In Japan, Yes Doesn't Mean Yes

Leave it to Japan to turn something as simple as "yes" and "no" into something more complex than it needs to be. But because of the differences in language and culture, sometimes even these simple concepts can cause confusion. "Yes" in Japanese is hai, and in addition to affirming a statement or question, it's also used to let the person whose talking to you know you're listening attentively. This is called aizuchi, words of agreement that a Japanese will say while listening to another person. It's not uncommon for gaijin to assume that a person saying hai...hai to us is actually agreeing with what we're saying, when in fact the opposite may well be true. "No" in Japanese is iie (EE-eh), but in a society with as many shades of grey as Japan, its actually quite rare to hear a statement or question answered with such a flatly negative word. It's more common to hear something like chotto (CHOE-toe, which literally means "a little") used to vaguely hint that the cookies you'd baked didn't taste very good ("well, they're a little..."), rather than a direct negative statement ("no, I don't like them"). One of the more common uses of iie is in response to someone thanking you for something, in which case it means something like "No, don't mention it."

Yes means yes, unless it doesn't. No means, "Don't mention it." .

$50 Hello Kitty Melons

The other day I saw a post about the newest in wacky fruit goodness from Japan, a high quality yubari melon with Hello Kitty's face embossed into the skin. For those not used to Japan's world of high-end fruit, the price of this rare treat -- a cool $55 -- might have seemed excessive, although it was pretty much what anyone would pay for a really delicious hand-grown melon shipped in a special gift box. Japan is really into gift giving, and there are two gift seasons called chugen (in the summer) and oseibo (in the winter) during which families give gifts to people who have helped them especially, like neighbors or teachers or anyone whose sesame seeds they want to grind up. (The way to express the idea of "brown nosing" someone in Japanese is goma o suru, lit. to grind sesame seeds for someone.) Popular gifts include delicious boxed fruit, gift boxes of beer or sake, useful household items lke detergent or soy sauce, rare steaks of Kobe beef, and other really awesome stuff. It's also common for employees to give gifts to their bosses, to butter them up before the summer and winter bonuses seasons. You can even find gift items on J-List's popular Anime and Gift Snacks page...

In Japan, giving $50 melons as gifts is an important part of the culture.

Driving in the U.S. vs. Japan

Driving in the U.S. after living in Japan for so long presents certain challenges. Like the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, Japan drives on the left side of the street, which means you need to pay attention to what other cars are doing when switching from one country to the other to avoid any problems. Although it's not that difficult to make the switch -- just make sure you're closer to the center of the road than your passenger, whichever country you're in -- I find it's impossible to keep from accidentally trying to get into the wrong side of a car, no matter where I am. Similarly, although automobile controls are identical no matter what country you're in, the turn signal and windshield wiper controls are reversed between the U.S. and Japan. This increases the likelihood that I'll accidentally turn my wipers on when making a turn, usually when a group of attractive girls happens to be watching me. In Japan, there's a 5-second delay between when one traffic light turns red and the next changes to green, which means there's always a stream of cars running every red light since people know they have a few more seconds to make it across. This time delay doesn't exist in the U.S. however, which is a very important thing to keep in mind when driving.

Like the U.K., the Japanese drive on the left, which causes me to get in on the wrong side of the car sometimes.

Cool Products Wednesday, July 7, 2010

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.

	Dengeki G's Style July 2010 New issue of the awesome Dengeki G's Style, the magazine just for girls who love anime style games, from otome to BL and more.
	Fate/stay night Figma In Stock I am positively in love with the "evil" Saber Figma figure that we just posted to the site. Now in stock!
	Transformers Compact Car Limited Edition set Cool new Transformers toy from Japan featuring Skids and Screech.
	Chopper Man USB Speaking Toy We restocked the cool USB Chopper man toy that talks to you an interacts with you while you use your computer. Totally awesome!
	Totoro Bun Bun Top Here's a fun bun bun (pronounced like "boon-boon," and it means something like "zoom zoom") spinning top with pull string. Just like in the movie!
	Restocked Totoro Plush Toys, Too We have restocked Totoro plush toys, including the Soot Sprite, which comes with a suction cup so you can hang him in your car.
	Water Cool Fit Headband for Summer Another fun item for summer! This is a stylish Japanese headband which helps keep you cool when it's hot out.
	TATAMI SETTA Sandals for Summer Also great for summer: cool "tatami" sandals, made from the same materials as tatami mats in Japanese houses. Many sizes and styles posted.
	Fruits June 2010 NO. 155 J-List customers know that we love to carry fashion magazines that capture the real street fashion of Harajuku. Click to see the new issue of FRUiTs along with other cool fashion magazines we stock.
	Stripe Pantsu, Other Cosplay Items Whether you're wearing anime cosplay on the outside or the inside, J-List has your back. Those Miku Hatsune-themed shimapan are back in stock today.
	Taiko Drum Master DS ~ Dororon! Nintendo DS fans, here's a new game for you, which is not only fun to play, it teaches you many fun Japanese songs.
	Restocked PSP, DS Anime Games Also: Miku Hatsune pantsu simulator dancing game, the Macross Ultimate Frontier game (have I recommended this to fans often enough?), plus Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Story 3.
	One Piece Drop Candies ~ Set of 2 *preorder* The iconic "Sakuma Drops" style candies get another awesome makeover with this great new One Piece candies you can preorder now.
	iTunes Japan Prepaid Cards Of course you know that you can find the best J-POP, anime and other Japanese music and Japan-only iPhone/iPad apps with the iTunes Japan Prepaid Cards. Like the newest K-On! songs, a popular song by Rei Ayanami voice actress Megumi Hayashibara, and a certain awesome anime OP.
	Amazing New Snacks from Japan Enjoy fun new Japanese snack offerings, including Tohato Otsumami Snack in cheese and edamame flavor, Lotte Jucia Gummy and more.
	Evangelion Plugsuits Bottle Water Set of 2 J-List has been selling awesome Japanese drinks for a while. Today we've got Evangelion Plugsuits Bottle Water, in matching Rei and Asuka versions.
	Awesome Hello Kitty Bento Boxes For bento fans who appreciate the joy of eating a really kawaii boxed lunch, we've restocked some of our most popular Hello Kitty lunchboxes. Enjoy.
	Family Size SAKURA JUBAKO Bento Box We've restocked the jubako stacking bento box we love so much, plus that Rabbit and Moon traditional bento that's one of our most popular items.
	Candy Style ONIGIRI Wrapping Sheet Fun! Make onigiri rice balls that look like wrapped candies.
	Perfect Sushi Molds, Gyoza Makers Then, make sushi the right way with this excellent sushi molds we've restocked today. Also: other onigiri molds for making interesting rice balls of every shape.
	Mousse-chan Kira-Kira Paper Clay Set Restocked Then, the kami-nendo ("paper clay") toys from Japan are extremely popular with a wide range of J-List customers, which makes us happy. See fresh stock of several clay + mold sets today.
	Kawaii Onigiri Kitchen Sponge At Anime Expo a customer told me, "And I especially love the cute kitchen items you sell." That made me happy. Here's an incredibly cute sponge we've restocked today!
	Darth Vader Sound Strap Then for Star Wars fans, a fun Darth Vader phone strap that makes breathing noises. Too cool!
	Amazing Traditional Items Restocked Want to enjoy some sake in some awesome traditional cups, plus traditional Lucky Cat figures with kanji messages written on their stomachs.
	Revoltech Protect Gear ~ Kerberos Saga *Preorder* Jin-Roh Revoltech toys? I am so there, baby.
	Mame Revo! Moyashimon Revoltech Figures *Preorder* Then, the cutest little bacteria are coming out in toy form, as Revoltech recreates your favorite Moyashimon characters. Neat!
	Yulia Nova Photobooks Restocked Then enjoy fresh stock of those delightful Yulia Nova photobooks, which are super thick and loaded with never before seen pictures of Russia's most beautiful woman. Tons of extras, too!
	Bible Black ~ Marshmallow Hole We have an elegant new Bible Black themed stress toy that makes your favorite characters really come alive.
	Love Body Risa Doll + Hole, More Restocked The newest trend in stress-relief novelty toys for men is inflatable dolls that you can really wrap yourself around, or put clothes on if you like. See fresh stock of Love Body Risa w/ matching hole, plus the Chinta Kun Classic Massager.
	Nipplen for Love Body Restocked, Too Then, fresh stock of those hugely popular stick-on nipples for your "hug pillow" to create added realism. These are insanely popular, so we've gotten more in stock for you.
	Sousou 1/8 Cast off Figure *Preorder* Wow, is all I can say to this new figure that captures the slender grace of Souso from the popular eroge Shin Koihime Musou .
	Cosplay Academy Looking for an outstanding eroge in English to enjoy? Then look no farther than Cos-Feti Academy, which combines a hilarious story with cute ero costumes and many paths to explore. Art by the creator of Raidy 1 & 2.
	KEIONBU! -- Tsubomi (Blu-ray) ~ K-ON! Parody This is genius -- the super cute AV star Tsubomi takes on anime cosplay parody, performing as Mio from K-On! She even has the pantsu right.

All About "Sumimasen"

You may know the Japanese word sumimasen, which generally corresponds to "excuse me" and is one of the more useful phrases to learn, but like most aspects of Japan there's a little more to it than appears on the surface. First and foremost, sumimasen (soo-mee-mah-SEN) is used in any situation where you need to apologize for something small, such as causing someone inconvenience by bumping into them in the street, calling the wrong number, or ordering curry with beef intestines accidentally because you couldn't read the kanji in the menu, then asking for something else instead. Many situations which would call for a "thank you" in English work better with sumimasen in Japanese, something I learned at a public bath a few weeks after first arriving here. We'd stayed a few minutes after closing time, causing minor inconvenience to the staff who no doubt wanted to get home, and as we left my Japanese coworker said sumimasen to them ("we're sorry for taking too long in the bath") rather than the phrase I would have used, arigato ("thank you for letting us stay a few minutes past closing time"). When I asked about this, I was told that "'Thank you' sounds cheap. 'Excuse me' is a better word for Japanese people." The sumimasen phrase is also used when asking for service in a restaurant, and one difference between Japan and the U.S. is that in Japan, it's okay to loudly use the phrase to indicate that you're ready to order, whereas in the States you usually close your menu and sit quietly to be noticed most of the time. Like many Japanese phrases, you can use the all-purpose word domo (which loosely means "very") to add a layer of politeness, e.g. domo sumimasen! ("I'm really sorry!").

Sumimasen is one of the most commonly used words in Japan.

Slurp Your Noodles in Japan

Japan is probably the only country where eating too quietly will get comments from people around you. The correct way of eating Japanese and Chinese noodles like ramen, udon and soba is to slurp them while holding your face near the bowl, sucking in the soup along with the noodles. There's no upper ceiling to how loud you're allowed to slurp, and making these noises is one way of letting whoever prepared the noodles for you know that you think they're delicious. When foreigners come to Japan, they usually eat their noodles without making these noises, prompting Japanese to say shizuka desu ne ("you eat very quietly"). There are other differences in eating etiquette. In Japan, it's perfectly okay to pick up your ramen bowl and drink the soup from it directly, although drinking out of a bowl might get a child smacked in the U.S. It's okay to slurp Asian-style noodles, but spaghetti is another matter, and the image of an old Japanese man loudly vacuuming his pasta off the plate is very unsophisticated. Some table manner no-no's are related to Buddhism, including the taboo against sticking chopsticks straight up in rice or handing food to someone else chopsticks-to-chopsticks (both of which are part of funeral ceremonies in Japan).

Eating some foods quietly is considered strange in Japan.

Japanese Girls Think Their Fathers Are Unclean

Well, we're done with Anime Expo, and what a fun time it was. Thanks to everyone who came by to say hello during the show!

In the last season of Lost, Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada -- quite well known outside Japan due to his being in Ring and The Last Samurai -- played the role of the mysterious priest Dogan, who keeps the smoke monster out of the temple or something. My wife has a been a fan of his since his Japan Action Club days, and was thrilled to be able to enjoy some lines of dialogue in her native language, rather than in the many difficult dialects of English that Lost is so good at. In his first scene, Dogan refers to an "infection" (kegare) that one character had been exposed to. It was a word I knew well, because it's what my Japanese daughter says if I try to kiss her good night. For some reason, Japanese girls have a major issue with their fathers once they reach a certain age, which seems to go beyond the general fear of "cooties" that all teenagers might feel. In Japan people take baths every day, and a family will use the bath water for several family members, since all washing is done outside the tub, but my daughter insists on taking her bath before me every night, so my fatherly bacteria won't infect her. It's not that she hates me or anything -- we get along great. She's just decided that, like all fathers, I am simply unclean.

So what do you think? If you're female, do you hug and kiss your father, or push him away because he smells bad and makes dumb jokes?

Japanese girls often view their fathers as "unclean."

Cool Products Monday, July 5, 2010

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 Aug 2010 vol. 123 Another awesome issue of Megami Magazine, our favorite anime magazine because they shower us with free posters and more.
	Japanese T-Shirt - Warning, Electric Shock! Next, here's a certain new Anime T-Shirt for you, featuring Mikoto from Index/Railgun.
	Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen 1/8 Figure Strike Witches is a fun snow about magic girls who wear WWII weaponry on their bodies and defend the world from a terrible enemy. This new figure is in stock now.
	Pinky Street P-Chara Sawako Kuronuma Gorgeous Kimi ni Todoke anime figures in stock, of Sadako Sawako. I love these so much.
	Figure King NO. 148 Then, we're fans of magazines that document the currently popular figures and toys, since years in the future it will be so awesome to look back through these pages. See the new Figure King, on the site now, with tons of figure news for you.
	Potato Chips Picking Finger Love potato chips but hate the way they get your fingers all greasy? Then you need this wacky item from Japan!
	Asymmetry Goth-Lolita Tops and Skirt set We love Japan's goth-loli fashions, and today we have some complete outfits for you.
	Kera July 2010 Then enjoy a new issue of KERA, the leading source of information on street fashions in popular Harajuku. Lots of pictures make each issue a visual treat even if you can't read the Japanese.
	Kanji Test DS ~ Let's Start from Zero A new Japanese study software cartridge for the Nintendo DS that helps you learn kanji from zero!
	More DS Japanese Study Learn hiragana and katakana with Doraemon with the restocked DS game we have for you today. Also, Beautiful Kanji Training and Kanji Dictionary DS, the only Japanese dictionary you may ever need.
	Mameshiba Pencil Case Kawaii pencil case is kawaii. We are big fans of Mameshiba and have this popular product restocked.
	Even More Cute Pencil Cases Also, bring a little relaxation into your life with two cute "Relax Bear" and one Totoro pencil holders, which will make sure your writing instruments are always at hand.
	Kitty Mini Stamp Set Then check out these fun Hello Kitty mini stamps, for making messages in Japanese and pictures on paper.
	Fun New Snacks from Japan Amazing Japanese snacks! New flavors of Shake Shake Jelly Up, plus Doritos in Tokyo Pork Steak flavor, Doraemon gum and more.
	Motsu Nabe FURIKAKE (Fukuoka) ~ Japanese Food Furikake A bold new flavor of traditional furikake you sprinkle over rice. Also, restocked flavors of Food Drops candies too.
	Gorgeous Lacquered Bento Boxes Bento boxes with pictures of rabbits and the moon are popular in Japan right now, and today we've restocked the awesome onigiri style bento that has such great styling, with matching chopsticks.
	Awesome Bento Boxes for Men We've restocked several of our stylish bento boxes that are suitable for guys, too, like the DX Men's Stainless Bento Set, which is my favorite bento ever.
	Miso Soup Bowl with Octagonal Lid We love miso soup, and carry many fun items for miso fans. Today we're posting a really nice soup bowl with special lid.
	Restocked Bento Accessories Got a bunch of other fun bento related accessories for you too, including the Penguin Mayonnaise Case that's one of our most popular products ever, plus silicon bento cups and a great Rabbit Chopsticks w/case set.
	KYOTO - SAGA DX TAKE / Bamboo Bath Salt From Kyoto (really), we've gotten some bath salt that will transport you to another world, made with real bamboo.
	Francesca Lucchini 1/8 Figure Strike Witches *Preorder* Strike Witches fans, here's a Francesco figure you can preorder. Yes, there will be shimapan.
	Gelatin Cover Girl 1/8 Figure *Preorder* I love this trend of making my favorite illustrations into three-dimensional figures. Here's the girl from that issue of Gelatin, the popular color illustration magazine.
	Nodocchi 1/8 Figure ~ Saki *Preorder* Here's an amazing figure of Nodoka from the anime called Saki, about very cute girls and mah-jongg.
	Den Den Mushi Measure ~ One Piece *Preorder* Then, the very cool Den Den Mushi measuring tape from One Piece. Freakishly cool.
	Nanoha Takamachi Puppet Plush *Preorder* Or if you'd like some really cute plush toys for your fingers, may we suggest these?
	Awesome Japanese Pens Life is too short to use inadequate pens, and J-List has restocked the popular Zebra Sarasa Ball Point Pens in three colors plus some really cool fude brush pens for writing calligraphy.
	Bible Black Memorial New Toys Oh, awesome: here are two upgraded Bible Black stress toys that will help keep the world from getting you down. Kurumi Imari and Kaori Saeki versions posted.
	Restocked Tenga Flip Hole, More The most popular stress-relief products in J-List's history is the TENGA Flip Hole. See fresh stock of this great item, plus e-Rotar High Design Rotor for Women and the "clone hole" of Hikari Hino.
	New H-Games in English It was great having new games for our J-List customers at Anime Expo. Everyone swarmed to pick up Initial "D" parody Moero Downhill Night 2 and the popular Raidy II, and you can too!