All About Names in Japan

Just as in the West, Japanese parents-to-be obsess over what name to give their new baby. In addition to reading books which give background on various trendy names, they will often consult a Buddhist priest who will advise them on what characters are lucky for that year. The number of strokes used to write the name are important, too, and my wife took great pains to ensure that our daughter's Japanese name would have the same number of lines as hers, "so she can enjoy the same strong good luck I've had in my life," according to my wife. Names can be written in hiragana, foregoing kanji altogether for aesthetic reasons, but most parents choose kanji characters for the names of their children, being sure to choose from the official list of approved name characters the government publishes. One big difference between the West and in Japan are the lack of Biblically-derived names here -- every country in Europe has a local version of "Peter" (Pedro, Pierre, Pietro), but these don't exist in Japanese. Certain Western names are associated with famous names from Hollywood. For example, you might know several people named Jason, but in Japan, there's only one: the famous killer from the Friday the 13th movies. There are many Michaels in the world, but in Japan Michael Jackson is the name that springs to everyone's mind when they hear the name, and if you name is Clara, Japanese of a certain generation will probably identify you with the girl in the wheelchair from the famous anime Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

If your name is Jason or Freddie, you might scare people in Japan.

Japanese Visual Memes

It's fun to study random bits of Japanese culture, like the way children who want the weather to be good tomorrow will make a little man called Teruteru Bozu out of tissue paper and hang him by the window sill as a prayer to make it stop raining. Another fun traditional meme you encounter Japan is a face made from hiragana characters, called heno heno moheji (which is what the characters say when pronounced out loud), which Japanese kids like to doodle in their school textbooks. It's totally meaningless, but a widely recognizable visual image of Japan, known to show up on bento boxes from time to time. One of my favorite visual memes is called aiai-gasa, which means "two people walking together under an umbrella," and if you've watched a few anime series, you've probably seen it drawn on a chalkboard once or twice. The Japanese believe that walking together in the rain is very romantic, and drawing an umbrella with the names Taro and Hanako underneath implies that they like each other.

It's fun to study Japanese visual culture.

The Zen of Japanese Money

The currency used in Japan is yen, called en in Japanese, a word which literally means "circle," which was probably why the yen rate was officially set at 360 yen to the dollar in the decades after World War II. Because yen prices involve numbers that are quite high, you quickly get used to paying 980 yen for lunch, or 8,000 yen to fill your gas tank, or 178,000 yen for a new computer. Like Europe and Canada, Japan uses coins for a lot of currency denominations, with the 100 and 500 yen notes (equivalent to $1 and $5 bills) having been replaced by coins many years ago. One of my favorite Japanese coins is the 5-yen coin, shown below, which always makes me think of the bamboo fountain at Ryoan-ji, one of my favorite Buddhist temples in Kyoto (it's the place with the "sea" of rocks that you can sit and contemplate for hours). The 5-yen coin is considered especially lucky because its name in Japanese (go-en) has the same pronunciation as a word roughly translatable as "a fortuitous encounter with someone who will be important to you for the rest of your life." Hence, a lot of Japanese omamori good luck charms contain 5-yen coins inside.

The 5-yen coin is my favorite type of Japanese money.

Go! Go! Nippon!

Remember: J-List is here to help you learn about Japan, and one fun way you can start is with Go! Go! Nippon!, a fun all-ages visual novel that simulates a visit to Japan. Developed for foreigners who are fascinated with Japan, this fun game lets you explore the Tokyo and Kyoto areas, accompanied by two cute girls, which you get to fall in love with. Which girl will you choose? Because the game displays both Japanese and English text, you can learn by playing the game. Order now!

Cool Products Thursday, September 27, 2012

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.

Today's New & Restocked Items

B's Log Nov 2012 The definitive magazine for all things fujoshi, B's Log is the first and best magazine for girl gamers and anyone who loves yaoi, BL, or otome games! We love all girls who love 2D anime, games and more, since they make it much more fun to attend anime conventions compared to back in the old days, when anime events had no pretty girls attending them at all. view this product »

	Other New Magazine Issues A new issue of Shoxx is posted, for fans of Japan's amazing "visual-kei" J-ROCK band culture, plus the new Afternoon for serious manga fans.		Fun Anime Products In Stock Irony aside (since the girl did die by drowning), this new AnoHana figure is positively gorgeous. Also see Accel World, Gundam and more in stock.
	Sword Art Online Official Manga! Oh baby -- we've got the first two volumes of the popular SAO manga in stock. Follow the adventures of Kirito, Asuna, Silica, Lizbeth and all the rest!		New and Restocked All-Ages Manga We also have popular manga restocked manga titles like Nichijou (all volumes), the sexy Maken-ki! plus the popular High School DxD.
	Girls Girls Girls! 9 ~ Decoration Girl E2 is back with a new sequel of its most successful book, Girls Girls Girls! 100+ pieces of gorgeous moe art in full color. Please see on the J-List side.		Yuru Yuri Artbook, More Restocked An amazing official visual Fanbook for Yuru Yuri lovers, featuring all you ever wanted to know on the series and even more!
	Kantoku Calendar 2013 *preorder* When it comes to gorgeous anime calendars, our cup runneth over. We've got not one but *two* Kantoku art calendars, plus hundreds more.		Ayame Gouriki Photobook Posted An amazing photobook of cute Ayame Gouriki shot by some of the best photographers out there and filled with gorgeous black and white portraits.
	Limited Edition Fate/Zero Blu-ray Box Fate/Zero is now available in a single Blu-ray set, with loads of amazing extras. A collector's dream.		Gorgeous Anime Blu-ray Restocked Enjoy the legendary Macross: Do You Remember Love? in restored Blu-ray w/PS3 game, plus Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies and Hatsune Miku!
	Fruits Nov 2012 NO. 184 A new issue of Fruits, the premiere street life publication focusing on the Harajuku freestyle street fashion scene.		Bear Fuka Fuka Parka Transform into a super soft and huggable bear, in this new parka from Japan. This is destined to be one of the cutest fashion products in J-List history.
	Unicorn Head Mask While the horse head mask is still unavailable for the foreseeable future, we've got the Unicorn Head mask in stock now -- it's magical!		Black Bar Censor Sunglasses We live to find random and wacky products from Japan, and today we've gotten the Black Censor Bar sunglasses back in stock, which make you look like...nobody.
	SCOPE NODE, Other Elecom Items We've got a great update of Elecom products at a great new price, including the Scope Node laser mouse based on a design by Shirow Masamune.		Nintendo DS Software to Learn Japanese Great Japanese study software for the DS restocked, including Kanji Test DS 3, Kanji Test for 2.5 Millions, Kanji Training, Perfect Kanji and more.
	Awesome Traditional Products Restocked We updated some fun traditional "tatami" items, including the epic setta sandals that make you feel you're walking on woven Japanese mats.		We Love Pokemon We love Pokemon here at J-List, and stock dozens of products. The new plush toys we restocked are very kawaii.
	Security by NEET ~ Jitaku Keibiin Sticker A great parody item, this sticker looks like a security sticker as seen on many businesses and homes. Hilarious!		Other Random Products Restocked From handy fizzing bath tablets to our emergency toilets (which are surprisingly popular), we've got some fun items on the site for you to browse.
	Restocked Totoro Plush Toys, Music Boxes Our customers love the Totoro plushes from Sun Arrow. Browse our large selection now. Also, popular Totoro music boxes are restocked!		New 'Let's Make Original Sticker' Pens Make your own accessories with this easy to use sticker seal pen, allowing you to make anything extra glamorous.
	DOUBLEN Ballpoint Pen w/ Reading Glasses Japan, the king of wacky products, has added "pen glasses" to their list. A fun and surprisingly useful item.		Fun Products for your Home Make ramen fast with our popular Ramen Microwave Bowl, great for university students. Also, the Fruit Fly Dying House for getting rid of pesky flies.
	Lots of New Snacks from Japan Japan has been known to be a great place to find interesting foods and snacks, like these apple gaufres and ASCII art cookies + anime snacks!		Restocked J-Snacks Too We have Japan-made Oreos (every so slightly different) + traditional Bontan Ame candy, Black Black caffeine tablets, Shigekix, new Hi-Chew flavors and more.
	Strawberry Lunch Box set A very kawaii strawberry shaped bento box that comes with matching fork and spoon, plus many other great bento items for your kitchen.		Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked We love carrying awesome traditional bento boxes from Japan, including Rabbit and Moon plus awesome "Hiragana Face" bento.
	Restocked Onigiri Shapers Restocked Say goodbye to improperly shaped onigiri rice balls with the shapers we're restocking, along with other fun items for your kitchen.		Hello Kitty &amp Other Bento Accessories Nothing can make us smile like a really kawaii Hello Kitty bento box, and we've restocked our most popular Hello Kitty bento items today.
	Mastering Conversational Japanese for Beginners Here's a really good book to help you learn Japanese in conversational situations, which can be a challenge when using textbooks that are too formal.		White Snake Otedama 2013 Celebrating the coming of 2013, the year of the snake, we have these and other great snake related items. They're cute!
	Japanese Bookmarks Set a bookmark the old fashioned way -- in a book -- with one of these new high quality Japanese bookmarks.		Lucky Cat Message Display, More Enjoy the bizarre-but-cute Oni-Neko devilish Lucky Cat plus other traditional items from Japan. I love the Lucky Cat with Kanji Message myself.
	Madoka Magica Phone Accessories Madoka fans will love these cute accessories for your phone, featuring Kyubey and Charlotte from Madoka Magika. No contract required.		Natsuiro Kiseki Beach Queen Figures ~ *Preorder* And we've got some new preorders for figures from the Beach Queen series from Natsuiro Kiseki, all ready to go to the beach.
	Megpoid GUMI Nendoroid Figure *Preorder* Here's a treat for Vocaloid fans - a cute Nendoroid figure of Megpoid GUMI! A great figure for Vocaloid collectors!		Persona 4 Figures, Tony and Nanoha Persona fans will want to take home this two-for-one pack of Yu and Rise. Plus we have other new figures waiting for preorder like Shining Blade and Nanoha.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

	BJ Nov 2012 ~ Bejean Nov 2012 vol. 228 A new issue of the "H" packed BJ magazine is here, and it's loaded with deliciously dirty young Japanese women, plus a 2 hour DVD for your pleasure.		Super Sexy Photobooks Restocked Enjoy the delicious limited edition Love Para photobook series, with Haruki Sato and Uta Kohaku, plus cute and sexy photobooks restocked.
	W Yome Sand ~ Double Yome Sand From artist Maru Maru comes this fantastic, hot hentai manga with detailed art, focusing only on 3P action scenes, with 2 girls on one lucky guy.		Ecchi Manga In Stock, Too Various manga volumes restocked, too, including Nyotai-ka (the study of the female body), Maken-Ki! full color, plus the Yuri Cam series for yuri fans.
	Lucifer - Pride 1/8 Cast-off Figure *Preorder* Top sexy figure maker Orchid Seed presents a new series of bishoujo figures based on the classic Seven Deadly Sins.		Ero Artbooks Restocked From Ero novel writer BeniMatsu comes this amazing erotic illustrated novel/artbook hybrid. 6 Japanese erotic stories illustrated by the best artists.
	Awesome Parody Onaholes Enjoy some of our top stress-toys-cum-prostate-cancer-reducers (according to some research), including Ikki Tousen, Madoka Magika and more.		Tamaki Kousaka Puni-M Mouse Pad ~ Toheart2 ToHeart2's Tamaki Kousaka, affectionately known as Tama-nee, is one of Japan's most beloved heroines. We'll be in our bunk.
	Otokonoko 'Trap' Stress Toys You could have swore she was a girl when you first met her... live your fantasies of deflowering an innocent "trap" with these stress toys.		Love Body Miyu + Onahole Restocked Stress can really pile up on you if you're not careful, which is why J-List stocks innovative tools to take the edge off. Make her wear clothes!
	Hentaipalooza Get 2 anime for the prince of one, in this great hentai anime DVD with English subtitles, plus many others from JapanAnime.		Today's Recommend English Eroge If you love cat girls with futanari themes, then you should give Cat Girl Alliance a try. It's a fun romp through some ero territory, translated into English.
	Super Idol 8 Hours ~ Rumika Staring gyaru girl Rumika on 2 DVDs, this production focusing only on Rumika and her hot performances. So nice to see this girl...		Dynamite SP Risa Tsukino! *16 Hours* A great compilation, including 8 full uncut movies on 4 DVDs, for 16 hours of hot action with Risa Tsukino. Don't miss out.
	SOD Talk & Variety TV Show An SOD production parodying popular TV shows in Japan. From weather forecasts to Yoga sessions, this is 130 minutes of funny yet sexy TV.		Deep Kiss and Whale Shower Lesbian Two girls, no men. Check out what Nozomi and Nana discover in this release by Hibino. Very high quality stuff from our favorite indies company.

Restocked DVDs and Blu-ray for JAV fans Finally, see a huge restocking of ero titles, including TMA Special Mini-Skirt plus Knee-Socks and Shimapan 4 Hours, Kyonyu and Lesbian, plus the Still, I Love You all-girl series, Stop the Time! and I Am Invisible Man, plus delicious works by the experienced slut Yuma Asami in some of her most memorable (and long, several are 8+ hours) works. view this product »