Otakon wrap up, Japanese election results, and various thoughts about the "Founding Fathers" of modern Japan

Well, Otakon is over, and it was a real blast. As the premier anime convention on the East Coast, it's a very special place where otaku-zoku ("anime geek tribe") of every variety can gather and share their respective obsessions, and they were sure sharing freely. Walking through the halls of the Baltimore Convention Center and seeing all my "kids" (as I think of them, since I've been into anime since the early 80s) really makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Now I'm headed home to get ready for the huge party that will be the San Diego Comic Convention -- hope we'll see you there!

Even during all the fun in Baltimore, the rest of the world was still moving forward. In Japan election day finally arrived on Sunday, ending two weeks of candidates driving around in loudspeaker cars shouting "My name is Yamada! I will work hard for you! Please support us in the election!" Our prefecture's governor was up for re-election, and he was no friend of ours, due to his combatative stance on the issue of whether my son's experimental elementary school, which teaches 70% of the curriculum in English instead of Japanese, should get funding from the prefecture. As a result, all the parents of children in the school came out hard, campaigning for his opponent. Happily, the current governor lost the election, and will be replaced by a governor who's much more open to new ideas in education. Hopefully, this will improve the funding situation at our school in the future.

I talked about the "forefathers" of modern Japan last time, and thought I'd go into more detail. Just as visionaries like Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush and George Washington are remembered for the role they played in our early history, the men responsible for creating a modern Japan have a special place of honor in Japanese history books -- and statues in parks, the Japanese love statues in parks. Although the Meiji Restoration is framed as "returning" of power to the Emperor that had been usurped by the Tokugawa Shogun for the 250 years of the Edo Period, it was not so different from any civil war-type conflict, with revolutionaries from provinces of Satsuma, Tosa and Choshu (modern Kagoshima, Kochi and Yamaguchi Prefectures) working to topple the "old guard" in the Shogun's government. Ironically, they were angry at the Shogun for signing treaties with America and Great Britain, and their rebel yell was sonno-joi, which meant "respect the Emperor and expel the foreign barbarians" (now one of our most popular T-shirts). Once they took control, of course, they realized they had to deal with foreign governments after all, and embarked on a program of modernization, taking the best ideas from the United States and the powers of Europe. Some of the most famous names of this period include Hirobumi Ito, the main author of Japan's first constitution and the country's first Prime Minister; Munemitsu Mutsu, who helped establish diplomatic relations with the U.S.; and Shouin Yoshida, a child prodigy who was teaching university courses at the age of nine, and who is famous for sneaking aboard one of Admiral Perry's "black ships" to try to get Perry to negotiate with the rebel provinces instead of the Shogun's forces, but (some say) he spoke Dutch instead of English so no one understood him. But the single most famous person in the struggle between Shogun and rebels would have to be Ryoma Sakamoto, the samurai who first adopted western-style boots instead of the waraji sandals worn by everyone else. He was fascinated with the West, and for some reason he thought the word "laundry" sounded really kakko ii (cool). Sadly, he was assassinated at a young age by an agent working for the Shogun. Just as many of America's Founding Fathers have reputations tarnished by their ownership of slaves, some of Japan's early statesmen look much less noble due to the roles they played in the "colonization" of the Korean Peninsula.

We've got some great news for you: Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048 is in stock and shipping now. This is a fresh new twist on the traditional bishoujo game genre since it adds Final Fantasy Tactics-like game play, requiring you to form an army out of your beautiful army of genetically altered "Biosoldier" warriors, then enjoy dating-sim game stories in between the levels. This great game is just $24.95, and it's in stock in San Diego -- order your copy now!

Remember that J-List carries a variety of fun chewing gum from Japan, including Lotte's hits like Black Black (the minty caffeine gum), Blue Berry (sic), Ume (delicious Japanese plum), Mango and more. Life is a little bit better when you've got a pack of chewing gum from Japan, somehow. Nearly all items can be purchased in complete shrinkwrapped cases (a case is usually 15 packs) for an instant 15% discount at checkout.

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 -- Sayuri Shiraishi. Very elegant lady from Japan, in the new More and More photomagazine w/ dvd.
	Kumiko Akiyoshi photographs. Gorgeous collection of photographs in hardcover form here.
	Swimwear Fetish. The newest expression of Japan's longtime fetish for girls in performance swimwear.
	Kenkyusha's Bilingual Dictionary of Japanese Cultural Terms ~ Waei Nihonbunka Hyougen Jiten. A handy bilingual dictionary with lots of information on Japan's culture.
	Fruits June 2007 No. 119. New issue of Fruits, filled with great photographs -- and no ads at all!
	Saleslady Maki Suzue. Nice "H" manga for fans and collectors.
	Figure King No. 113. Gorgeous magazine filled with color pictures of the best toys released in Japan this month.
	Pinky:Cos -- Rei Ayanami School Uniform version *Preorder*. Okay, these are so cool -- you've got Bandaged Rei!! (Click to see, it's cool) There's also an Asuka you can preorder.
	Asuka Langley Matsuri Figure ~ NeonGenesis Evangelion Extra Figure: Night of Festival. This is the figure showing Asuka wearing a summer yukata at a festival. Wow.
	SHISA Setta with White Snake Skin Style -- M size. Really cool new sandals, great for the summer.
	Frog Time Sign-Clock. Add some "kawaii" to your room, day or night.
	Totoro 3D Mascot Chopstick w/Case. Nice item for Totoro Bento fans, which holds your chopsticks safe for you.
	Orange Hello Kitty x Rody Mascot Strap. New color of the Hello Kitty x Rody strap, very cute.
	NINJA Shuriken Ice Tray . Ice cubes that look like throwing stars. Dude!
	Celebration Envelope -- White with Happy Bird . Great for giving cash or other gifts to someone.
	Goshiki (Five Colors) Arare. Traditional rice cracker from Japan. If you know who Arale-chan from Dr. Slump is, this is where she gets her name from.

Welcome to Otakon! As usual a bunch of people came by to say hello. Thanks for coming by if you did!

Cosplay was everywhere. This is Kaori from Bible Black. It was especially odd to see, like, 15 year olds dressing in this decidedly NSFW anime/game...

Three Haruhi characters.

This is Rorshach from the best comic book ever written, Watchmen. If you haven't read it, go buy it. I'll wait right here.

This was a pretty good Totoro. I've done one of these (um, way back in 1987 at the San Diego Comicon, talk about being ahead of the curve), so I know.

Um, this is Gackt. Gackt, these are my blog readers.

Really cool costume using Gloomy (who I always wan to call Gloomy Bear because it sounds like Gummy Bear when you say it with a Japanese accent, but his name appears to just be Gloomy).

This is known as Kigurumi (kee-goo-roo-ME), the full head anime masks that are usually done to allow middle-aged men to totally become one with Sailor Moon. These appeared to be women, but that could be faked, I guess.