A trip to a Japanese doctor's office, insights into Japanese home remodeling, and differences between Gaijin and Japanese

I was feeling a little under the weather the other day so I went for a visit to our local medical clinic. Japan's medical system is quite good, and there are many places to get care when you're sick, from large hospitals to more specialized medical clinics. As usual, I was struck by what a social place waiting rooms of doctor's offices are, as a half dozen people aged 60 and up engaged in warm conversation with each other, since they come see the doctor most every day, probably to talk with their friends as much as to treat some ailment. Doctors in Japan all seem to have a complex about English, since they've studied an extra four years or so of medical terminology, and they're often disappointed to learn that the average English speaker doesn't know the complex terms for this condition or that. Like universities and elementary/ junior high schools in Japan, public hospitals can really surprise you when you go there the first time. Most are old, built in the style I like to call Late Modern Chernobyl, with few niceties or decorations. The buildings are old, but the equipment inside is modern, so I guess they get the job done.

Our house is finally done with the long "reform" (as home remodelling is called in Japan), and we're enjoying being able to sit in our living room again after almost three months. Our house is quite interesting, a traditional Japanese home built in the 1970s, with a liquor shop in the front and a traditional bo-TON toilet, which is to say, a seatless Japanese toilet which makes a bo-TON (er, splashing) sound when something is deposited into it (trust me, you don't want to know more). The second floor was added 15 years ago when I came to live there, and they put in regular plumming just for their new American son, and we've remodeled twice as our family grew. We're what's called a nisetai jutaku (二世帯住宅) or dual-household residence, since both my wife's parents and our family live there, quite a common thing in a country where the oldest child generally lives with their parents for life. During the most recent construction, I learned a lot about how the still-traditional world of craftsmen in Japan works, watching the daiku, or Japanese carpenters, who have to be as adept at working with 2x4 wood imported from overseas as with installing tatami rooms and shoji paper doors. Incidentally, the word "2x4" is not one Japanese carpenters like, since it smacks of cheap, standardized construction, something unimaginable in Japanese home building before modern times, but sho ga nai ("it can't be helped") today.

One of the more unique aspects of Japan is the homogeneous nature of its people, officially known as Yamato Japanese. Of course, Japanese people are not all that similar -- if you pay attention you can see a wide variation in features, skin type, hair color, facial shape and so on -- but one of the pillars of Japanese society is to not acknowledge any of these individual differences when dealing with other Japanese people. When I worked as an ESL teacher, a lot of my students were fascinated by my gaijin features like my blonde hair and hazel eyes, and by the fact that my eyes changed color depending on what I was wearing. (All Japanese eyes are brown, although for some reason they will insist that they are "black.") The golden hair on my arms attracted kids, too, who would pull on the hairs during lessons. Japanese are also amazed at how large the feet of Westerners can be. My shoe size here is 26.5 cm (I've long forgotten what it is in the American system) so I can usually find shoes here, but my friends with 33 cm and larger feet usually had a hard time when trying to rent ski boots.

Remember that Japanese calendar season is here, and J-List already has dozens of great 2008 calendars for you to order. While our JPOP, anime, idol and other calendars are still a ways off -- we'll be posting them really soon -- we've got some really amazing items you can preorder now, from beautiful pictures of Japan in all seasons to calendars of beautiful women in kimonos to calendars with pictures of Japanese guys fishing!

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. We also recommend watching our "new products" RSS feed

	Karami 19 -- Rei Ito (Ray Itoh). I've always liked Rei Itoh, even back when she was getting her start with Dogma (wow, I'm surprised I know that off the top of my head -- I think I've been doing this for too long)
	Zenra Bootcamp. You know Billy Blanks, right? His Tae Bo career might be over in the U.S., but here in Japan it's going rather strong. Here's a parody of his aerobics that...Zenra [all nude] Bootcamp!
	Paradise -- Tina Yuzuki. I am a big fan of Tina's stuff too. Here's her newest sweet production.
	Alice Japan Best Sex ***4 Discs & 16 Hours!!!***. And somehow those amazing people at Alice Japan have put *16* hours of their best stuff on four DVDs for you...
	Kata: The Key to Understanding and Dealing with the Japanese. Boye Lafayette De Mente is an amazing writer, and I love all the books of his I've read.
	Blanc et Noir ~ Takeshi Obata Illustrations. Death Note fans, this is the book you've been waiting for.
	S Cawaii July 2007. Super Cawaii, the newest issue. Can you believe that's Amuro Namie on the cover? I remember when she turned 18 and released a photobook to commemorate it. We carried it on J-List at the time.
	Megami Magazine Aug 2007 vol. 87. Megami Magazine is the best magazine for anime fandom. *12* posters inside!
	Talking About Japan Q & A ~ The Third Edition -- Eigo de Hanasu Nihon. Bilingual book for talking about Japan.
	Taiga Aisaka 1/8 Figure ~Toradora! *Preorder*. Nice preorder figure. You can tell by her face she's the classic "tsundere" (TSOON-deh-reh), which is the "angry on the outside, emotional on the inside" archetype of Japanese female.
	Totoro 2008 Schedule Book . Wow, these 2008 Schedule Books are fantastic. This is the Totoro book. Leather embossed Totoro, wow!
	TENUGUI -- Tombo (Dragonfly) . Cool traditional Japanese hand towel with images of dragonflies on it.
	EAGLE T-shirt Black - M Size (Japanese Retro Match Label). Cool new "Match Label" shirt based on matchbooks from the Meiji Period.
	Shakugan no Shana 1/8 Figure ~ Blazing Oath ver.. New figure of Shakugan no Shana in stock. Gorgeous design.
	JU-BAKO style Square Bento Box Set -- Rabbit & SAKURA . Cool new bento box in the "Ju-Bako" (stackable box) style.
	2008 Calendar -- Excellent Scenery of Fujiyama *Preorder*. Beautiful images of Fuji-san in this 2008 calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- Modern Ukiyoe of Japanese Women *Preorder*. I like this one too, modern ukiyoe art.
	Potelong -- Black Pepper Flavor *Non Fried*. A great non-fried snack from Japan.
	Revoltech No.010 -- AV-98 Ingram1 ~ Patlabor. New Patlabor mech from Revoltech.
	Kiki's Delivery Service 2008 Schedule Book . And this is the schedule book for Kiki's Delivery fans...