The Humble Japanese

One of the more welcome aspects of the Japanese people is their tendency to be humble, a trait you observe a lot of Japanese athletes, who smile in a self-effacing way after winning a great victory rather than running across the field yelling, "I'm #1!" Humility is an important trait for people to have in Japan, and the "correct" way to accept a compliment is usually to deny it, which can take some getting used to coming from the West. There are quite a few anime characters whose humility is an important part of their charm, including Ranka Lee or Max Jenius of the Macross universe, Kousaka of Genshiken and Sawako of Kimi ni Todoke, and we like them more as fans because of their modesty. The Japanese phrase for a person with a good humble nature is koshi ga hikui, lit. "his lower back is low and close to the ground."

Humility can change the course of politics, too. One reason Yoshihiko Noda was chosen as Japan's next Prime Minister by his party was speech in which he compared himself to a bottom-feeding fish called a dojo loach, about the lowliest fish in the sea, saying, "I am exactly as you see me, not flashy like a goldfish. I want to roll up my sleeves and work hard for the people of Japan, even tough it means getting dirty with mud." This was a reference to a poem by Mitsuo Aida, who revolutionized poetry by combining it with beautiful and highly stylized visual kanji calligraphy. The poem (above) reads, Dojo ga sa, kingyo no mane suru koto nen da yo naa ("You know, there's no need for a dirty dojo fish to pretend to be a glamorous goldfish"). In other words, be what you are, and be happy with the contributions you can make to the world without pretending to be something you're not.

A famous kanji poem by Mitsuo Aida, in his famous calligraphy style.

Chopsticks and Japan

One thing everyone knows about the Japanese people is that they use chopsticks to eat with. Yes, except for certain Western foods like spaghetti or curry rice, the Japanese eat most every meal with chopsticks, and they're so ubiquitous here no one gives them a second thought. Children learn to use chopsticks around the age of three, often using training chopsticks to get started, and the first real peer pressure a child will experience is having to eat in front of the other children at preschool, with the fear of embarrassment if they're behind the other kids at chopstick skill. Although I've lived in Japan nearly 20 years, I still get an occasional ohashi ga jozu! ("you use chopsticks very well") compliment -- ah the Japanese can be so silly. One of the symbols of overly industrialized Japan are waribashi, the disposable chopsticks that are everywhere. While the vast majority of disposable chopsticks consumed in Japan come from lumber stocks that are continuously replanted, there's been a movement away from disposable chopsticks at many restaurants. Incidentally, J-List stocks dozens of fun chopsticks for you, including Pocky Chopsticks, Star Wars Lightsaber chopsticks and more traditional fare.

So, how do you feel about chopsticks? Are they hard to use?

Chopsticks are a common facet of Japanese life.

2012 Calendars @ J-List

2012 Calendar Season is heating up, and every day we're adding awesome new calendars you can normally only buy in Japan, including the awesome anime desktop calendars we posted today, to the Studio Ghibli schedule books that are great to use all year long, to traditional images of Japan. Click here to see the most popular Japanese calendars, as selected by J-List customers.

Cool Products Wednesday, September 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.

	Comic Alive Oct 2011 One of the best monthly magazines for all your moe manga wants. This newest issue includes Mayo Chiki, Infinite Stratos, plus Hidan no Aria! Check inside of the full list. We've also got many other amazing manga magazines too. Find your favorite and get a subscription. View products »
	To Aru Kagaku no Rail Gun Special Box We are very pleased to be able to release this very special box of lots of cool items from the awesome series To Aru Kagaku.
	Megami Fetish ~ Girls Drawn by Girls Take a magical trip into this beautifully illustrated color artbook, with huge glossy moe images from Megami Magazine.
	Shirow Masamune Calendar 2012 *preorder* Saber Tooth Cats, the awesome calendar from the artist behind Ghost In The Shell and Appleseed, is ready for preorders. You won't be sorry you ordered!
	2012 Anime Desktop Calendars Get a calendar or two for 2012 of your favorite anime characters. We've got Denpa Onna, Ore no Imo, Ano Hana and A Certain Scientific Railgun.
	PSP Madoka Magica Portable Limited *Preorder* Explore of the weird and horrific worlds of the Witches in the new Madoka Magica PSP game, but this Limited Edition is something really special.
	Rainbow Color T-Shirt Dress This dress has all the color and flare you would expect from the streets of Shibuya. Wear it and feel like the models in the fashion magazines.
	Striped Knee High Socks, Other Fashion Items You can't show off your "Absolute Zone" unless you have a pair of above the knee socks. We've got those, and many other great fashion products.
	More Airou x Hello Kitty This funny mash-up of Hello Kitty and Airou, of Monster Hunter fame, just can't get any cuter than this. We love these cats!
	Cirno Nendoroid Figure Celebrate the release of another great Toho Nendoroid figure, this time the always popular Cirno. Would look great with your other Nendoroid figures.
	Various Anime Products Restocked See random anime products restocked, including the Railgun Beach figures, the Panty & Stocking Rubber Stamp collection and Eva sun shade!
	Aselia The Eternal *Preorder* Remember, the upcoming Aselia the ETERNAL is one of the most awesome JRPGs ever, and we'll be releasing the all-ages game soon. Preorder now.
	Otona no Kagaku ~ Science Projects for Adults Build a working planetarium in your bedroom, or an awesome Edo Period traditional Japanese clock, or a folding origami lamp!
	Totoro Messages Stamps Restocked One of my favorite Totoro products are these wood-and-rubber stamps, which feature images of Totoro and messages in Japanese.
	Kanji in Mangaland Restocked See fresh stock of the popular Japanese in Mangaland series, which helps you learn Japanese using our favorite visual medium.
	Restocked Japanese Study Books Also: Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns, 13 Secrets for Speaking Fluent Japanese, Beyond Polite Japanese and other great books restocked.
	Microwave Potato Chip Maker? Then: Why buy store-bought potato chips when you can make your own at home, using this wacky microwave potato chip maker from Japan? Restocked today.
	Electric Takoyaki Makers Restocked Our very popular Takoyaki maker is now back in stock, so you can sate desire for Osaka-style octopus batter balls any time.
	Fujiya Country Ma'am ~ Soft Cream Flavor Take home a bag or two of these delicious Japanese snacks, like Fujiya's soft creme cookies, Meiji's gummy drops or Lotte gum.
	Many Restocked Snacks Today Enjoy new stock of Peko-chan Milky Candy, UHA Puccho candy, Matcha Milk Caramels, Super Ramune Shigekix and more. Yum!
	Traditional Items from Japan You can depend on J-List to offer fun foods direct from Japan. Today we've restocked several versions of miso soup!
	Delicious Japanese Tea in Stock We also love Japanese tea, and today we've gotten in several varieties incl. sushi shop style green tea, genmaicha and more.
	Fuujin & Raijin Lacquered 2 tier Bento Box These ancient Japanese gods are sworn to protect your bento lunch, even against the power of microwaves. Looks more amazing in person.
	Great Bento Boxes Restocked But we've also got many other great traditional-style bento boxes too, like this bento with a built-in soup bowl.
	Awesome Chopsticks from Japan Avoid the embarrassment of not having enough chopsticks with the new offerings we posted today. Great for the whole family!
	Traditional Chopsticks, Too We've got other chopsticks in stock for you too, including our popular Sushi Non-Slip Chopstick Set and more.
	Bilingual Manga to Learn Japanese With We've gotten the bilingual Ghost in the Shell manga -- which features all the content cut from the U.S. release -- plus the best translation ever.
	Restocked Japanese Notebooks Various Japanese notebooks, including the classic CAMPUS by Kokuyo, because "CAMPUS notebooks contain the best ruled foolscap suitable for writing."
	Traditional Samurai Sandals Our most popular Japanese sandals ever are restocked, great for roaming the streets like a samurai or doing Bleach cosplay.
	Rewrite 3D Oppai Mouse Pad *Preorder* Let your wrists rest on the softest parts of Shiruzu Nakatsu's body, helping protect yourself from unnecessary body strain. 100% otaku approved.
	Erio Towa 1/7 Figure *Preorder* We're huge fans of the kawaii-ness of Erio Towa, whose initials are E.T. She's the cutest hikikomori we've ever seen.
	Other Awesome Preorder Figures Finally see other figures like Mayuri Shiina from Steins;Gate, Rise from Persona4, Sasara Samurai Style from ToHeart2 Dungeon Traveler and more.
	D Cup Kana ~ Yuuki Kana We truly love Japan's photography of beautiful women, and here's a new photobook that collectors will start drooling over.
	New Ecchi Artbooks Restocked See some nice restocked ero artbooks on the site, including Irinka ~ Kagami Visual Works plus Azelea Floating and more.
	Bakujuu Musou Ikkitousen Parody Toys Here's a treat: three large sized, super realistic toys for fans of the Ikki Tousen ecchi anime. Whether you're a fan of Hakufu, the eye-patch wearing Ryomou or the sizzling Kanu Unchou, you need to click now. View products »
	A Certain Magical & Scientific Parody Toys Also: we've restocked the Index/Railgun parody toys, which are so popular they sell out every week.
	Toys for JAV Fans Then see JAV-themed stress toys, including the perfect recreation of Maria Ozawa for your enjoyment, plus other realistic toys.
	Japanese Pure Lotion Restocked See a big restocking of popular personal lotion products, which are great because they're more natural, being made from seaweed.
	Gyakushu ~ 1 2 3 Pack Here's an outstanding new eroge from Japan by ANIM, specializing in tentacles, miko princesses and more. A great import title.
	Restocked H-Games from Japan Enjoy some great eroge from Japan, incl. Let's Nupu Nupu, Sakura-iro Quartet, Ijira Rental, Forbidden Hospital Ward and more.
	Fun H-Game: Let's Meow Meow! We have dozens of outstanding English-translated eroge for you =. If you like cat girls (and who doesn't?) why not try this one?

Language and Loan Words

It's common for words to pass from one language to another, with meanings that get updated or redefined to fit the needs of the new language group. Many of the words we use in English originally came from French, for example, words like beef, pork and poultry came to indicate the meat of cows, pigs and chickens through the interaction between French-speaking landowners (who ate the meat) and their English-speaking hired help (who tended the animals). The Japanese borrow words from other languages too, and not just silly phrases like SUPER HAPPY GET CHANCE. While most foreign loan words are 20th Century imports, quite a few came into use in the Edo Period and before, including tempura (from the Portuguese word for spice), garasu (window glass), kohi (coffee), and kirishitan (Christian). In fact, these words have been in use for so long they have kanji assigned to them, which violates the (modern) rule that katakana be used to write foreign-based words. Since these kanji words have old-world charm associated with them that's not unlike archaic spellings of words in English , it's common to see these kanji words used to create a unique atmosphere in coffee shops, etc.

So what would the meat of a Tenga Egg-laying chicken be? Or maybe I don't want to know.

Things Twitter Has Taught Me

And now for a few random things I've learned since starting my Twitter feed, which allows me to interact with customers all over the world in interesting ways. In Portuguese, the name of Pope Benedict XVI is "Papa Bento," which sounds incredibly cute in Japanese, like a kindly old man who walks around distributing boxed lunches to people in the street. While the word moe (pronounced mo-EH) refers to an archetype of kawaii female anime character that can turn fans to jelly with a gaze, in Dutch it means "tired," which causes some confusion when I'm searching for tweets using the #moe tag. I've also learned that bots can be more interesting than humans sometimes, like the bot of Yukata from Lucky Star who asks, "What does yaoi mean?" of any Twitter user discussing the subject. It can lead to some interesting conversations when people who don't know it's a bot try to delicately explain yaoi and BL. Good times, good times.

No moe, no life.

Maid Cafe Update from Japan

Over the weekend I took a trip into Tokyo to meet some friends from the States who were in Japan for the first time. We had fun, doing touristy stuff like visiting the 1300 year old Buddhist temple at Asakusa and sampling Japanese izakaya food. All gaijin love Akihabara, so I showed them some of the more interesting shops there, and we had fun exploring and buying various stuff. I wanted to take them to a maid cafe, so we walked along the main road where cute girls in outrageous maid costumes (complete with "Absolute Zone" over-knee socks and skirts) handed out pamphlets advertising the shops they worked at. The maid cafe idea has been around for more than a decade by now, and there are quite a few variations available. For example, there was a Dracula-themed maid cafe with Gothic Lolita style maids, a Tsundere cafe with girls that insult you then act sweet to you as you leave, and even an ashi-fumi massage parlor where a Japanese maid will walk on your back. One I'd like to try is an ear-cleaning maid cafe in which you rest your head on the lap of a pretty girl (which is called hiza-makura or "knee-pillow") while she cleans your ears with a traditional mimikaki ear cleaner. Fun!

Having your ears cleaned by a pretty girl is big in Japan.

Bento Boxes, and More Bento Boxes at J-List

For years, J-List has delighted our customers by finding awesome bento boxes from the best companies in Japan, and we've got a great selection of traditional bento boxes, kawaii bento boxes like the Kokeshi Bento series, plus anime and character bento lunchboxes featuring Totoro, Hello Kitty and more. Click here to browse the most popular bento boxes on the site, as ranked by our customers.