Understanding world culture through Japanese hip hop music, thinking about thinking in a foreign language, and out with devils!

It's funny how culture criss-crosses the globe, never stopping at such laughable things as national borders as it flows to any place it can find a home in peoples' minds. You wouldn't think that a country as far removed from the West both physically and culturally as Japan is would have its own burgeoning hip hop and reggae music sub-culture, or that what's playing in clubs in Jamaica is being closely followed from Japan, but the world is an amazing place. Just as Americans and Europeans are interested in the unique ideas and general "otherness" found in anime, manga, JPOP and other forms of contemporary Japanese culture, people here are open to taking in music from outside Japan and remixing it into something unique that's all their own. A quick glance into any fashion magazine shows that Japanese are keen to embrace hip fashion from the West, too, to the point where it might be difficult to identify where one influence ends and another begins. Sometimes the Japanese embracing of American fashions can get a little ridiculous -- some years ago, the red and blue bandanas worn by the Crips and Bloods became all the rage in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district. That's taking things just a little too far...

One of the more interesting occurrences when learning a foreign language is becoming able to "think" in that language, when ideas or answers to questions come out directly as opposed to first being converted from English, a process that takes time and makes participating in quick-flowing conversations impossible. The brain is very much like a computer, but one that's capable of re-wiring itself as needed. Learning a language can cause some pretty interesting changes to take place on the old wet-ware, and there are times when you can almost feel that process at work. Another landmark is when you dream in your second language for the first time. I remember my first dream in Japanese very well: it was during finals week at SDSU and I was stressing out over informal verbs (Japanese has lots of verb forms, formal, informal, passive, suggestive, and so on). In my dream I was in a tall building, running up some stairs. I kept meeting Japanese people along the way, and I conversed with them in rapid nihongo despite the fact that I'd taken less than a year of Japanese at the time. I had no idea what I was saying, of course, but in the dream-world I was nevertheless able to communicate freely about any subject I cared to talk about. It was pretty cool, but of course it had to end when it was time to wake up.

Saturday is Setsubun, a fun day for anyone with kids in Japan. Originally falling on New Year's Eve of the old Lunar Calendar that Japan used until 1868, it's a day when oni (devils) will be symbolically chased out of the house so that happiness can reign during the New Year. The father of the house will assume the role of a devil, wearing a paper mask that makes him look scary. When the devil attacks, the children pelt him with baked soybeans and chase him off, shouting Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi! ("Out with devils, in with happiness!"). When the devils are sufficiently vanquished, everyone is supposed to eat their age in soybeans to help guarantee good health in the coming year. This is easy for a child of eight or so to do, but quite a bit harder for parents getting up there in years, since 38 soybeans is quite a lot to crunch down. Another tradition of Setsubun is to eat maki-zushi, or roll sushi, so that the long roll of sushi can point the way to happiness for that year, or something like that.

2007 Japanese Calendar Season was a big success for J-List, and we sold more great anime, JPOP, cute idol, traditional photography and other calendars than ever before. We've gone through and removed some pending orders that hadn't been paid for, which means that several previously "sold out" 2007 calendars are -- incredibly -- available once again. This is really, really your last chance to pick up that cool JPOP, anime, cute idol or other calendar, so browse our selection now!

This month's "Game of the Month" is one of my own favorites, Figures of Happiness, a great dating-sim in English. Minamo is in love with the handsome Satoru, but when she's killed in a car accident before confessing her feelings, she turns in spirit form to Ryo and asks for help -- she needs to use his 'life energy' to return to the land of the living and find her own love...but things aren't going to work out as she plans. And so the wheels of fate turn, winding the destinies of everyone together: dead Minamo and her reluctant helper Ryo; the pure Mio and her carefree twin sister Mao; the competitive Kokoro, who won't give up Satoru without a fight; the lonely spirit Izumi; and the perplexing Soul Collector. The longest and most complex game ever released by G-Collections available at a great price this month only, via both shrinkwrapped CD-ROM and download.

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.

	More and More -- Honoka. I love books like this from Japan -- very elegantly done nude photobooks that capture the beauty of the female form, without a lot of unnecessary ero stuff.
	Sabra DVD Mook ~ YukoReal -- Yuko Ogura. A new Sabra special featuring *nothiing* but Yuko Ogura. Have I died and gone to heaven?
	Naho Ozawa Retirement Special. Naho-chan is retiring, and you can enjoy 150 minutes of her best works before she goes.
	Jewel -- Kana Ishikawa. Beautiful idol in her new photobook. Fabulous glossy printing here.
	Maid of Black Lilly Hotel ~ Maid in Kurosuzurankan. Really nicely done erotic manga about maids.
	Urakan and Lana. Hiroshi Kawamoto has an amazing style that's won him many fans. This is his great new work.
	Dengeki Layers vol. 10. Man, this is a good book, with page after page of amazing cosplay from top cosplayers in Japan.
	Shigekix Aha Brain -- Muscat Flavor. Enrich your brain with the new Shigekix Aha! Brain.
	Puchi Gurumi Strap -- Maneki Neko *Lucky Cat*. Cute phone strap featuring a plush cat's severed head.
	Space Attacker -- Pocket Game Collection *Keychain Type*. Fun LCD game vesion of Space Invaders. Totally old skool -- rock on.
	1/7 SAC 2nd GIG ~ MOTOKO KUSANAGI. Wow, man. Just wow.
	Hello Kitty Print Chopsticks. Hello Kitty chopsticks. Kawaii!
	Howl's Moving Castle Playing Cards You probably don't think of playing cards when you think of J-List, but these are so well made, I go out of my way to use them at home with the kids.