On psychology and jealousy of gaijin living in Japan, thinking about Japanese grammar while in the bath, and using the Far Side in English class

I've written before about the psychology of ex-pats living in Japan, such as the the Three Stages of Eye Aversion we foreigners seem to go through when encountering other gaijin on the train the first few times, or our distaste for foreigners who do something rude then take the polite silence of the Japanese around them as a sign that it's okay to keep doing it. Then there's that odd built-in resentment of other gaijin who have been here longer than us and/or who speak Japanese better than we can, which I learned about when I came here after studying the language at SDSU for four years. This confused the Americans, Canadians and Brits I hung out with, since most of them started studying after arriving here, and they weren't sure how to categorize me. Foreigners living in Japan can be especially jealous of the annointed "gaijin talents" who get to to be on TV just because they can be funny and/or insightful while speaking Japanese. A good example is the Egyptian fortune-teller Fifi-san, who has gotten quite a following of fans with her appearances on variety shows lately. For a wedding present my father gave me the autobiography of Donald Keene, an American translator who came to Japan soon after World War II ended and got to hob-knob with all the great Japanese writers of the postwar period, from Yasunari Kawabata to Dazai Osamu to Yukio Mishima -- lucky bastard. As a general rule, any given foreigner will tend to be mistrustful of the theories put forth by other gaijin (hence, whenever someone disagrees with me I can defend myself based on this principle).

When you go to an onsen (OWN-sen), a public hot springs bath, it's important to have all the essentials with you, and in my car I keep a basket with all my bath-related stuff in it -- toothbrush, razor, large rubber bands that let me keep the shower nozzle from shutting off every 10 seconds, and a notepad for writing down all the ideas for J-List posts that come to me while soaking. I recently bought new toothbrushes, changing my normal one from blue to purple, which prompted my son to comment on my "Mace Windufication," after the Jedi Master in the Star Wars films who uses a purple lightsaber. When I started learning Japanese, I wondered how some of the linguistic concepts we use all the time in English would be represented. Japanese is based on kanji for its higher vocabulary functions in much the same way that English is based on Latin and Greek, and complex ideas like "capitalism" or "carbon dioxide" can be rendered in kanji quite logically (資本主義 and 二酸化炭素 in case you were curious). One useful character is bakeru (化ける, to change, to transform), which is read ka in its Chinese form, and this character corresponds to the concept of "-ification" or "-ization" (i.e., a change from one state to another). Some examples of words that make use of this character are kyouka (強化、KYO-ka, strong + change) meaning "strengthen"; oubeika (欧米化, oh-BEI-ka, Europe + America + change), essentially meaning "Westernization"; and the big problem in Japan these days, shoushika (少子化、sho-SHE-ka, few + child + change), or the declining number of children throughout the country. So when my son noted the change in my toothbrush color, the word he used was "Mace Windu-ka." Can you guess how you'd say "otaku-ification" in Japanese?

Before I got into the business of writing about Japan to people all over the world I taught ESL, and I had rather a decent horde of teaching materials accumulated, from workbooks for teaching elementary school age kids to dozens of textbooks and also a game called "English Baseball" where students were asked questions in English and would make a "hit" if they were able to answer correctly. One pre-lesson activity I liked to do was bring my favorite Far Side comics into class and start a discussion around them. As you might imagine, the jokes I thought was hilarious -- "Shocking the anthropological world, a second 'Lucy' is discovered in Olduvai Gorge" (it's Lucy Van Pelt), or "Great moments in evolution" (a bunch of fish have just hit their baseball up onto land and must now evolve legs if they want their ball back) received puzzled looks from my students. Clearly, what Japanese (or Germans, or Koreans) find funny won't necessarily be viewed the same way by Americans, and I suspect Japanese would be more amused by character-based humor that blends unexpected situations for that character. The one Far Side joke that always got a laugh with my Japanese students was "Cat Showers" (a cat in a shower with a giant tongue licking his body).

Remember that J-List carries authentic Japanese "loose socks" in two different sizes, and also carries "socks glue" which you can use to glue your socks to your legs to hold them up. Enjoy a little slice of Japanese fashion culture courtesy of J-List -- they also go great with the authentic high school uniforms we sell, too! Great for cosplay at anime cons or as normal socks that help keep you warm in the cooler months.

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 17 -- Asuka Sawaguchi. Asuka Sawaguchi looks great in her Karami photo magazine, a whole magazine dedicated to one lovely actress, with no ads.
	egg July 2007 vol. 129. Egg magazine lets you follow the fashion world of young people from wherever you happen to live.
	Voluptuous Fairy - Youen -- Nana Toriike. Fabulous photobook featuring the lovely Nana Toriike.
	Mask Musume. The Japanese love to wear those masks that keep your germs off other people, and here's a photobook of nothing but!
	My Only Super Body Doll -- Rio Hamazaki. Some day guys will be able to buy dolls like this. Some day...
	Japanese "Lucky Panda" Solar Powered Relaxation Toy. Lucky Panda wants to bring your home good luck, through the power of the sun!
	Anime "Initiation Paddle" - YAOI. We now carry the famous "Anime Initiation Paddles" from Hen da Ne. This is the "Yaoi" one...
	Anime "Initiation Paddle" - YURI. ...and this says "Yuri." Yaoi are themes of male/male romantic love in anime, manga and game, and Yuri is the girl/girl version of same.
	Mononofu Shinsen-Gumi Swords Collection vol.2 ~ Complete Set (Set of 7, Includes Rare Item). Excellent line of samurai swords from the Mononofu people. These are the actual swords used by the famous Shinsengumi samurai!
	Shoxx vol. 173 July 2007. Shoxx is the "Visual and Hard Shock Magazine" and we've got a single issue in for you, if you're not sure if you want to go for a subscription yet.
	Multi Mini TATAMI Mat. Display anything you like on this great tatami mat-themed stand. Great for displaying on object of beauty, or maybe your favorite Star Wars vehicle.
	Louise 1/8 Figure ~ Zero no Tsukaima (The Familiar of Zero) by Charaani *Preorder*. Really cute character from a show that I am not familiar with. Hope to change that fact though.
	Ceramic Lucky Gold Fish Netsuke with Bell. Lucky Gold Fish strap, this is really cool-looking
	Easy Training Chopsticks. Learn to use chopsticks with these -- what a great idea!
	Kazuki Arisaka 1/8 Figure Swimming Suit ver. ~ Tona-Gura! Super cute anime figure of a girl adjusting her swimsuit.
	Poke-Pachi Pokemon Shapeshifting Fizzle Candy -- Cola. Pokemon candy that turns into taffy-like stuff before your eyes.
	Walkie Bits -- Green *Melon*. These are little electronic frogs that Takara has made for you. They walk, race, dance and more! Restocked!

Interesting foods Japanese eat in the summer, a Japanese gadget that washes your butt for you, and why Japan might need more lawyers

Japan is a country that's definitely in touch with its seasons, and they celebrate each time of year with many different traditional events, from cherry blossom viewing in April to enjoying the turning of the leaves in the Fall. It's summer now, the time of festivals and wearing yukata cotton kimonos and geta wooden shoes while enjoying fireworks, and there are many foods that help people survive the sweltering temperatures. Having a long tradition of eating noodles, many Japanese naturally enjoy cold soba or udon noodles during this season, as well as "angel hair" udon noodles called somen. One of our favorite summer foods is called hiyashi chuka (hee-YA-shee chuu-KAH), essentially a plate of cold ramen noodles in a tangy sauce served with tomatoes, cucumbers and strips of scrambled egg on top. Watermelon is always a treat but it can be such a mess, so I usually reach for Watermelon Bar, a delicious brand of watermelon ice cream with chocolate "seeds" that tastes so good. One of the most famous of all summer foods is not one I'm too fond of: unagi (oo-NAH-gi), or Japanese eel, which is broiled over an open flame and served on rice with teriyaki sauce. It's considered "stamina food" here in Japan, and many restaurants offer the dish to their customers in August to help them beat the heat. Unagi-don (Eel Rice Bowl) actually looks delicious, but I just can't get past the "eel-ness" of it all.

Ever since the coming of the Sony Walkman the Japanese have been known for their gadgets, which is a good thing for all of us, as the world would be less interesting if it weren't for all those fun electronic devices. From massage chairs that take the stress out of your muscles and squeeze your body from several directions at once to cell phones that let you pay for train tickets and convenience store purchases by waving the phone at a sensor, it's always fun to see what new inventions lie over the horizon. One of the most famous of all Japanese gadgets are those toilets which wash your butt when you're done, which are known as "washlets" (wash + toilet, get it?). Based on the European bidet, Japanese washlets were first introduced by ubiquitous toilet maker Toto in 1980, and have grown in popularity ever since. Most of these washing toilets share the same basic features, including a selector for which er, part or the body you want to wash, a warm air dryer, and a control to set the desired temperature of the toilet seat. Some of the more advanced models freshen the air with negatively charged ions, contain sensors that check your blood sugar as you pee, and (great families with boys) raise and lower the seat as needed hydraulically. The other day I found a washlet with a fully functional remote control that allowed you to control the cleaning functions or flush the toilet from a remote location. This seemed useless to me, as the only possible use for a remote controlled toilet would to play practical jokes on people you didn't like, turning the functions on and off at random while they did their business.

I talked recently about the current scandal over missing national pension payments and how having a few thousand more lawyers might help the situation. It may be odd to hear someone wish for more lawyers, but in the case of Japan it might not be a bad idea. Japan is quite different from the U.S., and some services that we take for granted in America are not provided to people who need them because the legal system seems so distant from the average person. In Japan lawyers are quite rare -- I have yet to meet one in my sixteen years of living here, and have no idea where a courthouse might be located in my city. Part of the reason for this is that the test to become a lawyer is about as difficult as the entrance exam for Tokyo University, but the way Japanese society is sewn together is quite different as well. In Japan, for example, no one needs a will because how their estate will be passed on to survivors in the family is governed according to the rules of "common sense" (joshiki), and you do most paperwork filing that might normally require a lawyer for free at your your City Hall. In Japan, lawyers are extremely respected, being among the professions addressed with the honorific word "sensei." Some other professions that receive this polite term are doctors, teachers, politicians, artists and -- I am not kidding -- Certified Public Accountants.

We've got a great announcement for fans of our popular Japanese T-shirts today: by massive customer request, we're making youth sizes of our most popular shirts! Now you can get kids' sizes of our cool Domo-kun (Three Circle and Black Outline) and Totoro (both blue and grey) in standard youth sizes S, M and L, which is great news to the many younger fans of Totoro and Domo-kun who couldn't wear our standard-sized offerings before. Whether you're buying for the Back to School season or looking beyond, our new kids-size T-shirts are great!

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

	Lozen Maiden. "Rozen Maiden" is another popular show, about a kid who's afraid of going outside because he's cut himself off from society. His world is turned upside-down when he buys a cursed doll and it enslaves him. This is a parody of the show by TMA.
	Gekkan -- Aki Hoshino. Bold photobook for fans of Aki Hoshino. Love it.
	Lucky Star ~ Natsu no Okiraku Tokushu Go. Another show that's all over the place now, this is the official magazine to Lucky Star. Features "Lucky Channel" which is the most hilarious part of the show. (It's about a super cute idol who gets depressed through her talk show every week).
	S Cawaii June 2007. "Super Cawaii" is a great fashion magazine for anyone intereted in the Japanese world of visual beauty.
	Ojosama Anthology Comics ~　Young Woman Anthology. An "H" comic dedicated to "Ojosama" (that is, spoiled rich girls).
	Her Lingering Scent ~ Kanojo no Nokoriga. Very nice art and story in this manga. Also, the title is so cool, I can't get it out of my head.
	Japan Datalogue ~ Data de Miru Nihon. Cool bilingual book with both languages right on the page, side by side.
	Ai Enma Figure from Jigoku Shojo *Preorder*. I am into this anime right now, so it's funny that this would come along right now. This is from Hell Girl (Jigoku Shojo), kind of a Reverse Fantasy Island where you can send anyone you hate to hell by accessing a website at exactly 12:00. "We will take revenge on your behalf."
	Japanese T-shirt "Cheshire Totoro Face" - Junior Size (Carolina Blue). As promised, you can now get Totoro T-shirts in junior sizes.
	Perfect Communication ~ Azusa Miura. Tohru Nishimaki and J-List go back a long way, and we're happy to carry his newest doujinshi, Perfect Communication.
	Domo-kun (Black Outline) - Junior Size. Domo-kun T-shirts are also available!
	Hello Kitty POP STAR Chopsticks & Case -- Pink. Hello Kitty chopsticks, kawaii.
	Hello Kitty One-Touch Stamp -- "Good". These are little stamps with messages in Japanese, or this one in English ("Good!"). Very cute.
	Rising Carp T-shirt -- Black ~ L Size. Fabulous made-in-Japan T-shirt made in the image of a "match label" from a matchbook used 100 years ago.
	Natural Wood Sake Cup . Enjoy your sake even more in this authentic "masu" wooden cup. Also useful for organizing stuff on your desk.
	Nayuki Minase 1/8 Figure ~ Kannon *Kotobukiya*. Ah, here is the lovely Nayuki from the Kyoto Animation remake of Kanon. Her famous slogan is "Fight, da yo!" (roughly translatable as "Fight...y'know.") Hmm, it sounds better in Japanese.
	Meiji Pucca Chocolate -- Baked Pudding Flavor. Yum! Baked Custard Pudding flavor Pucca!
	Black 26cm Genuine Tabi (Ninja Shoes) . Back in stock, official ninja boots!
	Figure Maniacs vol. 15. We've restocked several issues of Figure Maniacs, which let you see hundreds and hundreds of the best anime figures sold in Japan.
	High School Briefcase Bookbag. The actual book back used in Japanese high schools. Own your own bit of authentic Japan.

About Japan's most famous (only?) charity, all about the word "genki," and my kids re-adjusting to life in Japan

This past weekend saw the broadcast of "24 Hour TV," an annual charity drive broadcast by the Nippon TV network each year. Like the big "Kohaku Red and White Song Battle" held on December 31st it's quite a media event, and all the biggest names in entertainment lend their star power to help raise money from viewers for various good causes. Over the course of the broadcast the hosts put on many events, including a marathon and various other sports-related segments. The theme of this year's show was "An Event That Changed Your Life," and former baseball star Shinjo (who played in the U.S. for three years) went on a "Darts Trip," throwing a dart at a map of Japan then traveling to that prefecture to interview people while the cameras watched. In one segment I caught, Shinjo visited a rural part of Okinawa to interview people about what events had changed their lives. One mango farmer told him it was when he tasted mangos for the first time thirty years ago; he knew people would come to love the exotic fruit, although at the time Japanese were used much blander fare. Considering that they now sell for up to $100 apiece (in special packages, for giving as traditional gifts in the summer), I'm sure he's not regretting his decision to take a chance on growing mangos.

One of the first words learners of Japanese come across is the word genki, so I thought I'd revisit this fun term. The word is quite flexible, and can mean anything from healthy to energetic to "fine thanks, and you?" The first greeting you usually learn in Japanese is often Ogenki desu ka? （お元気ですか？） which corresponds to "How are you?" (although it can be more accurately translated as "Are you fine?"). The reply is Hai, genki desu (Yes, I am fine). Some other situations where the word might be used include to describe a child with lots of energy, running around a room; to describe an elderly person who is still active and healthy; and when trying to cheer someone up, asking them to "show their genki." (In another context, a man becoming genki can refer to the common phenomenon that happens in the morning.) Whenever you learn a foreign language, you're confronted with words that don't quite "match up" with words you use in your native language, such as the two words for "cold" in Japanese (samui and tsumetai), which refer to coldness in the air and something that's cold to the touch, respectively.

The kids are safely back from their long stay in the U.S. They had a lot of fun doing lots of "American kid" things and are now groaning about returning to Japan, with its cramped spaces and harsh August humidity. As usual, it's fun to observe the changes as they get used to Japan again after a month in an English environment. For example, my daughter Rina was trying to talk about a comb she'd bought in the U.S, but her brain temporarily forgot the word for "comb" in Japanese (kushi), so she substituted the English term although her grandparents didn't know what she was talking about. When she's in the U.S. she goes to the local branch of Score! to study her English reading and spelling, and when her grandmother asked her how that went, she found herself unable to discuss the subject in Japanese, and had to switch to English -- the "wiring" for thinking about an English-related subject like spelling in Japanese had not been created in her brain yet. When you think of summer vacation, you probably don't think about doing lots of homework, but that's just what my kids have to do now with their last week before school starts. To keep kids from totally forgetting everything they learned during school, teachers give them 20+ hours of homework from all subjects, and my kids are quite busy getting it all done.

J-List carries all the PC dating-sim games from Japan, translated into English and ready to play on U.S. Windows computers. Our newest game is called Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048, a great game in which you must lead a troop of female "Biosoldiers" against a terrible many-tentacled enemy. It's a great game because it combines Final Fantasy Tactics-style game play with traditional dating-sim stories in between the battles. This title is just $24.95 too -- order your copy now!

Remember that J-List carries cool toys you can't find outside Japan, with everything from plush toys to small anime figure to the ultra-cool "Soundrop" sound keychains which make loud, clear sounds when you press the buttons -- there are many types, although my favorite are the Moe (mo-EH) Soundrop series that captures the various archetypes of anime girl. J-List has so much fun stuff, why don't you browse our main toy section now? Or if you're looking for a great way to keep up with our newest products, plug one of our RSS feeds into your favorite news reader (we recommend the free Google Reader) and never miss cool new J-List products!

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

	Mini Skirt Illustrated DVD vol. 89 ~ Minisuka Daizukan DVD June 2007. Popular Japanese fetish, now with a 150 minute DVD.
	Lilith XXnano! ~ Neon Genesis Evangelion *Preorder*. This is the cute "bishoujo" version of Lilith, the evil Angel from Evangelion. Preorder now.
	How To Draw Manga - Maid Pose Collection. Learn to draw maids in many poses with this new book.
	Sunny Side Up! Recipe 2. Nice light manga with lots of great art content.
	Koi Nanase 1/8 Figure ~ Night Shift Nurses. This is just about the coolest cast off figure I've seen, the lovely Koi Nanase rendered in perfect PVC.
	Because You Whisper To Me -- Sayaka Ogata ~ Kimi Ga Sasayaku Kara. Fantastic glossy photobook. I can't get enough of some of the pictures in this book.
	Comic AG Super Erotic Manga Anthology vol. 63. New issue of Comic AG is in stock, loaded with English transalted "H" goodness.
	Naruto Shippu-Den -- Full Set of 5 Figures. Naruto fans, this is a great set of figures.
	Rocket Pencils Set -- Hamster. I don't know why, but I've always been compelled to sell Rocket Pencils on J-List. I guess I like the satisfying way they work, the way each "stage" fits into the previous one when its pencil lead is finished.
	KOKESHI ~ Akogare (Adoration) -- Orange . Real wooden Japanese dolls.
	Bento Diposable Mini Cup -- Animal Friends Pattern (18pcs) . These are cute little bento cups for fans of Animal Crossing.
	Hello Kitty Folding Multi Box ~ Black . We have two cool Hello Kitty Multi Boxes that will hold all your stuff. These things are just too cool!
	Myojo July 2007. Follow men's fashion, with plenty of information for fans of "Johnny's" boys.
	Miso Soup Assortment -- Wakame/Shijimi/Asari. Enjoy miso soup with this great new set.
	Dengeki G's Magazine Aug 2007. I love the art in each issue of Dengeki G's. Tons of pages of great content, for fans of anime and game characters. (The "G" stands for Girls, we think.)
	JINBEI / Relax & Cool Homewear -- Black with Thin Pinstriping . Now you too can look like a samurai when you go to bed!