where and other information assumed by both parties. When we write compositions in school we're taught to choose active over passive sentences -- "John said it" rather than "It was said by John." But Japanese uses passive voice quite often, since it's easy to create a sentence that carries all useful information but omits indicating who caused the action to take place (useful in work situations when you don't want to name the specific manager responsible for something). There are also phrases that don't really exist in English, such as "kimatta" ("it has been decided"), which describes with great finality that a decision has been made, and therefore, we all have to go along with it.

April 1 is right around the corner. Aside from its status as Shigatsu Baka (April Fool, a custom imported from the West during the occupation), April is an important time for a lot of people in Japan. First and foremost, April traditionally marks the start of the school year, and all throughout the country first graders will be timidly marching off to their first day of school while proud parents film the event with the latest Sony Handycam. April 1 is the start of the fiscal year for the nation, too, and it's customary for new laws to take effect on this date. Finally, April is the beginning of the new business year for many companies, and major firms like Toyota and IBM Japan hold large Company Entrance Ceremonies to officially welcome the new crop of employees into the company.

Every rule has an exception, and the Japanese writing system is riddled with so many exceptions, it's almost as complex as English. While the standard way to write Japanese is to use hiragana for basic words (words like "this" "is," and grammatical particles), kanji for words with definable meanings, and katakana for foreign loan words like "creap" (cream powder for your coffee) or "nice middle" (a handsome middle-aged man). Sometimes, however, katakana is substituted for hiragana in order stress a point, as we'd use bold or italics in English (this comes up in manga quite a lot). Also, there are some English words that have been in use in Japan for so long, they've gone and gotten kanji assigned to them, in violation of those neat-and-clean rules. Four examples of these somewhat archaic words are coffee, tobacco ("smoke straw," actually "smoke grass" but that's too hilarious to try to tell you with a straight face), kirishitan (the early Japanese Christians), and club.

Remember, J-List stocks the excellent Domo-kun products from NHK. The official spokes-monster of Japan's public broadcasting network, Domo-kun gets his name from the Japanese word domo, an all-purpose word that can mean thanks, hello, or just about anything else. From Domo-kun straps for your phone to Domo-kun pens to our most popular item, the Domo-kun plush from the "whenever I ... God kills a Domo-kun" graphic, we've got a great selection of rare items you can only find in Japan.

A note of caution: we're down to the last few sets of our popular Final Fantasy Potions, with only a dozen or so in stock. If you want to pick up a full set of these amazing collector's items, which come with beautiful blue glass potion bottle, different caps, foil-wrapped trading cards and protective boxes, order soon!

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.

	Lolita Fashion Fancier 2 for Relax ~ Lolita Isho Douraku II. Ah, its fun being able to bring everyone such cool gothic lolita books. This one is loaded with fabulous photos.
	Blue Eyes 9. Blue Eyes #9 is out, and it looks better than ever. This is the long, detailed story of the many happy events in Tatchan's life, which usually involve large-breasted girls.
	Order Maid -- Sasa Handa. Lovely naughty model Sasa Handa's new photobook. Where do you buy see-through skirts like that?
	Deep Kiss Cafe -- you. (region 2). The gorgeous You. (one of the many Japanese people with a name like Yuu, who thought it'd be funny to write it as You and add a period) looks mighty fine in this new maid cosplay offering.
	Newcomer Female Announcer Sexual Report -- Mio Amano (region 2). Explore Japanese newscaster fetish with this release by SOD. A debut release!
	Deeps Lesbian Employees. What would you do if the girl who you'd work with for a long time confessed that she was lesbian, and came on to you? (Well, if you are female.) That's the theme in this new release from Deep's.
	formcode -- Range Murata. Positively wonderful Range Murata illustration set. Comes with a large box and everything.
	Talking Doraemon. It's a cute plush Doraemon toy that talks to you squeeze its hand.
	Birthday. This is one of those amazing books that makes me stop what I'm doing and it. Fantastic art, fantastic characters, this is one of the coolest manga I've seen in a long time.
	Totoro Gamaguchi Coin Purse. If you've got to carry money, you might as well do it in a really stylin' Totoro plush coin purse, don't you think?
	Frog Style Drink Tumbler. Japanese people are all about design, and this is the cool Frog Style Coffee Tumbler, which is a nice Starbuck's parody.
	Square Geta w/Black Dragon Hanao ~ Lacquered Paulownia Wood. Wow, cool geta sandals back on the site. Spring must be here.
	Blue Dragonfly Chopsticks (A-13) w/ Hashi-Oki. I like dragonflies for some reason, and these chopsticks are mighty cool, featuring long, adult length sticks, rough ends to pick up food more easily, and a ceramic chopstick holder.

Had to go to Tokyo to get my son's passport renewed yesterday. The sakura were pretty, but weren't fully opened yet.

They were even blooming inside Ueno station (although I think this might have been fake).

There's a nice shrine near the government buildings, and we stopped by to pray for good luck.

Advertisement for a sale at a local department store.

Had Loco Moco for lunch. This is my favoriteist food in the world! It's a Hawaiian dish, basically teriyaki hamburg steak ("Salsbury Steak," whatever), with egg and other goodies over rice, that you mash up to eat.

Green, thanks.

Concepts like giri and ninjo, eating raw fish in Boston and Hokkaido, and fun with a Japanese ear pick

No study of pop Japanology can be complete without exploring the twin concepts of giri and ninjo (義理と人情）, which crop up in such varied places as classical Japanese theatre, anime and samurai and yakuza films. The words basically describe two concepts of Japanese ethics going back centuries, and form a kind of "golden rule" for how people should behave in society. Giri means "obligation" or "duty" and is used to describe the many things a person should do because it's expected of them -- for example, if someone gives you a gift, you must give a return gift worth half the amount of the original. Since attending a Japanese wedding means you generally have to bring $200 or more as a congratulatory gift, there's a giri-based system in place to make sure fairness is preserved: when a friend who attended your wedding gets married themselves, you go to their wedding and return the cash gift, or if you can't attend for some reason, you make some other gift worth the same amount. Ninjo translates as sympathy, humanity, or kindness, and describes the kind feelings we should have towards those less fortunate than us. Taken together, the ideas of giri and ninjo basically mean "be thoughtful and kind to others, but balance that with attention to your own various obligations in life." While I can't say that ninjo pops up in daily conversation in modern Japan that much, perhaps because it's got such a hard-to-define meaning, you can find many examples of giri at work every day, such as the now-famous giri choco, so-called "obligation chocolate" that women in a company feel they must buy for their male coworkers on Valentine's Day. A huge beneficiary of the concept of giri has been the Amway corporation, who were able to turn the tendency of Japanese to be sensitive to the obligations people might feel to friends into a $1.7 billion direct-sales market in Japan.

I've been seeing a lot of buzz on the Internet about mimikaki, traditional Japanese ear cleaners (often translated as "ear pick"), so I thought I'd write about that today. A mimikaki is basically a little scoop usually made of bamboo which is used to (carefully) scoop ear wax out of the ear canal. I'll never forget the first time I saw one of these little ear cleaners -- I thought it was a spoon for use in tea ceremony, to the endless laughter of my Japanese friends. Since it's rather hard to use an ear pick yourself, a tradition of couples cleaning each others' ears has evolved, to the point where it's considered quite an intimate thing for a woman to do for her boyfriend, almost a non-verbal signal that she's considering him for marriage (a girl might be shocked if a boy she'd just started dating asked her to clean his ears, for example). Just as there are certain kinds of Japanese women who are fascinated with the act of pulling whiskers out of a man's face with tweezers (don't ask me, it's a long story), mimikaki fetishism may be a genetic thing, so your mileage may vary. If you're interested in exploring the allure of traditional Japanese ear-cleaning, we've got several varieties of ear pick on the site.

My Japanese wife and I are funny, each very passionate about each other's country. The other day we were eating sushi for lunch, and she suddenly waxed natsukashii (nostalgic) about a trip to Boston she'd made years ago, at how much fun it was to roam the open air markets sampling the fresh raw oysters. I've never been to Boston, but I recalled for her my fondness for Hakodate (ha-ko-DAH-tay), a charming city on the southern tip of Hokkaido, which is famous for its asaichi (morning open-air fish market) as well as its quaint Meiji Era architecture and one of the most beautiful night views in Japan. In general, my wife has seen much more of the U.S. than I have -- she's been to Mt. Rushmore and Green Bay, Michigan and all over the East Coast -- but I've got her beat when it comes to places I've been inside Japan.

Among the many unique things J-List sells are geta, traditional Japanese footwear worn for hundreds of years. We sell many types of these cool shoes each year, and will be ramping up our selection of traditional Japanese sandals in the coming weeks. Today we've got a really cool pair of traditional setta sandals, made with simulated snake-pattern and form, sturdy construction for years of use.

There are many ways to plug into Japan's popular culture, through music, anime, manga, video games -- you name it. Another way you can interface with Japan is through bishoujo games, the PC dating-sim games that are a popular genre of game that lets you interact with cute anime girls as you try to win their hearts and find all possible endings in the game. One game that will be shipping soon is Doushin - Same Heart, a fresh and unique title in which you play through the eyes of the three Suruga sisters, Ryoko, Maki and Miho, experiencing the game events from their point of view and "zapping" freely from character to character to experience a new aspect of the game story, which is all the more interesting because of the strange power that the three sisters share. Beta testing on this game is nearly complete, and you can preorder this great game and get free shipping when it comes in -- check it out now!

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.

	Megami Magazine Deluxe vol. 6. Megami means "goddess" in Japanese, and that's a fitting title since it's dedicated to worshipping female anime characters. This is special issue published separately from the monthly magazine.
	aerial -- Sachiko Kokubu. Sachiko Kokubu is a really cute model, and you can enjoy her dynamite photographs in this hardcover offering.
	Nana/7 3rd -- Nana Natsume. Nana Natsume is the top name in indies JAV right now, the successor to Kurumi Morishita as SOD's main centerpiece actress. This is a collection of her best stuff.
	Fair-skinned Gals Collection 4 Hours. A special 4 hour DVD dedicated to fair-skinned, light-colored, pure-hearted JAV stars (who aren't all that pure).
	The Kojiki ~ Records of Ancient Matters. The Kojiki ("record of ancient events") is the oldest record of Japan, dating back to the year 712 AD. Now you can read an English translation of it!
	The Tale of Genji. Another classic of ancient literature, this is a fully translated book of The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu 1000 years ago.
	Swimsuit Experience Club ~ Taiken Mizugi Club . Shou Katase is a talented hentai manga artist, and this is his latest work, focusing on swimsuit fetishes.
	Kabaya Kurutto Omusubi w/Ramune Candy - Full Set. Omusubi means "rice ball" (it's the exact same thing as onigiri, if you know that word). This is a cute plush line of characters based on this rather bizarre concept.
	Pink Butterfly "Goth" Bento Box. A gothic bento box! That's great! Check out the strap that keeps the bento box lid on -- it's a garter!
	Totoro Plush *Smile* -- Medium. A new larger pair of Totoro plush toys, in "smile" and "growl" mode. They are so huggable.
	Hello Kitty Lunch Bag -- Uguisu & Plum. A handy canvas bag to carry your bento in. Features the new Hello Kitty & Nightengale design.
	My Melody & Kuromi Pouch. A nice all-purpose My Melody pouch you can take your school stuff in. I really love the art on this.
	Kitty Neck Strap -- Orange Poodle. For those looking for upper limit on kawaii, we offer a plush toy of Hello Kitty, er, wearing an orange poodle suit, or something like that.
	Doraemon Cell Phone Holder. Enjoy this Doraemon cell phone holder -- or turn it into an iPod case! We dno't care, really.
	Snake Hanao Setta -- Size L ~ Leather Sole. A cool pair of setta sandals with leather soles and immitation snake on top. Really cool!

Last weekend we took our weekly (almost) trip to Karuizawa. Unfortunately we hadn't gotten our new MPV yet so we had to take our regular car.

Along the way. This is Mt. Asama, the largest volcanoe in this area. Check out the smoke coming out of the top.

Another image of Asama-yama.

Near a waterfall there was an odd wall of ice (not related to the waterfall at all). We had no idea how this got there.

In the "ugh" category, this is comedian/former pro wrestler Hard Gay in the current issue of Jump. Scratch off the gold circles, and see if you've won...or be traumatized for life? (As a side note, H.G. is not actually gay.)

The new Tokyo Tower, an experiment in conformity, and classics of Japanese literature

There's a perception that the Japanese are more conformist than people in Europe or the States. Leaving aside the question of whether someone who is into a form of "indies" subculture is in fact just choosing a more specialized group to conform to or not (no matter what country you're from), I will say that there are times when I've felt that the Japanese choose the comfortable path of doing what everyone else is doing a little more than we might back home. Some of the sillier fashion trends to come along here, like the 8" thick sneaker soles or the "pair look" boom of the late 80s (when every couple would dress in matching outfits while on a date) would not have happened without the pressure on people to follow the larger group. When I came to Japan in 1991, the idea of a Japanese person owning a piece of "used" clothing was unthinkable, but a few years later, the rise of a trend called ame-kaji (that's "American Casual" in case you were wondering) caused the used clothing market to take off -- and suddenly all the Japanese were wearing faded jeans that had belonged to American college students a few weeks before. For the past week I've been engaging in a little "conformity experiment" of my own, using a Bluetooth headset to talk to people on my cell phone -- something that's not done in Japan at all. I've been having fun, talking to "myself" while Japanese people gasp at me as they walk past, not realizing I'm on the phone. I'm feeling a lot of pressure to give in and hold my phone to my ear like everyone else, but I'll stick it out a few more weeks and see if I can't learn something more about human nature from it all.

Every country has a unique relationship with its own past as expressed in history and literature. In English, we all have to read the classics like Beowulf (written in Old English), the Canterbury Tales (Middle English), and of course plenty of Shakespeare (which is Modern English, even though some 11th graders struggling through Macbeth might not agree). Japanese students have to undertake the same studies, wading through famous works of Classical Japanese that are far removed from the language of modern-day Japan. Kanji entered the country along with Buddhism in the 8th century, and it was the first writing system the Japanese had ever known -- the mound-builders of past ages had no way to write down their history. Early Japanese works like the Kojiki, the first record of Japan's history, were written in kanbun, an archaic form of writing that assigned Japanese readings to written kanji. The Heian Period saw the creation of hiragana, a syllable-based writing system derived from kanji, and Murasaki Shikibu used it to pen the Tale of Genji, considered to be the world's first novel -- it's about as hard to read as Chaucer is for English speakers (i.e., really hard). To help bridge the gap and make the literature of the past more accessible, it's common for the stories to be recreated as educational manga, which can capture and hold the interest of young people much more effectively. The question of when Japanese entered its "modern" linguistic phase is a little dicey, but one answer might be the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Japan started modernizing and introducing compulsory education. Still, I find that trying to read a Japanese newspaper from the World War II era is extremely difficult -- even just 60 years ago, the language had yet to be standardized officially, meaning that text might be printed horizontally from right to left rather than the more common left to write, and archaic versions of kanji were used randomly here and there, making it all very hard to read.

It seems that a Japanese city can't be complete until it has a big tower for tourists to visit and take pictures of. Virtually every major Japanese city has a big tower in its midst, to serve as a popular spot for visitors and couples out for a romantic late-night drive. Kyoto Tower resembles Seattle's Space Needle. Marine Tower in Yokohama was the largest lighthouse in the world when it was built in 1961. Osaka Tower was built in 1887, but was melted down to make tanks during World War II, and rebuilt it in the 1950's. But the most famous tower in Japan is Tokyo Tower, a 333 meter replica of the Eiffel Tower, built because the Japanese secretly wish they were part of Europe rather than Asia. An attractive icon located near Roppongi, Tokyo Tower serves many purposes, including being a popular tourist destination and "date spot," housing an aquarium underground, and broadcasting television and radio signals to Tokyo residents. Now it looks like there'll be a new tower on the block, amazingly to be called New Tokyo Tower, a massive 600 meter ziggurat that will blanket the Tokyo area with even more radio, television, and cell phone waves. Among its benefits will be enabling "Wanseg" ("1-Seg"), a new application of terrestrial digital broadcasting that will allow people to receive crystal clear TV on cell phones, laptops, or in their cars.

Fans of Kit Kat, we're got great news for you: a cool Spring Sampler Pack of Japanese Kit Kat that includes all the delicious flavors available this year, including the delicious Green Tea Kit Kat, Strawberry Kit Kat, French Bretagne Milk, and original Kit Kat by Nestle. Stock is limited so hurry! (Remember, we remove all chocolate items from the site during the summer months because of the high humidity in Japan.)

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 Gal Dec. 2005. Urecco Gal is the alternate version of Urecco, which focuses on stylish photos as well as kogals (amateurs from Tokyo).
	LION ~ Color Walk 3 -- One Piece. One Piece artist Eichiro Ota's latest works.
	Hip Complex Part 2. A nice photobook by Shinkosha, the people who really know their "hips." The photography in this photobook is excellent.
	Sweet Season -- Rinka. Rinka is all the rage in Japan these days, as a stylish, compotent half Japanese, half French model and actress. See her in her very avante garde (but tasteful) photobook now.
	Deeps Mission Chimpossible! A new "female employee" fetish work from Deep's.
	Chinese Lectureship. Indies adult video is all about kikaku, or "project" -- coming up with fresh ideas and running with the ball, like the Zenra (all nude) sports series. Here's a fresh new concept: beautiful girls from China who teach you Chinese (in Japanese, of course) while they, ah, provide various services.
	Let's do the Scandal ~ Scandal Shiyouyo. Nice "H" manga, with a funny title.
	Totoro Plush *Howl* -- Small. This is cool -- a Totoro plush from Sun Arrow, in the middle of hos famous howl.
	Ghibli Real Fantasy -- Laputa Robot ~ Castle in the Sky. Kind of grotesque here, this is the Laputian robot as he dies in fire. Features LED lights so you can experience the action better!
	Ghibli Real Fantasy -- Neko Bus ~ My Neighbor Totoro. From the same series, this is a small container for storing your stuff, with a Cat Bus that has LED eyes that light up.
	Kitty Kimono Strap -- Pink ~ Chirimen Type. A new item for Hello Kitty fans, this is a netsuke strap for your phone.
	Retro Gacha Gacha Doraemon -- 1979 Ver. ~ Bandai Chogokin. Doraemon is one of the most famous characters of the 20th century in Japan, and this is a special item: a Doraemon "gacha gacha" that's made of metal.
	Misato Katsuragi Island Resort -- Evangelion Collection Figure. We have three new Eva figures, this time featuring Rei, Asuka and Misagi at a beautiful seaside summer resort.
	Ayanami Rei Island Resort -- Evangelion Collection Figure. Ths is the Rei version.
	Japan Limited Kit Kat Spring Set. For the Kit Kat lovers among us, we've gotten in a new Kit Kat limited set. Get it before they're gone!
	Rosewood Chopsticks, Chopstick Rest and Holder. Nice chopsticks, with case and chopstick holder.