The Japanese are well known for using the grammatical rules of English to create new words, which are called wasei eigo or "Made in Japan English." One of the most famous examples of these is "nighter," which is what a night game of baseball is called here. Adding this "-er" suffix to words is a popular way to create new words, and there's an extensive body of slang that makes use of this mechanism. For example, the word for "part time job" in Japanese is arubaito, borrowed from the German word arbeit, so naturally a person working such a job is an arubaitaa (arubeiter), also known as a freeter (for "free-lance albeiter"). Often these new words are invented to define a sub-group of society, for example people who love mayonnaise are widely referred to as mayoraa (mayo-ers), while people who love to collect Hello Kitty products are defined as Kitty-raa (Kittylers). There seems to be a connection to general otaku culture, too. It's possible to extend the ending vowel of the word Akihabara to produce something like Akihaballer (egads, that's hard to transliterate), which means otaku who spend lots of time in Tokyo's electronics and anime hub. Of course, these silly words come and go all the time, so don't expect to find them in a dictionary.
I saw a news report the other day that a major producer of instant noodles in Japan will be raising prices by 10-20 yen soon in response to the rising costs of raw materials to make their products. It seemed interesting to me that this was even news, since in the U.S. at least, most people take the slow creeping of inflation for granted, assuming that most things will be more expensive next year than they were a year ago. But for some odd reason, this rule doesn't generally apply to Japan, where the inflation rate always seems to be low. Except for one hike in train fares a few years ago, I'd be hard pressed to name many prices that have gone up appreciably over the past decade -- and in fact, some of prices have fallen, like when Yoshinoya lowered the price of their trademark Beef Bowl. Recently, however, the rising cost of oil has started to put real inflationary pressure on the country, with a liter of gasoline going for around $1.25, which works out to $4.50 a gallon. My wife is also mad because these useful plastic drawers we use to organize our house have shot way up in price.
Remember that the first 2008 Japanese calendars have come in, and it's a great time for you to to browse our lineup of anime. JPOP, idol and actress, Japanese photo and other amazing calendars. These large-format glossy calendars are a really fun and unique way to make 2008 an extra special year, bringing a little slice of Japan to you every day.
We have good news for fans of the English-translated PC dating-sim games here, an announcement that the upcoming Bazooka Cafe has gone "Golden Master" and will be shipping soon. A super "maid cafe" game by G-Collections, Trabulance and artist Kohaku Sumeragi, it puts you in the role of a young man surrounded by some of the most beautiful females ever seen. When your aging father collapsed, you dutifully quit your office job to take over running his cafe. Even though exotic Cocoa agreed to come back to her old waitress job, it's still a challenge to run a busy cafe. One day, your former coworker Mizuki comes in an announces that she's going to work at your cafe, then before you know it, two other gorgeous beauties -- childhood friend Narumi and former boss Yayoi also join the staff. It's like a dream come true: you're surrounded by beautiful women, and you're in heaven! This game includes the Bazooka Cafe Valentine Special, a bonus game featuring all-new game art, too. Preorder this great game now before it ships!
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
 | JUKEBOX -- Azusa Ito (region 2). A popular new series of 4 hour DVDs released at a great price. These are the best works of Azusa Ito compiled onto one handy DVD. |
 | SOD Female Employee Athletic Meet. Innovative idea from Soft on Demand. This is Female Employee Athletic Meet. |
 | Otome wa Onesama wo Okashiteru - A Girl is . Popular "futanari" doujinshi circle Behind Moon busts out a bold new comic. |
 | School Days ~ Visual Guide book. I am so into School Days, and want to watch the anime soon. This is the official Visual Guide Book for the popular game. |
 | Nintendo Wii Remote Controller Light Projector Full Set of 8. Upcoming Nintendo WiiMote item, really cool. |
 | 2008 Calendar -- Seizo Watase . Beautiful 2008 calendar by Seizo Watase, whose work is very popular in Japan. |
 | ANIME PARA PARA MAX US MIX. I just love these Anime Para Para CDs, and owned the whole set from Japan. I am thrilled to have a U.S. release, and I recommend these fun dance-able anime theme songs. I often work late at night at J-List blasting these cool tunes. |
 | Autumn Moon Rabbit Display ~ Mochi-Tuki Version . Absolutely amazing diorama from Japan. |
 | 2008 Calendar -- Ai *Preorder*. We've posted more calendars, incredibly. This is the popular bikini idol "Ai." |
 | SLICCI ~ Pentel New Stylish Gel Ink Pen 0.3mm ---10 Colors Set. Cool set of colored pens from Japan. |
 | Re-ment Bento Contest ~ Full Set (Set of 10). This is a simply amazing item -- a collection of detailed bento toys from Re-Ment that are so delicious you will want to eat them! |
 | Kit Sack Condoms -- Kit Kat Parody. These are the most amazing parody condoms I've seen from Japan in a long time. |
 | Uncho Kanu 1/7 Cast-off Figure ~ Dragon Destiny. Fabulous figure for Ikki Tousen fans. |
 | Mugen Puchi Puchi -- Endless Pop Pop - Blue. It's here! Endless popping plastic bubbles that provide great fun. |
 | Lotte Whiteen Gum -- La France Mint. Delicious sugarless gum. "La France" means pear by the way, in case you were wondering. |
 | Noritama Furikake -- Egg & Seaweed. This is the best furikak for starting out, as it's just nori and scrambled egg (every kid in Japan can eat this). |
 | Spirited Away Playing Cards -- Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi. Cool playing cards from Japan. Excellent printing and they feel great in the hand! |
 | Bazooka Cafe *Preorder*. This outstanding game, a cool "maid cafe" dating-sim, is finally Golden Master and will be duplicated soon. Have you preordered your copy? |
14 comments:
Although it would be fun to be a professional Window Breaker.
Question, has anyone seen dead images on their end? We've gotten in a new anti-hotlinking system and I want to make sure that mails aren't showing up with dead images or anything.
No dead images this end. :)
We've got a word for professional Window Breakers over our side of the pond. It's called being an ASBO-kid.
Japan still ends up with cheaper gas than us. Right now it's pushing at £1 a litre, so taking into account measurement and currency conversion, that would be... $7.53 a gallon.
A change in a basic good like ramen might make the news here in relation to the basket of goods used to determine the consumer price index. "Average price of a loaf of bread raised $0.05 to improve accuracy of price profiles."
How about a change in the price of a standard Hershey bar? That I can see making news on a slow news day.
See now you need to live in a farming town and listen to AM radio. I remember waking up to the farm futures report when I visited my grandparents and at no other time do I recall hearing about pork belly futures, corn, and soy bean futures.
Don't forget, McDonalds just raised their prices on every item on the menu. ;)
ASBO, cool. Sounds like the guys from Clockwork Orange... Ouch, $7.53 a gallon. Has there been any move to lower gasoline taxes to help alleviate the situation? It would seem logical...
Tudza, I guess it's hard to have an absolute standard. For reference, the ramen we usually eat is 600 yen, so $5.17 or so. Hasn't gone up in years, if ever since I arrived in Japan (right after the bubble burst).
Did McD raise their prices? I haven't been there for a while. Although I do appreciate that a) you can get a small salad instead of french fries with any set, and b) they have those 100 yen small shakes, which is great since that's all I usually need when I'm hankering for a shake.
Lot of dead images actually. For example:
http://www.jlist.com/SEARCH/Uncho_Kanu_1_7_Cast-off_Figure_Dragon_Destiny
Images 3, 4, 5 don't work.
Peter,
I am trying to buy the 2007 Jan-Jun issues of Comic Tenma. I have all the issues cover dated July onward, so I am only missing the first half of the year.
Do you have a means of getting them for me? I used the contact form on Jlist but never heard anything back from you guys.
If you want, you can email me at the following email address:
jeff AT q7u DOT net
Ah, your JPY600 must not be the "comes in plastic, cooks in 2 minutes" variety or the cup-o-ramen just add hot water variety. Much better I hope.
I can probably pick it up here at Uwajimaya and give it a try if you give me the name of the ramen you like.
A short scenario I made up on this subject:
College student #1 - "I dreamed of a land where Kraft macaroni and cheese was as cheap as ramen."
College student #2 - "Oh to live in such a land!"
Love and rub. I've thought about that before, too.
A few years back it occurred to me that the McDonald's slogan seems a bit inappropriate for the Japanese market.
"I'm rubbin' it."
Not exactly what you want to hear from somebody who's making your food.
It stands for Anti-Social Behaviour Order, so I guess it does fit in rather well with Clockwork Orange.
There's more chance of hell freezing over than of them lowering taxes on petrol. The Government has a trapped market, especially with public transport as Goddamn awful as it is (1hr30 to get 12.4 miles to college!). First, there's petrol duty added to the fuel cost itself, and then the fuel and fuel duty is VAT-taxed at the till. Bullseye for the Treasury! In total, tax makes up over 2/3rds of the price paid at the pumps.
I remember in 2000 when I went on holiday, the petrol price was 70p when I left. In Greece, it was the equivalent of 30p. Then, when I came back, the petrol price had gone up to 80p in the space of 2 weeks! OK, that turned into a slightly longer rant than I intended. Sorry Peter. ^^;
It's always rather embarrassing when you ask where the "fax" machine is also.
I still can't get over the fact that you have to have 110yen to buy a can of soda in Japan. I miss the good old days when you only needed one 100yen coin in your pocket to quench your thirst walking down the streets of Tokyo.
Tudza, haha, I remember that macaroni and cheese. Three meals for $1, it was great! This was back in 1989 or so.
Jeff, heh, yes, although I'd say that "love" tends to occupy the mental space more than "rub" does. For the word "rub" they'd avoid using it like the plague, using the Japanese term (naderu) or something, else. This is why "clown" in Japanese is "pierrot" (the French word) and "fruit" is "fruits," to avoid bumping into the words crown and flute.
Tudza, yes, forgot about fax. Although again, no one here would think "fakkuku" means anything but "fax" while "fakku" is the famous English naughty word. Remember that this is the country where a person can be named Yoko Ohno (not Ono with a short vowel) and go through live never going damn, what a name I happen to have.
Hi, Peter. I work for a newspaper in the States and wanted to know: Does "mugen puchi puchi" actually translate as "endless pop pop"? Do you know? Thank you!
Replied directly to your email, did you see it in time?
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