My Trip to Tokyo

Over the weekend I went down to Tokyo to meet with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. My wife asked me if I wanted to eat lunch before I went to catch the train, but I told her no, I'd be eating ekiben, or "train station bento," instead. Ever since Japan began industrializing during the Meiji Period (1868-1925), trains have been a big part of life here, and millions use them daily. While there's a strange social taboo against eating on trains that are only going a short distance, which gaijin naturally don't pick up on right away, it's perfectly okay to eat on a long-distance train like Shinkansen bullet trains or limited express trains, and train stations in each region of Japan sell delicious boxed lunches you can only buy there. Some of the most famous ekiben are Masu no Sushi (sushi on rice served in a round wooden frame) from Toyama, Ikameshi (flavored rice cooked inside the cleaned body of a squid) from Hokkaido, and Daruma bento (a bento lunch inside a round red doll) from J-List's home prefecture of Gunma. J-List carries hundreds of bento products from Japan, including a nice ekiben book that gives information on the most famous train station bentos from all corners of the country.

There are, of course, some major differences between the sprawling metropolis that is Tokyo and our semi-rural prefecture of Gunma 100 km to the north, which I'm always reminded of when I go there. In Tokyo no one rushes for trains since the next one will be along in a minute or two, but in Gunma there are only a few trains per hour, so when the train is leaving you move your oshiri. Despite there being hundreds of people around you at any given moment in Tokyo, it's amazing how lonely a person can feel, an impression I don't get in my home prefecture. And in Tokyo, girls are extremely fashionable, so much that I often find myself doing double-takes at how stylish the females around me are and making me think I've accidentally walked into a photography shoot for one of those awesome Japanese fashion magazines.

I'm a fan of ekiben, train station bento, and eat it whenever I go into Tokyo.

Strange Japan

It never fails: you're just going along, minding your own business when suddenly Japan comes out of nowhere and surprises you with something weird. Maybe it's hearing about the burglar suspected of more than 450 thefts who was apprehended when police followed the trail of the Hello Kitty sandals he wore when committing his crimes. Or attending your daughter's Girl Scout campout and making "American" style s'mores (which are graham cracker sandwiches with chocolate and campfire-roasted marshmallows), but since Japan has no graham crackers they had substituted saltine crackers instead. Or zooming through the mountains of central Japan and finding scale replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx (they were pachinko parlors). Products with names like CREAP ("creaming powder" for your coffee), or Crunky Ball Nude Chocolates, or the new Morinaga Hotcake Flavored Milk Beverage are also quite strange. The other day I went into a conbini (convenience store) and came face-to-face with a "Blueberry Whip Sand," which is a sandwich consisting of blueberries and whipped cream. Naturally I had to pick one up -- it was pretty good.

You never know when Japan will present you with something strange.

Product Update from J-List: Cool Stuff for Winter

Japan is a very seasonal place, enjoying different things during each part of the year. Right now we've got great items for beating the cold in Japan, but many of them are selling out and will be gone soon. Whether you'd like to try out those Japanese kairo hand warmers (which really work great), want to warm your bed with a Japanese yutanpo hot water bottle plush toy, or are interested in a real hanten warm winter kimono, browse our stock now.

Cool Products Monday, February 7, 2011

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 Mar 2011 The magazine hosting the manga for the upcoming Fate/zero anime, as well as other Haruhi and Evangelion manga, with great free extras!
	Prince Animage 2011 Winter A side publication of Animage just for the fans of bishounen anime and games, check out all the latest from Hetalia, Basara, and more.
	Rilakkuma Micro Fiber Handy Mop, Duster  Keep your house clean with the adorable "relax bear" from San-X, with these dust mops that will pick up every last speck from your shelves or floor.
	Fun Totoro Products Restocked That awesome Totoro Tree House that the included plush Totoro can fit inside, more Totoro stamps, plus the Totoro Hiragana Study Board.
	Pet's Eye Sexy Photobook If you've ever wondered what the world looked like from the point of view of that adorable pet dog or cat about to be picked up by the girl in the short skirt, you know the possibilities in a photobook packed with revealing "point-of-view" style shots that catch the models in their most innocent and unguarded moments. The moe of the unknown observer is here! View products »
	Phone Sport 4 ~ Navy Blue for iPhone 4 A dynamic new way to keep your iPhone close when on the go, here's a sport armband from Japan that will do the job nicely.
	Star Wars USB Hubs Restocked Give in to the Dark Side with this Darth Vader USB hub from Japan, with high speed USB ports that plug into Vader's chest plate. He moves and talks!
	Complete Japanese ~ Nihongo So-Matome Books A textbook built to teach you the Japanese vocabulary you need in a timeframe you can manage. With a laser focus on the JLPT and a six week course of study as the rhythm built in, you'll find this an incredibly effective way to master the core of the language. View products »
	Moe Moe Encyclopedia, Artbooks We were backordered on several of the popular Moe Moe Encyclopedia books, and have restocked them, incl. the yousei (fairy) and mlitary uniform. Neat!
	Macross Triangle Frontier for PSP Enjoy your favorite Macross characters and scenes with mechs from every Macross series and the two new Frontier movies! School scenes, too.
	Awesome Anime Figures Our favorite yandere character Kotonoha is in stock, and I also love that Sheryl Nome sexy figure for Macross Frontier fans.
	K-ON! Figure Maid Versions We have fresh stock of the cute figures of the K-On! girls dressed as maids, which is really made of win. My favorite is Mugi-chan.
	2011 Anime, Idol & Ecchi Calendars Miss the chance to get your calendar for 2011? We've dropped prices on all calendars for the final time. Enjoy calendars from $5 before they sell out!
	Skull Long Sleeve Tops A hot new fashion item in stock today! Catering to the skull motif that's been so popular in Japan, a bold long sleeve top that's loose to down below the waist and very sexy. View products »
	Awesome Knee High Socks, Gothic Cosplay There are awesome "absolute zone" socks restocked at J-List, with cute stripes that are stylish and trendy in Japan now. Get some 'socks glue' too.
	Authentic High School Uniforms from Matsukameya One item I'm proud to carry is our line of authentic high school uniforms from Matsukameya of Nagoya. The boys' uniform is especially popular -- check it out.
	Samurai Sword Umbrellas restocked Arm yourself against the rain Sengoku style with this samurai sword themed umbrella! When 'sheathed' it looks just like the real thing.
	Restocked Evangelion Head Interface Cosplay Transform yourself into Asuka or Rei from Evangelion, which were so popular the manufacturer had to make more. Totally cool!
	Today's New Japanese Snacks Yum, Meiji "Curl" snacks in spicy kimchee flavor, Dars premium chocolates in milk and bitter, plus amazing Shigekix "Zero" ramune gummy.
	Dydo Hot Cake Drink, Curry Risotto Japan puts the most wacky and awesome things in their vending machines, including drinkable pancakes in a can (!) and curry risotto soup. Wow.
	Lots of Restocked Snacks A great lineup of restocked snack items, the epic Toppo Baked Chocolate Snacks, Peko-chan Milky Candy, Miso Ramen, Apple Mochi, Meiji Porte, Sakuma Drops.
	Restocked Ukiyoe Food Drops Candies Also, see fresh stock of the really cool ukiyoe traditional "Food Drops" candies, with art from the Edo Period. Also international food -- Taco flavored!
	Red x Black Diet Slim Style Lacquered 2 Tier Bento Can bento make you thinner? Bento offers built-in portion control so it's easier to eat healthy. Plus this restocked slim bento box is gorgeous.
	Large Bento Boxes, Too We also have bento for larger eaters, including the 900 ml men's bento box for men, plus stackable jubako style bento.
	Native Wood Chopsticks Set w/Case Put the finishing touch of beauty on your meal with this natural finish wood lacquer chopsticks set, complete with case.
	Panda Chopstick Rests I love these -- ceramic pandas that act as chopstick rests, to hold your chopsticks while you eat. K- Kawaii!
	Microwave Omelet Maker People love microwave products from Japan, and we've got some fun ones restocked, including the Microwave Omelet Maker.
	Books on Bento Our most popular book on bento-making in English is restocked in San Diego, filled with beautiful ideas for making your bento creations more delicious.
	Zebra Check Set, Other Items Restocked I often stock items I wish I had back when I was studying Japanese in college, like the awesome Zebra Check Set series for memorizing any information (including nihongo). Click to see our stock of fun study items now. View products »
	Restocked Kanji Study Books and More See several study books, including the visual way to memorize kanji or hiragana/katakana. Also the Practical Guide to Living in Japan and 70 Japanese Gestures.
	Super Long 30m Correction Tape 5 mm Wide Yet another amazing Japanese invention is the tape form "white out" correction 'fluid,' easily dispensable in strips over the text you want to amend.
	Random Wacky Items Restocked From injection needle pens to boiled egg slicers and "injection needle" pens, plus a traditional Japanese marble game you will enjoy playing.
	Restocked Lucky Cat Tea, Sake Cups Drink your tea or sake with the luckiest traditional icon of Japanese life around, the Lucky Cat! Traditional 'flat' sake cups are in as well.
	Today's Preorder Items Enjoy USB "Dancing Speaker" toys for anime fans, incl. Baka Test and One Piece/Chopper Man, a figure from Fortune Arterial, plus epic Evangelion Motorcycle gloves? Wow, that's awesome. View products »
	Maria Ozawa Great Pussy Legend Hole One of the most famous names in the Japanese AV world enters the toy arena with a product so fine she's willing to endorse it herself. An amazing novelty item and stress relief tool that's sure to feel great! View products »
	A Certain Magical & Scientific Parody Toys Also: we have finally restocked the Index/Railgun parody toys, which are so popular that it took a month for them to come in. Enjoy!
	Miku Hatsune, Vocaloid Parody Stress Toys Or if Vocaloid Miku Hatsune is more your speed, enjoy these parody toys which have all been restocked. They will help you relax at the end of the day.
	Restocked Dating-sim Games from Japan See more Cross Channel by the Kana/Yume Miru Kusuri writer, plus Tomoyo After, ToHeart 2 and Delusion Virtual Character Trouble.
	Sexy Preorder Figures Posted A sexy "battle goddess" version of Kanu Unchou from Ikkitousen XX, and an alternate color of Mogudan's Yuzuki cast off figure. Epic!

Humility and the Japanese

One of the defining features of the Japanese people is humility, known as kenson (ken-sohn). This manifests itself in interesting ways, most commonly in the form of Japanese people vehemently denying compliments paid to them about how good their language skills are, how attractive they look, and so on. It's a trait found in a lot of anime characters, like Madoka Kaname from the new (dark) magical girl series Madoka Magika, who in one scene describes herself as "thick-headed, lacking any positive character traits whatsoever." You might think of this as a cute caricature of actual Japanese personality types, but in my long years living in Japan and teaching ESL, I've encountered no small number of people like this, who felt it necessary to make it known how useless and/or baka (stupid) they were, for reasons that were difficult for me to understand. I've been told this kind of self-effacing personality is known as "the Dazai Spirit," after Japanese writer Osamu Dazai who penned such work as Ningen Shikkaku (No Longer Human) and Run, Melos! The concept can be encapsulated with by the ASCII [ Orz ] which represents a person kneeling low with humble apology, seen often on the Japanese interwebs.

A "low-to-the-ground" attitude of humility is especially important when interviewing for a job, something I've observed from both sides of the interviewing table during my time here. In a Japanese-style job interview you hand in a rirekisho, a standardized resume form which contains all important information about you, including school and work background, any certificates or qualifications you've obtained, plus your personal interests. During the interview, the job applicant essentially erases their personality entirely -- the Japanese word is jibun wo korosu, lit. to kill your 'self' -- presenting a calm, unemotional exterior while the interviewer asks questions. It's common for the interviewer to ask the applicant to list what they consider their personal strengths and weaknesses to be, and most Japanese will falter visibly when trying to come up with things they're especially good at. One thing I've noticed is that Japanese who have been overseas for a few years lose this natural humility. In the case of my wife, she attended a business school in California where they taught students to present their achievements in a proactive way to catch the eye of potential employers, but this approach was less than successful for her when she came back to Japan.

In Japan it's considered a good thing to be humble and self-effacing.

Using Japanese on a Computer

I remember when I first started learning Japanese, I wondered how Japanese text entry could work on a computer. I pictured some horrible keyboard with hundreds of keys, with one for each kanji character, but in reality Japanese computers use the same QWERTY keyboards as the rest of us (though they sometimes have cool katakana printed on the keys). Japanese input is accomplished through a front-end processor, basically a program that ships with Japanese Windows, Mac OS X or whatever OS you're using, which handles converting your text into the correct mix of hiragana, katakana and kanji before it's pasted into your document. With Japanese text input selected, you type some text with the keyboard -- for example, the word ken -- then hit the space bar until the correct kanji comes up. In this case, ken can mean a ticket (like to a concert), one of Japan's 47 prefectures, a case (as in a murder case) or a sword. You need to become good at identifying which character is which, since sending an email with the wrong kanji inserted is as embarrassing as misspelling there-they're-their in English. When you get used to the system, you can enter Japanese text quite quickly, although there's a downside -- entering Japanese into a computer becomes so easy that you'll forget how to write kanji manually, and as a result, a person's writing ability drops off sharply when they graduate from school. As with operating systems, there are various kanji entry systems on the market, and users will rally around one product or the other -- users of EG Bridge might flame fans of ATOK, with both camps expressing their disgust for Kotoeri and IME. Transliterating words of Japanese with the QWERTY keyboard can be difficult, and Elecom has a handy Roman Letter Mouse Pad to help us out.

Ever wondered how to type kanji?

My Girlfriend is the President Update

J-List has always worked hard to bring fun and interesting visual novels and eroge to our customers in English, and we've got a great lineup of game titles for you right now, including convenient download and shrinkwrap package versions, all of which are included in our fun Valentine's Day Game Sale in which you can get Heart de Roommate free if you get 3 or more titles. We also have some great upcoming games posted for preorder, including the awesome Cthulhu-themed Deus Machina Demonbane and the newly announced epic all-ages RPG ASELIA the ETERNAL which we think you'll love. One game that's gotten a lot of interest from our customers has been My Girlfriend is the President , a game in which aliens brainwash the entire world into making your girlfriend the leader of the world. We've opened the full English site for this game, with tons of information on the story, characters and game system. Click here for the My Girlfriend is the President Official Site now!

Cool Products Friday, February 4, 2011

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.

	Comptiq Jan 2011 Whether the Fortune Arterial anime is your thing or you're looking for the latest scoops on bishoujo games for your console, Comptiq to the rescue! View products »
	Cool Evangelion Products Restocked Get your Eva figures, glasses cases and much more from our selection of newly restocked Evangelion and NERV branded gear. All Gainax approved!
	My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute 2 (Blu-ray Disc) My little sister can't be this HD! The definitive Blu-ray release of Oreimo is here, packed with tons of great extras.
	Akihabara Cat Hand Warm USB Gloves This is just the sort of wacky item we love to bring you at J-List - USB-powered cat mittens to keep your hands warm, straight from the otaku mecca of Akiba!
	Sound Fit Muffs Restocked On a similar theme, we've got the cutest, fuzziest earmuff-headphone combos back in stock for you today as well.
	English Dictionary for Adult ~ Otona no Eitango Cho This is about as ecchi as they get without completely straying into 'adults only' territory, a Japanese-English dictionary that focuses some of the most fascinating and important terminology that any language has to offer. Great as a study aid and packed with practical lessons, too! View products »
	Restocked Artbooks Several artbooks back in stock today, including the awesome Girl's Avenue artbooks series plus more Moe Moe encyclopedia (ghosts and swords).
	Super Kawaii Plush Toys The chibi "SD" look is alive and well in the adorable plush characters produced by Japan every year. We carry a section of them for you here at J-List!
	TSUKUMONOGATARI A PSP game tale of the supernatural and mysterious where you capture spirits to defeat the evil Ayakashi. Persona fans take note!
	Awesome PSP Anime Games, Too Whether you're looking for games inspired by Toradora or Queen's Blade, we've got the PSP goods for you.
	Re-ment Hello Kitty Hina Matsuri (Girl's Festival) Japan's traditional Girl's Festival is in a month (March 3), so this is the perfect time to order your display to celebrate the occasion the traditional way, with lovely dolls on platforms. Re-ment and Sanrio bring an adorable Kitty twist to the tradition with this super-cute Hinamatsuri display you'll love. View products »
	Hello Kitty High School Leather Bag  This is the most styling Sanrio bag we've seen in ages -- sleek black finish and a Kitty logo card case, looks great!
	Other Fun Chopsticks, Too Also: a real treat for Hello Kitty fans: a pair of training chopsticks so anyone can learn, plus portable chopsticks you can take anywhere.
	Oreimo iPhone 4 Case There's no way my iPhone case could be this cute! Unless it was protected by the kawaii gals of Oreimo. Note that they cannot be restocked.
	iTunes Japan Music Cards for JPOP fans You can find more than awesome anime songs, JPOP and enka at J-List. There are Japan-only apps, too, like the official SOS Brigade Twitter Client. Fun!
	DECO Packing Tape ~ Keep Out Restocked "Deco Packing Tape" (a surprise hit J-List product), including the epic "Keep Out" tape you can see on some of our images.
	Pocky Chopsticks Also back in stock: the cool Pocky chopsticks, which come in chocolate and strawberry versions. J-List lives to sell products like these.
	Aselia The Eternal *Preorder* Remember, we posted this outstanding Japanese RPG for preorder last time, so fans of Japanese gaming can enjoy the titles in English. Preorder now!
	'Seeking a Certain Japanese Girlfriend' Shirt One of our most popular T-shirts ever has been our "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" designs. See this and many more in stock.
	Today's New Japanese Snacks & Gum Enjoy amazing new Honey Milk Pretz, like eating pancakes in baked stick form. Also, Xylish sugarless gum in Lemon Lime Mint and Peach Grape Mint + Ginger Chocolate?` Learn about Japan through its awesome snack culture! View products »
	Japanese 'Otsumami' Goes Great with Beer Hunting for that unique new taste to go with your next drinking party? Try a Japanese 'otsumami' drinking snack!
	Restocked Kompeito, Other Snacks Also, restocked snacks, including traditional Kompeito from Spirited Away, plus Large Ball Milky, Seedless Ume, Japan Oreos, My Cube Gum and more.
	OURAN ~ Sakura Bento Box With Chopsticks (red or black) A bold new bento set in a traditional sakura pattern style, great for all your lunch box needs. Includes matching chopsticks! View products »
	Zojirushi Warming Bento Box Designer Set If you like modern and stylish bento boxes with many features, we've restocked those Zojirushi Designer Bento Boxes that are kawaii!
	LEGO Block Style 2 tier Bento Boxes Or if you're more of a LEGO type person, enjoy the restocked bento boxes from Japan. You can even stack them!
	Niko Niko Seaweed Punch, Egg Shapers A fun way to decorate your bento lunch is to use one of the nori punches we sell to cut sheet seaweed into interesting and cute shapes, like ASCII art.
	Bento Book, Japanese Cookbooks Life is a little better with bento, and we've restocked several bento books to give you ideas for making healthy and delicious Japanese boxed lunches.
	More 'Haikyo' Photobooks Take a trip to the most desolate and mysterious place on Earth, Japan's Battleship Island. Many other eerie and cool photobooks in stock too.
	3 Functions Memo Pad Never forget an important note again with this handy memo pad set complete with magnifying sheet/ruler.
	HAKONE ONSEN Bath Salt 6 Packs Hakone Onsen is one of the most famous hot springs in Japan, and now you can relax in a bath reminiscent of the experience of your very own onsen.
	Random Traditional Items Restocked Enjoy our Chirimen Yokobue flutes from the Edo Period, a fun sumo game played with wooden pieces, traditional toy set and more.
	HEROMAN Lina Figure, Jack Sparrow Revoltech? Check out Lina, the saucy cheerleader heroine from the Stan Lee-created, BONES animated show Heroman, now in figure form from Alpha Omega. Also, a Jack Sparrow Revoltech from Kaiyodo (and of course, Pirates of the Caribbean!) Preorders open today. View products »
	Blu-ray Disc de Cho Real Eizo! Amateur Girls 30 Blu-ray hits the magazine stand with this 3+ hours HD videos extravaganza along with the sexy photos inside this great magazine. Check it out! View products »
	White Love ~ Alice Miyuki New AV star Alice Miyuki shows off her gorgeous curves in this exclusive full nude photobook, over 100 pages of glossy ecchi imagery.
	Love Venus R A new twist on the love doll concept from A-One Tokyo, this is Love Venus R, the interactive stress relief novelty item that gives you all you need. Truly a deluxe entry to the genre with a firm, soft build and a bolster-style composition that gives you plenty to lean against. Fully modular for however you choose to 'line' her. Great novelty item from Japan! View products »
	Restocked Tenga, Sexy Twins Products See restocked stress toys, including the 'sexy twins' simulators, so realistic you'll buy it dinner, plus the TENGA Flip Hole Hard Gel version.
	Even More Vibrators from Japan We also carry the best "rotar" [sic] toys from Japan for our female customers, incl. the e-Rotor, Pink Rotar, G.II Special Vibrator, and many more.
	My Girlfriend is the President Preorder Be sure and see the the new official English site for the game. We hope you'll preorder it today!