Japanese High school baseball update, things I've learned from teaching ESL, and the next "boom" to hit Japan -- Vinegar Beer?

You never know where the next interesting "boom" will come from in Japan. Maybe it'll be a strange new fashion trend, like the Bob Marley craze a few summers ago when young Japanese thought they should dress in Jamaican colors, or the more recent Brit-Punk fashion trend inspired by the popularity of the manga Nana. (I'm hoping for the return of the heso-dashi summer, when all the cute girls wore half-shirts that showed their belly buttons.) Or maybe it'll be a food-related explosion in popularity, like when everyone was lining up to buy Belgian Waffles, or this summer's boom in mango-flavored foods of every type. With our house being renovated, I've been hitting the local onsen (hot spring public baths) pretty hard, and in one I happened across a poster advertising what might just be the next big thing: a cocktail of beer and delicious vinegar. There were two flavors for you to try, made with apple and grape vinegar, and both looked like they might actually be reasonably tasty, as far as those things go. Vinegar is considered quite healthy in Japan, and most mornings my wife presents me with a glass of diluted "black vinegar" (kurozu) made from unpolished rice, to reduce the acid content in my body, or something. Next to the Vinegar Beer was a poster advertising another new item: Ramune flavored "soft cream" (soft-serve ice cream), with the taste of that famous Japanese marble-in-a-bottle soft drink. Sounds delicious!

It's August, and that means it's time for another report on the High School Baseball Championship going on right now at Koshien (koh-she-en) Stadium near Osaka. High school baseball is really big in Japan, and teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures try all season long to win the right to go to the championships. To go to Koshien is the dream of every young ball player, and it has a positive effect on the future careers of thousands of young men every year, whether they go on to play professional baseball or not. The high school baseball championships are followed closely on TV and in Japan's many sports-only newspapers (my father-in-law manages to read three of them every day), and fills a similar role as college sports in the U.S. The drama of a Koshien race is captured in manga and anime such as the classic Touch, a comic I used to study Japanese with while at SDSU. Thanks to one of the many bizarre coincendences that seem to happen only in Japan, the city I came to live in just happens to be the birthplace of Touch creator Mitsuru Adachi, and my wife has the same birthday as him -- go figure. This year our prefecture is once again represented at Koshien by Maebashi Commercial High School (abbreviated "Maesho"), Adachi-sensei's old alma mater (and also the school that our own Yasu graduated from). They're doing well, too -- if they win today's game they'll be in the top 8. Go, Maesho!

Before I started J-List, I did what many English-speaking foreigners before me have done, working as a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL) and imparting my native language to students of all ages. Once thing I've noticed, at least when dealing with junior high and high school age students, is that they view English has having two sections that are only casually related. "English" is an important scholarly study, consisting of grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension, and it's needed to succeed in school and pass university entrance exams. This English is rather similar to mathematics, and there's only way "correct" answer to any given question, one "right" way of translating a given paragraph. The touchy-feely "English conversation," on the other hand, is optional, and only needed by Japanese who plan to live overseas or do a lot of traveling. Since the Japanese are so precise about their English, they take it for granted that all native speakers know every single English word ever, including complex medical terminology. They're also mistrustful of native English-speaking teachers who can't answer the question "why?" Why does this sentence need a gerund instead of an infinitive verb? Why do you say 'on a ship' when you're actually inside it? Being a teacher in Japan really led me to come to understand my own language on a new level.

J-List loves the PC dating-sim games from Japan and work hard to stock every English-translated title for fans. A lot of great new games have recently been announced, and will be released in English in the coming months, and we're happy to report that our next two titles are solidly in beta testing now. First is Bazooka Cafe, a great game about a guy who takes over his father's coffee shop, assisted by several beautiful women who can't do enough for him. Then there's Snow Sakura, another really outstanding game in which you play the main character who finds love in a land of cold and snow -- but can you discover the secret of the cherry blossoms that bloom in the cold of winter? Both games can be preordered right now for free shipping when they're ready. In the meantime, we've got dozens of other excellent titles for you try!

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.

	Bejean May. 2007 vol. 163. The new Bejean is a treasure of beautiful women, photographed by top quality professionals.
	Tinacle -- Tina Yuzuki. Tina Yuzuki, you Half-Blood Princess, tempting us with those beautiful Portuguese-Japanese eyes...
	Cosplay Idol Collection 4 Hours. You can really satisfy your cosplay fetish with this.
	W Cast Heaven -- Tsugumi Nagasawa & Kaho Kasumi. Tsugumi-chan and Kaho-chan team up in two fresh and exciting new releases. This is the "Heaven" version...
	W Cast Hell -- Tsugumi Nagasawa & Kaho Kasumi. ...And this is the naughty "Hell" version.
	B-BOY Phoenix 6. We thought this book imprint got its name since the company went backrupt but came back stronger than ever, but it turns out it had been around since before then.
	Ikki Tousen vol. 12 ~ Limited Edition. Gorgeous volume of the manga with a limited edition figure.
	YUBARI ~ Kensuke Kazama photographic . This book is fabulous, documenting a really old, beautiful but sad town in northern Japan.
	Gothic Lolita Bible vol. 25 Summer 2007. The new issue of Goth-Loli Bible is on the site, and it's a great one as usual.
	Hare Hare SOS Dan Anthology Comic. New item for fans of Haruhi Suzumiya Hentai. This is the most amazing show you've ever seen by the way -- I'd hunt it down on YouTube if you have an interest. Basically, it is the first anime series to out-Evangelion Evangelion.
	Cocona 1/7 Figure ~ Designed by Shunya Yamashita *Preorder*. Excellent new figure created by Shinya Yamashita, who is just about my favorite artist by now.
	Lucky Daruma Cat Statue. This is such a cool item for Lucky Cat and Daruma fans.
	Feng Shui Lucky Cat Strap ~ Pink. Also very cool, this is a feng shui strap for yourphone.
	Tongue Sticky Memo . We sell so many fun thing that are weird at the same time.
	Hello Kitty Theme Mug. This is the cutest Hello Kitty item I've seen in a long time. And that's saying something.
	Rellakuma Desktop Cleaner -- Normal ver.. A cute way to keep your desk clean.
	Totoro Giant Beach Towel -- Glancing Back 85 X 115cm ~ Large. Giant Totoro beach towel, also used as a summer blanket. This rules!
	Ayu Tsukishima 1/8 Figure ~ Kannon *Kotobukiya*. This is the star of the top notch anime Kanon, which was recently redone from scratch by Kyoto Animation. She's holding Taiyaku (fish shaped waffle like thing with bean paste inside) that she just stole.
	Kuru Kuru Crepe Shop. Enjoy fun Japanese crepes -- so fun to eat!

Large and small forms of taste-related culture shock, why do the Japanese live so long, and how you can come live in Japan

There are naturally many large and small forms of culture shock a person experiences when they go go live in a foreign country, and I've had my share in Japan. One was getting used to the new tastes that were waiting for me. Right off the bat, Japanese milk tastes...different when you're used to American milk, at least at first. It's not bad or anything, but something about the Japanese cows or how the milk is processed took me time to get used to. Some other familiar products, such as Oreos, also taste slightly different (not as much sugar in them), although humans can adapt to anything. Then there were familiar products that came in "odd" taste variations, like milk flavored bread, salt flavored ramen (which is really chicken flavored), or -- it's really delicious, trust me -- "coffee jelly," coffee-flavored gelatin, excellent on a hot summer's day. Unlike America, where companies tend to think in terms of their next big national product roll-out, Japanese companies are more comfortable releasing short-run products on a more limited scale, which sometimes leads to some really interesting taste experiments, like Cucumber Ice Pepsi. Readers of J-List's snack pages know that you can always find something interesting in the taste department, from sukiyaki-flavored furikake to sprinkle on rice to rose-flavored gum and candy to the delicious Green Tea Butterscotch from Chealsea, we've got lots of fun stuff for you to try.

I noticed that the world's oldest woman passed away at the tender age of 114 the other day, and I wasn't surprised at all to see that she was Japanese. Mrs. Yone Minagawa was born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1893 when Grover Cleveland was in office, and was already in her 50s at the end of World War II -- wow. Thanks to healthy diets, social networks of lifelong friends and a generally competent national medical system, Japanese females are the longest lived people on the planet, with an average life expectancy of 85.8 years. Although it probably didn't get much mention in Michael Moore's "SICKO" documentary -- I've long stopped expecting the government and media in America to look at the various systems at work in Japan -- I think the country's medical system could be studied as a model that obviously works (since people are living a long time). It can best be described as a "blend" of private hospitals, clinics and related companies and a publically-guided insurance system, which imposes a framework that companies must work within. When you go to the doctor or dentist you bring your insurance card, and in general 70% of the costs will be covered. There are trade-offs, of course. Because of the cost caps instituted by the two health insurance systems -- Social Insurance for employees of medium-to-large companies, and Citizen's Insurance for everyone else -- not all types of care are available, so if you want to get the really good ceramic caps on your teeth as opposed to the ugly silver ones, you may need to pay for that yourself. Also, expect to go to the dentist 8 times to fix those two fillings, since they're not allowed to charge you more than a certain amount per day. Since there are more limitations on the Japanese medical system, some companies don't see the same amount of profit as in the U.S., and as a result, there's less investment in technology here (although I've never known of a hospital that needed an MRI scanner and didn't have one).

I receive a lot of questions from people interested in living in Japan someday, so I thought I'd address some of these issues in case it's helpful to anyone. While it certainly is difficult to come to a country as different from the U.S. or Europe as Japan is, it's certainly doable if you are determined. Many foreigners come to Japan on a tourist visa (3 months) and use that time to look for a job. When you find one, you have to leave the country once to process your working visa then re-enter on that visa -- most gaijin travel to nearby South Korea and do some sightseeing while they wait for their paperwork to come through. Alternately, citizens of some lucky nations like Canada, Australia and New Zealand can come on "working holiday" visas instead. Westerners are usually shocked by the difficult system of "key money" you must pay when renting an apartment. Between a security deposit (2 months), a finders-fee (paid to the company that got the apartment for you), first months' rent and "thank you money" (a move-in bonus for your landlord), it can cost $2000-4000 just to move into a small apartment. Of course, any discussion of how to work in Japan is precluded by the fact that to get a working visa at all, you must have a degree from a four-year university. So whenever young people interested in Japan ask me how they can come work in Japan, I invariably advise them to find a good, well-rounded university and get a degree -- do that, and you'll be surprised how easily the rest can fall into place.

Remember that J-List has a huge selection of various types of traditional Japanese footwear, from authentic Ninja Boots (Tabi, the outdoor kind favored by ninjas) to cool wooden geta shoes and "tatami sandals" made of the same material tatami mats are made from. We've got dozens of varieties in stock, for both guys and girls, with extra-large shoes for big-footed guys in stock, too.

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

	Sabra Magazine 013 July 2007. New issue of Sabra Magazine, filled with sexy Japanese idol goodness.
	Tina Daccha! -- Tina Yuzuki. Tina Yuzuki dons a classic anime costume in this Urusei Yatsura themed cosplay production. If you don't know UY, she's the space alien who's in love with an earth boy (Ataru), and it was the smash hit anime show in the 1980s that is "the reason we're all here" as an artist friend of mine put it.
	Erotic Swimming Club. More fun with Japanese girls in swiimsuits for you here. Has anyone noticed that there's like exactly one pool where they shoot these things?
	Holstein Hanako-San 1/8 Figure ~ Tsukasa Bullet 02 Designed by Jun Tukasa *Preorder*. This is a fabulous figure that you can preorder now. Such detail!
	Kokeshi Ballpoint Pen - Warabe Doll Type. I love these wooden kokeshi doll pens, really cool and uniquely Japanese.
	BEEDA Delux Bamboo Charcoal Black Soap for Men. This soap will get your hands really clean.
	DX Chrimen GAMAGUCHI Purse --- Red. Cool stylish Japanese purse to keep your money safely.
	Simple & Strong Tight Bento Box w/Chopsticks -- Black. New bento box for hungry eaters.
	Samurai Girl in Kimono 1/8 Figure. The boom in "cast off" figures continues. This is a sexy samurai girl wearing, er, very little.
	Patlabor Collection Figure -- Full Set of 6. Patlabor is the first absolutely "realistic" robot manga and anime, and it was produced by Mamoru Ishii, who would go on to make Ghost in the Shell. This is a great line of figures from the show.
	Meiji Dice Caramel *New Package*. Meiji Dice Caramel are a great way to get your daily caramel allowance.
	Tsubu Tsubu Hi-chew -- Cola Flavor. Cola flavored Hi-Chew, with Tsubu Tsubu(bits of cola flavored candy). Huzzah!
	NAS-O Illustration Works. You really won't believe how good NAS-O's art is.
	Sanrio Ice Cube Tray. This is the other cool Sanrio ice cube tray we've got for you. Make all your favorite Sanrio charactrers!
	Totoro "Mei" Alminium Bento Box. Totoro fans, we've restocked some of our most popular items for you.

Thoughts on e-books and other "revolutions," the worst-run government program in history, and why you don't want to be in a car in Japan now

Imagine what would happen if a quarter of all Americans lived in the Washington D.C. area instead of spread out around the country from sea to shining sea. That's essentially the case in Japan, where 27% of the nation's population lives in the Greater Tokyo Area, including Tokyo, Kawasaki, Yokohama and neighboring cities. When a long holiday like the current Obon break rolls around, everyone naturally tries to get out of Dodge at the same time, which can cause frightful congestion. This morning the snaking traffic jam out of the Tokyo area was 55 km (34 miles) long, as people tried to get back to their inaka (ee-NAH-KAH, home town), or anywhere out of the concrete jungle. One of the most popular destinations for Tokyo-ites is Karuizawa (ka-roo-ee-za-wa), the charming little town in the mountains that was discovered by a Canadian Priest in 1886 as a getaway spot for foreigners and which has enjoyed a special appeal ever since. Unless you like sitting in your car for 12 hours, however, I don't advise going there right now. The rush back into Tokyo Wednesday will be even worse, as hundreds of thousands hurry home so they can get back to work on Thursday.

One smart rule of thumb is that whenever a new product is pushed as "revolutionary," it probably won't be -- true revolutions, like TCP/IP, open email standards and Salad-in-a-Bag sort of sneak in through the back door when no one is looking. On my last flight back from the U.S. I happened to be seated next to a medium-level Sony executive, who seemed to be on a mission to show everyone on the plane his cool Sony e-book reader, which let him flip through pages of "virtual" books. If its e-books you're looking for, they may be here in Japan right now, available on the phones that people are already using. Just point your keitai (cell phone) browser to websites like EZ Book Land or Gokko and you can buy thousands of books from "light novels" aimed at the anime-and-manga crowd to steamy Harlequin Romances (yes, they have those here). There's even a whole category of novels actually written by authors using cell phones, due to a quirk of the syllabically-structured Japanese language that makes it as fast or faster to input text using a 10-key pad than on a computer keyboard. (Using a phone keypad, "arigatou" (ありがとう) would be 1992*44444111, which looks confusing but it's quite easy once you know how hiragana works.) Even major companies like Yahoo Japan are getting into the electronic novel business, adding services top help readers find this week's top-selling titles.

If there was an award for poorest administration of a government program ever, I'd like to nominate the Japanese National Pension System. The equivalent of Social Security in the U.S., the program is designed to guarantee Japanese a minimum income after requirement, but it's got a lot wrong with it. First of all, workers are "required" to make their premium payments, but since there's no mechanism to force employees of smaller companies and the self-employed to do this, millions never bother -- including some well-known politicians, a scandal which brought down a few careers when it came to light in 2004. Then there were the many wasteful projects built with pension money to "foster economic activity," like a government-built resort that no one ever uses called Green Pier. Finally, there are the estimated 50 million payments that were mishandled by the National Pension System during the computerization of the records in the 1980s, which has resulted in a huge number of people losing credit for real money they parted with years ago. The government is trying to fix the problem, but with the old records thrown away, many citizens are reciting that famous Japanese phrase, shikata ga nai (it can't be helped). This is one of those rare times when having more lawyers would really help, since Japan lacks the basic legal framework to force the government to take action and fix things before, say, pensioners start dying of old age. Taxpay- ers have found one effective way to vent their anger at the situation, at the voting box, and the election last month saw the ruling Liberal (not) Democratic (not) Party go from 64 to 37 seats. I still have to check and make sure the 4+ years I paid into the system as a salaryman teacher were counted or not.

Remember that J-List loves Totoro and stocks over 100+ cool Studio Ghibli products, from plush Totoro and Jiji the Cat toys to a variety of authentic bento lunchboxes and embroidered Totoro hats and more. Looking for the really big Totoro plush toy that's as big as your child? We've got that. How about those cool Totoro and Jiji the Cat rubber stamps? We've got a dozen or more varieties in stock and ready to ship out to you. If you're a fan of the works of Hayao Miyazaki, why not browse our great products now?

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

	Sabra DVD Mook -- Shoko Hamada. Fabulous Sabra "Mook" featuring the red-hot Shoko Hamada! And it comes with a DVD, too.
	Max Pink File -- Akiho Yoshizawa. There's a big trend in re-issuing the best works of popular girls who have retired, after re-mastering them to today's video standards. Here's a great new release for Akiho Yoshizawa fans.
	Deep Kiss -- Riko Tachibana. Riko Tachibana is so tall and stylish and great, but for some reason she reminds me of someone. Like a Hollywood actress. Anyone else see a similarity?
	Japanese Hat - "I Love Hentai". We have a new hat in stock for fans of "H" themes in anime, manga and dating-sim games.
	Cellular Phone Leash Clip. Now this will keep me from losing my keys and cell phone all the time!
	Inshoku Shinka ~ The Scent of Lewd Lips - Nariaki Funabori Special Illuistrations. A really amazing color manga and art book, which is printed in a large format and with tons of colors.
	Dengeki Layers vol. 14 Aug 2007. Very popular cosplay magazine is in stock.
	Feuerig ~ Miss Black. Do we have any Northern Europeans who can translate this manga title for us? I can't find anything on it. But anyway, it's really a special work, and I like the artist's penname.
	Tattoo Lifestyle vol. 16 May 2007. If you want to know what's going on in the Japanese tattoo world right now, this is your magazine.
	Lucky Cat Soap Dispenser ~ Pink. A cool Lucky Cat item that dispenses soap and good luck!
	Piggy Mug ~ Looking for Happiness. Let's go looking for happiness with this cute coffee cup.
	Hello Kitty Happy Message Board ~ Green. A way to send a special message to someone using Hello Kitty as your messenger. Available in several colors.
	Haruhi Suzumiya Bunny ver. *Black* . Haruhi has never looked better than she does in her bunny suit w/ guitar. God knows, you want to buy this figure. (Sorry for the pun, couldn't resist, it's been a long update.)
	Jiji A5 Graph Notebook -- Stamp Pattern. These are two different notebooks for Jiji the Cat fans, and boy are they cool looking.
	Xylitol +X Gum -- Magic Kiwi Flavor. Kiwi Fruit flavor. (Not Kiwi, as in the bird from New Zealand.)
	Every Burger. This is one of my personal favorite items, a chocolate and cookie hamburger that's fun to eat.
	Hello Kitty DX Ice Cube Tray. Back in stock, our favorite ice cube tray ever!

It was hot again this weekend and our house is still all torn up (although it's almost done), so we went up to our place in Karuizawa to relax before the Obon crowds really got bad. Here you see a lot of cars and motorcycles at the Save-On convenience store.

View of Mt. Asama, the really big volcano.

My breakfast was less than traditional, being comprised of Miso Soup and Count Chocola that I'd brought back from the States.

Time to head back. We always try to buy somethiing from the old couple who runs this little shop (really, they fill the vending machine out front), since they look like they could use the business.

Always nice to have a "Navi" when taking a road trip.

This is my favorite drink in the world, essentially a carbonated health drink by Coca-Cola that tastes like vitamins, but I like it for some reason anyway.