A Discovery in the Village of the World! Japanese Living in a Place Like This

One thing I like about TV in Japan is the variety of shows they broadcast. From popular dramas to educational quiz shows to something called World's Greatest TV in which stories from around the world are shown, like a turtle enthusiast who recreates famous scenes from Hollywood movies using turtles, there's always something interesting on to watch. One show I like is called Sekai no Shaso Kara, or From The Train Window of the World, which sends camera crews to places like Norway, the Czech Republic, the U.S. and China to document the beautiful sights seen from trains. I caught an interesting program recently called "A Discovery in the Village of the World! Japanese Living in a Place Like This," which was about Japanese people who happen to live in unique places. First there was the story of a Japanese girl who had fallen in love with a student from Sweden and married him, and they were living in Iceland, about as far from Japan as you can get in the world. Then there was another Japanese girl who'd decided to put down roots in a village along the Amazon river in Bolivia, an unexpected place to find a nihonjin. Although these Japanese people were far from home, you could feel the cultural connection they still felt with their home country.

Japan Thinks of the Children

I recently saw that Japan had topped Save the Children's annual Child Development Index, which ranks nations on how well they care for their children. I wasn't surprised in the least: I've seen first-hand how good the country is at providing care for its kids, from offering free health care to children under 6 (costs for doctor visits and medicines are covered entirely by the health insurance system) to a structured schedule of vaccinations provided free by each city, which has helped Japan attain one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world (Japan was #3, America was...#180). Care for a child starts with the first visit to an obstetrician, where the new mother-to-be is issued a boshi techo, or "Mother-and-Child Notebook" in which everything about the child will be recorded: size and estimated weight during each stage of gestation, the results of various tests at birth, the complete history of all vaccinations, development of speech and motor skills, and so on. Japan's desire to care for its children well shows in education, too, with a much higher level of participation by parents in PTA-like organizations than I've seen in the U.S. I've never heard of school budgets being cut, either, and the subject of education seems pretty sacrosanct among Japanese politicians. As Japan tries to battle its "famine" of children brought on by the country's low birth rate, it's good to see that each child is being cared for well.

This game appears to be a DS title developed to teach new mothers the things they need to do when their babies, arrive, e.g. how to put them in the bath, etc.

Hidden Gems in Anime

Japanese animation is fun for people from all over the world because the stories appeal to us even though we may not have the same cultural background as Japanese viewers. While anime is usually bouncy and fun, it's amazing how often you can find depth in unexpected places when you dig beneath the surface. One of the students at the school for magic in Zero no Tsukaima is named Tabitha, a cool meta reference to the daughter of Samantha from Bewitched, one of the original inspirations for the "magical girl" genre of anime. The infamous Dirty Pair, known to blow up a planet or two in the course of fulfilling an assignment, turns out to be an obscure (to gaijin) reference to the 1970s-era pro wrestling team Beauty Pair...and celebrated manga-ka Beauty Hair gets his name from the same source. American science fiction crops up in anime from time to time. In The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Yuki gives a book to Kyon which (if you freeze the frame at the right moment) can be seen to be The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons, which provided some of the inspiration for the time-travel parts of the story. Similarly, the Gainax classic Aim For the Top: Gunbuster borrows heavily from two of my favorite SF novels, Ender's Game (kids being trained for interstellar combat with space bugs) and The Forever War (the drama created when people are separated by relativistic time dilation). Even the saucier side of the genre has its deep areas. H-game artist Seishojo is most famous for creating the Bible Black franchise, but did you know that every one of his game titles is actually a reference to the British progressive rock band Crimson King, whose albums include Starless and Bible Black and Discipline? Well, now you do.

Cool Items Wednesday, January 7, 2009

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.

	Megami Magazine Jan 2009 vol. 104 All the best anime series can be found in this awesome new issue of Megami, including an amazing 18 posters (9 double sided) featuring great original art from Toradora, Ichigo Marshmallow, Steel Linebarrels, Clannad, D.C. ~ if, and much more.
	Dengeki Maoh Jan 2009 It's time for another issue of Dengeki Maoh, which brings you a staggering 800 pages of gorgeous manga from Japan, including Utawaremono, Tales of Vesperia and Tales of the Abyss, Wolf and Spice, Sengoku Basara and more. You get a super thick "Tales of" character guide inside, too.
	Kera Dec 2008 KERA is the bold and beautiful magazine of "gothic pink loli" from Japan, and each issue is a treat to browse through -- even the ads are fun to look at. See the new issue, capturing the coolest trends from Harajuku.
	Shirow 2009 Calendar Restocked Lucky! J-List has been able to get our paws on another dozen or so of this year's runaway hit calendar, the Shirow Masamune Saber Tooth Cats calendar, featuring his fantastic art and characters. But just like our other amazing Japanese calendars, the current stock is all we'll be able to get this time around. Don't miss out!
	Lovely Heart Hello Kitty Nail File Keep your fingernails beautiful with this Hello Kitty Nail File, which features beautifully printed images of our favorite kawaii cat from Japan.
	Red Hello Kitty x COURREGES Photo Album Sanrio and super designer Courreges team up to bring you some cute new products. Today we're posting two fantastic photo albums, which can hold all your standard-sized photographs (either traditional ones you have developed or digital ones you print). Comes in a protective sleeve.
	MIni Oreo Bar Pack It's fun when Japan puts it own unique twist on our favorite snacks, which you can see in everything from Japan Kit Kat flavors to Bubblicious gum. Today we're adding a really nice Oreo Coolie Bar set in a large bag.
	SAKURA Mini ONIGIRI Case Then for our (many) fans of onigiri, the trianble shaped rice balls from Japan, a great triangle-shaped onigiri case that's essentially a whole bento box unto itself.
	Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go See fresh stock of this great bento cookbook, which is filled with information on how you can make bento and other dishes that are healthy, delicious and downright beautiful to look at. Newly restocked.
	HINOMARU / Japanese Flag Strap Shwo your Japanese spirit with this cool phone strap that can be put on phones, keychains, camera, Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. Features the "circle of the sun" flag.
	Classic Ceramic Soy Sauce Bottle Want to bring a bit of Japan to your kitchen? We've got many fun suggestions, from bento boxes to cool chopsticks and more. Here's a very nice ceramic soy sauce bottle for your table.
	Hello Kitty Bento Accessories Life is more fun when you have Hello Kitty bento products to make things brighter. Enjoy fresh stock of several items we've got for you today, including the Hello Kitty Face Onigiri Wrap Sheets, the Hello Kitty Bento Flag Pick Set and more.
	Housen Ryofu Hug Pillow Case ~ Dragon Destiny Throw down the gauntlet as an otaku with this gorgeous dakimakura cover, the ultimate way to express your love of Ryofu from Dragon Destiny in three dimensions. Use this hug pillow cover with any standard long pillow.
	Warm Hoodies In Stock in San Diego Winter is here, which means it's a great time to browse our selection of soft hooded sweatshirts, which are a super way to keep warm without losing your geek cred. While I personally dig our Echo Base Star Wars parody design, you can choose from many other cool offerings, from "Japanese Girlfriend" to Domo-kun and much more.
	Awesomme Traditional Items from Japan Enjoying sake is more fun with friends, and we've restocked our great Earthnware Sake Set. Also see made-in-Japan T-shirts celebrating the Samurai Spirit and Buddhism, and a cool "working yukata" called a samue (sa-moo-eh).
	Traditional Japanese Ear Cleaners (Mimikaki) You haven't lived until you've had your ears cleaned by a Japanese mimikaki, a traditional ear cleaner that looks like a bamboo scoop and is used to gently remove ear wax from your ear. Beautiful Japanese girl's lap to lay your head on sold separately.
	Fun Japanese Erasers, Pens More fun erasers you make yourself using the included microwavable eraser stuff and molds. Make erasers that look like little cakes or sushi! Also, see fresh stock of several pens, including our most popular fude (brush) pens and our Pinky Black Light Pen.
	Restocked Re-Ment Toys Re-Ment is the wonderful company responsible for those miniature food and other toys. See fresh stock of several items, including Let's Go! Panda Class and Harapeko (Hungry) Animal Village.
	Revoltech Danboo, Patlabor Figures Also: see even more fresh stock of the very popular Revoltech figure of Danboo from Yotsuba, which sold out in record time before. Also back in stock is the cool Patlabor Ingram Type-Zero.
	Metatron 1/8 Figure ~ Demonbane *Preorder* This is a really nice-looking figure from a popular game, which is extremely detailed and ready to rock on your shelf of choice. Preorder her now!
	Shiki Ryougi 1/6 Figure *Preorder* Then from Kara no Kyokai, aka Boundary of Emptiness, from the legendary Type-Moon. This is a gorgeous figure that you can preorder now.
	Rin & Ren Kagamine 1/8 Figures *Preorder* Also, Rin and Ren are the perfect Vocaloid figures, so gorgeously designed as Rin sings and Ren plays his instruments. Both of these figures from Goodsmile are up for preorder on the site now.
	More Japanese Snacks, Gum Got some excellent restocked snack items too, including Felix the Cat strawberry flavored bubble gum (a huge cult favorite with our customers) as well as Lotte Toppo in tasty Praline flavor, Lotte Cube Plus Grapefruit Mint Gum, and Sasha chocolates in two great flavors.
	Sabra Magazine Jan 2009 Sabra is the #1 magazine of beautiful women in Japan, and each issue brings you amazing top-name swimsuit idols to fawn over. See all the top stars in this issue, from Yuuri Morishita x Natsuko Tatsumi to Mai Satoda and more. Free DVD, too!
	Linda Project Bleach Parody Doujinshi Then see three brand-new doujinshi comics from Linda Project, the amazing artist circle that creates some of the best hentai art imaginable. In addition to the three Bleach parody books, we've got the brand-new books released for the past Comic Market in stock.
	More Artbooks, Too The recently posted Dendrobium artbook sold out in record time, but don't worry: we've gotten more and they're on the site now. This is the most beautiful artbook we've seen in years, from its large pages and glossy printing to the protective box it comes in.
	Extended Dating-Sim Game Sale J-List has extended our special sale on shrinkwrapped PC Dating-sim Games on CD-ROMs right now. On top of getting $5 off the package price of selected games, we'll send you free titles from Hirameki with every 2 games you buy. Dozens of our games are covered in the sale, including a fave of mine, Casual Romance Club, one of the most gorgeous games ever released in English. It's a great time to browse our selection of games and complete your collection!
	TENGA EGG ~ Spider Introducing the Tenga Egg Spider, a stress relief toy for men so innovative, it could only have come from Japan. Just crack open the protective egg case and inside there's a very realistic-feeling "lovely hole" (as the Japanese call them).
	TENGA WARMER Also, the incredible Tenga Warmer has come in stock. This is a great device you can use to add a layer of enjoyment to the various stress relief toys that J-List sells. It will actually warm up your favorite "hole" type toy to match that of a real woman's temperature! OMG!
	Restocked Hitomi Tanaka Titles Hitomi Tanaka has become an instant legend at J-List because of her beautiful J-Cup body and status as a swimsuit idol before she made this, ahem, rather career change. See fresh stock of all of her great DVD releases!

2009 Japanese Calendar Sale!

Since J-List is physically located here in Japan, we're able to offer all kinds of items that'd be hard to find outside the country, including all the gorgeous Japanese anime, music, swimsuit idol, men's and traditional photo calendars that are sold here. We're having a special sale to move our stock of calendars out, so it's a great time for you to browse our selection and see what awesome calendars you want. Every year we get emails from customers who waited too long to get a certain calendar, so we advise you to check our calendar selection early. Buy 3 or more calendars and get an additional discount!

Trillions and Trillions of Yen

I see that Prime Minister Aso is set to release a 23 trillion yen stimulus package to help deal with the economic downturn in Japan's export-dependent economy. If you have no idea how much 23 trillion yen is, join the club, since I don't either. Because the individual value of the yen is so low against most other currencies, requiring 120 yen for a can of Coke, 80,000 yen to rent a small apartment or 2,500,000 yen to buy an average car, living in Japan means getting used to dealing with very high numbers. Values beyond ten million yen or so start to get really fuzzy in my mind, so when the government kicks around numbers involving trillions of yen, they might as well call it "infinity+1" as far as I'm concerned. The only hope I have of understanding large numbers is thinking about them in Japanese, thanks to the odd phenomenon that makes numbers at least comprehensible when thought of in kanji units, e.g. man (mahn) for 10,000, oku for 100 million, cho for 10 billion, and so on. For the record, 23 trillion yen is around USD$250 billion.

Japanese Anime Eyes

The word for "eye" in Japanese is me (pronounced "meh"), although there's a more poetic-sounding alternative word, hitomi, which is used in songs and other romantic settings. (Useless trivia: Humphrey Bogart's famous line from Casablanca in Japanese is kimi no hitomi ni kampai, "I raise a glass and toast to your beautiful eyes.") All Japanese have brown eyes, although they'll always tell you their eyes are "black" if asked because they think you're asking about the center part of the eye rather than the iris. Eye color is something the Japanese are quite fascinated with when it comes to gaijin, and I've had many students who wanted to talk about my eyes, ask what color my parents' eyes were or see if I perceived the world through a blue tint. One of the more interesting aspects of Japanese animation is how characters are portrayed with a veritable rainbow of eye (and hair) colors despite being 100% Japanese ethnically. Essentially, the designers are using the medium of animation to create characters that go beyond the perceived limitations of "Japanese" facial features, incorporating colors and styles without limitation. While anime characters might be perceived as looking "Caucasian" by some, they actually surpass even the most flamboyant Western features, creating an idealized world in which any type of beautiful facial attribute can be expressed.

Interesting 4-Character Kanji Words: Yuju Fudan

There's an interesting category of vocabulary words made up of four kanji characters, which probably represents a grammatical construction left over from the distant past when Japan was still adapting the Chinese writing system for its own use. They're fun to study since the meaning of the compound words often goes far beyond the actual characters themselves. One such word that anime fans may be familiar with is ikki tousen, written with characters for "one knight" and "hitting one thousand" and literally meaning a warrior so strong he can defeat a thousand opponents. One word I had fun learning about is yuju fudan (yuu-juu foo-DAHN), written with the characters for "kindness" "softness" and "indecision." The term describes just about every male character in a romantic or "love comedy" anime series, the main character who's surrounded by beautiful females, but he can't make up his mind which girl he's in love with, so he ends up being nice to everyone. On the surface it's just a word meaning someone who can't make up his mind about something, but in the context of anime it becomes the lynchpin to many of the most dramatic character-driven stories. Some of the classic yuju fudan characters include Tomoya from Clannad, Kaoru from Ai Yori Aoishi, Makoto from School Days, and Kyosuke from the classic 80s romantic esper anime Orange Road. (Among the many Japanese study aids we offer on J-List, there's a nice book that teaches these 4-character compound words through manga.)

Cool Items Monday, January 5, 2009

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 Otomegumi Vol. 30 Another gorgeous issue of Figure Maniacs, which captures the best prepainted anime figures sold in Japan today. This is the "Otome-gumi" (girl group) book, capturing the best sexy female anime figures. Comes with cool insert photobook of even more figures.
	The Complete ~ Code Geass R2 Artbook A fantastic artbook for Geass lovers, this is the best one we've seen so far, entirely dedicated to R2, the second season, which is so dramatic I couldn't watch too many episodes back-to-back. We've also restocked several other Geass books.
	Handy Static Electricity Remover Key Chain One thing I hate about winter: static electricity shocks every time I get out of my car, touch a door handle or do just about anything. You can banish static electricity shocks with this handy keychain that acts as a ground, removing the shocking side of Winter!
	Smart Jan 2009 Super new issue of Smart, the magazine all about Japanese fashion, technology and other cool things from Japan. This is the special holiday issue, and they've got a present for you: an actual cool alarm clock that comes with the magazine!
	FREEDOM Blu-ray Disc BOX (Blu-ray Disc) I'm a big fan of Freedom, the awesome anime series about a colony living on the moon reestablishing contact with their brothers on Earth after a war. This fantastic full series is available on Blu-Ray, with English subtitles!
	Great 2009 Calendars from Japan Remember that J-List stocks hundreds of amazing calendars each year, which are usually only available in the domestic Japanese market, making them a fun way to add a bit of Japan to your room all year long. We've dropped prices on nearly all of our still-healthy stock of fantastic calendars, so browse soon.
	Rich Strawberry Kit Kat Japan Kit Kat is the #1 selling snack at J-List, and we love the unique flavors made just for the Japanese domestic market. Enjoy the tasty new Ichigo (Strawberry) Kit Kat, available by the individual pack or by the case, at a special price!
	Other New Japanese Snacks Then enjoy delicious Pucchi (Petite) Mont Blanc cookies with white chocolate on top, followed by the delicious "Crystal Gummy" Kaon, in strawberry flavor.
	SAKURA Tight Sealed Built-in Triple Bento Box Set Another innovative bento box idea from Prime Nakamura, this is actually three bento boxes in one, which you can put different foods in, then when you've eaten, collapse them all into the largest container, like Russian Nesting Dolls.
	Restocked Anime Artbooks We've restocked the gorgeous Nia artbook for fans of Gurren Lagann, the popular robot anime from Gainax.
	Giant Totoro Plush Toys, More See various restocked Totoro plush toys on the site, including the *giant* Totoro that was one of the first things I bought when I arrived in Japan, since every otaku needs a giant Totoro plush toy in his room.
	Restocked Traditional Items We've got more traditional Daruma dolls which are associated with New Year's, and which help make a specific wish or goal come true. Also, see stock of our Japan Ukiyoe Mouse Pad and Ceramic Lucky Frog Netsuke for your phone, keys, etc.
	KIMONO Pattern Chirimen Flat Purse We love to sell items made of chirimen, the material kimonos are made from, and this is a great item: an all-purpose holder for your stuff, from money to cards to small objects you don't want to lose.
	ITO-DENWA ~ Classic String Telephone A traditional Japanese version of the tin-can phone our parents used to make, but based on a real toy kids played with a century ago.
	OHGI ~ Japanese Fan -- HINOMARU / Japanese Flag This is a great item for people wanting to add a touch of Japan to their homes: a decorative fan featuring the famous image of the hinomaru, lit. "circle of the sun," the image of Japan.
	Lovely Heart Hello Kitty Foot Pillow We love fun things from Sanrio, and this toe separator that helps girls pain their nails every time is very sweet.
	Hello Kitty Sign Boards Also, we've gotten in these fun Hello Kitty little sign boards in Japanese, with messages like, Thanks for not smoking, Please keep this area clean, and Don't drive after drinking. Wacky and cute.
	Michelin Tokyo Restaurants & Hotels Guide The gold standard of restaurant and hotel rating is the Michelin Guide, and it's now available for Japan. Enjoy a 500+ page wealth of information on all the best places to eat and sleep in Tokyo!
	Genki Japanese Textbook Series The Genki textbook series it the #1 way to learn Japanese, and we've restocked it for you today.
	Kanji de Manga: 4-character Words If you want to learn Japanese, why not do it through manga? It's a lot more fun! Here's a book that teaches you specific 4-character compounds, called yoji jukuko (the topic of one of today's posts). This is a great concept for students of the language.
	PIECES 1 ~ Shirow Premium Gallery *Preorder* This is a fabulous upcoming artbook for fans of Shirow Masamune, creator of so many wonderful illustrations, including the Ghost in the Shell manga.
	Japanese Pens, Notebooks See fresh stock of some cool stationery items, including our Dr. Grip Super Ball Grip Pen, our deluxe Zebra Nu Motee Flex Fit Pen, and fun Japanese notebooks celebrating the 40th anniversary of Shonen Jump.
	Bambitious ~ Banbi no Yabo -- Bambi Watanabe A truly outstanding glossy hardcover photobook featuring a Japanese girl named Bambi, who sports a delightful body with G cup. Fantastic item for fans of Japan's amazing photobooks.
	Princess Waltz Visual Fanbook Princess Waltz is the epic eroge published by Peach Princess, and it's one of the best games ever to be brought out in English. Today we've gotten in fresh stock of the gorgeous Princess Waltz Visual Fanbook.
	Beautiful Japanese Idol Calendars On Sale Our great stock of 2009 calendars includes many of Japan's sexiest idols, from Yoko Kumada to Haruka Ayase to AV stars like Rio, so browse our selection now. Be warned though: many calendars are on the verge of selling out, so don't delay, or the calendar you want will be gone!
	Uncho Kanu 1/6 Full Cast off Figure *Preorder* Also: a very, very cool figure of Uncho Kanu from Ikki Tousen is in stock, with *full* cast off features and a giant 1/6 scale size for extra detail.
	Melona 1/7 Figure by Griffon Enterprise *Preorder* Another fantastic figure for Queen's Blade fans, this is Melona, the girl who fights naked but who uses her telepatically-controlled hands to cover herself. Features full cast off-ability.