Japan's shock over Virginia Tech, how Japanese names work, and on the psychology of foreigners in Japan

Japan is numbly watching the aftermath of the sad events at Virginia Tech as they unfold. Much like Europe, it's illegal for most people in Japan to possess guns, and as a rule real firearms are a distant part of life for Japanese. The subject of guns has come up in my English conversation classes many times over the years ("How many guns did you own when you lived in America?"), and I always did my best to present the complex issue in a way that my students could understand, which was not always easy since they don't have a feel for our history. While incidents of gun-related violence are less common in Japan, they're not totally unheard of, a fact that we were all reminded of when Mayor Ito of Nagasaki, an outspoken opponent of nuclear weapons, was shot in the back by an irate yakuza boss on the same day as the tragedy in Virginia. The gangster in question had managed to run his Mercedes Benz into an open ditch at a construction site several years ago and had tried to make the city take responsibility for the repairs, and his frustration finally came to a head. This isn't the first time a Nagasaki mayor has been targeted: the city's previous mayor was shot by a right-winger in 1990 after he made remarks blaming former Emperor Hirohito for the events the war.

You may know that Japanese, like other nations in Asia, reverse the order of the family and given names, so that the name Hayao Miyazaki in English would be Mizayaki Hayao here. Essentially, the ideas of "first name" and "last name" are useless in Japanese, replaced by the family name and namae (nah-mah-EH), or the given name, which is so close to the English word "name" that it's spooky. Like learning to say your phone number in Japanese, it can be quite a challenge to make your brain un-learn a name memorized using one language when you need to use it in another. When you learn the name of Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, the name takes up one gestalt part of your memory, and having to say the name in the reverse order causes your brain to do some fast calculation. Although the family name comes first with Japanese names, this rule doesn't apply to foreigners, whose names are always used as they are in English.

Living as a gaijin in a place that's as homogeneous as Japan brings out some interesting responses in people, and one could write a book studying the psyche of foreigners in Japan. For example, there are the "three states of eye aversion" they seem to go through when it comes to looking at other foreigners around them, not wanting to directly meet the gaze of a an unknown foreigner on the street. There are many gaijin from various countries who appear regularly on TV speaking fluent Japanese and giving an "outsiders view" on things, but foreigners living in Japan often hate these TV personalities, if for no other reason than because their Japanese is better than ours. Among the foreign-born "talents" you can see on TV here are Bobby Orogon, the bumbling Nigerian comedian who makes Japanese language mistakes on purpose to get laughs; dashing bilingual Italian Gioramo, always there to provide his views on travel shows or documentaries about the Roman Empire; and the eternal Dave Spector, the most famous American in Japan, who has his own gossip section on the morning TV news where he reports on what all the American stars are doing this week.

Remember that J-List carries all the greatest PC dating-sim games from Japan, but translated into English. With a huge catalog of games for all tastes, there's something for everyone, whether you want games with incredibly cute characters, story-centric dramatic games, hilarious comedy dating-sims, all-ages titles or whatever. The upcoming YUME MIRU KUSURI :: A Drug That Makes You Dream has been declared Golden Master and will be shipping in a very short time. Why not preorder it for free shipping when it's printed?

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" (a yes/no verification screen will be displayed to filter products from our mature site). To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Urecco DVD Jan 2007. The new issue of Urecco is in too, for fans of the new format with included DVD.
	Gekkan -- Remi Kawashima. Gorgeous model in this new photomagaznie.
	Lesbian Kiss 4 Hours. 4 hours of beautiful Japanese lesbians doing nothing more than kissing. Less is more.
	Show Biz Celebrity KOTONO Debut. The trend of former pop idols and actresses become JAV stars continues with Kotono-chan, just lovely.
	Shiba Wanko Japanese Spirit ~ Nagomi Box (region 2). This is an amazing item -- an anime series that teaches you Japanese manners and respect for culture through cute Shiba doggies.
	Very Lemon -- Ayuko Iwane. Wow is all i can say. Ayako Iwase is a beautiful angel from Japan.
	Egg Jan 2007 vol.123. And we have another issue of Egg for fans of Tokyo's gorgeous young fashion culture.
	Dengeki Comic Gao! May 2007. Great new issue of this comic, with 500+ pages, nearly all of which are interesting. Gao! means "Roar" in Japanese.
	Daruma The Lucky Dolls ~ Kaiun Daruma Daihyakka. Daruma are an amazing symbol of Japan, and here's an excellent book for you to see pictures in.
	Elina (Konoe Taicho) ~ Queens Blade *Preorder*. Gorgeous prepainted figure you can preorder.
	Maximum Penalty ~ Ryojoku Kei. Amazing ero manga action in her new book from Femio Tenma.
	Comic AG Super Erotic Manga Anthology vol. 54. The new issue of Comic AG is in stock too. Remember that you can order this via our monthly subscription and save hassle ^_^
	Suzumiya Haruhi Official Fanbook. Great official Fanbook, filled with tons of art, information and more.
	King of Mr Samurai T-shirt ~ LL Size. A cool new shirt in our made-in-Japan T-shirt line.
	Meiji Wata Pachi Grape. Wata Pachi cotton candy with Pop Rocks inside. Yum.
	Revoltech Eva-00 Proto Type (Blue Color) *Neon Genesis Evangelion*. This is a great series of affordable and high quality robot toys from Japan. Today we've got the Eva series going up
	Wedding Celebration Hello Kitty Plush Set. Super cute plush Hello Kittty and Dear Daniel! Great for anyone you know who's getting married.
	Lacquer-style Square Sake Cup / Kotobuki. Enjoy some sake in this traditional "masu" cup.
	Tatami Mini Pillow *Blue* . Then stretch out with a pillow made of authentic tatami material (igusa grass).
	Lunch Monkey Mayo Cup with Banana Spoon . Your bento life will be cuter with this fun Mayo cup.
	Morinaga DX Koeda Pistachio. We've got more snacks as usual, including a delicious Pistachio treat.
	Snoopy Ice Cube Tray. Hello Kitty ice cube trays? Got 'em. Now we've got Snoopy too!

A meal I ate the other day. I am a major Sukiyaki buff, and a restaurant that we go to often has it has a lunch item.

They say that Japanese food is very healthy, but if you pay close attention you see a lot of refined grains, lots o sugar even in foods you figure wouldn't contain any, and so on. Teriyaki sauce, which isn't eaten in Japan much at all (go figure), is soy sauce mixed with sugar, I think.

Near the cash register of the restaurant. Good Kobe beef!

Ah, curry, the basic food of Japan!

Funny English is everywhere!

Even more funny English!