Japan Suicide Update

The number of suicides in Japan has topped the 30,000 mark for the eleventh year in a row, with the official tally of of people who opted to go to that karaoke bar in the sky hitting 32,000 in 2008. This number is slightly higher than the actual number of suicides in the U.S., despite the fact that America has more than double the population here. As usual, the prefecture with the highest suicide rate was Yamanashi, near Mt. Fuji, home to a morbid forest called Aokigahara Jukai ("the Aokigahara Sea of Trees"), famous as a suicide spot ever since it appeared as the setting in a novel in the 1960s. Last month our rural city was shocked at the news that a mother who'd become disillusioned with life jumped under a train with her seven-year-old son, a terrible and needless waste. While Japan has made some strides in recent years, including logging 700,000 calls from troubled persons at suicide hotlines last year, clearly more needs to be done. While fixing problems with medicine isn't always the best solution, I can't help but think that part of Japan's suicide problem might be related to the cultural aversion to taking medicines -- many of the drugs used to treat serious depression in the rest of the world just aren't available here.

(By the way, do not google Akigaoka with safe search off. Just trust me on this, you will not like what you see.)

The eerie calm of Aokigaoka Jukai, second only to the Golden Gate in annual suicides.

Dialects in Japanese: Osaka-ben and Beyond

Every language has dialects, and Japanese is no different. I've heard that since Japanese people are more likely to stay in the same place all their lives, or move to Tokyo for work or education then do a "U-turn" back to their home prefecture a few years later, the country's dialects are more pronounced than in North American English. The most famous alternate dialect is Osaka-ben, where they say maido (mai-DOH) instead of konnichiwa for a greeting, reflecting the region's mercantile background (it's short for maido ari or "Thanks for giving me your business every day"). Often dialects are used to add a new dimension to a character in anime, and if you have a group of females in a given show, you can bet there'll be one whose "charm point" is speaking some cute but odd-sounding variant of Japanese. Beyond the major dialects -- rough and comical Osaka-ben, eerily polite Kyoto-ben, Gaelic-sounding Tohoku-ben from Northern Japan -- it's funny to observe the "artificial" dialect of gaijin-ben, the over-inflected Japanese that foreigners are known to speak, which is often used by radio DJs and announcers on TV shows to add a "chic" flavor to their speech.

Ogiue from Genshiken speaks a cute-sounding northern dialect.

Living in Japan: Plusses and Minuses

All in all, Japan is a fairly easy country for an expat to live in: people are friendly and interested in English, the country has low crime and it seems like there's always an interesting experience to be had somewhere. You have access to entertainment -- theatres show Western movies in English with Japanese subtitles, not dubbed over as in most foreign countries -- and having the best Internet in the world means you never feel that far from friends and family members back home. Another nice thing about Japan is public transportation, and if you live near a reasonably large city you can probably get by without the expense of a car. But there are some challenges to living here, as well. Japanese homes are not up to the quality standards of the U.S. (I'm cold all the time in mine), and moving into any rented home or apartment requires 5-6 months rent up front, what with the "thank you money" paid to the landlord and other charges that are customary. Another challenge for newcomers to Japan who haven't already studied the language is not being able to read. Although you can find signs written in English near train stations or on major roads, it's quite easy to find yourself in a place where everything around you is in Japanese. The good news is, nothing helps you learn like necessity!

All-in-all, Japan is an easy country for gaijin to live in.

Cool Stuff Friday, March 6, 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 Mar 2009 vol. 106 Megami Magazine is the magazine every fan should be buying, because each issue is such a treat, brimming with 20+ anime posters featuring original art in each issue, and other free stuff. Evangelion, Kannagi, A Certain Magical Index and much more inside.
	Dengeki Moeoh Dec 2008 Truly the King of Moe, this issue of Dengeki Moeoh will satisfy, with a feature on Toradora as drawn by popular artist Yasu, information on all the top games, and a dynamite set of four sealed "school swimsuit" posters you get free.
	Hello Kitty Pop-up Oil Absorb Sheets Whether you're a serious Sanrio collector or just have too much oil on your face, this set of Hello Kitty oil-cleaning sheets is extra special because it features little pop-up characters to spruce up your office space.
	Diamond & Pearl Pokemon Coloring Book Here's a fun coloring book w/ stickers and other stuff for fans of Pokemon. Features characters and art from the Diamond and Pearl games.
	Dream Land Egg Shaper One item we've received many recommendations for is this one, which you can use to make amazing hard boiled eggs with yolks shaped like hearts, diamonds, stars and flowers. Fantastic bento item, includes everything you need!
	New Japanese Snacks Enjoy more great tastes from Japan, including Lotte's Cubio gummy candy that's loaded with collagen, amazing Lemon Chocolate from Meiji, and ume flavored Jagarico potato sticks.
	Fun Japanese Gum, Too Remember that J-List is well stocked with every manner of chewing gum and bubble gum, from our cool R2-D2 Gum Pot to Black Black Caffeine Gum and even gum containing rose essence, to make your body smell nice from the inside.
	Perfume Portfolio Here's the newly released photobook of popular J-POP group Perfume, featuring photos of all three members. Really great addition to your collection.
	Micro Size Curving Gold Art ~ Gold Dragon Bring a little good luck into your life with this gold dragon figure, so small you could lose him if it weren't for the included case.
	Restocked Traditional Bento Sets Here's fresh stock of the great Mottainai ("waste not, want not") natural eco style bento box series, as well as Waon ("harmonious sound") bento set, one of our most affordable full-featured bento sets.
	Bento Accessories Make your bento more beautiful with the fun bento accessories we're posting today, including several onigiri shapers for making cutely shaped rice balls, and more of those fun Bear and Apple Soy Sauce Bottles.
	Japanese Mini Sign Plates = Fun From our Wacky Things from Japan department, see these little plastic signs that say things like "Emergency Exit" or "No Peeping Toms."
	Rakugo ~ Ladder Series Level 2 Rakugo is the original stand-up comedy of Japan (although comedians always sit Japanese-style on a cushion), and here's a book with famous stories translated into English.
	DS Study Tools Also, we've restocked the fun Anpanman (Sweet Bean Bread man) Nintendo DS game that helps you learn hiragana and katakana, the building blocks of the Japanese language. A great place to start reading Japanese!
	Lucky Charm for Safety Driving We've got more omamori, or Shinto good luck charms, which are specially designed to be used in your car, to help bring what the Japanese always call "safety driving." Also, fresh stock of our cool magatama curved beads.
	Special Totoro Items As a father I am happy to be able to offer the Totoro Grow Up Measure Photo Frame, a great way to track your childrens' growth for Ghibli aficionados, which is back in stock today. Also the Totoro Bento Utensil Set and the only Cat Bus plush toy for your car that's anatomically correct!
	Rilakkuma iPod Silicon Case *Preorder* Then, make your iPod Nano the cutest one in the room with this Rilakkuma Silicon Case that's incredibly kawaii. Just slip it over your iPod and it'll be protected.
	Black Rock Shooter 1/8 Figure *Preorder* This is a gorgeous figure based on an illustration, which the folks at Good Smile have brought out in 3D form for us to enjoy. Preorder this awesomeness now.
	SUPPLIO ~ Aroma Mechanical Pencil & Leads See fresh stock of the popular mechanical pencils with leads that product subtle mind-improving aromas as you write with them! We've got three different types, which offer "healing" "refresh" and "for positive mind" aromas.
	Fantastic New "H" Manga First, breathe in the fabulous My Lady is Crazy About Making Love, a deluxe manga by Bosshi featuring stories of ojosama (rich girls) who love to do "H." Then see Pleasant Country from Chosuke Nagashima, with lots of naughtiness on trains.
	Peach Princess's "Brave Soul" Remember, J-List recently dropped the prices on some of our most popular PC dating-sim games way down. One of the best games is Brave Soul, a full featured eroge RPG featuring art by the famous Mogudan. It's now just $29.95 -- get a copy now!
	Discipline Blu-ray Version (Blu-ray Disc) This is a special treat: the *entire* series of Discipline, the master anime based on the awesome game by Sei Shoujo, the artist who also made Bible Black. The full resolution of 1080p, too!

Re-Learning English Pronunciation

I've heard it said that when French people learn English, they need to work hard at re-learning how to pronounce their own language since so many words used in English originally came from French. Similarly, Japanese use many English words in their daily lives, but the pronunciation is far from what most of us might expect, making it necessary for foreigners to get comfortable with katakana English. The simple English word "weekend" becomes a bizarre-sounding oo-EE-ku-EHN-doh in Japanese, and if you want people to understand you you have to get used to saying it this way. Another word that's quite hard to get down is "wind orchestra" (oo-EEN-doh OH-keh-su-to-ra). Often when English words are imported into Japanese they're changed slightly, which can sound weird in English speakers for a while. The word "Google" comes through in Japanese as "goggle" (as in what you swim with), and Japanese web users universally perceive the double "o" in Google as a pair of eyes looking through goggles.

It can be odd to get used to English pronunciation that feels "wrong" at first.

Leadership Fail in Japan

Japan's political world was shocked at the arrest of the top aide to Democratic Party of Japan head Ichiro Ozawa over improper political contributions. At a press conference this morning Ozawa defended his aide, calling the contributions in line with the limits set by campaign law and vowing to beat the allegations. While he talked a good fight, it's likely the news will affect the DPJ's chances of winning a majority in both houses in the upcoming election, which will no doubt lead to more deadlock and other problems for the nation. Politically Japan is quite a basket case, currently on its 11th Prime Minister since I came here in 1991, compared with just three in the U.K. in the same span. While I often hear people complain about two-party political systems which lock out smaller groups, I can't say that Japan's system of one large disfunctional party and a collection of universally ineffectual smaller parties is any better.

Japan seems to suffer from a chronic leadership problem.

How Japan Changes You

When you live in a place like Japan for long enough, it inevitably starts to change you. First it's the little things, like the inability to eat a meal without first saying "Itadakimasu!" (literally meaning "I am about to receive the gift of this food"), or politely turning your headlights down to "park" at intersections to keep from blinding the driver across from you. Before you know it you're bowing to people while talking on the phone, you can't remember your weight or shoe size as measured back home and you find yourself taking a long time to get to the point while talking to anyone. The other day my son asked me how they measure the area of rooms in America, and I vaguely recalled there being a something called "square feet" or "square meters" that I'd known about once. Japan, of course, uses that oh-so-traditional unit of measurement known as the tatami mat, and the size of a room is always expressed in how many tatami would fit inside, even if it's a traditional Western room with wooden flooring. A 6-jo (6-mat) room is a good sized space for one or two people to sleep in, while a 4 1/2 mat room (called yojo-han) is what the cramped rooms poor college students live in are called. After being here for so long I can perceive spaces in Japanese mats pretty accurately, but I have no idea how much 1200 square feet would be.

Tatami mats are used to specify room sizes in Japan.

Cool Items Wednesday, March 4, 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.

	Newtype Mar 2009 Newtype is the #1 anime magazine in the world, and we've gotten a few copies of the most recent issue for fans who getting the magazine every month. Tons of info on the hottest anime, with posters, removable artbooks and more inside.
	Ultra Jump Feb 2009 One of the most elegant monthly manga published each month, Ultra Jump hosts such popular comics as Hayate x Blade, Peace Maker, DOGS Bullet & Carnage, and of course Tenjo Tenge. Cool free stuff, too!
	Touhou Vol. 2 -- Silent Sinner in Blue Volume 2 of the gorgeous official Touhou manga, based on the characters that started out as part of the most popular genre in anime today. Fabulous art with all the characters present, story by the original creator ZUN.
	Yo-Jin-Bo ~ The Bodyguards The popular interactive anime game for PC and Mac is back as a great Internet Download Edition! When Sayori is teleported to ancient Japan she must find a way to save Hatsuhime from a terrible assassination. A superb game we recommend a lot!
	Lucky Star Trading Figure Maid Collection Also scoring very high on the cool-o-meter, we have the brand new Lucky Star Trading Figure Maid Collection, a set of fantastic figures of the Lucky Star girls in "Maid Cafe" mode. Full and partial sets are in stock (so you don't have to get a bunch of duplicate figures).
	Fist of North Star Movie Figure Collection Figures We love Hokuto no Ken around here, and if you do too, here's a set of figures from the movie. Awesome detailing.
	Delicious New Japanese Snacks I have to admit to really loving the Poifull Beautist candies we have on the site, not only because "poifull" (poi = the sound of tossing something into your mouth) is a cool name, and they candies are delicious. Also enjoy Pururun Peach Candies loaded with collagen and Fujiya Look Parfait a la Mode chocolates.
	Mugen Puchi Puchi - Anime Version See more of the cute electronic bubble wrap keychains in stock, too. This is the tsundere (TSOON-deh-reh) keychain, roughly translatable as "a cute anime girl who is angry all the time yet secretly loves you." Basically, you pop the bubble wrap and every 30 pops or so, the keychain says something like, "Don't touch me there!"
	Classic 80's Hello Kitty Hand Mirror with Mascot I don't know why, but I am a big fan of 80s-era Hello Kitty stuff. Here's a nice hand mirror for carrying in your purse, which will always be there when you need it. Plus it's really kawaii!
	Mousse-chan Kira-Kira ~ Whip Cream's Accessory The line of cute Mousse-chan decorations made from kami-nendo (a clay made from paper fibers) are very popular. Now you can make jewelry and other accessories that look like actual whipped cream...?
	Top Tokyo Sights ~ Eigo de Guide Suru Tokyo Find the top tourist spots in Tokyo with this cool "bilingual" guide, which features both English and Japanese contents side-by-side, something I love since I'm always wondering how to express something in one language or the other.
	Restocked Bento Boxes This is one of the nicest new bento box sets I've seen in a while, with two sections for your rice and other good things to eat, chopsticks, bento bag and a belt to keep your bento closed tightly. The bento box is loaded with silly English, too.
	Fun Hello Kitty Bento Accessories Then for the many fans of Hello Kitty onigiri and bento products, see a bunch of restocked Sanrio items, including the Hello Kitty Mini Push Onigiri Shaper, the Hello Kitty Deco Bento Maker, and cute Hello Kitty flags!
	Totoro Bento & Accessories, More Today's Ghibli items include fresh stock of some fun Totoro bento items, including the 2-tier Bento Box and Totoro Chopsticks w/ case, a Jiji the Cat stamp for getting work done, and more.
	WASHI Kiri-e and Chigiri-e Traditional Art Origami is the art of making creations out of paper that's folded, never cutting the paper. Now you can try out the similar art forms of kiri-e (cut paper art) and chigiri-e (paper tearing art) with these great new craft sets!
	Pocket Monster Diamond Pearl Eraser Set In every age, there are those who love Pikachu and his friends. Here's a set of two erasers from the new Diamond Pearl series.
	J-POP Songs For Spring One thing I like about the iTunes Japan Music Store are the pre-made playlists that you can browse to find new music to buy. Here's one that collects the best J-POP songs for spring, including that awesome single by Yumi Matsutoya, about a graduation photograph.
	Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha SS Visual Collection The last word in magical girl anime as far as many are concerned, enjoy the upcoming artbook which you can preorder now.
	Kagami Hiiragi / Miku Hatsune Figma *Preorder* The already-cute Kagami from Lucky Star adds onion-like layers to her character by dressing up in Miku Hatsune cosplay for her fans. Preorder this great Figma toy for priority shipping when she drops in April.
	Cool Japanese Pens, Paper See some great restocked items including the DX Color Fude Brush Pen set, with 12 vibrant colors to write with. Also, high-quality acid-free paper from COPIC and fresh stock of the high-tech Signo JUMPOP pens.
	Annerotte 1/8 Cast-Off Figure ~ Queens Blade This is a great figure from the Queen’s Blade Rebellion series, the super-cute Annerotte. The figure is a full 1/8 scale recreation and comes complete with s “cast off” features (hee hee).
	Tsuki ~ Possession Looking for a great English-translated PC dating-sim game? Consider the excellent Tsuki ~ Possession, a fun game to play. When great sadness visits you, you decide to turn the sympathy of those who love you into a tool for their destruction! Great new price!
	The Coolest Sake Cups in the World The next time you have friends over for sake serve them using these awesome shunga ("spring pictures") cups, featuring the famous art of the Edo "Peter Tries Not To Type Ero" Period.