Learning Japanese Right...with Hiragana and Kanji

At J-List, we like to support our readers who want to learn Japanese, whether it's tackling the basics for a better understanding of what makes the language tick or trying to go far beyond that. One bit of advice I throw out often is, try to avoid textbooks or other study aids that write Japanese in romaji, that is, in the Roman alphabet, rather than hiragana, katakana and kanji characters. Learning to read Japanese properly will help your pronunciation -- I can tell if someone learned Japanese properly starting with hiragana or via a Romanized Japanese textbook by the way they pronounce words like ichi man ("10,000"), with the former using the proper pronunciation of mahn (with a long vowel) and the latter like the English word "man" (short vowel). The meanings carried by kanji is also something you just can't reduce to the Roman alphabet. In words like shoshinsha (beginner), shobosha (a fire truck) and Shueisha (the publisher of Shonen Jump), the sha character at the end has the same pronunciation, and might seem to be related somehow. But when you study kanji, you see the first sha is "person" (also read mono), the second sha is any kind of vehicle (also read kuruma), and the third is "company."

Many Types of Bento from Japan

Bento are the famous boxed lunch consumed millions of times daily across Japan, and they've become a sensation all over the world. As a rule, bento lunches in Japan feature a large quantity of rice along with meat, fish, vegetables or other foods that are collectively called okazu, the "main course" that goes with the rice. Although there are endless varieties of bento you can create, there are several well-defined categories that I'll tell you about. The most basic type of bento there is is probably noriben, white rice with nori seaweed over the rice, which you can easily make at home. Another is toriben, essentially chicken with teriyaki sauce over rice, although one of the great mysteries of Japan is that no one seems to use the word teriyaki to describe the famous flavor. I love jubako, the "stackable" bento that comes on two or three levels, and you never know what the next section will contain until you open it -- it's quite fun. When my mother-in-law was growing up in the 50s, her family didn't have much money, so she had to eat hinomaru bento, or "Circle of the Sun" boxed lunch, which is a big section of white rice with a small, round ume-boshi (pickled Japanese plum) in the center, like the Japanese flag. In general, the kind of bento lunch most men would love to eat is called aisai bento, literally "loving wife lunch," the word for the delicious lunch a man's wife will make for him. If a married man is eating bento and a Japanese person passes by, there's a 74% chance they'll smirk and make a snarky comment about how jealous they are that you're eating aisai bento and they're not.

There are many kinds of bento, what's your favorite?

The Summer of 2011

The Summer of 2011 has begun in ernest, and it's definitely going to be a dicey one for Japan. The areas served by TEPCO -- everything from Tokyo to the northernmost point of the main island of Honshu -- face a huge shortfall in electric power due to the deactivated nuclear plants, and everyone is required to cut their electrical use 15% compared with last year. J-List is doing our part by switching to an early summer schedule, with staff members coming in an hour and a half early so we can get our work done before it gets too hot and humid out, but running a company dependent on computers makes it hard to cut much more. Companies are doing things like setting vending machines to power off for the peak times of the day and scheduling work shifts for cooler hours, though it seems to me if they closed a few dozen of those flashy pachinko parlors around J-List they could save a lot more power. If the cuts aren't enough, TEPCO will be forced to return to the rolling blackouts that were such a hardship in the weeks after the quake -- we certainly hope that can be avoided.

It's a hot and worrysome summer in Japan.

Free Stuff from J-List?

Remember, we love to send you cool free stuff when you order from our site, like our signature J-List tissue (sent completely without irony, trust us), or the new J-List Anime Glasses that we debuted at Anime Expo. Now you can turn into your favorite anime character any time! Included randomly with orders shipping from Japan and San Diego.

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. 2011 Gorgeous new issue of Megami, the #1 magazine at J-List, featuring tons of stuff, and this month has epic posters of Steins;Gate, Strike Witches, AnoHana (!) and much more. Megami Magazine is more than just a magazine, it's a slice of current anime history. View products »
	Chaos;Head NOAH Artbook / Game Guide Before Steins;Gate there was Chaos;Head, and this artbook/game guide contains everything you ever wanted to know about the classic game.
	Cardboard War Chronicles ~ Danboru Senki These robots are not made out of cardboard, but they'll be sending their enemies into one. This hit Japanese PSP game is now available.
	Little Devil Ageha ~ Koakuma Ageha July 2011 Little devils roam the streets of Tokyo, and this magazine captures their clothes, lifestyle and trends. This is the Ageha fashion bible.
	School Swimsuits ~ Skirt Type These authentic Japanese school swimsuits are now available in larger sizes. Click to see these great cosplay items.
	Smart Handy Phone for iPhone 3G/3GS/4 Laptop, check. Cup of coffee, check. Seat with a view, check. iPhone converted into a cool office phone, check. Now you have an awesome phone with no drawbacks at all -- you can even make notes on the phone while you talk! View products »
	Ori Kesh ~ Make Your Own Eraser Create your own personalized eraser! You could make retro video game characters, kawaii animals, or... anything actually.
	Hello Kitty Miniature Sushi A Kitty-themed set of adorable "conveyor belt" sushi miniatures? Japan, you know the way to our hearts. We love this to death! Restocked today.
	Kawaii Rilakkuma Products We are big fans of Rilakkuma, the most relaxing bear in all Japan, and today we have new products. See our Rilakkuma Pen Case and kawaii wallet.
	Totoro Stamps Make Us Smile If you love Totoro like we do, you'll be happy to see the great items we have in stock today -- wood-backed rubber carved stamps, plush toys and more.
	Glico Collon ~ Custard Pudding Flavor The hilariously named "Collon" snacks are back in a new flavor, plus Ta Pasta snacks, Ramune Bottle Candy, and more.
	Egg & Bonito Fish Flake Furikake  Eating rice is nice, but eating rice with Japanese authentic furikake is even better. Perfect for bentos or lunches. Many great flavors posted.
	Awesome Gum from Japan We also carry epic gum from Japan, from "Ramune" cube um to new Bubblicious Gum in "pine" flavor, which think means pineapple.
	Restocked Japanese Snacks See cool restocked snacks too, incl. Pinky Tablet in Peach flavor, Lotte Fusen no Mii, traditional Okinawa Kuro Ame, 100% Juice Gummy and more.
	Elegant Traditional 'Rabbit' Bento We've got some of our best bento boxes back in stock today, with fine traditional designs to bring a touch of class to your lunch presentation. Think of the fun bento boxes you can make. View products »
	Restocked Kitchen Accessories Got some other random bento and Kitchen accessories restocked, including a Bamboo Rice Washer and Ribbon Clips for sealing bags.
	Body Massage Brush For Cellulite See some random but awesome health items restocked, incl. our Celnon Body Massage tool and Germanium Detox Sheets.
	Awesome Japanese 'Fude' Pens I love the fude pens we've sold for years, and we've restocked several types for you today. They write like holding a Chinese writing brush.
	Fun Traditional Items Our wooden Sumo game, Hammer Daruma to and "Take-Tombo" bamboo helicopter, are all restocked today.
	'Oreimo' Yunomi Green Tea Cups *Preorder* Drinking tea with my little sister can't be this soothing! Two lovely yunomi cups for fans of Kirino and Kuroneko. Which will you choose?
	Yotsubato 2012 Calendar *Preorder* This is our first 2012 calendar, featuring Yotsubato, the popular character in Japan that is also the official mascot of 4chan. Pre-order yours today.
	One Piece Plush Toys Posted We've got some cool plush figure pre-orders for characters from the international hit One Piece: Bepo, Hollow Ghost and Laboon.
	Mistral Nereis 1/8 Figure ~ Shining Hearts **Preorder** Then enjoy the very awesome Mistral Nereis fro Shining Hearts. Why does this show get all the gorgeous figure action, leaving fewer for other shows?
	Saber Extra 1/6 Figure ~ Fate/Extra *Preorder* A super awesome Saber figure in giant 1/6 format? How can we resist snapping this up, especially since there are J-List Points to save up now.
	Ui Hirasawa 1/8 Figure ~ K-On! *Preorder* Then, a figure of Ui (pronounced "oo-ee") from K-On, putting up her hair. Damn, why did they have to have her doing that? Now I have to buy one.
	ERIRIKA-LIVE ~ Eririka Katagiri The amazing net idol and AV star Eririka Katagiri gets her first hardcover photobook. Erika does it al, and as fans we will be happy to watch.
	My Little Sister's Best Friend Can't Be This... The sequels to the most popular stress toy in recent J-List history, now you can also enjoy the attentions of the lovely goth-loli Kuroneko or else go for Ayase, who happens to be my personal favorite. View products »
	Stress Toys for Otakus See a general restocking of other popular stress toys, including the entire Bible Black series as well as the Angelic Special Ona Hole series.
	Romantic Products for Couples We have unique and well-engineered personal massagers for females, too, including the amazing G.II special vibrator and Hello Kitty.
	New H-Game: Eroama Onee-san... You are a for-hire brother for women who need one. Everything starts innocently enough until... well find out in this Japanese eroge.
	Restocked H-Games Too See a big restocking of import eroge too, including Primary Step, Daiteikoku, Sakura-iro Quartet and more. Very ecchi and awesome.
	Etheldreda 1/8 Figure ~ Demonbane *Preorder* Then enjoy another fabulous Demonbane character, the wonderfully designed Etheldreda who has...certain character features that are fun to look at. If you're a fan of the gorgeous visual novel Demonbane, we recommend it. View products »
	Al Azif 1/7 Figure ~ Demonbane Also: a fascinating twist on the character of Al Azif, who has been transformed into someone quite...different. Do you like the change? I don't hate it.
	Deus Machina Demonbane Since we've got two Demonbane figures posted, I thought I'd link to the game. A fantastic Cthulhu Mythos eroge, totally uncensored by the famous Nitroplus.
	Other Cast Off Figures Whoops, we have other figures posted too, including Lilith Resi-Carat and a figure from Samurai Girls. I love cast off figures...

Anime Expo 2011, The Blog Post

We're having a great time here at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, meeting fans and customers and selling lots of fun J-List products to everyone. It's been a bang-up show, and we're pleased as punch with how it's turning out. Everyone has been having a blast, picking up top eroge like Demonbane and Escalation, plenty of "oppai" mouse pads, more than a few of those Itazura Cat Banks plus our signature J-List T-shirts. If you're at the show, be sure to come by booth 819 and say hi!

Having fun at Anime Expo. Hope you are here!

One of the highlights of the convention has been the Miku Hatsune Hatsune Miku concert -- apparently the only approved way to write her name is in Japanese word order, with the family name of Hatsune first and her given name Miku last. It was a blast seeing Japan's premier "virtual idol" perform in front of thousands of fans, and it was cool seeing the Vocaloid idol going more mainstream than she already is. (Toyota is heavily promoting her on their cars.) The concert was truly amazing -- Miku's image was projected on a glass pane while a live band played music for her, and the effect was nearly perfect.

As is often the case, the convention hotel contains many guests who aren't affiliated with the convention, and its always fun to imagine how the complex world of anime fandom looks from the outside. While I was drinking in a bar with some friends, the person next to me leaned over and asked, "Do you know what's going on here? Is there some kind of masqurade party here?" I smiled to myself, wondering what the extravagant anime cosplay, Gothic Lolita outfits and K-On! uniforms would look like to those unannointed into the world of fandom. I tried my best to explain it to the man, but realized it was going to be an hour or more long discussion or more to try to teach him why we'd all gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate 2D visual pop culture.

Just a reminder: you can get 2x J-List Points on all purchases on our site. This means that all the awesome T-shirts, figures, bento boxes, plush toys, snacks and gum or even Morning Rescue gives you double J-List points. Ends July 4, so make your purchases soon!

Remember: we've been busy on the eroge front. In addition to the happy news that our 100% yuri (girl-girl) game Yukkuri Panic Escalation is in stock and shipping in San Diego, we've announced a huge volley of new games to be translated into English over in 2011-2012. The new games legendary Nitroplus titles like Saya no Uta, Outlaw Django and the magical girl ero title Sumaga, the gorgeous Starless by the creator of Bible Black, plus the gorgeous RPG Seinarukana. For more information, read the JAST USA post, or get our new game catalog at booth 819 (or order something from J-List and we'll send you one).

Also: we've printed some awesome J-List Anime Glasses and are giving them out with all orders through the wbsite. Which anime character would you like to become?