Today's Cool Products - Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Comp H's vol. 8 ~ Comp Heroines 8. Comp H's, pronounced Comp Heroines, is Kadokawa's dynamite magazine that focuses on bishoujo (pretty girl) characters from popular anime and games. This issue is filled with fabulous imagery, from Valentine's Day with the Lucky Star girls to lots of Haruhi Suzumiya and Shakugan no Shana. You always get good free stuff inside, and the huge Clannad poster and Valentine's Day pull-outs are highly recommended.
	Fuko Ibuki 1/8 Figure ~ Clannad. I enjoyed Air and Kanon so much that I'm really eager to get into Clannad as well. The first figure from the anime has come in -- see it on the site now
	Moetan Pastel Ink TV Color ver. Moetan is the popular series of wacky English language phrasebooks targeted at Otaku, which blossomed into a full line of figures and an anime. This is the character Pastel Ink, rendered in beautiful pre-painted PVC. This is her in her "magical girl" persona.
	Moetan Nijihara Ink TV Color ver. ...And this is Ink Nijihara, the mild-mannered secret identity of Pastel Ink, her persona when transformed into a Magical Girl.
	New Japanese Snacks. There's a new flavor of Glico's popular Pretz baked pretzel sticks in town, the delicious Strong Tomato Pretz, with a deep tomato and spice taste that's outstanding. Also, a fun gummy treat that lets you play Rock, Paper Scissors!
	Lotte Blueberry & Ume Gum. Lotte is the company that makes the most popular types of Japanese chewing gum, including the legendary Black Black caffeine gum that's loved by truck drivers and college students. They're refreshed the Ume (Japanese Plum) and Blueberry gum for 2008. As usual, it's available by the shrinkwrapped box for a discount.
	Ciao! Colorful Animal Bento Cups. In our ongoing quest to help make bento culture even more fun for our customers, we've gotten in some cute Colorful Animal cups that let you organize your bento nicely, keeping foods from running together and providing a way to bring mayonnaise and other condiments with you easily. Plus, they're so darned cute.
	My Neighbor Totoro in Forest Trio Set. Totoro fans, we've posted fresh stock of the Totoro in Forest Trio Set, a handy case featuring all three Totoro forest spirits that contains a spoon, fork and set of chopsticks. The perfect accessory to your bento.
	Relax Bear Rice Bowl - Rilakkuma. Wow, here's an incredibly cute item, a large rice bowl featuring Rilakkuma, or Relax Bear, the most popular character by the San-X company (who we've come to think of as the anti-Sanrio). Comes in an attractive box.
	SF Movie Selection Star Trek vol.1 Set of 6 *Preorder*. Over the years, we've sold some pretty awesome products at J-List, and one of my all-time favorites have been the super-detailed Star Trek miniatures. Now Konami is bringing their incredible attention to detail to the Star Trek universe, releasing a set of ships based on the Star Trek films. Based on their past releases like the Space: 1999 detailed toys, we think this is going to be the baddest Star Trek item to come from Japan. Preorder now!
	Em Em 1/8 Figure ~ Kemeko Deluxe. Kemeko Deluxe is the popular manga (and soon to be anime) that's running in Dengeki Comic Gao! This is a cool figure that can be displayed alone or in her bizarre little suit. Order this preorder figure now.
	Chupa Chups Hello Kitty w/Case. Chupa Chups is the famous lollipop from Spain, whose package was designed by none other than Salvador Dali himself. We've restocked the popular Hello Kitty Chupa Chups which includes a delicious lollipop and enclosing case, with Japan's most famous cat perched on top. There are different random colors and each comes with a removable keychain strap as well.
	More Free Shipping T-Shirts. J-List is having our first-ever "free shipping sale" on our close-out T-shirts and hoodies, and we've added some additional shirts, including the largest size of our "It is Forbidden to Urinate Here" (based on signs you can see all over the place in Japan). If you're a person who can wear our larger sizes, you really need to check out our sale now, since we've got quite a few great items for you!
	Microman Evangelion Figures. J-List carries many cool toys from Japan. As an old-school Micronauts collector back in the 70s, I really love that fact that the line is alive and well here in Japan. These figures of Rei and Asuka are very detailed and can be posed any way you like.
	Totoro Fluffy Blankets. Every year, Studio Ghibli releases a line of Totoro blankets that are so soft and warm, you won't believe it. We really stocked up on Totoro blankets this season, but they sold out faster than they ever have. Happily, we've been able to get additional stock! A highly recommended item for your family.
	Sabra Magazine Feb 2008. The new issue of Sabra is in, and it's a nice one, featuring drop-dead gorgeous Shoko Nakagawa, who appears in several places in this issue, including in a "Goth-Loli" outfit and with her equally delicious younger sister.
	Sou Sou -- Sayumi Michishige. A nice hardcover photobook for fans of super-cute JPOP idol member Morning Musume, this is Sayumi Michishige (mi-chi-SHE-gei), one of the most popular current members. See this gorgeous creature like never before.
	New Manga Volumes. We've got some really amazing new manga volumes posted today. First, there's an anthology of "naughty nurse" stories, showing the way they really heal their patients, with a cover by Toshihide Sano. Then enjoy Dominance, a gorgeous new release from one of the Witchblade artists.
	Comic AG Super Manga Anthology vol. 73. Yes, we've got another issue of Comic AG for you, the popular anthology that brings you nothing but the best "ero" manga for an incredibly reasonable price. You can buy this either as an individual issue or as part of a discounted AGSET set of 5 issues.
	Queen's Blade Vol. 1 ~ Reina. Queen's Blade is great idea, taking an old book-based combat game from the U.S. and re-working it with super-gorgeous female anime characters into hardcover anime artbooks. This is vol. 1, Reina, a popular character created by the character designer for Mai-Hime.
	Hip Parade vol. 5 ~ Sphere of Grace. In the "could only have come from Japan" category, the newest Hip Parade toy line has come in, featuring incredibly sexy "trading torsos" of beautiful women. The new series is in stock and available either as full sets or inexpensive random boxes.

How many words for "rice" do the Japanese have?

There are many large and small challenges you encounter when learning Japanese. For example, it's difficult being at peace with the idea that your brain actually can learn to read hiragana and kanji just like it perceives written English, and breaking through this barrier is an important early milestone. Another small challenge is translating single-word concepts in English into Japanese, which is usually more complex. For example, just as the Eskimo supposedly have many names for snow (which turns out not to be all that true), there are multiple words for rice that are used on a daily basis, like uncooked rice (kome), unpolished rice (genmai), steamed rice that's ready to eat (gohan, which also refers to all food), newly cultivated rice (shinmai, also used to refer to a new employee at an organization), and so on. Being an island nation, the Japanese eat various types of plants grown in the sea, which we call by the unappetizing name of "seaweed." Major categories include nori, the dried, green seaweed eaten with sushi; wakame, green leaves eaten in soup; and konbu, a kind of seaweed that's almost black, used as flavoring in soup or eaten on rice. The Japanese similarly have about five different kinds of tea which would probably be called "green tea" by the average Westerner but which are all very different.

More thoughts on Senpai and Kohai, and the origin of the word Honcho

I wrote last time about how living in Japan puts you in tune with the system of senpai and kohai, or seniors and juniors in a school or organization, and how even foreigners living here unconsciously organize themselves according to how long they've lived in the country. This vertical social system may seem odd to Westerners, but it generally works well in this country that has to cram half the population of the U.S. into a land mass the size of Montana. My daughter walks to school with a group of kids from our neighborhood organized into a unit called a han. When she was small, the oldest child became the leader, or hancho (which is where we get the word Head Honcho in case you wondered), who was responsible for making sure the younger kids kept up with group and that no one was being bullied. Next year, my daughter will be in the sixth grade, and it'll be her turn to help protect the younger kids in the group each morning. Although this top-down system works well through university, it gets stressed when it encounters the real world. While the senpai/kohai system used to work in parallel with the ages of individuals, so that a person at a certain age was always of higher rank than employees younger than him, today it's quite likely for a 35 year old to change jobs and find himself working with a 25 year old, who is the senpai and must be shown respect, even though he's younger.

Japanese ASCII Art Can Make you Cry

I've always been amazed at how expressive the Japanese can be, whether they're inventing new English words to describe products in amazing ways or creating onomatopoeia that capture not only, say, the pakku pakku sound of rapidly eating (which is where Pac-Man gets his name), but the sound of silence or of softly falling snow. Japanese net users are also very creative when it comes to making art with ASCII that expresses emotions and adds character to computer-based communication. A few months ago someone made a BBS post called "Sorry About Baseball" that was a tribute to his mother, decorated with extensive ASCII art. The post was picked up by other users who added music and made animated versions using Flash that have many crying in front of their computer monitors. It's the story of an uneducated mother raising her son alone, despite being very poor. One day, she received tickets to a baseball game, and the boy was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his first live game; but when they got to the stadium, they found that they weren't actual tickets, only coupons for a discount on regular tickets, which they couldn't afford. On the train back home, the mother showed a tear and said, "I'm sorry for being so stupid."The boy dedicated himself to his studies, eventually winning a scholarship to college so he could make his mother proud. Years later, as she lay dying, his mother woke up and said, as if suddenly remembering something, "I'm sorry about the baseball game." He tried to tell her "I had fun," but he couldn't make his voice work.

And here's the a YouTube movie of the original post, complete with English subtitles that someone kindly added.

Today's Cool Products - Monday, January 28, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Hot Gimmick 3 Digital Surfing Novia Wink & Pink Hair ver. Here's a really outstanding pre-painted anime figure from a Mahjongg game called Hot Gimmick 3, the incredibly cute Novia-chan, who looks like she dropped out of a time warp from the future. Incredibly detailed and cute, ready to be displayed on your shelf.
	Miniature Tokyo Tower 555 cm. Tokyo Tower is a scale replica of the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris that has become a famous image of the city, as well as a magnet for Godzilla attacks and CLAMP anime characters. Now you can have your very own miniature Tokyo Tower that lights up, perfect for your home or office.
	Meiji Pucca -- Creamy Vanilla. Pucca is the delicious fish-shaped cookies from Meiji that are normally filled with chocolate or other good stuff. This is a "reverse" Pucca though -- chocolate on the outside, good vanilla cream on the inside, like a Japanese Oreo!
	Tattoo Girls vol. 06. Here's a really special magazine that captures the current state of the art in tattooing showing hundreds of popular designs from kanji to beautiful images and more. You also get to see the incredible tattoos that Leah Dizon sports. Wow!
	Animal ONIGIRI Bento Box ~ Panda. We love being able to introduce incredibly unique and cute bento boxes to thousands of people. Today we've got another "onigiri" bento box, designed to hold triangle-shaped rice balls along with the rest of your lunch and look cute while doing it!
	Jewel ~ You Higuri The Best of Artworks. Here's a really outstanding artbook for fans of yaoi / bishounen style art, a glossy artbook filled with the amazing illustrations of You Higuri.
	Sabra Magazine Reserve subscription. Fans of extremely beautiful Japanese women photographed by the country's top photographers know that Sabra is something special. Now available as a revolving monthly subscription from J-List!
	Bleach Mascot Key Strap w/Omikuji. For Bleach fans, we've posted a cool series of "Mascot Key Straps" that you can attack to just about anything, your cell phone, keys, camera or Nintendo DS. Collect all your favorite Bleach characters!
	New Hello Kitty Shoulder Massager. The amazing Hello Kitty Vibrating Massagers are back in stock, with every color available for ordering again, including the most popular, pink. Now anyone can vibrate their stress away with these unique toys from Japan.
	Life-Sized Anime Hug Pillows. Remember that J-List stocks the incredible dakimakura (Hug Pillows) from Japan, and the popular items include characters from Zero no Tsukaima, Dragon Destiny, you name it. The pillow covers fit nicely over standard sized body pillows you can find in most any shop. Show your dedication to your favorite anime characters in an entirely new way!
	Kiriha Kuze 1/8 Figure ~ Fortune Arterial *Preorder*. Wow, I really like the looks of this figure from Fortune Arterial, an extremely popular PC dating-sim game in Japan right now. This is Kiriha, the silent, solemn girl from your class in the game, which you can preorder now.
	Kemeko Nendoroid Plus Figure ~ Kemeko Deluxe! A cool preorder figure for Nendorid fans, this is Kemeko from Kemeko Deluxe! It's a popular manga serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao!, and we think it'll be popular because from the machine gun alone.
	J-List Free Shipping Sale Reminder. Remember that J-List is closing out a bunch of our most popular designs to make room for new ones, and giving free shipping (or half priced shipping for international), and half price on shipping for all hoodies, too. We've added several items to the sale, including our "Foreign Barbarians" hoodie and larger sizes of some of our other shirts. But the response has been good, and sizes are flying off the shelves, so don't wait too long to check our stock.
	Totoro Plush Toys. Today's restocked Studio Ghibli items include the really big Totoro Plush (Smiling Version), the popular Studio Ghibli Collection Keychain set of six, and the Giant DX Neko Bus with a Totoro that can ride inside.
	SLICCI ~ Pentel New Stylish Gel Ink Pen 0.3 mm. The SLICCI line of Japanese pens from Pentel are excellent because they provide a smooth "gel ink" glide with a tiny 0.3 mm tip for making precise lines when you write. We're adding the basic Black and Blue-Black pens today, as well as various restocked Japanese pens.
	Restocked Japanese Snacks. We're happy to report that the #1 selling J-Snack at J-List, Sakura Kit Kat, has been restocked now. Also, see Melty Kit Kat in Green Tea Flavor, Fuwarinka Rose Gum and Soft Candy, and Meiji Dice Caramel all back in stock.
	Koi Nanase and Ai Kazama Figures ~ Night Shift Nurse vol. 2. For fans of the Night Shift Nurse series by Tachibana Seven, we've got some unforgettable figures that explore just how detailed and compelling an anime figure can be. Both figures feature these characters being made into slaves for your viewing enjoyment. Both figures are now in stock!
	Toshihide Sano Illustrations. Toshihide Sano is one of our all-time favorite artists, and we're happy to have his fantastic art book back in stock. Features page after luscious page of his female characters together.
	Fate/Stay Night Premium FanBook. No fan of Fate/Stay Night can be complete until he's seen the gorgeous art inside this Premium Fan Book, which shows you all those amazing images from the original dating-sim game. You'll never look at Saber, Rin and Sakura the same way again.
	Double Massage Salon -- Rina Aina, Rio Hamasaki. You're really going to love the coupling of Rina and Rio as they come together to bring you a super release from Wanz Factory. From providing special massage services on the male customers to performing with each other while the camera watches, this DVD is pure silk.

My Japan Reconsideration: the Concept of "Senpai"

Before I started J-List, I worked as an ESL teacher, sharing my native language with Japanese students. One Friday, an American co-worker and I took a new teacher who had just arrived in Japan out drinking, so we could get to know him and start showing him around our city. As we imbibed beer at the izakaya bar that was the popular haunt with the English teacher crowd back in the day, something was nagging at me, reminding me of something I was forgetting to do. Finally, I realized what it was, and I turned to my co-worker. "Dave," I said to him, fighting back the weirdness that comes from speaking Japanese with another foreigner, "you realize that you and I are senpai now? And you know what that means." He groaned, but nodded. To the new teacher, Dave and I were senpai, or senior, because we'd been in Japan longer than him, and he was our kohai, or junior. The Japanese social order absolutely required that we go out of our way to guide and help him get used to Japan, and that meant that we had to dig into our wallets and pick up the tab for the night. The social rules were quite clear on the subject, and we had to obey or be in opposition to those rules, which is not a good thing to be in Japan. It's interesting to note that the new teacher was older than both of us, yet still the time-in-a-place-or-organization took precedence over age.

Anime and Japanese Pop Culture Are Everywhere

One thing I really like about being so involved with Japanese popular culture is the global nature of it, how it appeals to so many people around the world. Whether it's singing the theme song to Heidi, Girl of the Alps with a roomful of German fans at a convention near the banks or the Rhine, hanging out with bloody Battle Royale cosplayers in Rome, or finding manga series that I struggled with in college for sale in English at my local bookstore in San Diego, I'm always amazed at how anime and related culture have been accepted by all of us. Back in 2006 a crowd protesting in the Gaza Strip helped their message reach a wider audience by printing a picture of Haruhi Suzumiya -- star of a mind-bending anime series about a girl who yearns to meet ESPers, time travelers and aliens, and gets her wish -- on their sign. The image was picked up by the Japanese press, who were amazed to see the popular anime character in so remote a place. I think part of the reason we can all embrace Japan's pop culture so freely is actually because of its distance from most of us, its lack of connection to our own historical or cultural backgrounds (or hang-ups), which removes barriers that might otherwise make it harder to accept something so different. In short, while we may argue over issues like religion, politics and economics, we can all agree that Godzilla knocking over Tokyo Tower looks pretty awesome, or that "Haruhi-ism" is pretty cool. So, world peace through shared popular culture, everyone!

Understanding Cultural Differences Through CSI: Miami

When you live in a place like Japan, you never know what cultural wrinkles you'll discover next. Maybe you'll stick your chopsticks upright in your rice (which is only done during funerals), pour your own beer (bad manners to do it yourself), or accidentally order some gyumotsu because you didn't know it was pan-fried beef intestines (yuck). My wife and I are both hooked on CSI: Miami, but because of the language difference, she usually watches the Japanese-dubbed broadcast on satellite channel Wowow while I stick the good old English version. During an episode we watched in English last night, the character Delko called his sunglass-wearing boss Horatio Cane by the nickname "H." "What did he just call Horatio?" my wife asked, not sure she'd heard correctly. "Oh, you know, Horatio's nickname is his first initial," I said, and her eyes went wide with surprise. For reasons unknown, the letter "H" has become the universal euphemism for anything related to sex in Japan. For example, if a person is "H" (always pronounced with a Japanese accent, ecchi) he or she thinks about it too much, and the most common way to refer to the act in general is H suru or "to do H." Thus, the idea of leaving Horatio's nickname intact in the Japanese version of the show was just not going to work, and the lines were rewritten.

Really Good Products Friday, January 25, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Shana Figure Cat Girl ver. ~ Shakugan no Shana. For fans of Shakugan no Shana, or Shana of the Blazing Eyes, we've gotten in another awesome pre-painted figure: Shana as a "cat girl," lying on a luxurious cloth with her hair flowing all around her. Designed by the Haruhi Suzumiya designer.
	Ai Enma Figure from Hell Girl. This is from Hell Girl (Jigoku Shojo), kind of a Reverse Fantasy Island where you can send anyone you hate to hell by accessing a website at exactly 12:00. "We will take revenge on your behalf." This preorder figure has come in and is now in stock.
	Kino 1/8 Figure ~ Kino's Journey the Beautiful World. A fabulous figure based on a series of Light Novels from Japan, this is a really awesome figure that had been posted for preorder but has come in now. Check out the way the plastic "smoke" from her gun winds around her.
	Kamikaze Combat Machine Miniature Series. Hmm, speaking of "WTF" (see above) we've got a fascinating line of toys detailing the various "Special Attack" (kamikaze) weapons they used during World War II, which in many cases were built for the final defense of the Japanese islands against an attack that never happened. A fascinating set of toys and it's really amazing to be a company founded by an American in Japan selling a made-in-Japan toy line of kamikaze toys.
	Tamaki Mukousaka 1/7 Cast-Off0?Figure. The gorgeous Tamaki Mukousaka ToHeart 2 figure has come in, too, and it's great one, with super detailing, especially that flowing, long hair. Her uniform can be cast off, too.
	New Strawberry Shortcake Pocky, Other Snacks. Today we're posting the "uber-Pocky," Strawberry Shortcake flavor, which is essentially a cake decorated on a Pocky stick -- yum! Also, see a cool set of five candy treats from Meiji that have been loved by the Japanese for years.
	Mag-nup Board ~ Stylish Magnet Board. We've gotten in two new colors of the Mag-nup Board, a really cool concept in messaging since it features all the benefits of a cork message board, but it works with magnets, too. Never forget anything with this cool item from Japan. Great for fans of "Safety & Simple Design."
	Domokun Mimobot USB 2.0 Flash Drive. J-List carries more Domo-kun products than you can shake a stick at, from T-shirts to hoodies to cool plush toys. We've restocked our USB 2.0 USB Flash Drives, which give you 1, 2 or 4 GB of storage in a cute, Domo shaped package. A dynamite item!
	J-List T-Shirt Free Shipping Sale. Just a reminder that we're having the first-ever Free Shipping Sale on our close-out T-shirts. Not only is it the last chance you have to get some of our popular shirt designs, from the cute Mona Neko from the Japanese BBS 2ch to our cool Yokozuna T-shirt and more, but you get free shipping (or half price shipping for international customers). We've updated all sizes and have added some more shirts to the sale. But hurry, as sizes are limited.
	Animal ONIGIRI Bento Box ~ Frog. Japan's famous culture of bento, or attractive looking boxed lunches, is really catching on all over the world. Here's a fantastic new bento box that's designed to hold onigiri (triangle shaped rice balls) in the top section and the rest of your lunch in the bottom. Part of the Nikyoro series.
	Hello Kitty Band-aid & Case -- 7pcs. Life is too short to carry boring generic band-aids. If you have a cut, it's much better to treat it with cute Hello Kitty bandages from Sanrio! Here's a refillable plastic carrying case and seven band-aids for fans of "Kitty-chan" (as she's called in Japan).
	Kimono Hime 7 ~ Sunny Days. Then enjoy a special new issue of Kimono Hime (Kimono Princess), with gorgeous pictures of traditional kimono culture from Japan. Features a special focus on kimonos for Coming of Age Day, weddings and the Shichigosan ("7, 5, 3") ceremonies for kids.
	Various Traditional Items from Japan. Today's restocked traditional products include the White Feng Shui Lucky Cat Coin Bank, a cool Compact Mirror with chirimen (kimono fabric) on the back, and for those who can't decide between a Lucky Cat or a Daruma, a combination that includes both. Cool!
	Respecting the Ancestors Buddhist Incense Set. Here's a special item for anyone curious about Japan's special form of Buddhism. It's a set that includes everything you need to do haka-mairi (ha-kah MAH-ee-ri), or visiting the grave of a loved one, including Buddhist candles and two sets of incense.
	Buddha vol.1 -- Buddhism Statue Collection. We've restocked the really cool Buddhism Statue Collection trading figure series, which are detailed replicas of famous statues you can visit in Japan. Available as full sets or random individuals.
	Jitte & Katana Display Set Up your ninja cred with this cool miniature katana (Japanese sword) and matching jitte (pronounced JIT-teh), a defensive weapon used by ninjas.
	Bleach Soul Reapers Costume ~ L Size *Preorder*. Attention Bleach fans: now you can own a mighty cool item, a full official Soul Reaper costume from the show. This is an officially licensed costume made to resemble the popular anime in every way. Scheduled to be release in April.
	COPIC Comic Maker ~ Double Marker with 12 Basic Colors for MANGA Drawing . Here's a serious set of pens for creating manga art, double-tipped Comic Marker pens by the famous Copic. With vibrant colors specially chosen for making beautiful art, this is a set serious artists will want to own.
	Super OL Premium vol. 01 -- Office Lady Super Premium. Japan has a fascination with something known as OLs, which means Office Ladies, extremely gorgeous women in professional dress. Enjoy this great magazine + 150 minute DVD that explores this genre from Japan.
	Problem Free Me -- Mei Kurokawa. The lovely Mei-chan looks fabulous in this photobook, which is loaded with pictures of the model relaxing in a really old Japanese house -- awesome imagery.
	New Manga Volumes. Today's new "ero" manga are both excellent. First enjoy Uekano Days, or Older Girlfriend Days, with stories of red-hot girls including futanari, then see the collection of gorgeous stories by Ryuji Ohtori called Increment RO.
	Restocked Manga. Today's restocked manga works include Lay Your Worries On Me, Married Woman's Disgrace, Take on Me, Condensed Milky, and the gorgeous comic by Oh Great!, the creator of Tenjo Tenge.
	Yulia Nova DVDs. We've restocked nearly a dozen fantastic DVD releases by Yulia Nova, the Russian zenra idol who has become such a popular icon in Japan and on the Internet. Enjoy Yulia's beautiful body in the restocked DVD titles today.

All about the Japanese word "Gambaru" (do your best)

One word that comes up in anime a lot is gambaru (gahn-BAH-roo, alternately written ganbaru, in Japanese 頑張る), a happy, cheerful term which means to do one's best, to work hard, to give one's all and so on. It's usually heard in its formal form gambarimasu (gahn-bah-ri-mass, "[I will] do my best!"), or else as a request, e.g. gambatte or gambatte kudasai (gahn-BAH-tay koo-da-sai, "please try hard!"), or alternatively in its "command" form, gambare! (gahn-BAH-ray, "Do your best!"). If you want to learn some phrases to surprise Japanese people with, these are good places to start, since everyone will react positively to them. In a country that embraces hard work and diligence as much as Japan, it's not surprising that this term is used on an almost daily basis in many different situations. Japanese salarymen are expected to gambaru at work, while their kids gambaru in their studies at school, and the sick must do the same while they work to get over their illness. As long as a person is giving his all, he's got the seal of approval from Japanese society in general.

This is a minor hit by that gorgeous singing star Noriko Sakai from the 80s. Writing about the word gambaru has put the song (which is called Guanbare!, a cute translate of gambare!) thoroughly into my head, so I'll put it into yours now. This has always been one of my favorite JPOP songs. 

I've always thought this song would make a great music video for Aim for the Top: Gunbuster. Do you agree?

What Happens to Foreigners who Live in Japan Too Long

Strange things can happen to foreigners who live in Japan for too long. They might watch TV while drinking beer and eating shredded, dried squid as a snack without thinking about how odd it would look to their friends back home, or start bowing to people while talking on the phone. They'll probably think nothing of a grown man riding a bicycle with a basket on the front and a little bell on the handlebars that makes a lovely ding! sound. If from the U.S., they'll probably only know their shoe size and weight in the Japanese (Metric) system. (When I was in California last month I actually kept my iPhone's weather widget set to degrees Celsius, which is unheard of for an American.) Carried to the extreme, being in Japan for too long can even change your personality. There's a legendary gaijin living in our prefecture who came here from the States during the Vietnam War and forgot to leave. When some English teachers formed a basketball team, he volunteered to coach, but it didn't work out very well. It turns out that the guy had been mellowed out by Japan's extremely non-confrontational, cooperative society so much that he was unable to motivate the players as a coach should, threatening to kick their sorry asses off the team if they didn't shape up and play better, and so on.

More thoughts on the LOLification of English and strange Japanese Internet slang

As the Internet Age marches on, the ongoing LOLification of my native language often has me saying WTF? even though the picture of that kitten that made the cookie but eated it did have me ROTFL. Japanese Internet users love to invent slang words, too, and venturing onto the legendary BBS 2ch (pronounced ni-channel) to check out all the l33t-speak can really get confusing fast. 2-channelers love to use strange words like nin-shin (妊娠）, which usually means "pregnant" but has come to refer to Nintendo fanboys for some reason; gugure (ググれ), a morphing of Google as a Japanese verb meaning "look it up on Google, fool!"; or wwwww, which is laughing, just as zzzzz represents sleeping. Just as Japanese uses many words imported from English, some foreign-derived slang terms include kopi-pe (koh-pi-peh, meaning "copy & paste") or su-re (soo-REH, スレ、from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "thread"). Many words embraced by internet users here are abbreviations of Japanese phrases with the vowels removed, which allows them to be input quickly even when using Japanese input software. Two examples are KTKR (short for kita-kore キタコレ, meaning "Yes, this is it, baby!") or WKTK (wakuwaku-tekateka ワクワクテカテカ, meaning "I really can't wait for that to happen, I'm on pins and needles"). Just as popular U.S.-based BBS 4chan has its /b/tards, 2ch has a sub-group known as the VIPPERS, who evolve even more bizarre net lingo to wrap themselves in.

Today's Cool Products Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Figure Maniacs vol. 25. Figure Maniacs is a great magazine because it presents page after glorious page of Japan's best pre-painted PVC anime figures. This issue focuses on all the latest figures from ToHeart 2, Ikki Tousen/Dragon Destiny, Zero no Tsukaima, Eva and more. Watch as the history of anime figures in Japan is recorded in these pages.
	Shana Figure Secret ver. A gorgeous new figure for fans of Shakugan no Shana, or Shana of the Blazing Eyes, designed by Noizi Ito who also did the popular Haruhi Suzumiya characters. Gorgeous imagery in three dimensions!
	Mario Action Plush. If-a you like-a that-a famous-a game company from Japan, we think-a this-a plush Mario toy, which is-a very large, standing a full 12" tall. The perfect-a rebel icon to keep on display at work, to keep-a in touch with-a the rebel inside-a you!
	Japanese Snacks: Meiji Petit Assortment. For fans of J-List's Japanese snacks, here's a cool new suggestion: a pack of five boxes of the most famous classic chocolate snacks from Meiji, including Choco Baby, chocolate-and-strawberry Apollo, Coffeebeat chocolate coffee beans and more.
	Hi-Chew -- Strawberry Yogurt. Also, enjoy other delicious Japanese snacks, including Meiji Rich Mikan chocolate, made with Mandarin oranges (also known as satsuma in some countries), and Strawberry Yogurt Hi-Chew soft candies. Delicious!
	J-List T-Shirt Free Shipping Sale. Remember, this month we're giving free shipping (half price shipping for international) on some of the cool and wacky J-List T-shirts we're retiring to make room for new designs. Browse our selection now before you size is gone.
	Dengeki Maoh Feb 2008. We have the new issue of Dengeki Maoh for you, a gorgeous manga that gives you nearly 600 pages of the best comic works in Japan right now, including 20+ pages of gorgeous color and lots of fun free stuff inside.
	Sanrio Character Encyclopedia ~ Giftbook 28. This is a really special item for anyone who's ever collected Sanrio's cute character items: a small book that lists *every* Sanrio character ever released, from minor characters like the Waffle Kids to the most famous, like Bad Batz-Maru and all the Hello Kitty variations over the years. Really cool!
	Mamegoma Toilet Paper Roll Holder. This is a cute plus cover for a standard roll of toilet paper, a way to add a touch of kawaii to your bathroom. These are back in stock. Only slightly scary!
	Mononofu Shinsen-Gumi Swords Collection. J-List carries the outstanding Mononofu Samurai Swords replicas, which are perfectly detailed and which feature blades made of real metal (!). In addition to the full sets of this series, we're posting random individual sword sets for anyone wanting to check out these extremely detailed toys.
	SHODO ~ Natural Stone Mini Calligraphy Set. Shodo, or Japanese brush calligraphy, is a famous traditional art form that you can try with this set that includes everything you need -- telescoping brush, sumi ink and a stone to hold the ink that you will write with. Back in stock!
	Japanese For Busy People 1 ~ Kana ver. One of the most popular Japanese textbooks over the past decade has been republished in a new "Kana version" that eschews all Romanized Japanese and requires the reader to learn the language using Hiragana, katakana and kanji, the method I recommend since it helps you read better and faster and also greatly improves your accent when speaking. Both volumes I & II are now in stock.
	Lelouch Lamperouge Action Figure Figma BP ~ Code Geass *Preorder*. Code Geass is a really popular anime that's kicking butt in the marketplace in Japan right now. Here's a really cool figure of Lelouch Lamperouge that you can preorder now.
	iTunes Japan Music Card, Elecom Items. Just a reminder that J-List carries the popular pre-paid iTunes Japan Music Cards that let you buy Japanese music and play it on PC or Mac with iTunes or any iPod. It even works with the online iTunes store and iPhone / iPod Touch. Restocked today!
	Sun-Star Paper StitchLock Zn. For people who dislike refilling staples or just want a unique way of keeping documents together, we've restocked our deluxe StitchLock Zn, which is extremely solid and heavy, and beautiful to look at. Never use staples again, thanks to this really elegant device. The Zn stands for Zinc.
	EX DVD Jan 2008 ~ Exciting DVD Jan 2008. A great magazine featuring a selection of extremely beautiful JAV idols, from Rei Amami to Amai Mitsu and many more. Comes with a *6 hour* DVD of material for you to enjoy in addition to the magazine.