I [heart] Kyoto

Every gaijin living in Japan has a personal relationship with Kyoto, the beautiful city that served as Japan's capital for most of its history. I've been to Kyoto many times, and it's one of my favorite places in the world. Founded in 794 as Heian-Kyo, it was made in imitation of the great Chinese cities of the era, sporting a Manhattan-style grid pattern with wide, straight roads that are actually named, quite convenient as streets are generally not named in Japan. Whenever I'm in the city I make sure to pay a visit to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a wonderful temple founded in 798 that overlooks the city, and drink water from the waterfall on the temple grounds, which is said to bring you long life. (I always wonder at the Japanese custom of using communal cups at temples, though, with hundreds of visitors drinking out of the same cup in the course of an hour.)

Incidentally, you may have noticed that I typed "Kiyomizu-dera Temple" above. This is a little odd since tera (which changes to dera when joined with another word) means "temple" yet I added the English word at the end. This is a strange convention used in Japan in which the Japanese word for a place is incorporated into its official English name. Tokyo's beautiful Ueno Park is officially listed as "Ueno-koen Park" (koen is Japanese for "park") on maps, while you might find a government-published guide to traditional inns on the Izu-hanto Peninsula (hanto is a peninsula, literally a "half island"). No doubt this policy was the bright idea of some Japanese bureaucrat, and no one ever thought that it was odd.

Kyoto is my favorite place in the world.

J-List Now Carries Poddities for your iPhone!

We're enjoying the overwhelming response from our customers after our total site refresh (or as the Japanese would say, "renewal open"), and we hope you loce all the new features! The entire site has been reworked, with a much improved category system that will make it easy to find what you want. You can view products in a convenient grid mode or the normal list mode, sort by popularity, and view images that are much larger and easier to view plus speed increases as well. J-List is going to continue to bring you the most awesome products from Japan, so let us know how we can serve you today! (We continue to make small changes to the site, so if you notice any problems please let us know.)

J-List carries an awful lot of cool Japanese products for iPhone and iPod users, including Evangelion themed cases, Hello Kitty earphones, and other random products. We're happy to announce that we now carry the Poddities line of Japanese iPhone straps for the iPhone 3G/3GS and 4 that let you attach sturdy carabiners or normal phone straps to your iPhone. The system is quite innovative: you screw the included bracket to your phone securely, yet it can be removed at any time. We also have the high quality leather "OSAIFON" iPhone 4 covers which contain a space for carrying your important cards, so your phone becomes your wallet!

The Structure of Anime Films

One of the more interesting classes I took back at SDSU was a course on screenplay writing, which sought to teach us the theory of how good film screenplays are structured. We watched dozens of great films and analyzed how they were neatly divided into three acts: the setup and incident that sets the story in motion, followed by the bulk of the story which ends with things looking bleakest for the hero, then rising action and climax at the end. Anyone who's watched a lot of animated feature films from Japan or Japanese films in general might have noticed that directors here often don't follow this three-act story approach, and it's common for stories to lack any formal structure at all, with endings that are sometimes vague on purpose. I've always gotten the impression that Japanese films are all about capturing an aesthetic that's closer to real life, which is after all "just a bunch of stuff that happens" and not the creation of some screenplay writer. When I watch Japanese films like Snakes and Earrings (about a woman who becomes obsessed with tattoos and body piercing) or Ghibli's Ocean Waves (the story of a girl from Tokyo who goes to live in Kochi Prefecture after her parents' divorce, and her romance with a local boy), I feel like I've watched something
close to reality.

Japanese films often lack the structure of their Western counterparts.

Cool Products Friday, October 15, 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 Daioh Nov 2010 First up, get your monthly dose of manga moe with the best print media Japan has to offer, Dengeki Daioh. Yotsubato and more!
	Moeru Guitar Learning Guide Next, guitar learning is made easy with this beginner's guide that has everything you need to get started and cover your favorite anisongs.
	Poddities iPhone 4 Carabiner Straps The most high quality, durable iPhone accessory line we sell, these straps and cases will transform your phone's usefulness and functionality.
	Taito Mameshiba Headphone Listen to your music in kawaii style with these cute 'soybean dog' Mameshiba headphones from Taito.
	K-ON! Battery Charger Want to run your iPhone, iPod, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP or other device with moe power? Then get the K-On! battery charger, in stock today.
	iTunes Japan Prepaid Cards Head over to the iTunes Japan store to see the top 200 anime songs in Japan now -- Strike Witches, K-On! and more.
	One Piece Round Pen Case ~ Chopper Let Chopper guard your pens in this cylindrical case, soft and easy to hold -- it'll hold all your pens and pencils with ease, too!
	One Piece Playing Cards More One Piece goodness in this great deck of playing cards, with 53 different illustrations on the card faces - such a huge cast of characters!
	Awesome Vocaloid Figures Not only do we have that gorgeous Luka Megurine figure in, but that most epic of Nendoroids Miku Hatsune has been reprinted!
	Hello Kitty Vibrating Shoulder Massagers In other cool news, J-List has restocked the popular Hello Kitty vibrating personal massagers, one the products that defines us!
	Restocked Anime & Pixiv Artbooks See the awesome Haruhi Spring and Summer artbook, a super offering for fans of the Haruhiverse. Also fresh stock of Pixiv Quarterly.
	Gorgeous Queen's Blade & Queen's Gate The best fighting combat artbooks featuring gorgeous girls in full color and hardcover sexy poses are back in stock for you today!
	Harrod's ~ Famous Luxury Department Store The Harrods brand fashion lineup is showcased in this tasteful magazine, complete with a limited edition tote bag.
	Charcoal Hair Shampoo & Treatment On our new Health -> Hair Care page we've got some cool Japanese shampoo & treatment that uses sumi (black charcoal) to clean really well.
	Fun New Snacks from Japan We've got a chocolate cookie snack called Collon, how wacky is that? Also Karujaga potato snacks and Mountain of the Mushrooms strawberry.
	Men's 450ml Koban Bento Box Set A serious two-tier bento box and carrying case for those with large appetites, the sleek look will sate your hunger at mealtimes.
	Fate Testarossa & Nanoha Figures *Preorder* Wave's "Beach Queens" series are among the cutest figures we've seen, and now you can preorder swimsuit versions of Nanoha and Fate!
	Print Guard iPhone 4 Evangelion *Preorder* Your iPhone can be part of the Human Instrumentality Project with this official Evangelion dust- and scratchguard cover, with five styles!
	Rilakkuma Overhead Headphones Back in stock for today, relax with these cute Rilakkuma bear headphones from San-X. Kawaii! Check out the rest of our headphone and 'earphone' lineup, too.
	Restocked Traditional Bento Sets Also restocked: the super-cool WAON Bento Box sets, which blend the traditional with the awesome.
	Microwave Takoyaki Maker If you've ever wanted to make your own takoyaki (octopus balls) but were worried you didn't have the right tools, this handy microwave cooker will give you everything you need to make sure those delicious spheres come out right.
	Restocked Traditional Items A huge restocking of fun traditional items for the weekend, including the Red Dragon omamori charm for good luck, "Ichiban" headbands, Lucky Lover's Cat displays, and those awesome yokobue bamboo flutes.
	Cosplay Products Restocked Then see fresh stock of the "skirt type" classic anime school swimsuit replica worn by Konata from Lucky Star, plus the classic Blue Scarf High School Uniform complete set.
	Restocked Macross Blu-Ray, PSP Game Macross fans! If you've had trouble finding your Frontier movie, anime and game fixes, we've got you covered with the stunning Blu-ray and super fun PSP game back in stock today.
	We Love Japanese Phone Straps Looking for a great way to distinguish your cell phone from the rest? Check out our Japanese rice bowl, sushi, 'nyan pon' and omamori (protective charm) phone straps, all fresh in stock. Great for your bag, too!
	Awesome Bento Accessories Then enjoy some of our best bento accessories and kitchen items, including newly restocked childrens' bento, creative egg shapers, and beautiful traditional lacquered bowls.
	Moar Japanese Pens! Some great pens from Japan for you, including the One Piece Fragrant Pen and matching Ramune scent eraser, New Package Uni 0.7 Power Tank Pen, ENERGEL for women with pearl and "skeleton" body, the Beetle Tip marker, plus notebooks for learning to write Japanese.
	Restocked Japanese Food Drops Candies There's nothing like traveling around Japan, sampling delicious foods from each part of the country, and you can visit Okinawa, Tokyo, Hokkaido and many other regions with the Food Drops we've restocked today.
	Fresh Stock of J-Snacks Many nice Japanese snacks restocked today, including Japanese Doritos created by superstar pro wrestler Inoki, plus Morinaga Chocolate Caramels, Morinaga Bake, plus traditional Okinawa Black Candy, Pure Mist Candy and Charcoal Roasted Coffee Candy.

Japan Ranks 97th in Gender Equality, Or Does It?

I noticed that Japan had been officially ranked 97th in gender equality by the World Economic Forum, comparing to the United States (#19), the United Kingdom (#15), Germany (#13), and the Nordic countries who all topped the list. As usual, it's difficult to say how useful this ranking might be in judging the real situation of women here. While it's true that Japan is in some ways a paradise where men can go to a maid cafe and have a beautiful woman feed him like a child after blowing on his food for him, this is not a good example of what normal society is really like. I'd say that the educational and employment opportunities for women in Japan are among the best in the world, and women enjoy real equality in almost every area. One reality that's hard for "enlightened" Westerners to accept is that much of the time, Japan is the way it is because both men and women prefer it this way. When a woman reaches a certain age, it's nearly a foregone conclusion that she will quit her job to get married, no matter how intelligent or highly trained she might be. (As the owner of a company in Japan, I've lost many a talented female employee to the evil spectre of kekkon intai or "retirement due to marriage"). The reason there are fewer career-minded females than in other countries is largely because most prefer not to make the sacrifices a career would entail, and are happy to let their husbands be the daikoku-bashira or the "big, black pillar" of the household. Also note that in 90% or more of households, it's the woman who controls the finances of the home. Um, having men do most of the work while women control the money is unfair how??

Former model "Renho" is the most powerful woman in Japan today.

Traditional Spirits, Ghosts and Monsters from Japan

One thing about learning a foreign language like Japanese: words don't always match up neatly, and it's not uncommon to have a word or concept that can' t be easily mapped to English. Take the word youkai (yoh-kai), the traditional ghosts, demons and spirits of Japan's ancient past, which could be collectively translated as "folk monsters" if you like. The term youkai covers everything from magical shape shifting animals to ogres to the magical creatures Kappa and Tengu, and these beasties are quite common in Japanese popular culture. Other traditional creatures include the horrifying Kuchisake Onna ("Slit-Mouth Woman") and my own favorite, Miss Hanako of the Toilet, an urban legend about the ghost of a girl who haunts the fourth stall of a certain girl's bathroom at every elementary school in the country. If you're interested in traditional scary monsters of Japan, we've got several excellent books for you to check out.

Traditional youkai spirits are hard to translate into English.

Genji Monogatari Pop Psychology

I recently noticed a flyer for an interesting literary club in my neighborhood called the Tale of Genji Research Circle. I commented on it, and my wife said, "Yes, it's a club where people who love reading discuss the Tale of Genji, especially which character they are most similar to in the book. " The Tale of Genji is a novel written by Murasaki Shikibu in the 12th century which details the fictional son of a Japanese Emperor Hikaru Genji ("Shining Genji"), focusing on the many women he loved. It's not uncommon for women who like to read to identify with one or more characters from the book -- perhaps the wise Murasaki-no-Ue, or the sorrowful Yugao. Another interesting way Japanese analyze personalities is using the famous story of the Chinese zodiac. If a person is cunning, they might identify with the rat, who pushed the cat into a river during the great New Year's Day race (which is why cats hate rats today), or if someone is a little clumsy, they might be compared with the boar, who was so eager to win the race he climbed the wrong mountain, and ended up coming in last.

Which Tale of Genji character are you?

J-List New Website Is Online!

Announcing the all-new J-List Website! After months of hard work by the J-List staff, we're happy to be able to finally take the wraps off our entirely new website. We've reworked the entire site, replacing all product images, making the product categories much easier to understand, and speeding up the site, too. You can also sort any category or search by order of when it was last updated, by popularity, by price and so on, and view products in grid or list view. We think the new J-List and JBOX.com websites are great, and we look forward to another 14 years of bringing you Wacky Things from Japan™! (We'll continue to polish the new site over the next few days. If you notice anything working strangely please let us know!)

Cool Products Wednesday, October 13, 2010

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. You can view all new J-List products by clicking this link.

	GeMaga ~ Game Magazine Nov. 2010 First for today, the newest issue of the great Japanese game magazine with a special focus on all-ages bishoujo games.
	Comic Alive Reserve subscription The newest issue of Comic Alive is here too, with lots of great moe manga for you to enjoy. Subscriptions available too!
	Movable Chopper Pen A super writing tool for One Piece fans, clicking the pen up and down makes the Chopper mascot 'animated'. Wacky fun!
	Hello Kitty Kimono 'Chirimen' Pouch ~ Red A fashionable cosmetics pouch great for holding any sort of accessory, made from real kimono fabric with the Hello Kitty logo.
	Girl's Avenue vol. 2 This artbook will make you say moe! With contributions from the most famous bishoujo artists in Japan from the pages of Megami magazine.
	Kana ~ Little Sister The famous visual novel comes to the PSP, complete with Japanese voices! Relive your favorite moments with this new release of a classic.
	STUSSY 30th Anniversary ~ 2010 Fall Collection The classic street brand Stussy celebrates 30 years in this collector's magazine/catalog, complete with bonus carrying bag.
	Ghibli Ocarina Totoro Mascot An adorable Totoro with an ocarina to blow that puts out sweet melodies when you squeeze it - kawaii!
	Parody Milk Chocolate Mirror A great wacky cosmetics accessory or funny gift for a chocolate-loving friend, Japan's wacky accessories never cease to amaze.
	Japanese Hot Pot for Traditional Cooking A lovely glazed hot pot you can use to cook authentic Japanese nabe dishes, great for the coming winter!
	New Japanese Snacks for Today Amazing Milky soft caramels in Royal Milk Tea flavor, Gachikori chocolate covered pretzel balls, plus Lotte Pie no Mi in Caramel Latte flavor.
	Spicy Diet (Gekikara Slim) ~ Food Drops A new flavor of spicy "Food Drops" which promises to make you thinner. Also, Potato Chips, Chocolate Banana Crepe and Moe flavors restocked.
	Bleach 3D Oppai Mouse Pads *Preorder* For anime fans wanting to get close and comfy with their favorite Bleach characters, a new series of contoured bust mousepads!
	Tamaki Kousaka Figure Swimsuits *Preorder* Check out these super-cute new preorder figures of Tama-nee from To Heart 2 - is that really the right size swimsuit for her?

For fans of our NSFW items from Japan, we've got many new and restocked products, too -- click here to see all new products. The new and restocked items include:

	Yuri Hime Wild Rose vol. 6 The most beautiful, elegant and sexy yuri female love stories are shown in the pages of this manga anthology for you.
	Kanokon Vol. 2: Wolf in No Clothing *Preorder* Kanokon brings the ecchi fanservice to a new level in this latest volume, so risque we had to put it in the adult section of the site.
	'Jo' Super Waterproof Silicon Massager A handy (literally!) novelty device from the engineers at Toys Heart, the ergonomic "Jo" shape is sure to provide tons of entertainment value.
	Ziska 1/8 Figure ! Brandish *Preorder* A sexy new devil girl figure practically bursting out of her corset, this is Ziska who we're sure you'll like to meet. Preorder now open!
	Finally, we list today's restocked items, with excellent J-List products that we've added back to the website today:

	Today's Restocked Bento Boxes We've got plenty of great bento and mealtime items back in stock today, including the popular sakura chopsticks, a double decker onigiri case, and the full lineup of "natural lunchtime" eating utensils.
	Hello Kitty Pink x Black Microwave Rice Cooker Make rice without buying an expensive electric rice cooker with Hello Kitty! This awesome "goth-loli" themed koakuma (little devil) product is all you need to make great steamed rice.
	Amazing Hello Kitty Products Also, the epic Hello Kitty pancake pan, for making perfectly detailed pancakes featuring Japan's most famous cat. Kawaii!
	Totoro Plush Toys, More These adorable toys are always in high demand, so having them back is great news! From the Rainy Day music box to the Totoro plush treehouse, pen case, clock, and more.
	'Beware Perverts' T-Shirts One of our most popular designs warns women to avoid chikan, definable as perverts, especially men who touch women on trains. Enjoy our popular T-shirts for guys and girls (the girls version warns against "perverted women"), plus a hoodie.
	Cosplay Outfits Restocked ~ Great for Halloween? Halloween is coming up fast, but you can still be prepared with these great costume ideas, back in stock: from a cute Haruhi Suzumiya outfit to sexy geisha kimono and yukata, maid outfits, Japanese school swimsuits and more - we're sure you can find year round uses for these as well.
	Samurai Sword Umbrella, Kitchen Items Whether you're out in the rain and want to show your samurai spirit or you're back home making a Japanese-style dinner, J-List has your back with some great restocked items today.
	Restocked Touhou Manga & More The Touhou Project series of shooting games has become legendary for its official and unofficial spinoffs in manga, games and music, and these books will bring a new super-moe dimension to your fandom. Touhou sensu fans also back in stock!
	Restocked Nendoroid and Figma The adorable little action figures known as Nendoroid just don't seem to stay in our warehouse, so we're always reordering them - and those amazing Figmas too, the awesome action figures that look just like the original characters. Tons of great toys back in stock today!
	Moppets ~ Cute Dog Cleaner ~ Chihuahua (White) Keep your PC screen in tip-top shape with the adorable plush cleaners known as Moppets, shaped as all your favorite canine companions. The Chihuahua is back in stock today!
	Restocked PSP Games The amazing K-On!! rhythm game that everyone's talking about? Hatsune Miku's Project Diva for PSP? We've got them all right here! These and more great games for your PSP, straight from Japan but playable on any international PSP handheld.
	Traditional J-Products Buddhist prayer beads (juzu), our cool Ninja Sword Letter Opener, a Rabbit Incense Stick Holder, traditional "hand of the grandchild" back-scratcher and more. Enjoy the new items!
	Awesome Stationery Restocked See fresh stock of the popular mechanical pencils with leads that product subtle mind-improving aromas as you write with them. Also, Aquapit Glue Pen, Ramune scented pens, Japonica Kanji Practice Notebook and more.
	Restocked Caffeine Gum and More If there's a particular J-snack you've been hungering for, check our restocked listings - your favorite may have arrived, whether it's Black Black HARD gum, Apollo chocolate, Milk Caramels, Lime Soda Gummy, or one of many others!
	Restocked Japanese Stress Toys, Lotion Japan has invented some of the best ways to relax and work off stress, with the help of their technology and engineering that we're happy to bring to you with our full selection of lotions and novelty toys. Check out the full, newly enhanced lineup today!
	Dating-sim Games with Shrine Maidens One reason we love the PC dating-sim games that we sell are the many ways you can interact with Japan on a new level. Like several games that let you explore the world of miko, the famous Shinto shrine maidens. Learn about Japan through its hentai gaming culture. Free shipping on all games this month!