Thoughts on how the Japanese define "family," confusion over English lyrics in Japanese songs, and how to tell a Korean from a Japanese

We've got a bit of a running joke in our family. South Korean television dramas are popular in Japan, and whenever my kids and I catch one on TV we call out to my wife to let her know that "her TV show is on." It seems that for some reason, my Japanese wife seems to be mistaken for a Korean whenever she sets foot outside of her native country. For example, when we fly to the U.S., we sometimes take Korean Airlines since the bibimbap is good, and when the flight attendants get to my wife's seat to ask her if she'd like more tea, they always switch from Japanese to Korean. While this often reaps various benefits -- retailers in Hawaii will give her better discounts if they can't tell she's from Japan -- we always wonder what mechanism is at work. Of course, it's neigh on impossible to tell what nationality a person is just by looking at them, although that doesn't stop Japanese from assuming that every Caucasian must be from the U.S. or Canada.

What is exactly is a "family"? Different people might have different uses for the word, describing members of the same household, or perhaps including a wider range of relatives. In Japan there's no vagueness at all, as the concept of "family" is set by the koseki, or the official family register that's maintained in every Japanese city. An extremely old system -- the first family register dates back to the year 645, although the system in use today was begun in 1872 -- the koseki is a complete record of the lives of every Japanese citizen, including every major event that happens to them, with western ideas such as birth or death certificates and marriage licenses all working through the koseki registry. When a baby is born, he's added to the the family's registry entry, and when a woman gets married she's removed from her father's registry and added to her husband's. Gaijin living in Japan aren't always happy with the family registry system, though. Since we're not citizens, foreigners aren't allowed to be listed officially in the family register except in the comments section. As a result, it looks on paper like my wife is a single mother of two kids, and we've had visits from social workers in our city to check up on the poor woman who has no husband.

When dealing with Japan, it's natural to encounter some "WTF" moments, like seeing a strawberry & whipped cream sandwich for sale in a convenience store for the first time; that first encounter with an ita-sha, a car decked out as a mobile shrine to an anime character; or being asked if having blue eyes meant I saw the world through a blue tint. I remember being confused by the tendency of Japanese songwriters to put seemingly random English phrases in Japanese songs. Reading through my old CDs, I'd see bizarre phrases like HEART CHECK or BLUE RAY, LEMON or GET CHANCE AND LUCK or FAD, FAD, WITH SOMETHING COOL, LIKE A HIDDEN LUMINARY. After a while I came to appreciate that to the Japanese, English represents an emotional investment of (usually) six years of hard work spent memorizing grammar and vocabulary, and songwriters can use English to bring out feelings in listeners that couldn't be accessed otherwise. Plus, English is just so darned kakko ii (cool), so adding a splash of OH PLEASE BE FREEDOM into the middle of a song gives it a special mystique. Another theory might be that the Japanese songwriters are putting bizarre English phrases into their songs to mess with the minds of foreigners who try to comprehend their language, a thought that occurred to me when watching the original Macross movie the other day, with the line "[Small white dragon]...is a very messiah." Is that some obscure Dragonriders of Pern reference? I just can't figure it out...

2008 calendars season is in full swing, and now is the perfect time to browse our extensive selection of over 200 large-format poster-sized calendars that are normally only available to people living inside Japan. From all the hottest anime to gorgeous Japanese actresses and swimsuit idols to kanji and art and traditional images of Japan, I really believe there's something that everyone will love in our great lineup. Personally I recommend the Studio Ghibli calendars, which are a treat every year. The large Ghibli calendar is especially nice because it features all-new and original images from the films of Hayao Miyazaki, including insight into the movies that can't be gleaned from any other source -- for example, through the calendars you can learn what happens several years after the My Neighbor Totoro movie ends. Remember that are great calendars are the perfect gift for anyone who's fascinated with Japan this Christmas season.

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

	Momo Mune Musume -- Hiroko Akamatsu. Hiroko-chan looks extremely cute in this sexy photobook.
	Super Chijo x First Nakadashi -- Yuri Matsushima. The Japanese are fascinated by tall people, and a women who is very tall, or who has "8 heads to her body" (i.e. a long body in relation to her head) are considered beautiful. Like Yuri-chan here.
	Tokyo Jinsei Since 1962 ~Tokyo Life - Nobuyoshi Araki. Great look at Tokyo over the last 45 years, love the photos inside.
	Trigger Heart Exelica. Trigger Heart Exelica is an amazing game from Japan, and this is the official artbook, loaded with beautiful art and more.
	Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi Figure Meister Collection vol.1-- Full Set of 4. Love these figures, especailly Tsuruya.
	Mirim Ixus 1/8 Figure Maid Costume ver. with Soft Breast Feature ~ Crimson Grave *Preorder*. This is the Cast Off figure to end all Cast Off figures. How clumsy do you have to be to get a broom caught inside your underwear?
	KIYA Katana Sword Steel Nail Clippers ~ Small. This is great, fingernail cutters made of samurai sword steel!!
	Transformers Masterpiece ~ Skywarp Destron Warrior MP-6. Big, big transformers toy here.
	NIPPON Magnet ~ Fan & Flag. A great metalic magnet of a fan with the red "hinode" of Japan.
	Japanese Writing Practice Book -- TANKA /Hyaku Nin Isshu (traditional Japanese card game). An innovative way to study Japanese, through classical poetry.
	Animal BARAN / Decorative Partation for Bento -- 3types. Great for your bento, cute animal food separators.
	PUMA Sneaker Style Pen Case ~ Monochrome. Stylish pencil case.
	Hello Kitty Kimono "Warabe" Doll with Fan -- RED. Cute Hello Kitty item, new color variation.
	White Feng Shui Lucky Cat Family Coin Bank for Repelling Bad Luck / Northeast. Nice Lucky Cat money bank (I never know whether Americans would call this a piggy bank or not, I've been away so long).
	2008 Calendar -- Dog in the cafe *Preorder*. We've added a few more calendars too. I love this cute one.
	Glico Pakitz Chocolate. Delicious new chocolate treat.

The mechanisms of Japan's group structures, big differences in education between Japan and the U.S., and some useful Japanese words

The Japanese, as I've written many times, are quite group oriented, and it's interesting to observe some of the actual mechanisms that support this aspect of society. In virtually my entire education from the 7th grade on, I've had mixed schedules -- math in second period with Mr. Johnson, English in third period with Mr. Mihalka and so on, with different students around me each hour. In Japan, the system is quite different: students are are assigned to a class that they stay in all year long, with teachers coming and going each hour. Being with the same students all day for a year often has the effect of bringing them closer together, and it's probably more common for Japanese to maintain those connections throughout their lives than for Americans. Japanese usually get two sets of these special school groups: those they attended Elementary and Junior High School with, usually kids from the same neighborhood; and friends from High School, which is not part of compulsory education, thus students are free to choose which school they want to go to based on their study goals. My son commutes to school with several boys, a group that calls themselves Hosoya-gumi since they get off the train at Hosoya Station. It wouldn't surprise me if they maintained their friendship throughout their lives.

One aspect of this group-centered approach to education is, what do you when students who must study together are at different levels? When I took Spanish in High School, there were students of all ages in the class with me, since we were all at the same level Espanolically speaking. But in Japan, with its stricter senpai-kohai relationships, it's inconceivable that students of different school years would study together for any reason. If there are students who have trouble keeping up in a certain subject, they are required to take extra lessons and do more homework, since everyone must progress through the same material together. The concepts of a very smart student skipping a grade or a slower student being held back a year are rare here, part of the reason why parents of extremely gifted children often move to the U.S. or Europe, where special talents can be treated as a positive thing. When my daughter gets to Junior High School she's going to have a big shock, since she'll be taking English along with the other kids and learning phrases like "this is a pen" or "I am a boy" despite the fact that she's bilingual already.

It's funny how sometimes a single word of Japanese can carry so much meaning, and there's a group of especially descriptive three-syllable words that can be quite challenging for foreigners to learn. One of word you run across a lot is sokkuri (so-KU-ri), meaning "almost exactly the same as," so if you had a friend who looked like a guy named John, you'd say say "John ni sokkuri desu" (you are the spitting image of John). The Japanese like to do things the proper way, which is expressed in the word shikkari (shi-KAI-ri, proper, correct), and just about the kindest praise you can heap on someone is that they're shikkari shiteiru (they are upstanding and proper in all ways). Another word from this group is "sappari" (sa-PAH-ree, fresh, clean), as in the phrase "sappari shita!" (I feel so refreshed!), said after you get out of a hot bath. Other words from this group include gakkari (gah-KAH-ree), the feeling of being let down or disappointed; kossori (koh-SOH-ree), doing something secretly; and pittari (pi-TAH-ree), describing a perfect fit. Since one valid approach to learning a foreign language is "memorize whatever phrases will make cute female speakers of that language squeal with amusement," consider memorizing some of these words and pulling them out at the right moment to see what happens.

Well, darned if we don't have even more 2008 calendars posted for preorder today. There are lots of nice new calendars up on the site, including the gorgeous upcoming calendar for the all-new Evangelion movies, new Hello Kitty offerings, kanji calendars to learn Japanese with, cute idols like more of the popular "Hao Hao Baby Panda" calendars, several new anime calendars, and a great "Doraemon's Go-Anywhere Door" offering for 2008.

Remember that J-List carries hundreds rare and fun traditional items from Japan, from bento boxes to really high quality yunomi (traditional tea cups) to kanji T-shirt and a variety of Japanese headbands and wooden geta shoes. We also have authentic custom hanko name stamps with your own name rendered in kanji or katakana, a really cool item, and legal for use in Japan, too. The J-List staff will work with you to get just the right characters for your name -- that's all there is to it.

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.

	Bachelor June 2007. Yulia Nova is often compared with Betty Page, and I have to agree, she's something.
	Versus -- Hotaru Akane vs Riko Tachibana. Super battle between Hotaru Akane and Riko Tachibana. Who will in?
	Indies Debut -- Risa Koda. Today we learned the word "sokkuri" meaning "looking exactly the same as." This girl is a "sokkuri-san" (a look-alike) of talented JPOP singer (and kogal) Kumi Koda.
	Angel Amidst Walls vol. 1 ~ Kabe no Naka no Tenshi Jyo. Excellent new manga from Nao Kokonoki. Love the art,
	Push! Art Library. Another outstanding collection of illustrations from Japan.
	Haruhi EX Figure　from Sega -- Nagato Yuki Figure. I love Yuki, she's one of the most interesting characters to come along in a while. And she likes sci-fi books by Dan Simmons, same as me.
	Haruhi EX Figure　from Sega -- Haruhi Suzumiya Figure. Gorgeous Haruhi figure, great for displaying anywhere.
	Rocobo "Raity" ~ Interactive Doggy Pet -- Dark Blue. Several new Rocobo variants on the site. Incidentally, we provide a full translation of the instructions for this, so you can enjoy your cute little pet.
	Cinnamoangels Aluminum Pen Case. I like this new Sanrio character, a trip of Cinnamoroll style angels.
	2008 Calendar -- Neon Genesis Evangelion *Preorder*. The Evangelion 2008 calendar is up for order. It should be good this year!
	RED FUNDOSHI ~ Japanese Macho-ism Underwear. Totally wacky item, real underwear worn by people in the Edo Period. Possibly good for a Halloween costume?
	MITSUAMI ~ Japanese School Girls Braided Hair Set. Become a Japanese school girl with these.
	2008 Calendar -- Seto no Hanayome *Preorder*. Nice 2008 calendar for an anime I want to see personally. (A mermaid meets up with a yakuza family.)
	2008 Calendar -- Mitsuo Aida *Preorder*. Mitsuo Aida is a famous calligraphy artist from Japan. I just love his stuff.
	2008 Calendar -- Doraemon Door *Preorder*. Go anywhere with this cool Doramon 2008 calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- Risa Kudou *Preorder*. Gorgeous 2008 calendar for fans of this lovely idol.
	Black Sesame Sembei. Delicious rice crackers loaded with black sesame.
	Super Mario Light Mascot Swing Strap Full Set of 5. A nice Super Mario Brothers item you can preorder now.

The next Prime Minister of Japan is decided, more thoughts on how the Japanese keep their politics peaceful, and things to do in Tokyo

Well, the race for the leadership of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party is over, and the calm, moderate Yasuo Fukuda has emerged victorious. Japanese leaders need to be consensus-builders, and when LDP politicians compared the calm, steady Mr. Fukuda (71) to his younger, more fiery colleague Taro Aso (66), it didn't take long for them to decide which was the safer choice, even if Fukuda does look like a parody of a Japanese salaryman complete with "bar code hair." While I was hoping for avid anime and manga fan Aso to be chosen -- I can just see the cabinet appointments he'd have made, with Rumiko Takahashi and Katsuhiro Otomo heading up the various government ministries -- I guess I can't fault the lawmakers' logic. Mr. Fukuda happens to be from J-List's home prefecture of Gunma, the fourth Japanese leader to emerge from our sort-of rural, sort-of urban part of the country, and it's no small point of pride here to have so many Prime Ministers springing from this humble land. Mr. Fukuda has promised to continue to support the U.S. in its current operations and work for better ties with China and South Korea. To that end, he's agreed to refrain from visiting Yasukuni Shrine, a private Buddhist temple in Tokyo where thousands of Japanese soldiers are interred, including some of the primary war criminals. That alone will be a refreshing change.

The new Prime Minister is famous for cracking jokes

It was interesting to compare the process by which Japan's next leader was chosen with the way that parties pick candidates back home. There can be a lot of political blood shed between candidates vying for a nomination in the States, yet the two hopefuls for the top LDP job avoided any negativism whatsoever in their statements, speaking nothing but words of praise and respect for each other as they slowly worked to win the trust of their party. One impression I had was that very few people seemed to be involved in the process, with most discussions going on behind closed doors -- which is one of those sho ga nai (it can't be helped) areas of Japanese politics, I guess. One of the words batted around this time was "thoroughbred" (the Japanese sounds funny, サローブレッド, "saro-breddo"), indicating the long history both Mr. Fukuda and Mr. Aso have had in politics, being the son and grandson of former Prime Ministers, respectively. This mattered enormously to the political establishment in this country where true outsiders and political mavericks are few and far between.

I often get asked by readers who are coming to Tokyo for a visit what they should do while here. While the Kanto region of Japan pales in cultural significance to the greatness of cities like Kyoto, Nara, and Himeji about 400 km down the Shinkansen line, there is plenty to see and do here. Tokyo has a lot of beauty to be found, and shrines like Asakusa and Meiji are popular with foreign visitors, or else take a stroll through Ueno Park and check out the many museums found inside. Shopping is always a fun activity, and there's plenty of good things to buy here, from high-end department stores all the way down to the shopping streets of Ameyoko, which grew out of a black market during the occupation of Japan. There are some good short day trips out of the Tokyo region, including the lovely town of Kamakura, home of the second largest Buddha statue in the country; and Nikko, a breathtaking collection of temples and shrines and a 5-story pagoda. Being from San Diego, I've always felt an affinity for our sister city of Yokohama, and that city is definitely great for doing some sightseeing, especially the Chinatown area. Part of the fun of visiting Japan can be going to places you've seen in movies, manga or anime, such as the Shibuya 109 building, or the inverted pyramid of Tokyo Big Sight, or Tokyo Tower, the scale replica of the Eifel Tower featured in dozens of anime series. If you're ever looking for a hotel in Tokyo, I always recommend the Mets Hotel Chain operated by JR, a convenient and modern chain of hotels built into major train stations for extra convenience.

Good news for fans of our large-format 2008 Japanese calendars: we've posted *even more* amazing anime, JPOP and sexy idol calendars to the site, allowing you to browse what we have and put your preorder in now. Japanese calendars are extra-special because the printing is so large and beautiful, and since the calendars are not generally available outside of Japan, they're a unique way to bring a slice of Japan to your life all year long. Today's calendars include the relaxing Rilakkuma ("Relax Bear"), beautiful women like Shoko Hamada and Yuka Kosaka and and China Fukunaga; anime series like Xenoglossia, a great sci-fi series using characters from the IdolMasters universe; a calendar of baby pandas, a calendar that teaches you Japanese, and much more! Browse our 2008 calendars 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

	Best Friend 4 -- Mei Itoya & Rika Asao. Great team up featuring these two lovely girls.
	Aru Manatsu no Dekigoto -- Manatsu Hirose 1st photobook. This is a re-issue of an older book, and Manatsu is such a sweet girl.
	Queen Blade. DVD parodying Queen's Blade, the American character based RPG that has been licensed and turned into the latest "moe" (mo-EH) craze in Japan.
	Intron Depot 3 ~ Ballistics -- Masamune Shirow. Back in print after a long time. One of my favorite art books ever.
	Wendy 1/8 Figure Cast-Off Model ~ Gun Sword *Preorder*. Love this figure. And it's "Cast Off" so you can take off her top. Ahem.
	Mazo Chichi. Super nice manga from a man with a strange name (Erect Sawaru).
	Eclipse 1/7 Figure ~ Tsuki-Hime. New figure in stock for you. Love the 3-D quality.
	Rei from Fist of the North Star ~ Seikimatsu Gekitouroku Figure Collection vol.3. One of my favorite early anime series. These figures are excellent, too!
	NURI-KABE ( from GE GE GE NO KITARO ) Can Case Key Chain . Eerie but cool item from Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro.
	ITTAN-MOMEN ( Japanese Ghost ) Die-cut Memo ~ Shigeru Mizuki. And this is another item. Nice and spooky for Halloween..
	WASABI Powder. An often requested item. Mix it with mayonnaise for something really good.
	Super Head Mask --- SAMURAI. Super samurai wig! Actually it's a plastic head piece, and there's one for girls too.
	2008 Calendar -- Xenoglossia *Preorder*. Great anime that basically uses the Idol Masters characters. Yes, this is cute singing idols in mecha defending the Earth from invaders.
	Happy Time Animal Bento Box Cylinder Shape & Chopsticks ~ PANDA. A great new bento item.
	Lucky Moon Rabbit Display for LOVE. Lucky Cat is popular, so they're making Lucky Rabbit, Lucky Owl, and so on.
	2008 Calendar -- Rilakkuma (Relax Bear) *Preorder*. Relax Bear calendar for 2008, looks good.
	2008 Calendar -- Yuika Hotta *Preorder*. I could make a Mario joke about Yuila being-a very-a Hotta, but I won't-a.
	2008 Calendar -- China Fukunaga *Preorder*. China's name is, of course, pronounced CHEE-nah, and has nothing to do with China, the country.
	Mentos -- Melon Soda & Cream. New Mentos flavor, yum.
	Toppo -- Cassis Mousse & Orange Liqueur. Wow, is all I have to say. Great to see innovation continuing in the J-Snack industry.

More about the "second childhood" you get when learning a language, my daughter's Sports Day, and all about the Toyoya Prius and Tezuka Osamu

Last time I mentioned the "second childhood" I'd enjoyed as a student of Japanese. It's true -- learning a foreign language as an adult is not so different from a child acquiring his first language, and there are many similarities between the two. For example, there's word play, joining this word and that to see what happens as you explore the boundaries of grammar and vocabulary. While native speakers of a given language are shackled by social rules and expectations, new learners are free to be creative since they don't yet know what can't be said. This is where we get phrases like "happiness blows on me" (a shampoo marketing tag line) and "Happy Ice Cream!" (what a kid says when they accidentally say the same thing as their friend) and sports drink named Pocari Sweat. Back when I was an ESL teacher, I had a lot of evening classes teaching English to elementary school kids, and many of the silly jokes they would come up were very amusing to the as-yet unsophisticated Japanese part of my brain. One such joke is Inochi kakeru? (EE-no-chi ka-KEH-roo? 命かける？), which means "Would you bet your life on that?" Since the word kakeru could also mean "to be able to write," the phrase could be alternately taken to mean "Can you write the kanji for 'life'?" (命書ける？) which the other person must promptly demonstrate. I had never heard this joke and laughed heartily at it, although it's about as funny as a screen door on a submarine to Japanese who grew up here. Learning a foreign language is fun because it's one of the few situations where you can act like a child without being self-conscious about it.

Autumn is upon us in Japan, and that means one thing: School Sports Day, a special event held at all elementary schools where kids run relays, do tug-of war, have egg toss competitions, perform dances or brass band numbers that they've been practicing for months, and so on. (The band at my daughter's school plays the Space Battleship Yamato/Star Blazers theme every year without fail.) Tomorrow is our turn to "oo" and "ah" at our daughter's school as the kids celebrate youth and sports, and we've got everything ready, from folding chairs to cameras to bento. Companies know that parents are really "oya-baka" ("parent-fools" who go ga-ga over their own kids), and target them with new devices that will allow them to record their children for posterity. The newest offering from Panasonic promises to put "full hi-vision into Mama's hand" with a small video camera that records 1920x1080 resolution video on SD cards. I'm not sure if smaller electronics are considered a feature for mothers rather than fathers, or if Panasonic is being smart by aiming at the person who controls the household's purse strings (as women usually do in Japan), but it's a darned nice video camera, anyway. (Click here to see this year's commercial. Flash required.)

Recently the Toyota Prius had its 10th anniversary as a shipping product, and to celebrate, Toyota licensed the characters of Osamu Tezuka to promote the successful car. As the creator of many of the early smash hits in manga and animation, Tezuka holds a special place in Japan today as the"God of Manga." He created his first manga at the age of nine, and went on to pen over 150,000 pages during his lifetime. He's credited with inventing the famous large eyes seen in Japanese animation, although he was just imitating Walt Disney and Betty Boop, and he was the first person to successfully bring animation of manga-style images to the television screen. The list of his contributions to Japan's manga and anime world are long, including Jungle Emperor Leo (aka Kimba the White Lion), Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy), Hi no Tori (the Phoenix, one of my all-time favorites), biographical stories about the lives of Buddha and Beethoven, and the long-running Black Jack. Stanley Kubrick was a fan of Tezuka and wanted him on the design staff for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the artist couldn't take the time away from his comics drawing.

We've got even more 2008 Japanese calendars posted to the site for you, ready for you to preorder. Today's new calendar lineup features beautiful women who are extremely popular in Japan now (Mikie Hara, Mami Yamazaki); large glossy calendars for anime that are popular in Japan right now, like Heroic Age, Nagasarete Airantou; cool sports calendars for fans of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Matsui; a new hanging My Neighbor Totoro 3-D calendar for your wall; art calendars featuring the works of Kiyoshi Yamashita and Seiji Fujishiro; a calendar about Shinkansen (Japan's super fast bullet trains); calendars for kids (Pokemon, Hamutaro, Crayon Shinchan), and more! We also have a great 2008 Osamu Tezuka calendar, too, loaded with beautiful images of his memorable characters. Check through our lineup of calendars 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

	Hotaru Akane Platinum Collection 4 Hours. Hotaru-chan can check my temperature any time she wants to.
	Trick Star -- Sayaka Tsutsumi. I've been a fan of Sayaka-chan for a long time. Nice to see this photobook back.
	SOD Huge Labyrinth. A fun concept from SOD. Girls must traverse a long maze if they want to get out. If they make a wrong turn...
	Zenra Bowling. I'm sure this is the first time you've thought of the concept of "all nude bowling."
	Mugen Puchi Puchi -- Endless Pop Pop - White *Preorder*. Pop! Pop! Pop pop! Pop pop pop! Pop pop pop pop! It'll be coming in next month, preorder it now.
	Gush May 2007. New manag for yaoi fans who like their comics thick.
	S cawaii Aug 2007. A fashion magazine from Japan that's certainly super kawaii.
	Claire 1/8 Figure Excellent Model ~ Claymore *Preorder*. Wonderful figure from Claymore that you can preorder now.
	Nihongo Journal Sep 2007. I used this book to great benefit and highly recommend it to you.
	Shirayuri no Kenshi Anthology Comic ~ The Legend of White Lilly Fencer. An anthology of ero manga from a popular game.
	Figure Maniacs vol. 20 Spring 2006. Gorgeous new issue of Figure Maniacs, one of my favorite magazines.
	Onegai JIZO -- Make a wish for Diet . Maybe this is the key to losing weight you've been looking for
	Buddha vol.1 -- Buddhism Statue Collection Full Set of 10. Killer Buddha figures!
	Smile Slime Plush ~ Dragon Quest. Here's the Smile Slime from Dragon Quest, recreated as a large, huggable plush!
	2008 Calendar -- Daisuke Matsuzaka *Preorder*. Sox fan? Here's the official 2008 Daisuke Matsuzaka calendar.
	FUMO-FUMO-SAN 2-tier Bento Box with Chopsticks . Super cute bento added tot he site.
	Felix Gum Box. Felix the Cat Bubble Gum is back on J-List!
	2008 Calendar -- My Neighbor Totoro Daily Herb (No Tube) *Preorder*. Great new Totoro calendar added to the preorder list.
	2008 Calendar -- Osamu Tezuka *Preorder*. I am a big Tezuka fan, having enjoyed his works at several times in my life -- as a child, as a student of Japanese and now as a (presumed) adult in both languages. His Buddhism-influenced themes are very deep and fascinating to read.
	2008 Calendar -- Gackt *Preorder*. Gackt is one of the sexiest men in Japan. He's also a Gundam fan. High five, man!

Learning about Japan through late-night TV, update on international marriage in Japan, and learning Chinese "for free"

I watch more than a little late-night Japanese TV, and I enjoy its light- hearted goofiness. The other night I caught a show featuring Zomahoun, an African from the Republic of Benin who was one of the foreigners to become TV personalities here through a show broadcast a few years ago in which Japanese-bilingual gaijin from various countries would debate issues related to life in Japan on TV. He was being officially initiated into the comedy talent agency run by director Takeshi Kitano, a ceremony which involved the poor man having to put a chameleon in his pants. (This is funny, trust me.) During the show, there was a little window showing a panel of "hosts" who watched the VTR (er, the video feed) along with us, the audience, and the screen would occasionally cut back to these people to get their reaction to what was currently happening. This is a common model for television in Japan -- essentially allowing you, the viewer, to experience something as part of a group alongside TV personalities, to cry with them after watching a moving clip, to laugh as Takeshi hits someone over the head with his little squeaking hammer, and so on. I'm sure the "togetherness" viewers feel from watching along with hosts adds something important (or at least makes people watching TV late at night feel less lonely).

Kokusai kekkon, or international marriage, is more popular than ever, as both Japanese men and women become open to the idea of marrying someone from another country. Currently, around 10% of marriages in Japanese cities are international, amazing considering the fact that the gaijin population of Japan is only around 1.5%. While most of the statistics come from Japanese men marrying women from places like China or South Korea, there are plenty of Japanese women marrying foreigners from the West, too. Japanese females often have a rose-colored view of what it must be like to be married to an American, and my wife's friends often speak enviously of her. "I'll bet your husband does the dishes every night," they'll say (in reality, my wife won't let me in the kitchen, since I mess up her organization). I'm also assumed to hold doors and chairs, cook an occasional romantic meal, and say "I love you" as I head out the door to work every morning (Japanese husbands are famous for never showing affection). Children produced by such a marriage must surely be kawaii, just like having your own living Licca-chan doll (Licca is a popular fashion doll who is half-Japanese, half-French). While I do my best, my wife would be the first to admit that I'm just a regular guy who just happens to be good at noticing things that a normal Japanese husband would miss, like, "if sashimi (刺身) is written with characters that mean 'stabbing meat' then why am I not allowed to stab it with my chopsticks?" We get along not because of what country we're each from, but because of our shared experiences -- we both know how hard it is to learn each other's language, we both grew up watching Mobile Suit Gundam and Fist of the North Star (although in my case, it was my "second childhood" as a Japanese learner, but you know what I mean).

One good thing about learning Japanese: as a bonus, you pick up a little Chinese as well. Since the Japanese writing system is based on kanji, I can figure out the meaning of about 20% of Chinese if I try to read it, which is about the amount of French I get to understand for "free," courtesy of William the Conqueror. I've got a copy of the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD from China, and it's fun to puzzle out what's being said through the subtitles. One big difference is that Chinese lacks a way to express foreign words (katakana), hence words like "Death Star" or "the Force" get translated into kanji, resulting in "star of mortality" (死亡的星） or "the spiritual power" （精力）. Just as eau d'toilette doesn't mean what English speakers think it means the first time we see it, there's some shifting of meanings of kanji words from Chinese to Japanese. The character for "festival" (matsuri、祭) is used for funerals in China, making for some real confusion. In Japanese, the characters hand + paper (手紙) represent a letter you'd write to someone, but the same characters mean "toilet paper" in Chinese. J-List's "Emergency Exit" T-shirt (非常口) has been a popular seller over the years, but these same characters translate as "abnormal mouth" in the language of the Middle Kingdom.

Speaking of kanji, in addition to tasty snacks, plush toys, PC dating-sim games and our patented "wacky things from Japan," we sell a lot of study related items. Today we're posting the top-of-the-line electronic dictionary from Casio, which features about a bazillion internal dictionaries, a great keyboard, backlit screen, support for SD cards and connectivity via USB, and a great kanji input pad that allows you to look up characters by writing it directly, so you can find a kanji even if you don't know how to pronounce it. A great item for serious students of Japanese!

What if you could get a newspaper that showed you exactly the news you wanted to read? Well, that's basically what RSS is. Meaning "really simple syndication," it's a way that websites publish their information in a way that makes it easy to read, either using modern browsers like Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer; dedicated news reading software like SharpReader or NetNewsWire; or my own favorite option, Google Reader. J-List has recently revamped its RSS system, making it easy to watch virtually any part of our site using an RSS reader to see when new products you might be interested appear. In addition to being to access any category feed and view its top products, you can also watch for keywords, just perfect for watching J-List to see when that next rare and interesting thing is going to appear on the site. You can see all feeds here/

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

	Kissui May 2007 vol. 042. Beautiful new "ero" magazine from Japan, with a focus on really good photography.
	How to be a Cosplayer ~ Nareru! Cosplayer. Cool, a book that gives actual information on how to start cosplaying.
	Casio Electronic Dictionary XD-GW9600. The Rolls-Royce of electronic dictionaries is here, the Casio XD-GW9600.
	Zenra Surfing & Water Skiing. The good ideas just keep coming from Soft on Demand.
	Active Service Genuine Nurse -- Ami Kitazawa. Fabulous performance by Ami-chan in his latest release from SOD.
	Quilt -- visual Guide book. Quilt is a popular dating-sim game in Japan, and this is the art book for it.
	Shoxx vol. 174 Aug 2007. Shoxx is, of course, the really cool magazine of gothic rock from Japan/ The new issue is here now.
	Sightseeing in Japan ~ Nihon no Kanko. A guide to sightseeing in Japan. Can't go wrong with this one.
	Love Sister ~ Koi Ne. Wow, a new manga from Benny's! I love his style.
	SAKURA Pierced Earrings. Beautiful sakura themed pierced earrings.
	CLAMP in 3-D Land Trading Figure vol.2 -- Full Set of 5. A new CLAMP in 3-D Land set of figures to go with the one we posted on Monday.
	iCat -- White. iCat is cool, a little pet for your desk who gets funky with music from your iPod. There's a black version too.
	Meiji 100% Pink Grapefruit Juice Gummy. Delicious taste from Meiji.
	Glico Men's Pocky. Men's Pocky is back on the site after the long, hot summer. Note that by Japanese law, only males can buy this. Actually I just made that up.
	Anzen Senshi Condoms -- Gundam Parody. Remember, always wear your spacesuit.
	Kitty Kimono Frame with Sensu *Sakura*. These are totally cool, a 3-D ceramic image of Hello Kitty with her traditional kimono and fans.
	New Hello Kitty Vibrator ~ All Color Set. Got fresh stock of this most popular item. Great gift idea!

"Respect for the Aged Day" in Japan, various ideas about the grammar of Japanese, and the joy of shared popular culture

Today is a holiday in Japan: Keiro no Hi, or Respect for the Aged Day. Celebrated nationally since 1966 -- originally on September 15th, but recently moved to the following Monday under the "Happy Monday" initiative -- it's a day to honor and show respect for the older people in our lives. It's a good idea for Japan, the country with the highest percentage of people aged 65 or older in the world, currently 20% (in case you were curious, Florida has 17%). The number of centenarians in Japan is high, too, more than 32,000, although the U.S. has more due to its higher population. Today there will be TV specials highlighting the lives and accomplishments of older Japanese, and they'll no doubt be asked what their secret for staying so genki (healthy) is -- and the answer will probably be something like, a daily serving of pickled fish intestines over rice. My kids took a train ride to neighboring Maebashi today to buy a present for their grandmother and grandfather. It was their first trip away from home without their parents tagging along, and they were thrilled to be out shopping on their own. If there's an elderly person in your life, why not do something nice for them today?

The grammar of the Japanese language is, of course, very different from English. While there is some debate about the linguistic history -- the best guess seems to be that Japanese and Okinawan represent a unique language group not directly related to any other language, except possibly Korean -- the fact remains that learning Japanese is very different than tackling, say, one of the Romance languages of Europe. First of all, Japanese is a subject + object + verb language, so a sentence like "I study Japanese" would be formatted differently. One of the more unique aspects of Japanese are the grammatical particles, little words that "mark" the parts of your sentence, almost as if you were making a sentence diagram. For example, there's wa, the subject marker, and ga, the other subject marker, aalthough knowing which one to use in a given situation can be tricky. The marker that defines the object of your sentence is o, and the word that indicates direction is ni, or the word "in" spelled backwards -- both very convenient. Although learning Japanese was more of an "alien" experience than studying Spanish, in effect the difference wasn't really that big. I mean, whether the brain is learning to assign arbitrary genders to nouns (la pluma, el lapiz) or learning to deal with sentences with grammatical markers takes written in a syllable-based writing system didn't seem to me to be all that different.

While the various cultural gulfs that separate Japan from the West can feel vast at times, it's also amazing how similar things can be, too. I like to go to karaoke, and have learned my share of Japanese by memorizing songs I wanted to sing there. Once I was asked to sing "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire by a student of mine, who wanted more than anything to hear it sung by a "nama no gaijin" (a foreigner in the flesh). I obliged, amazed at the time that the Japanese would have an affinity for pop music from the 70's. Similarly, my wife has always surprised me with knowledge of obscure American television that was shown in Japan, like Charlie's Angels, Knight Rider and the Greatest American Hero. She was also a big fan of "My Wife is a Witch" (Okusama wa Majo, aka Bewitched), and so we're able to have discussions about which Darren was better, even though we came from opposite sides of the planet. Sharing pop culture is fun!

J-List sells many products from Japan, and one of the most popular categories is our extensive lineup of rare and fun Japanese snacks. Happily, it's cooled off in Japan enough that we can add delicious chocolate snacks to the site again. Today we're happy to have the first new Japan Kit Kat on the site, with two new flavors, yummy Matcha Milk (Green Tea & Milk) and Melon flavor. As usual, you can buy individual boxes of these delicious treats, or buy sealed boxes and get a discount when you check out. Incidentally, Kit Kat in Japan is the "real" stuff, since it's made by Nestle -- Kit Kat in the U.S. is made under license by Hershey's.

Also: 2008 Calendar Season continues, as we post even more cool anime, Japanese idol, sports and other calendars for preorder. Highlights from today's calendars include two great calendars for Gundam fans, both of the original series and the new Gundam 00; popular calendars like Claymore, Clannad, Moetan and Stigma of the Wind; and gorgeous Japanese idol calendars featuring Runa Sawayama, Kaori Manabe and Ayaka Komatsu. Calendars will begin shipping in October, but you can get your preorders in now! All Japanese calendars are printed on beautiful thick paper or film with glossy printing, and are a great way to put a little bit of Japan in your life this year!

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

	Urecco May 2007 vol. 270. The boxing gloves are definitely worth the price of admission, but you also get two DVDs.
	Question Mark Block Sound Plush. Punch it and get the "one coin" sound!
	IE Police Box -- Ai Nagase, Sayaka Tsutsumi. Love these hot "mini skirt police." Can anyone guess who is missing from the lineup?
	Pop of Love -- Eriko Sato. Classic item for Eriko Sato fans (she is the doll who played Cutey Honey in the outstanding film by the director of Evangelion).
	Kera Aug 2007 vol. 109. New issue of Kera, looking very good.
	Megami Magazine Deluxe vol. 9. The one magazine anime fans should never miss.
	Learn Japanese from Gundam ~ Gundam de Eigo wo Minitsukeru Hon. Learn all of Char and Amuro's famous lines in English.
	Japanese Map ~ KYOTO~. A map of Kyoto for your room.
	Feena Fam Earthlight 1/8 Figure ~ Crescent Love. I love this figure, so cute and realistic.
	Lucky Charm for Safe Drive -- TENGU / Long Nosed Goblin Suction Cup Type ~ Red. A good luck charm for "safety driving".
	Chirimen Triangle Pouch with Lucky Frog Charm. Cool accessory from Japan.
	Shiba Wanko Figure Shiba Wanko Figure (Explanation of Seasons in Japan) -- Full Set of 6. Definitely, Shiba Dogs doing cute traditional Japanese things is a winner.
	Koopa Troopa Sound Plush. Cool Nintendo item! Kick it and make your enemies fall down!
	Bull Dog Worcestershire Sauce. I love the varioous sauces from Bull-Dog. Now you can try them too.
	Nestle Kit Kat -- Green Tea Milk. Matcha and Milk Kit Kat, that's just so cool.
	2008 Calendar -- Gundam 00 *Preorder*. I have to say, the new Gundam series looks like it might be really good.
	2008 Calendar -- Claymore *Preorder*. Claymore is another series that's getting buzz right now. Here is the 2008 calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- Runa Sawayama *Preorder*. Runa-chan, back again to temp me with a new calendar, I see!
	2008 Calendar -- CLANNAD *Preorder*. I really got into Kanon, so I know I'll be watching Clannad when it comes out. The word is Gaelic for "family."

The possibility of Japan's first "otaku" Prime Minister, various thoughts on bilingualism, and all about Japanese health drinks (and other potions)

The rush is on to choose a successor to Prime Minister Abe after his sudden resignation on Wednesday. I saw that some of the newspapers in the U.K. were calling for a bolder, more dynamic Japanese leader this time, and I agree, although I know what a challenge it's likely to be. The difference between a Prime Minister and a President is, of course, that the former is chosen by his party and the latter is chosen directly by voters, essentially making a Japanese leader's relationship with the other members in his party more important in a way than that of his own people. In group-oriented Japan, it's difficult for any individual leader to stand out too much without being knocked back in line by his peers, an effect known as deru kui wa utareru or "the standing nail will be hammered down." It seems that any show of real imagination in a politician leads to them immediately being opposed by just about everyone, and Japan has gone through 11 PMs since I've been in Japan, where Britain has had just three. That's why Junichiro Koizumi was such a breath of fresh air in Japanese politics -- a charismatic bachelor who liked rock music, a maverick who had the popularity to chop much of the deadwood out of the Old Guard of Japanese politics and reign in Japan's (largely wasteful) public works projects. He even looked like George Washington. Currently the leading candidate to replace Abe looks to be Taro Aso, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the past two governments. Although everything is still very much up in the air, he is an interesting candidate, having studied at Stanford and in London. He's also a big fan of anime culture, and was the force behind the creation of a "Nobel Prize in Manga" to promote Japan's pop culture around the world. He reads thirty manga volumes a week, and I hear he likes Rozen Maiden. Could we be looking at Japan's first otaku Prime Minister? Or will former Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukada, who happens to be from our prefecture of Gunma (Yasu lives in his district) be able to get more support?

After living in Japan for 15+ years, my language skills are as good as I need them to be. But bilingualism is never absolute, a fact I am reminded of whenever I turn the channel and catch Raw Debate Until Morning, a news discussion program broadcast every couple of months in which politicians and economists debate the issues of the day from midnight all the way til the sun comes up on live television -- that show is hard to follow. When you're learning a foreign language, it's important to get input from a variety of sources. I had a Japanese friend who arrived in the U.S. and taught herself English by watching daytime soap operas, and as a result she was really good at any conversation involving romance or adultery, but not much else. Like many anime fans interested in learning Japanese, I got a lot more exposure to anime and manga than from any other source, and I learned at some cost that people don't really speak like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. It's better to broaden your interest, exploring different kinds of media like Japanese music, Japanese dramas or films, and whatever else seems interesting.

Ever heard of Zena, Yunker and Aspara? They're Japanese energy drinks, a major category of product in Japan that promises to improve your health, remove tiredness and give you the energy you need to be successful in business. Although the small single-serving bottles usually provide nothing more than caffeine and vitamins in a sweet syrup, the marketing muscle behind the drinks has turned them into a consumer sub-culture, Japan style, and Japan consumes more energy and sports drinks than any other country. The first health drink was Lipovitan, released in 1962 by Taisho Pharmaceutical, and it's still the industry leader, with a staggering 2 million bottles sold every day. For four decades Lipovitan's TV commercials featuring a pair of burley men who cry out Faito! Ippatsu! ("Fight! One more push!") as they perform some athletic activity have been as famous as Mr. Whipple (er, is he still famous? I've been in Japan too long to know for sure). Back in the 90s another Japanese energy drink, Regain, served as a symbol of the differences between Japan, Inc. and the U.S., and their current commercial showing Japanese businessmen scaling a building in their eagerness to get to work is one of their best ever. In addition to giving you back your "genki" (pep), some of these energy drinks promise to revitalize men (wink wink) with Chinese herbs, cure your cold symptoms, and remove your hangover in record time.

Speaking of energy drinks, all Japan has been buzzing about the Final Fantasy 10th Anniversary Potion, an extremely limited boxed set that includes a gorgeous potion in a glass and metal container and a commemorative art book, which seemed to sell out completely in Tokyo's otaku mecca of Akihabara today. Although supply has been extremely limited, we've been able to get some stock of this item for J-List customers. Featuring the official logo of the Shinra Company, it's a great item that all FF7 fans should be sure and check out. Get yours before they're gone!

We've gotten another volley of 25+ new 2008 Japanese calendars posted for you, with some of this year's best offerings now up for order. For Studio Ghibli fans, there are two outstanding calendars for featuring Totoro with the famous bus stop (great design!) and Jiji the Cat that you can hang on your wall. Want to explore some of the anime popular in Japan right now? Check out Code Geass or Hayate the Combat Butler. Love beautiful Japanese women? Check out the 2008 glossy calendars for Waka Inoue, or the gorgeous Hitomi Aizawa or Saki Aibu. How about the cool Shinkansen calendar this year, showing Japan's bullet trains all year long? For the steamier side to Japan's calendar world, we recommend Yuma Asami's amazing large-format calendar, or the fabulous new release from Mihiro. Preorder the calendars you want 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

	Sukusui vol. 14 Dec 2006. I approve of these attractive women in really sexy swimsuits.
	Suntory Final Fantasy Premium Potion　Set ~ Shinra Company version.. By massive customer request, we've secured limited stock of the Final Fantasy Premium Potion Set, which comes with a gorgeous glass & metal potion that you can really drink, and a cool book. The potion bottle is refillable!
	Akiba Idol AV Debut -- Emi Midorikawa. Very attractive woman, in her debut release.
	Hand Made ~ Tsutomu Nishitsuki Collection. I am bowled over by the realism in the "furry" girls in this great illustration book.
	Haruhi Suzumiya 1/6 Figure High School Uniform ver. with Guiter *Preorder*. We have a Haruhi figure you can preorder. Very nice detail in this 1:8 scale figure.
	2008 Calendar -- Mihiro. I am thrilled with the sexy new Mihiro 2008 calendar.
	In Case of Emergency, Commit Seppuku Here (Girl's Fitted). We've gotten in a girl's fitted version of our popular "In case of emergency, commit cut here" shirt.
	2008 Calendar -- My Neighbor Totoro (No Tube). Every year there's a great Totoro desktop calendar sold, and this year's is great -- the Totoro bus stop! Amazing!
	2008 Calendar -- Kiki's Delivery Service (No Tube). There's a nice Kiki's Delivery Service calendar made every year too, and this one's is great -- a 3-D Jiji the Cat you can hang on your wall.
	Japanese Mug -- Take a Breath & Relax. Love the message on this coffee cup.
	KERO-PYON ~ Lucky Frog Pair Netsuke. Cute frogs for your cell phone.
	Clamp in 3D Land Trading Figure vol.3 -- Full Set of 5. I am a CLAMP fan, although I've gotten behind in the series I watch. This is the ultimate CLAMP figure collection.
	Powder Instant Green Tea (Matcha). Instant tea ceremony, wherever you are!
	Revoltech No.029 -- Toro. Incredibly cute character from a line of Playstation games. He will look great on your desk.
	Glico Pachi-Pero -- Pop Rocks in Chocolate. This is amazing -- chocolate with pop rocks inside!
	Glico Original Pocky -- New Package Debut!! The new Original Pocky for 2007 is here!
	Room Deodorizer ~ RAMAUNE Scent. Like Ramune? Why not breath it every time you go into your bathroom?
	2008 Calendar -- Code Geass. This is the show to watch in Japan right now, and this is the new calendar for it.
	DORAEMON Mini Schedule Book 2008 version . I don't know why but I love the way this Doraemon diary is put together.
	Easy Training Chopsticks --- Brown . More training chopsticks for you.
	2008 Calendar -- Waka Inoue. There are many great sexy idol calendars up on the site.
	2008 Calendar -- Hitomi Aizawa. Enjoy 2008 with the lovely Hitomi-chan on your wall.
	2008 Calendar -- The Dog All Star. We get signal! Main screen turn on! Some one has set us up The Dog!
	2008 Calendar -- Super Express. All Japanese boys like trains, and in honor of that I present the 2008 Shinkansen calendar.

Just some random pics I had in my camera. Does Starbuck's sell a scoop of ice cream in their ice coffee? They're missing out here...

This is from our favorite Kyoto style ramen restaurant. They specialize in matcha stuff, and the matcha ice (meaning matcha ice cream) is just delicious.

In Karuizawa there's this little cafe that (oddly) serves great yakiniku (Korean BBQ) inside. Cooked over actual coals!

In commemoration of the release of the iPod Touch, I thought I'd give you my favorite wallpaper. I love this Haruhi pic.

Or if you're a Heroes fan, this works too...

Frustration at teaching English in Japan, "sorry" to see Prime Minister Abe go, how to pronounce Japanese, and "see you later, bald person"

My wife has decided to volunteer at my daughter's elementary school as an assistant in the English classes they have once a week. I knew it was a bad idea to have her help out, since English education here is not exactly the model of our tax dollars well spent, and I knew it would frustrate her. The lessons are taught by a Japanese teacher rather than a native English speaker, although there is a separate English lesson another day that has a native gaijin -- maybe it's to instill in the kids a sense that "English" and "English conversation" are separate and should never be confused. As with all English classes here, the lesson began with the ubiquitous "How are you? Fine, thanks, and you?" (My daughter likes to throw a wrench into the works there, saying, "Actually, I've got a headache, so I don't feel fine at all" just to see the looks on the teacher's face.) For the first half of the class, the students listened to an audio tape that taught English phonetics ("ba-NA-na, not BA-na-na"). Things went pretty smoothly until the teacher started having the students repeat "I can skating! I can skiing!" My wife desperately wanted to correct the teacher's erroneous English, but could never do so in front of the students, and in the end, she wasn't even able to bring the issue up with after the class was over. Incidentally, the funny English phrase among elementary school kids in Japan is to say "See you hage!", substituting the word for "bald" (HAH-gay) for the English word "again," resulting in "See you, bald person!" Now you can amaze your Japanese friends with this fun phrase.

We've got some breaking news for you today: Shinzo Abe has just announced that he'll be stepping down as Japan's 90th Prime Minister. The issues are many, but in the end his inability to bring about any of his major goals and his party's poor showing at the recent elections caused him to throw in the towel. Japan's youngest-ever Prime Minister and the first born after World War II, he got off to a good start, trying to bring the theme of a "Beautiful Country, Japan" to his administration. Bad luck set in quickly, though, with several scandals, including the problem of missing National Pension payments (which stemmed from the 1980s, so it's not really his fault) and some impropriety with public funds on the part of his Minister of Agriculture that resulted in the man committing suicide. One of the biggest defeats was the fight with the opposition parties over the continuing participation of Japan's support for the U.S. War on Terror, especially supplying oil to U.S. ships off Afghanistan. Mr. Abe's timing is odd since he just gave a speech to the Diet two days ago in which he outlined many of his new ongoing policies, then he quits two days later. One interesting thing about Japanese politicians: they never really leave. Even after major scandals that cause Prime Ministers to step down, they often hold onto their Diet seats, sometimes for a decade or longer. So if you need Abe-san for any reason, he'll probably still be around.

Every once in a while I like to revisit the rules of Japanese pronunciation, since I distinctly remember looking at at a book called Flying Origami as a child and wondering how the heck I was supposed to pronounce this incredibly alien word. First, understand that Japanese is a syllable-based language, meaning that sounds always come in consonant + vowel syllable pairs (e.g. ka, ki, ku, ke, or ko, never just a "k" sound by itself), or as a single vowel syllable. The exception is the letter "n," the only consonant that can appear by itself, without which we wouldn't have the word "ramen" (and that would be a travesty). Vowels are easy as pie in Japanese -- there are only five, identical to the ones in Spanish. They are:

A - "ah" rhyming with "fall"
I - "ee" rhyming with "feel"
U - "oo" rhyming with "fool"
E - "eh" rhyming with "let"
O - "oh" rhyming with "go"

Some things to keep in mind. First of all, discard if you can the spelling rules of English, like double "o" being read like "soon" and the "silent e" on the ends of words. Every syllable is pronounced, so that beach volleyball idol Miwa Asao's last name would be pronounced "ah-sah-oh." Although America had a famous president named Honest Abe, the current Japanese Prime Minister (for a few more days anyway) is pronounced "AH-beh." There is no short "a" sound (as in "cat") in Japanese, so if you find yourself saying words like kanji (Chinese characters) or the final syllable of ichi man (the number 10,000) like the word "at" or "fan," try to say "KAHN-ji" and "ee-chi MAHN" instead. If you're interested in learning Japanese, I always recommend textbooks and study guides that force you to work in the "native" Japanese writing system, hiragana, as its much easier to pronounce well if you move away from Romanized Japanese. The Kanji Practice Flashcards from White Rabbit are an example of a really good system for learning, as they avoid writing any Japanese words in the Roman alphabet, forcing you to learn to read and pronounce correctly.

Announcing the return of Pocky to J-List! Every summer we're forced to remove all chocolate items from the site, due to the heat and humidity of Japan in the warmer months. Now that it's cooled off some, we're happy to announce that Pocky is back! We're posting delicious Marble Pocky, brand new for the season: see Green Tea and and Mild & Bitter on the site now. As always, you can buy shrinkwrapped boxes of 10 and get an extra discount.

2008 Calendar Season continues at J-List, as we add even more great anime, JPOP, Japanese bikini idol, and other large-format 2008 Japanese calendars posted for you to check out now. From pretty faces like Yuko Ogura or Maki or the cute girls of Morning Musume to the all-new Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex calendar by Shirow Masamune to great animation calendars like Gintama, Inuyasha and more, J-List has a great way to bring a little bit of Japan to your wall all year long. Calendars can be preordered now, and will start shipping in October. Check out our great lineup 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

	Slender Girl -- Hinano Momosaki. Hinano-chan makes her debut.
	Glico Marble Pocky -- Green Tea Chocolate. Welcome back, Pocky! We really missed you during the summer. How cool to have the Green Tea Pocky available so early in the season (usually they make us wait for it).
	B's Log Jul 2007. Great "BL" game magazine for yaoi fans.
	Ayanami Dai Ikkai ~ Ayanami No 1. Eva hentai doujinshi by the creator of Brave Soul -- oo!
	Castle in the Sky Laputa 2008 Schedule Book . This is the 2008 Schedule Book for Laputa fans. A fantastic item from Studio Ghibli!
	Neko Bus (Cat Bus) 2008 Schedule Book . This is the Cat Bus version, for Totoro fans.
	Transformer Ultimate Bumblebee . For fans of Transformers, this is the coolest toy we've seen in a while, the Ultimate Bumblebee. So fun to transform!
	Vegetable Sunshine Buddies (Nohohon Zoku) -- Tomato. Sunshine Buddies (aka Hidamari no Tami) are back, with more solar powered goodness for you.
	Hiragana Times Oct 2007 No. 252. The new issue of Hiragana times, a great way to learn about Japan. Printed in both languages!
	2008 Calendar -- Yuko Ogura. Yuko Ogura is another longtime favorite of mine, and of J-List customers in general. She comes form the planet Korin. Did you know that?
	2008 Calendar -- Ghost in the Shell. Man, the Ghost in the Shell calendar looks great!
	Star Wars *Limited Edition* R2-TK ~ Make a Wish Foundation. If you are a Star Wars fan, this is the coolest R2 unit to come along in a while.
	Hello Kitty Band-Aid Set 8pcs (A type). Very stylish band-aids from Sanrio.
	DX Genuine Earthenware Rice Bowl & Cup Set --- Old Kanji Pattern / Blue. These are really cool to hold and touch. Hard to describe, but because they're well made, they're much lighter than you expect them to be.
	2008 Calendar -- Galaxy Express 999. I am a Leiji Matsumoto fan, and am thrilled at the Galaxy Express calendar available this year.
	2008 Calendar -- Maki Goto. Maki Goto (aka Maki Gotoh) is the girl who made Morning Musume a household name. Now she's all grown up and has her very own sexy calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- Bondage Nude. Every year there is a Bondage Nude calendar, filled with photography of really beautiful women and lots of ropes. Here is this year's.
	2008 Calendar -- Petit Evangelion. Petite Evangelion, how cute!
	2008 Calendar -- Inuyasha. Inuyasha fans, there's a calendar for you too.

More about "standing out in a crowd," what Steven Spielberg has to do with learning Japanese, and ways that Japanese people save space

I talked last time about how the dynamic of "standing out in a crowd" can work a little differently when 98.5% of the people around you are of similar genetic and cultural stock. It may be hard for Westerners to believe, but the idea of being futsu (foo-TSOO), meaning usual or normal or the same as everyone else, has a much more positive image here than it might in the U.S. and Europe. It's interesting to see how advertisers pay attention to the delicate balance between Japanese consumers' natural desire to fit in with society at large with the yearning to be a little "unique." While few in Japan would like to think of themselves as strange (hen) or even different (chigau), I've seen the term chotto kawatteru ("just a little different") used to promote products aimed at young people -- if you use this eyeliner or lip gloss, you'll be a tiniest shade different from your classmates. You can almost feel the copywriters straining to find just the right word that will appeal to viewers without alienating them by going too far. During one of Kodak's attempts at making market share gains in the Japanese film market, they hired pretty actress Asuka Seto who brandied a bright yellow Kodak camera around while walking through a Japanese temple. "What's so bad about standing out?" she proclaimed in the commercial.

That Steven Spielberg, he's really good at making movies. You could say he's "Jaws." In Japanese, the word for being "good at" something is jozu (JOH-zoo), which happens to be how the English movie title Jaws is pronounced, hence making a fun (?) little pun. Making word connections like this is one of the ways I helped myself learn the language -- I still remember doodling a little shark coming out of the water in my textbook next to this word -- and it's one way to help "trick" your brain into remembering new information. Coming up with mnemonic ways to learn Japanese is quite helpful. For example, you might picture famous Beatle Ringo Starr eating an apple (which is ringo in Japanese), or the classic shinu (to die), which I memorized using the sentence "She knew he was going to die." Having trouble remembering the word yurasu, to shake? Well, get out on the dance floor and shake yurasu! The word nobiru means to stretch, to extend, but if you don't reach out for the frosty mug on the counter, you'll get no beer. The word for duck in Japanese is ahiru, but a duck with a cape might just be a hero. And so on. Learning languages is fun because it gives you insight into how your own brain works. I'll bet that when we all learned our first language, something similar was going on in our own brains, and "baby talk" is just the verbal expression of this.

How would you feel if the owner of the Round Table Pizza in your neighborhood lived on the second floor of the restaurant with his family, and as you went in to eat you could catch a glimpse of his wife hanging their laundry on the balcony above? This wouldn't be rare in Japan at all, a country where usable land is scarce and people must be more efficient with it. As a result, a whole range of businesses from beauty parlors to convenience stores to the liquor shop that my Japanese family runs are built with the shop and the living area in the same unit. There are even koban (police boxes) which feature a small police station below and a space for the officers stationed there to eat and sleep upstairs. In cities like Tokyo, it's common to see family restaurants like Denny's raised off the ground, so that the entire restaurant occupies the second floor, leaving a cavernous parking lot for customers underneath. Although Western-style beds are getting more and more common (my wife's parents just bought the first beds they've ever owned in their lives), traditional futons, which fold up and slide into the closet when not in use, are a great space-saver. If you've ever been to Japan, you might have noticed those toilets with a faucet at the top, which lets you wash your hands with the new water as it flows into the tank, eliminating the need for a separate sink.

2008 Japanese Calendars Season started two weeks ago with the initial posting of the gorgeous Japanese photography, sushi, bento, and traditional calendars we bring you every year. Today we're happy to a announce the second big volley of great calendars, including our most popular anime, JPOP/JROCK, idol and other offerings. As usual, it's interesting to see which Japanese entertainer will grab the coveted "CL-1" slot, reserved for the most popular "talent" in Japan that year. In past years its been singers Amuro Namie, Kumi Koda and Ayumi Hamasaki, actress Aya Ueto, and so on. This year the top slot was grabbed by Masami Nagasawa, the cute-as-a-button actress who was voted the girl most Japanese men would like to marry. We've posted 40+ new 2008 calendars for you today, including red-hot anime calendars (Bleach, Naruto, Death Note), new anime you may not have discovered yet (D.Gray-Man, Katekyo Hitman), true classics (Totoro, Studio Ghibli), JPOP calendars (BoA, Ayumi Hamasaki), beautiful idols (Aki Hoshino, Satomi Ishihara), and more. There's even a great 2008 Domo-kun calendar this year. Browse our extensive selection 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." To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Zenra Opera. You know about the Zenra series, right, with all-nude sports and ballet and what not? This is Zenra Opera -- yes, I am amazed too. Who says Japan isn't cultured?
	2008 Calendar -- My Neighbor Totoro. This is the 2008 Totoro calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- Domo-Kun. Domo! Raarr!
	Dengeki Comic Gao! Oct 2007. Cool new issue of Dengeki Comic Gao! Gao means "roar" by the way, in case you're not up on your Japanese sound words.
	"Keshi-Piyo" Bird Shaped Standing Correction Tape Dispenser. Cool correction tape dispenser, looks great!
	Tea Cat Coin Bank Feng Shui Version ~ Rose Hip. You've heard of Ochaken, aka Tea Dog? This is his friend, Tea Cat.
	3D Oppai Mouse Pad -- Miyako Miyamura from ef. The, um, recommended mouse pads for otaku.
	Dulce Report 9. Outstanding new Dulce Report from the futanari-meisters at Behind Moon.
	Pinky Street -- PK018 ~ Puff Sleeve Blouse. New Pinky Street figure that you can change the clothes of very easily. So fashionable.
	The Kinohitoshi Collection - Expression of Love. I have been a fan of Kinohitoshi for a long time, ever since his manga about the girl in the marching band.
	Glico Mini Milk Pocky. The first new Pocky of fall 2007!
	2008 Calendar -- Aki Hoshino. Aki-chan, you're looking lovely too, in your 2008 calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- BLEACH (A). Bleach is always a popular item each calendar season. There are two this year.
	2008 Calendar -- Masami Nagasawa. Well, Masami-chan has bagged the #1 spot this year, and we wish her well. She plays a mean Minami-chan in the live action of Touch.
	2008 Calendar -- Aya Ueto. Aya-chan's 2008 calendar is nice too.
	2008 Calendar -- Misaki Ito. Oh, Misaki-chan, why do you appear in every cool drama for otakus to drool over you?
	2008 Calendar -- Studio Ghibli. The Studio Ghibli calendar is, of course, a legend every year. It features *all new art* on *every luscious page*!
	2008 Calendar -- D.Gray-man. One of the reasons our calendars are cool is, you can learn about cutting edge anime that isn't showing in the U.S. yet.
	2008 Calendar -- Death Note. Death Note is also really popular. Enjoy this great poster-sized calendar for 2008.

A big typhoon pummels Japan, thoughts on the concept of "standing out" and a fun word of Japanese for you

September is storm season in Japan, as we were reminded when Typhoon Fitow -- designated boringly as Typhoon No. 9 here in Japan -- gave the country a good pummeling yesterday. While the majority of typhoons tend to threaten the southern islands like Okinawa and Kyushu, this strong storm landed smack in the Kanto area, bringing buckets of rain and winds of up to 108 kph/67 mph right into Tokyo and moving up the main Japanese island of Honshu. Throughout the country, flights were cancelled, Shinkansen stopped running, and even several subway lines had to be closed down due to strong winds, which stranded thousands. Our house shook like a continual earthquake, but aside from downed branches and scattered debris, there was no major damage.

In a monocultural place like Japan, the idea of "standing out" is viewed a little differently than how it would be in America or Europe, and living as a foreigner here means being at peace with sticking out a bit. As a general rule, whenever I go to the movies, head to the public bath or participate in some activity with my daughter's Girl Scout Troop, I'm likely to be the only foreigner around, and that means I'll often be getting more than my share of attention. This will take the form of a general awareness of my being there, so I go out of my way to use polite Japanese in public to make a good impression, and I make sure my kids use polite Japanese too, or speak English. There are times my unique status in Japan can work to my advantage, since most people who meet me once will remember my name, as I'm the only foreigner they've talked with all year, or perhaps in many years. While adults are polite about not staring, children often don't know better, and I've had gaijin friends who really couldn't handle having kids watching them all the time. (I find its better to strike up a conversation with the kids in Japanese to reassure them that I'm not from Mars.) It's not like there are so few foreigners in our city that Japanese people are shocked when they see one; rather, it's that the bulk of the gaijin population here, which are from countries like Brazil and Peru and Pakistan, don't cross into straight "Japanese" territory as much as I do, and hence I find myself in situations where there are no other foreigners around me more often than not.

When you study Japanese, you have to learn more than just grammar, vocabulary and the writing systems -- you need to get used to the subtlety of the language, of what is said directly and what is simply assumed. This can sound impossibly hard at first, but with practice and experience students can pick it up. One word that describes the famous vagueness of Japanese is nantonaku, which can be translated as "by feeling" "for some reason" or "without thinking about it." Often, comprehending Japanese is a mixture of considering what is said and what is silently understood, for example, picking up the subject of a sentence even though it's omitted. I found the best way to expose myself to the vagueness of spoken Japanese was to read lots of manga, which gave me a constant source of input of spoken language, since manga is almost entirely dialogue. If you want to surprise a Japanese person, memorize this word. If they ask you why you know something they don't expect foreigners to know, just answer "Nantonaku." ("Don't ask me, I just know.")

Remember, you can now get your very own custom-made kanji name stamp from J-List, with our Custom Hanko Service. Choose one of three Japanese name stamps and let us know what kanji characters or message you'd like printed on the stamp, and the J-List staff will work with you to come up with the best kanji for you, then make your stamp. Stamps can be made using hiragana, katakana, kanji, or even the Roman alphabet.

This month's "Game of the Month" is Sensei 2 from G-Collections. One of the most popular games released by the company, your goal is to find love and more with your new teacher. A gorgeous game by Hirohisa Onikubo who is a talented manga-ka as well. The game is available at a special price this month -- check it out 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

	More and More -- Rin Aoki. Rin Aoki is, ahem, a very healthy woman, I'd say.
	Shirt and Eyeglass -- Maki Ogawa. New photobook for fans of meganekko.
	You Know You've Been In Japan Too Long.... Ha! I've long been the editor of the "YBIJTLW" list, and now someone's made a book of it...
	Cure vol. 46 May 2007. Great visuals in the new issue of Cure. I love the J-Rocker with the "Cats" prosthetic on his face.
	Kanna no Suigyo 2 ~ Kanna's Intimacy 2. If I ever discovered I were immortal, I would learn to draw as well as this guy...
	Toshihide Sano Illustrations. Man, is this guy an amazing illustrator, or what?
	Pinky Street -- PK016 ~ Clover Print One-piece. Incredibly cute Pinky Street figure, which just came in. So fun and fashionable!
	Pinky Street -- PK017 ~ Cool Gray Suit. This is the other one we're posting today. Very boyish and proper.
	BLUE DRAGON Bento Set ~ Tight 2-tier Box & Chopsticks. Blue Dragon is getting really popular in Japan. It's "the" anime to watch these days, and so we're posting this great bento box to the site.
	Japanese Sake Brand "Scissors Bag" w/ Carabiner ~ Shira-Yuki -- Black. "The mountain is Mt. Fuji. The sake is Shirayuki."
	Onegai JIZO -- Lucky Monk ~ Fortune. Cute little Japanese god who will bring you good luck.
	DX Women's Satin Kimono with Maiko in Kyoto Pattern ~ Pink. A cool kimono from Japan for you.
	Hello Kitty Training Chopsticks. Hello Kitty training chopsticks. Great for little hands.
	Kabaya Stone-Baked Sweet Potato Pretzel. Delicious sweet potato snacks, which taste just like stone-baked yaki-imo.
	Baby Star Ramen Snack -- Chowmein . If I had to pick just three Japanese snacks to take on a desert island, this would be one of them.
	Arcueid Brunestud 1/8 Figure ~ Melty Bood. Fantastic character from the popular Japanese Playstation game.

This is the inside of a Japanese hospital. I couldn't take pictures with all the old people there, so I chose this hallway.

What kind of stomach do YOU have?

Uh, that's me. Now you know more about me than my wife.

An advertisement for Japanese nurses. I guess they don't have enough of them. As with the U.S. Japan is importing nurses from the Philippines.

My car, during the typhoon.

I happened to see some guy's Cadillac Escalade. Can you imagine what cojones it takes to drive one of those giant cars in Japan?

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...

Learning about Japan through traditional calligraphy, interesting trends on Japanese television, and all about the word "Domo"

One way to learn about Japan is through its traditional calligraphy, which uses a writing brush called a fude (FOO-day) to write beautiful characters on paper. Japanese brush calligraphy is called "shodo," the Way of Writing, one of the Japanese arts that gets the character for "road" or "way" on the end, like Judo, Aikido, Kendo, and Nintendo (just kidding about that last one). Shodo is taught in Elementary School to encourage appreciation of the art, and it's common for kids to attend an evening "calligraphy school" to get better and writing with a brush. Even if you don't read Japanese it can be interesting to learn about how brush calligraphy works -- even the lowly kanji for the number '1' (just a horizontal line, e.g. 一) can be fun to learn to write in correct shodo style. Since assembling a writing brush, ink tray and ink can be quite a chore, the Japanese have invented the fude pen, with a flexible brush-like tip that lets you write as if you were using a traditional writing brush. J-List just happens to have these pens freshly restocked, along with books that help you get started, a Magic Calligraphy Practice Sheet that lets you write with water, calligraphy calendars for 2008, wacky Japanese T-shirts featuring calligraphy designs, and more!

Japanese television is always interesting, with a broad mix of entertaining things to watch. You can see variety shows featuring popular "talents" being cute or funny on camera, documentaries about various topics such as ways that rural towns are dealing with declining populations, or travel shows where famous people drive around rural Japan, bathe in hot springs and eat delicious food while viewers watch. The most popular genre of television is the drama, and the TV listings are filled with various shows aimed at different groups of viewers. It's quite common for dramas to be based on popular manga stories, such as the currently running live-action serialization of Hana-Kimi, the story of a girl who falls in love with a boy she sees at a track-and-field competition; she decides to go to the same high school as him, although since it's a boy's school it means she has to disguise herself as a male. Another sub-group of dramas involves Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries in which unlikely female characters must solve murder cases the police can't crack. One humorous show I caught was called Stewardess Deka, about three JAL flight attendants who flew around the country solving crimes. Anime is also popular, of course, with children's shows like Sazae-san and Pocket Monster DP at the top of the ratings. Oddly, "prime time" for more involved anime series like the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is...2 am? Apparently most otaku don't keep very normal hours.

If you ever need to communicate with Japanese people but don't know the language, just remember Domo. Domo is an all-purpose Japanese term that essentially means "very" and is found in such phrases as Domo arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much), Domo sumimasen (excuse me [very much]), and even Domo otsukaresama deshita (thank you for working so hard), said at the end of the day when you leave work. If you can't memorize these phrases, just remember the word Domo, since Japanese people use this word all the time, leaving the rest of the words unsaid (since they're picked up from the context anyway) -- the Japanese just love to keep their language as vague as possible. So when in a situation where it might be handy to have a Japanese word at hand, just whip out your Domo and you'll probably be okay. NHK's popular Domo-kun character, which has become a phenomenon all over the world, essentially exists to teach kids to bow to people they meet and say domo, promoting good manners.

Speaking of Domo, we're happy to announce a youth size version of our popular "Domo-kun face" T-shirt, a super item for smaller fans of Japan's cutest spokesmonster. Now your young ones can proudly sport our cool Domo-kun designs, with standard youth size S, M and L in stock. We've also lowered the price of all youth size T-shirts as well as our youth-size "tatami sandals" from Japan, which will surely be appreciated by anyone looking for things for today's Japan-focused kids.

2008 Calendar season has started, and that means soon J-List will be loaded to the gills with gorgeous large-format glossy calendars soon. We've posted another volley of fabulous Japanese calendars that are usually only available in the domestic market, including fabulous calendars of traditional Japanese art, Japanese gardens, bonsai, Japanese proverbs written in beautiful calligraphy, and more. Want to see the most beautiful temples in Japan? We've got several great calendars. Like bento or sushi? We've got calendars for those too. Lovely Yuko Ogura in a kimono? Got it. Oh, our Japanese calendars make great gifts as well!

Remember that J-List has hundreds of delicious snacks in stock, including great items for anime fans. Whether it's eating your favorite Japanese stick snack, enjoy traditional Kompeito five-colored Japanese candy, or eating Sakuma Drops candy from that happy movie Grave of the Fireflies, J-List makes is possible to actually eat your anime obsession. We also have the super-cool Evangelion Doritos, featuring Rei Ayanami and the Eva-00 and Shinji Ikari and his Eva-01. Current stock is limited so don't miss out on this fun treat.

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 014 Aug 2007. New issue of Sabra. Aki-chan is looking lovely as always.
	Japanese T-shirt "Domo-kun" (Youth size). By customer request, we've brought out the Domo Face T-shirt in kid's sizes. And knocked the price down too.
	Biiku -- Mizuki Horii. Wow, is all I can say. 93 cm seems to be the perfect bust size.
	Beyond Polite Japanese: A Dictionary of Japanese Slang and Colloquialisms. Learn all that slang you've been wainting to know.
	Kanon visual Memories . I am a big fan of Kanon, and I'm glad to see this great book come out. I, uh, need one for myself.
	Fude Oroshichaimashita ~ Initial Lesson. Wow, we're all about calligraphy today. For some odd resaon, "to put down the writing brush" is a euphemism for losing one's virginity.
	Ayanami Kuro. Gorgeous Rei Ayanami themed doujinshi. This isn't just well drawn, it's well written. I was fascinated by the story.
	Giri Giri Sisters. Great new manga from Megastore.
	2008 Calendar -- Brilliant Japanese Beauty *Preorder*. Enjoy the artistic beauty of Japan with this gorgeous upcoming calendar.
	Hello Kitty Strawberry Pretzel. Hello Kitty Pretz, that's got to be a lot of fun.
	Chocobo Spoon. Official spoon of Final Fantasy fans.
	iDog Happy Version -- Blue. iDog is back with great new colors. So cute, he dances! And the bog has funny English on it!
	Revoltech No.020 -- Type-J9 Griffon ~ Patlabor. I am not so up on my Patlabor, but this is the cool "evil" Patlabor they have to do battle with. I think it's from the first movie?
	Nihongo Journal Aug 2007. New issue of Nihongo Journal in stock. I used this successfully for many years (I used to read it in the bath).
	Genuine MINO Ware Tea Set ( Serve & 2 Cups ) -- Happy Owl with Love Message . Really high quality tea sea from Mino, Japan.
	Hobby Devil 1/7 Figure ~ C3XHobby. This is a rather interesting character from leading children's manga-a Mine Yoshizaki, who was actually a hentai artist before. Japan is a very flexible place.
	DX Putifresh Muscat Bento Box Set . Putifresh is "pucchi" and "fresh," and this is a very cute bento box set we have for you.
	Hello Kitty Mini Sauce Bottle Assortment . Hello Kitty sauce bottles. Yeah.
	2008 Calendar -- Bonsai *Preorder*. Like Bonsai? Here is the new 2008 calendar.
	2008 Calendar -- Michi ~ Japanese Proverb *Preorder*. More calligraphy! This is the always-popular Japanese calligraphy calendar, Michi.