Going from Japan to the U.S. and Back Again

Because I'm fortunate enough to flit back and forth between the U.S. and Japan several times a year, I get to enjoy the best of both sides of the Pacific. I've lived in Japan so long that there's always some reverse culture shock waiting for me when I go home again. For example, after getting used to the smaller but quite adequate portions served in Japan, some of the food amounts in America really floor me. In Japanese restaurants, you nearly always pay for your meal at the cash register as you leave, but in the U.S. you usually ask for the check and pay at your table -- I sometimes have to think deeply to figure how which to do. Although Japan has been getting rid of more places where smoking is permitted, it's still okay to smoke in most restaurants. Forgetting where I was, I once strode into a Denny's in San Diego and asked to be seated in the non-smoking section, receiving a funny look from the employee, since all the seats are non-smoking in California. Reorienting myself to driving on the right side of the street, instead of on the left as in Japan, is not as difficult as you might imagine, despite the fact that I am mildly dyslexic. The trick is, no matter what country you're driving, you should be closer to the center of the road than the passenger seat.

Japanese Girls and the Kawaii Things That They Do

I'm big fan of Japanese girls and the kawaii things they do, and when I was a teacher, I loved observing the never ending parade of attractive female students I had. In Japan it's supposedly bad manners for a girl to laugh while showing her teeth, and the way they cover their mouth when laughing really starts to look cute to a guy after a while. Then there's the two-handed "bye-bye" wave that girls will do amongst themselves when parting, which is fun to watch, if a little bizarre. But the cutest thing I've ever seen a girl do is get embarrassed about something, then try to pull her bangs forward as if she could hide her red face underneath her hair. While I think the unique mannerisms of Japanese girls are kind of cool, not everyone agrees, and the derogatory word for girls who act like super-cute children to push the emotional buttons of males is burikko (boo-REE-kko), lit. "pretending girl." The culture of acting to cute is raised to a science in magazines like Bomb or in Japan's idol world, and I'm quite powerless to resist their magic.

Japan has Overly Peaceful

Another year, another Anime Expo. As usual, this year was a blast, with a bazillion J-List fans and customers (and more than a few of my Twitter followers) coming by to say hi. We sold a ton of T-shirts, Totoro plush toys and H-games, and I scored the autographs of all the members of Morning Musume on our spiffy new J-List printed bags. See everyone next year!

Japan is a strange and wonderful place, and you never know what will become popular next, like the current boom in taiyaki, a fish-shaped snack loaded with sweet anko beans (or sometimes chocolate), or the traditional "Food Drop" candies we have on the site. Once I found a video that consisted of nothing but a pretty girl staring at the camera, looking out of your computer at you for long spans of time. I can't figure out what the point of having a girl stare intensely at you for many minutes on end is, but it was strangely compelling, and I guess it's a good way for hikikomori types (hardcore otaku who never leave their homes) to get used to interacting with others. Below the video, one of the comments by a Japanese viewer read, "Japan is really heiwa," meaning peaceful, and this is a concept you encounter quite a lot: Japan's awareness that their country is especially blessed with peace, a unique place where crime is low and there is no war or religious strife, and people have the freedom to make silly videos and post them on the Internet. A related concept is heiwa-boke (hei-WA boh-keh), literally meaning "numbed from too much peace," which describes the state of literally being made stupid by living in a country that's overly harmonious, like the Japanese who traveled to Iraq in 2004 to help rebuild the country only to be promptly kidnapped because, well, they were in friggin' Iraq.

We had fun at AX, and Morning Musume signed our spiffy new event bags; weird J-Girl stares at you.

Cool Products Monday, July 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.

	Young Ace vol. 1 Young Ace is the big brother of Shonen Ace, one of the most popular manga magazine, and this issue is a super dynamite issue dedicated to Evangelion. You even get an Eva figure free with the issue!
	Higurashi no Naku koro ni Cosplay ~ Rika J-List's cosplay initiative is off to a great start, and we're happy seeing people buy complete cosplay sets of Haruhi, Toradora and more. Enjoy this new uniform from When They Cry, with everything you need!
	Mikuru Asahina Gothic Punk Version The newest trend in anime figures these days is to create a cute Gothic cosplay version of every character, which is great for collectors. Now in stock!
	Shana Action Figure -- figma Series I am a huge fan of the Figma toy series because of the detail paid to the creation of every aspect of the figures, and also because of the poses you can put them in -- more flexible than me! See fresh stock of this great Shana figure w/ sword and cool "military color" school uniform.
	Shiki Ryougi 1/6 Figure Then from Kara no Kyokai, aka Boundary of Emptiness, from the legendary Type-Moon. This is a gorgeous figure that's in stock now.
	Spice and Wolf Perfect Guide Spice and Wolf is an enigmatic anime about a harvest goddess in the form of a wolf-girl, and the adventures she has with a trader. This is the perfect guide book for fans of the series, restocked today.
	Re-ment Puchi Airline Everyone loves the Re-Ment line of super-detailed miniature food toys, and one of the coolest has come in today: airline food, recreated in every minute detail. We just love selling cool things from Japan like this.
	Totoro Music Boxes Restocked We've gotten in several outstanding ceramic Totoro music boxes for you, which are great for collectors as well as all fans of Hayao Miyazaki's wonderful creation.
	Japanese Food Drops Enjoy more traditional Japanese foods through Sakuma Drops-style traditional candies. Today we're posting the famous Monjya-yaki from Tokyo, Chanko Nabe Drops from Kyushu (this is what sumo wrestlers eat), and Sasebo Burger Drops, which capture the most famous hamburgers in Japan.
	Microwave Taiyaki Maker For anyone interested in the fun Japanese snack called Taiyaki, which shows up in so many fun anime series, we've restocked our Microwave Taiyaki Maker, which lets you make the delicious snack at home.
	Portable Paper Soap One thing you'll notice in the Japanese public restrooms are the lack of soap dispensers (particularly that in the train stations). Now you can bring your own soap with these amazing take-anywhere soap sheets!
	Popular Bento Boxes Restocked See more fun bento creations from Prime Nakamura, including he Nikyoro Bread Shaped Bento, the super-cute Rabbit PAW Bento, and the large Panda Onigiri Bento that's so awesome to carry your lunch in.
	Restocked Complete Bento Sets Then see fresh stock of one of our most popular bento box sets, the Koban (the name of an old oval-shaped coin used during the Edo Period) 2-tier bento with sakura petals painted on the top, in both pink and brown. Comes with box, chopstick case, chopsticks and bento belt.
	Mousse-chan Paper Clay Toys The Mousse-chan Fuwa Fuwa paper clay molds are incredibly popular, and we've restocked several in Japan, including the bakery and chocolate craft sets. They look good enough to eat, but don't.
	Hello Kitty Wind Chime In the summer, there's no nicer sound than the wind coming in through the window and making your wind chime sound. Here's a super Hello Kitty wind chime we think you'll love.
	Live from Tokyo ~ Listen to Real Japanese! All the foreign staff of J-List speaks Japanese, so we know how hard it can be to build listening skills without actually living in the country. This is a very good idea, which presents real Japanese, exactly the way you'd hear it live.
	Kanokon Manga vol. 1 & 2 Another fun way to learn Japanese is to read, read, read, and what could be better than reading a great manga like Kanokon. We've got vol. 1 & 2 in stock for you today. Features furigana for easy reading.
	SHODO ~ Japanese Calligraphy Brushes Also, we've restocked some cool traditional calligraphy items which let you experience the calming art of writing kanji characters with a brush. Comes with everything you need in one handy wooden box.
	Viral Figure 1/8 Figure *Preorder* He's one of the most interesting characters in Gurren Lagann, the villain who does, well, some cool stuff in the end (I won't give the ending away in case you haven't seen the series). Now you can preorder him.
	Miku Hatsune 1/7 Figure by Max Factory *Preorder* Then, preorder the gorgeous new Vocaloid figure from Max Factory, which is being posted now. I know I'll be getting my copy.
	Revoltech Queen's Blade Echidna Figure *Preorder* Then enjoy the new Echidna figure, which can be posed in any position since it's a fully functional Revoltech. Make her fight. Get creative!
	Saori Hara Photobook Next, super sweet AV actress and all-around ecchi girl released a photobook that sold out in record time at J-List. Now we've posted fresh stock of it on the site.
	Shirow Masamune's Jashin Hunter If you're a fan of Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune, you really should consider picking up the Jashin Hunter novels (vol 1 & 2), illustrated by the master "H" artist. Back on the site today, although we can't say for sure how long this epic item will stay in print. (Just satin'.)
	New Bible Black Hole Toys The Bible Black stress relief toys for men were the hit of Anime Expo, and we had dozens of people coming by trying to buy them long after we sold out. We've posted three awesome new versions today.
	TENGA Flip Hole, Lotion, More Also, the Tenga Flip Hole has been restocked, along with the popular Tenga Lotion ("real" and "wild"). These are so awesome and well designed, they look like something that dropped out of a future time.
	Amazing Dating-sim Games in English We never know what game will prove a popular one at a convention, but I was happy to see quite a few customers reach for Crescendo, an elegant story-centric H-game that has some of the most realistic and sensual artwork ever. Click to see the top selling CD-ROM games, or if you prefer Internet Download edition games, we have a link for that, too.

Lessons Learned on Trains in Japan

When I first got to Japan, I was determined to get out and see the country, but it was difficult since it can be costly to travel here and I was a "bimbo" ESL teacher. (Through a linguistic accident, binbo happens to mean "poor" or "penniless" in Japanese, making it mildly fun to start conversations with Japanese girls by asking, "Are you bimbo?" and watching them nod yes.) Then I found out about the Youth 18 Ticket, a special ticket JR sells that basically lets you go anywhere on a JR line for a day for $24, as long as you don't mind taking only the local, slow trains (i.e. no Shinkansen). It's an interesting way to travel since it's cheap, completely removed from the "touristy" side of the country, and you'll be guaranteed to see a side of the country you couldn't easily see otherwise. Of course, this method of traveling around Japan is only recommended to people who have lots of time but very little money, since it took me 14 hours to get to Osaka from Tokyo. The better way to get around is a JR Rail Pass that lets you use all the fast trains, which is unfortunately unavailable to anyone living inside Japan.

Taking my slow train trip to Osaka way I learned about the concept of hito to me, the social engine at work that makes Japanese society seem so uniform to outsiders. It works like this: basically, people usually avoid doing something that will stand out as strange. For my long train journey I'd brought a small folding chair with me, so I'd have a seat in case one of the trains I'd be taking was crowded. However, I soon learned that it was too embarrassing to be the only one sitting on a little folding chair, and I was unable to bring myself to cross that line. I'm a Mazda Miata fan, and have a car in San Diego and one in Japan. While I love driving my "open car" in San Diego even in February, it takes too much courage to be the only gaijin in my city driving with the top down in the winter.

All About Natto

We're done with the first day of Anime Expo, and have spent the day meeting and greetings thousands of J-List fans, as well as giving our packed dating-sim game panel. We're tired, but it's a good kind of tired. If you'll be at the convention, we hope you'll swing by booth 825 and check out the awesome anime toys, bento boxes, T-shirts, manga and other products we've got for you. Just look for the really tall J-List flags in the room.

The fermented soybeans known as natto (NAT-toh) are one of the most famous foods in Japan, enjoyed throughout the country, although people from Osaka and most gaijin dislike it, including this one. Eaten by a wide swath of Japanese from children to the elderly and everyone in between, the sticky beans are usually mixed with yellow mustard and eaten over white rice. There are many legends about how natto was first discovered, but the most famous seems to be that in the year 1083 the general Yoshiie Minamoto was on campaign with 100,000 troops near a town called Mito, and stopped at an inn to rest. Some soybeans had been steamed and wrapped in straw for the horses to eat, and these fermented naturally while sitting on the floor of the stable. Some of the soldiers tried the beans and liked the taste, so they offered some to their lord, who loved it, which is where the name (which means "offered beans") comes from. If you're "natto curious" and would like to see what all the fuss is about, we've got an awesome item for you: authentic "drop" natto-flavored candies. Like the popular ramen, soba and and other traditional foods you can eat in candy form on J-List, these traditional Sakuma Drop-like candies taste just like the real thing.

Natto, one of the most enigmatic foods from Japan.

Studying Japanese and What To Avoid

One of the first words anyone studying Japanese learns is honto, which means "really" or "truly," and whenever a gaijin uses this word I can get an idea of how they studied Japanese. The correct pronunciation is HONE-toh, which is not difficult to get down if you started studying Japanese using a course that forced you to read everything in hiragana from the beginning (like the Genki books or the excellent flashcards from White Rabbit that we sell); but if the person says it using the English rules of pronunciation, producing something like HAWN-toh, I can tell they either learned using a romaji (romanized Japanese) textbook or learned informally, picking up words and phrases here and there. The problem is that reading a Japanese word written in the English alphabet creates problems as the brain tries to apply rules like 'silent e' to what it's seeing, which ends up making your pronunciation less correct. Another word that foreigners often get slightly wrong is man, the unit for 10,000, which pronounced like mahn, and not like the opposite of woman. Bottom line, when learning Japanese, it's best to get started on the right foot.

Bowing Culture in Japan Revisited

Bowing is an important form of social communication in Japan. Whether it's a short sumimasen accompanied by a brief lowering of the head at someone for bringing you a cup of coffee (which essentially means "sorry for inconveniencing you" in this case, even though we'd just say "thank you" in English in the same situation), or a gomen nasai said with a deeper bow for communicating a more serious apology, Japan's culture of bowing is interesting to observe. The ultimate form of a bowing is the dogeza, when a person places their body on the lowest level possible, literally touching their face to the ground. This is done in many cases to ask for forgiveness for something, but also to make an important request of someone. In ToraDora, Ryuji is taken aback when Minori suddenly prostrates herself in front of him, asking that he take good care of her friend Taiga. She had gotten the mistaken idea that the two of them were dating, and she wanted to beg of Ryuji that he make Taiga happy.

Different Customs in Japan

The Japanese do some strange things, at least from the viewpoint of this particular foreigner. In the U.S. you'd never open someone's front door and walk in without being invited, but it's quite common in Japan for someone to open the door and walk in to the genkan (the low area where you leave your shoes) and ask in a loud voice if anyone is home -- no one thinks anything of it, since that part of the house is officially considered part of the outside. In the U.S. there are certain subjects you avoid out of politeness, such as religion, why a married couple doesn't have kids, or how much an expensive car or home cost. In Japan, however, some of these topics seem quite neutral and might come up during small talk. Then there's that odd custom of bringing up a person's weight gain as a part of casual conversation, which you never do in the U.S. I can't count the number of times I've met a business associate in Tokyo and have the conversation start out with, Peter-san, sukoshi futotta? (Peter, have you put on some weight?).

Cool Products Wednesday, July 1, 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 Creators vol. 16 Megami Creators is the magazine for serious fans of anime characters and the people who bring them into being. This perfect bound magazine is loaded with beautiful pages of original anime art for you to feast on.
	Coro Coro Comic June 2009 Coro Coro is a pretty big deal for fans of such famous Japanese comics as Doraemon, Pokemon, Duel Masters, and more. In addition to being more than 700+ pages in length, you get cool free stuff inside.
	All About ToraDora Artbook I am a huge fan of ToraDora, the show that puts the kawaii Taiga (e.g. 'tiger') in league with Ryuji (whose name contains the kanji for 'dragon') to help each other find love. Preorder this upcoming artbook now.
	Restocked Artbooks See fresh stock of the gorgeous When They Cry Official Summary Artbook, as well as How To Draw Moe Characters, and more, all back in stock for you.
	Revoltech Queen's Blade Airi The new Revoltech super-poseable anime toys are great, and now Airi, the kawaii maid who wields a scythe as a weapon, is in stock. Make her do any pose you like -- you can even get quite ecchi thanks to the amazing design of the joints.
	Maryan 1/7 Figure Swimsuits ver. ~ ToHeart2 Maryan is one of the most enigmatic characters from the ToHeart2 universe, and there have been many amazing figures made of her. Here's a new one, featuring her in a white swimsuit w/ skirt around her ankle, which is quite an image. In stock now.
	Jiji Wooden Music Box -- Kiki's Delivery Service Fans of Studio Ghibli's "Kiki's Delivery Service" will definitely want to check out this amazing music box, which has a figure of Jiji the Cat that pops out as music plays when you open it. Also stores all your important stuff such as jewelry.
	Ghibli & Totoro Items Another large volley of restocked Totoro items, including the plush fuzzy Totoro Doll Collection toys (so cute!), plus Totoro music boxes for fans and collectors.
	Maneki Neko Kompeito This is a fun item: a Lucky Cat box that contains delicious kompeito candy, the star-shaped candy that's been enjoyed in Japan for more than 400 years.
	Strawberry Mix Pattered 2-tier Square Bento Box For bento fans, look for fresh stock of this very cute lunchbox offering from Prime Nakamura featuring a strawberry theme. Imagine the amazing bento creations you could make with this!
	Nikyoro x Donut Fluffy Cushion Also: the Nikyoro series of smiling bento products moves in a new direction, with this large cute smiling doughnut-shaped cushion. Looks good enough to eat!
	Candy Style ONIGIRI Wrapping Sheet Then: onigiri is one of the most awesome foods from Japan, essentially a rice ball with something good hidden inside. Here's a set of really interesting onigiri wrappers for making objects of art!
	Color Perfume Onigiri Cases - Pink, Blue Then, see fresh stock of the popular "Color Perfume" onigiri cases, which are large enough to hold really satisfying triangle-shaped rice balls.
	Stripe Panty and Half Top Sets J-List customers have really embraced the fun cosplay products we offer, and today we've gotten in authentic shimapan-style striped panties with matching bra tops. Great for Miku Hatsune or Strike Witches cosplay, or just because they're cute.
	Simple Black Knee High Socks Also: a popular item in Japan today, these are knee-high black socks that are showing up in all the fashion magazines. Available now through J-List!
	Magic Diet Sandals, Skin Cleaning Stick The amazing "magic slippers" which force you to use rarely called-upon muscles to walk are back in stock today. Also, the Magical Spot Stick, which removes dead skin from your face.
	Hiragana Times June 2009 No. 272 Hiragana Times is a highly recommended monthly publication that combines useful current events with learning the Japanese language. Great easy to read articles in this new issue for you.
	Textbook of Kanji for Foreigners 300 An excellent textbook that helps you learn kanji, just like as if you were living in Japan. Tackling the first 300 characters which are generally learned in the first through third grades of elementary school, this book is a great place to start learning kanji.
	Rilakkuma Study Flash Card A great way to study Japanese (or anything, really) is to write what you're working on onto flash cards and then quiz yourself again and again. Here's a set of really cute flash cards featuring Relax Bear!
	Hello Kitty x ONSEN Sexy Bath Towel Strap We have some awesome new Hello Kitty plush phone straps, which can be attached to your phone, keys, camera, Nintendo DS and so on. Hello Kitty is on her way to the onsen (volcanic hot springs)!
	Mari Illustrious Makinami 1/10 Figure *Preorder* Mari is the mysterious new character in the Evangelion 2.0 ~ You Can (Not) Advance film, just opening in Japan, and she's really seized the attention of fans. Enjoy her new figure, posted for preorder now.
	Shamal Figma Action Figure *Preorder* Enjoy the latest addition to the collection of figures based on the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime series. A very cute figure from Max Factory, we've posted her for preorder now.
	Bakunyu Tengoku ~ Explosive Oppai Heaven A dynamite color magazine + 3 hour DVD featuring superb erotic action with large oppai women of D cup or larger, including J, H and I cup (wow!).
	Laughingly! Miss Momoko An outstanding erotic manga about the lovely Momoko-sensei, a teacher who is very popular with her students and the other teachers, and has many satisfying adventures. Fantastic art.
	Hentai Games from Japan It's always fun to browse the top 50 H-games on CD-ROM or the top-selling download games on J-List, where you can see awesome games like Lightning Warrior Raidy, Cosplay Fetish Academy and more. See what games are popular this week.
	Echidona 1/7 Cast off Figure *Preorder* Another fantastic figure for Queen's Blade fans, this is Echidona, a female elfin warrior whose armor can be "cast off" for added fun and enjoyment.
	QUEEN'S BLADE 1 (Blu-ray Disc) Queen's Blade is one of the most awesome hentai anime series ever, with tons of well-animated action including all the characters from the series, and high quality voice actresses like Aya Hirano (the voice of Haruhi). Be sure and pick up this superb Blu-Ray release!