Thoughts on biculturalism and Halloween, types of ramen you should try, and my fascination with Japanese females

Happy Halloween from J-List. Halloween is one of those "American" holidays (although originally Irish and Scottish) that has a way of working its way around the world, and although Japan doesn't exactly need an excuse to engage in cosplay, what with their strong tradition of dressing in anime costumes and all, awareness of October 31st grows here year by year. Raising kids who are part of two countries has always been a challenge for my wife and I since we want them to really be a part of both, which means (on the American side, at least) having a cultural awareness of things like trick-or-treating and Scooby Doo and being able to sing the School House Rock songs (they can). So we've gone out of our way to make trips to the U.S. for Halloween and Thanksgiving, not on our regular travel schedule, although it was a lot easier to do when the kids were small and didn't have the pressure of school to deal with. This year we decided to be traditional, and carved a (fairly ugly-looking) Jack-o'-lantern. We had a bit of culture shock when I asked my mother-in-law for a candle to put inside the pumpkin: the only ones she had in the house were the long candles for lighting at the family's Buddhist altar in remembrance of the dead...which is actually closer to Halloween's original meaning, if you think about it.

Ramen is one of the most famous "Japanese" foods around, although its history in Japan isn't very long, having been imported from China in the Meiji Era. While instant ramen has proven to be a revolutionary product, allowing the cost of a meal to brought way down in price, readers who have never enjoyed "real" ramen in a good restaurant are missing out. The basic type of ramen familiar to most people is shoyu, made with a soy sauce-based soup, although there are other varieties, including "salt" (a clear soup sold under the tastier-sounding "chicken" moniker in the West) , "tonkotsu" (white "pork bone" broth), and sura-tanmen (think "sweet n' sour ramen"). Another popular type of ramen is miso, the delicious soy bean curd that my mother thought was peanut butter when she saw it, which is one of the "meibutsu (famous things) of Sapporo in Hokkaido. Right now, the Sapporo Ramen Company is running a commercial featuring a beauty pageant in which different brands of ramen compete in for the title of "Miso Universe," a great tribute to the current Japanese Miss Universe. One constant source of fascination and confusion for me since coming to Japan has been trying to understand Japanese women. Like the country itself, they're incredibly complex, and can just as easily delight you as leave you scratching his head in confusion. First, Japanese females generally tend to be calm, cool and good at planning ahead. Sometimes (from the standpoint of my over-exuberant American self) they can seem rather emotionless, and the thought has occurred to me that I know what it's like to be married to a Vulcan from Star Trek. "Lack of spontaneity" is another label you could apply to most Japanese females I've known: when I went to Europe I brought a backpack, a Lonely Planet book and a credit card and played everything else by ear, which shocked my wife, who so loves to plan every minute detail of a vacation ahead of time. I've mentioned before that Japanese females often seem to have problems with constipation, which no doubt arises from eating rice three meals a day. Japanese females also seem to be subject to chills, and the Totoro Lap Blankets made by Sun Arrow are no doubt used by more than a few OLs ("office ladies," i.e. female company employees) trying to stay warm with the air conditioning on around them. Japanese females often seem to have some rather strange and inexplicable fetishes. For example, several women I've known have loved pulling my chin hairs out by the roots, and have begged me to not shave for a few days so that they could rip my hairs out with tweezers -- totally bizarre. Although they can be confusing to men, learning a little about the care and feeding of Japanese females can certainly have its rewards. 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

	Kanu Uncho Hug Pillow ~ Dragon Destiny Body Pillow. Our life-size dakimakura have been extremely popular, and we're happy to have two amazing dual-sized hug pillow covers for fans of Ikki Tousen/Dragon Destiny.
	Simca Figure Creators Labo ~ Air Gear. Gorgeous figure of Simca from Air Gear, a popular manga and anime from the creator of Tenjo Tenge.
	Tsukiumi Figure ~ Sekirei. Here's a gorgeous figure of Tsukiumi from the popular Japanse manga. I love this figure!
	Delicious Japanese snacks. We always have something new for you in the J-Snack department, and today we've got Cocoa Milky Candy (a favorite of mine), Meltykiss in "Framboise" (raspberry) flavor, and chocolate covered potato chips from Hokkaido.
	Hiragana Times Nov 2007. A hugely popular magazine that's got lots of articles published in both English and Japanese. Great for students.
	Ninja Weapons. Killer new book that gives tons of information on the weapons the Ninja use.
	Hello Kitty Decorative Flag Picks for Bento 10pcs . Cute little flags for your bento.
	Various Sanrio items. This cat wants to hold your toothbrush. Also, more Chirimen Soft Pen Cases for Sanrio-minded students and our popular Hello Kitty ice cube tray maker!
	GACHAPIN x MUKKU Spring-action Ballpoint Pen. Combine "cuteness" with your writing with this cool Gachapin x Mukku ballpoint pen, with a cute Gachapin on the end, whose body pops out when you use the pen.
	Japanese Traditional Tattoo ~ Nihon Dento Shisei. Wow, this is a great book of traditional yakuza tattoos. Lame
	Ghibli Storage Box - Totoro and Jiji. Two cool items from Studio Ghibli: sturdy canvas storage boxes that let you keep all your stuff. Yet they take up no space when empty.
	Multi Mini TATAMI Mat. Tatami mats fascinate foreigners, and we've restocked our popular Multi Mini Tatami Mat for you.
	Lucky Cat & Gold Fish Display. Amazing item for displaying in your room or office, this is a ceramic Lucky Cat with gold fish he can watch.
	Make a Wish! ~ Temple Bell Strap with Fortune . When foreigners visit Japan they head for shrines where you shake a bell before praying for good luck. Now we've got this cool bell in the form of a cell phone strap!
	Authentic Japanese Loose Socks. We've restocked these popular super-thick socks, worn by Japanese high school girls.
	Preorder figures. We've got some great anime figures you can preorder now, including Tsuruya-san from Haruhi, Kotona Elegance from Zoid Elegance and a new Shakugan no Shana.
	A bunch of restocked snacks. Restocked snacks today include Shigekix Super Lemon and Grape (so tart, so fun!), Lotte Black Black Tablet, Every Burger cookie hamburgers, and the always-popular Felix and The Cat bubble gum.
	my -- Yoko Matsugane. One of the most beautiful Japanese models to appear since we founded J-List, we're happy to have Yoko-chan back on the site.
	Kaori Saeki 1/6 Figure ~ Bible Black . The fantastic Bible Black figure has come in, and it's a fantastic one. Unfortunately there are only fifteen in stock, so get your orders in.
	Ryofu Housen 1/7 Cast-off Figure ~ Ikki Tousen. This fabulous Ikki Tousen figure is also in stock at last. 1/7 scale, really big!
	Restocked photobooks. We have restocked photobook items too, including the popular Fuko!
	New "H" manga titles. I am a big fan of Kubukurin and his Kanna's Intimacy series, which we have vol. 1 of today, as well as a fantastic romp called Super Onesan Paradise.
	Gush Mania EX. New anthology featuring 220 pages of "yomi-kiri" (one shot) stories by Japan's top names in the industry
	MAX GIRLS Festival. The JAV idol group known as Max Girls are back again, bringing their loveliness to you in a new release from Max-A, 120 minutes.
	JAST USA 10th Anniversary Limited Card Collection FULL Set. By customer request, we're happy to announce that fans of bishoujo games can pick up the entire set!
	Restocked manga titles. See a bunch of restocked manga too, including Momo Chichi, Female Professor Domination, Insult Fighting Musume, First Dog part 1, The Disgrace Play, and from the great Tohru Nishimaki, Scarlet Desire vol. 1!
	Colorful ~ Akifumi Ozawa Visual Works Collection. Wonderful artbook by a popular "H" game and anime character designer.
	Mandorian Dot - King of the Vibration. This is our famous "Mandorian Dot," an extremely exotic toy for grown-ups from Japan.
	Jukujo Sports Instructor -- Midori Takase. The Japanese are always coming up with fresh, new approaches to things -- here's a DVD featuring an extremely buff "jukujo" fitness instructor!
	Popular restocked artbooks. See several restocked artbooks by Japan's top artists including Rin-Sin Illustrations, SCAJI Works and the Push! Art Library.
	Magic Mirror Box Car 2007 in Shonan . An innovative approach to filming "H", Soft on Demand's go-anywyere AV studioallows interesting things to happen in broad daylight, through the magic of one-way mirrors.