Bizarre urban legends of Japan, funny English words the Japanese invent, and where are all the pregnant women?

Urban legends are funny things, sometimes leading millions of people to believe something that just isn't true. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, people there assumed that the picture of a baby on the package meant that it contained ground-up babies. Walt Disney was put into cryogenic suspension and sleeps there even now, deathless. The Titanic sunk because it carried a cursed mummy in its hold. Michael Jackson bought the bones of Elephant Man John Merrick. Richard Gere had that thing with the gerbil. All of these are examples of stories that had no basis in fact, but many people believe them nevertheless. They have urban legends in Japan, too, and some of them can be quite fascinating. An old legend passed down by the Kiristans (what Christians in Japan were known as in the 14th century) states that after he was resurrected, Jesus came to Aomori, Japan, at the top of the main island of Honshu, where he lived out the rest of his life and died, and you can visit his grave in the town of Herai, a shortened form of the word Hebrew in Japanese. Another interesting myth that most smokers here believe is that the Lucky Strike logo was designed after the bombing of Hiroshima in World War II, made to look like a mushroom cloud when viewed from above...which is false, since the logo was being used back in the 1920s or earlier. Last week the Internets were buzzing with news that over 2000 Japanese had purchased imported sheep from Australia thinking they were poodles, but the story, too, turned out to be completely false.

Everyone knows that adding 'y' to the end of a noun can turn it into an adjective, like silky, messy, rainy, or healthy, and since Japanese usually study six years of English before finishing high school, people generally have a working knowledge of the grammar here. It's common for makers of products to play with English in ways that can be very creative, spawning a line of ladies' support stockings that bears the name Supporty or a deep-cleaning shampoo called Rooty, or how about the slogan for a construction company, "Home, Homer, Homest"? Japanese also reverse engineer the grammar of English to create new slang terms. For example, new words are commonly made by, say, removing the "tic" ending from a word like "dramatic" or "aromatic" and tacking it onto a Japanese words, creating otome-tic (oh-toh-meh-CHI-ku), meaning something that a girl would do, like having a pink box of tissue on her desk; or gaijiin-tic (gai-jin-CHI-kku), meaning something that you'd expect a foreigner to do, like enter a house with his shoes on. (For phonetic reasons, the "tick" sound comes out as "chick" in Japanese.) These hybrid words are often embraced by plugged-in otaku, resulting in words like Akiba-ism, which encompasses all anime, manga and game culture, as seen in Tokyo's Akihabara region; or the maid cafe called Mail-ish, which means, hmm, well, it doesn't mean any damn thing, but it sounds kind of cool in an "email-ish" sort of way, and maids are pretty.

My Japanese mother-in-law once remarked to me that, "I don't see many women with big stomachs these days." At first I thought that women were getting thinner, but my wife said no, her mother had been referring to the dearth of pregnant women in Japan. It's true -- the birthrate here is the lowest in the industrialized world, just 1.25 children per couple, a problem known as shoshika or "declining number of children," and it's getting more and more common to see companies offering products and services to those over 65 rather than baby-related items. In some rural areas, the population shrinkage is causing hospitals to change the way they treat patients. In Mie Prefecture, for example, the maternity wards of three separate hospitals were combined in one location to more efficiently utilize resources, but this wasn't welcome news for expectant mothers who now had to travel an hour or more to have their babies.

Remember that J-List carries the most hilarious wacky Japanese T-shirt in the world, our "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" design, which would perhaps most accurately be translated as "Now accepting applications for a Japanese girlfriend." Available as a classic T-shirt, a fleece hoodie, an embroidered hat, an alternate calligraphy style, and rather kinkily, a fitted girl's T-shirt. Whether you are interested in meeting Japanese females or just want a fun conversation starter with Japanese who happen to see it, our T-shirt will be a fun addition to your wardrobe. We also make a "Japanese boyfriend" line.

Here are today's "really cool products" that I thought were especially noteworthy. Note: the J-List links below may be for adult products and should probably be considered "not safe for work" (a yes/no verification screen will be displayed to filter products from our mature site). To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Sabra Magazine 006 April 2007. Misako Yasuda looks gorgeous, as always.
	Black Gal Swimsuit Mania (region 2). Super tanned kogals are back, and are wearing sexy swimsuits in this new video release.
	Advent Soldiers Neo. We carry lots of yaoi items, and this is a nice Advent Children doujinshi.
	Animage Jan 2007. Animage is the original anime magazine, and they in fact coined the term "anime" for us to use -- thanks, guys. This issue is loaded with great pictures, and also has a gorgeous Eva calendar.
	Tea Room Pressen C. Ahem, this is a pretty bold futanari doujinshi work that fans won't want to miss.
	Japan Trivia ~ Eigo de Hanasu Zatsugaku Nippon Q&A. A fantastic book of information on Japan (sort of like what I write), but presented in both languages!
	Comic AG Super Erotic Manga Anthology vol. 56. New issue of Comic AG, hot on the heels of the last one. Remember you can now buy sets of any five books you want, including sets that feature this new volume.
	Bean's Plus 01 ~ bean's+ 01. Great photos of some of Japan's greatest toys and dolls!
	Tsukino Azusagawa 1/8 Figure *Yakitate Japan*. For fans of anime series about baking bread, this is a great preorder figure.
	Mushiro Setta W/ Black Hanabi Hanao - Size L. We are getting in a bunch of new sandals, and these "setta" shoes are just amazing.
	Bazooka Meikan (Bazooka Arsenal) 1/6 Scale ~ Full Set (10 pcs). For everyone who's wanted a miniature set of bazaaoka toys, well, here you go.
	Rihoko Amaha Figure *Witch Blade*. Super cute figure of a character from Witchblade.
	Animal Post-it Memo ~ Elephant. Japan is all about cute, and we've gotten in a bunch of cute notepads today. Kawaii!
	Glico Mousse Pocky -- Mango. We've got about a week to go on the chocolate front, we think, so if you want the new chocolate items we've posted today, hurry!
	Xylish +F Gum -- Green Tea Mint. This rules -- Green Tea Gum! It's got a real kick of green tea to it, too!
	Hello Kitty Mini Mesh Pouch ~ Red. Cute little pouches to hold your stuff.
	Tachikoma 1/24 Scale Pre-painted Figure *Wave High Advanced Model*. The coolest Tachikoma toy I've seen in a long time, and considering the ones we've got in stock, that's saying something.
	Lotte Rich Fruit Chocolate -- Strawberry. I want to eat Leah Dizon, er, I mean this chocolate. Click through to see the commercial.
	Peach Princess's "Critical Point" . Critical Point is the "H-Game of the month" in case you're looking for a bargain. This is a great game, with a story that old school anime fans can appreciate.
	M ~ Katsura Masakazu. I have been a huge fan of Katsura Masakazu over the years for his Video Girl Ai manga, which is 1000% times better than the anime in case you have seen it. Here is his first real "hentai" work .

Living in Japan and changes in your native language, of Golden Week and flying carp, and a "Gaijin Battle" on Japanese TV

Living in Japan means adapting to many things, not the least of which is modifying your native language. When I first got to Japan, I was told I spoke incredibly fast, and my students begged me to speak more clearly so they could understand what I was saying. Before I knew it, I was speaking "too" slowly, prompting my mother to ask me what was wrong when I talked to her on the phone. In my own personal dialect of Southern Californian English, I'd always referred to the thing you blow your nose with as a Kleenex, but in Japan, no one knew what I was talking about so I quickly reverted to "tissue." I've learned to order a "Happy Set" for the kids at McDonald's instead of a Happy Meal, and when I need to get some money out of my bank account I drop by the "Cash Corner," or the ATM. I've also learned that the word "sauna" has three syllables, not two. Many Western foods seem to have morphed into some pretty odd forms here. For example, when it's hot out, I might reach for some "ice" (what ice cream is usually called), and if I go to the local amusement park with my kids I might buy them each an "American Dog" (a corn dog) and "fried potato" (french fries) before we ride the "jet coaster" (roller coaster). Although these terms always feel odd at first, it's spooky how easy it is for your brain to get used to them.

One television show we watch almost every week is Sanma's Super Karakuri TV, a wacky variety show that does things like ask Japanese with no special linguistic abilities to answer questions in English while subtitles translate what they are actually saying for viewers, or hold impromptu quiz shows with drunk salaryman as they stumble home late at night, or put on competitions to see which famous star can create a gourmet meal for less than $3. As with most Japanese variety shows, the interaction of the host with the various "talents" (actresses, singers, comedians) who are on that week is one of the most important aspects, and where America's Funniest Home Videos might just shut up and show you some more clips, this show will stop the action and try to get stars like cute-as-a-button idol Yuko Ogura to guess what's going to happen next. Last night they added a new section, Gaijin Battle, in which foreigners who know an incredible amount about Japan do battle by asking questions to each other, like, of all the Ultraman brothers, which is the oldest, or what was the significance of the Bakumatsu (the ending years of the Tokugawa Shogunate) on modern Japan? Canadian otaku Robert Baldwin easily dispatched his challengers and maintained his lead.

We're right in the middle of Golden Week, a cluster of Japanese holidays that usually fall near each other, which are Showa Day on April 29, originally the birthday of old Emperor Showa, aka Hirohito; Constitution Day on May 3, the date the modern Japanese constitution took effect; Green Day on May 4, a day to celebrate nature; and Children's Day on May 5. While Golden Week is a nice break from the daily grind, it's all but useless as a holiday, since the other 126,999,999 Japanese in the country also have the week off, too. Want to go to Tokyo Disneyland? Hope you enjoy waiting for six hours just to get in to the place. How about spending the day in Karuizawa, up in the mountains of central Japan? Oops, there's a 30 km traffic jam of Tokyoites trying to get into the town. This is also the season of Koi-nobori, the beautiful carp-shaped kites which families with boy children display proudly to the neighborhood. Everywhere you look in Japan right now you can see beautiful streaming carp, seeming to swim upstream when the wind blows.

Comic AG is the popular magazine of translated "H" manga from Japan's best artists, which gives you an amazing 80 pages of content for the low price of just $4.99. In addition to selling single issues and revolving subscriptions, we've sold handy sets of back issues in groups of five at a special price, which proved to be a popular way for our customers to complete their collections and save money. We've improved this sesame now, allowing you to buy any sets of five issues you might need, be it vol. 40-45, vol. 41-46, or the current issues, and save 20%. Comic AG is published by Icarus Publishing, and you can really feel their passion in each issue, with the super-accurate translations and the care they take with the printing, making sure to work from the original artist pages, not the published Japanese edition as most other manga publishers do.

J-List's region free DVD players make it easy to enjoy DVDs from every corner of the globe, be it imported anime or "Indies" titles from Japan, Europe-release PAL format discs, rare releases from Asia, you name it. We've added a great new high-end DVD layer that's loaded with features, including *upscaling* to high-def LCD or Plasma TVs, allowing DVDs to be scaled up to their maximum quality in 720p and 1080i format. It also features an HDMI connection (with included cable!), the best way to connect your devices since everything you need is carried through one noise-free digital connection. The player also supports MPEG 4 and AVI/XVID files burned onto DVD media, external USB drives, 5.1 speaker inputs, karaoke mic inputs, and more.

What do you think of when you think of spring? Love, of course, and there's no more convenient way to experience everyone's favorite emotion than with a great bishoujo game from J-List. Called "bishoujo" or "pretty girl" games in Japanese, they're best thought of as "love-sim games" since the object of the game is to find out what you need to do to get a certain pretty anime girl to open her heart to you (or guy, as the case may be). We've got a huge catalog of innovative and fun bishoujo games from Japan, fully translated into English for you, with all manner of stories presented, and with a large selection of games available by download, too. With yaoi and Hirameki games, we've got something for every taste. Why not check out this fascinating genre from Japan?

Here are today's "really cool products" that I thought were especially noteworthy. Note: the J-List links below may be for adult products and should probably be considered "not safe for work" (a yes/no verification screen will be displayed to filter products from our mature site). To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Karami 38 -- Mei Itoya. Positively beautiful photomagazine dedicated to one model. I love this format since it has no silly ads or anything other than the girl herself.
	Gekkan -- Chisato Morishita III. Chisato Morishita is one of the most beautiful women in Japan, and this is her most amazing photobook release to date. Yes, the cover is rather shocking, isn't it?
	AV Young Wife -- Nayuka Mine (region 2). One of the current trends in adult video these days is to make a "live action" version of a famous manga comic, which is what this is. Very innovative.
	Cosplay Event Negotiator. Amazing cosplay to be seen here, with girls who were actually recruited to be in AV videos at the famous Comic Market doujinshi event.
	I am Mai -- Mai Yukawa. Delightful photobook featuring Mai-chan.
	Ero-Kira Assort. Another gorgeous ero manga from Japan. I love the dreamy art in this.
	Death Note Official Movie Guide 1. Dynamite item for Death Note fans.
	Rjtech RJ-1000 Upscaling DVD Player w/ DIVX playback. And we have a new high end DVD player that *upscales* DVD to look great on your HD-TV. I'm getting one, too!
	Sushi Key Chain ~ Ebi / Shrimp ~. Sushi keychains are cool. We've got some nice ones in stock that look good enough to eat.
	Irodori ~ Color Scheme. This is a reissue of a fabulous manga from a couple years ago, rare in that it's loaded with parody doujinshi artwork from Ah My Goddess, Love Hina, Chobits and more. Highly recommended.
	Monokuro Boo Plush Box -- Black. Kawaii! A cute little black Monokuro Boo pig to put stuff inside.
	New Hello Kitty Japanese Health Mask - 3pcs . A cute way to face the next SARS outbreak. They're also good for keeping your germs off others.
	Driving Beginner's Mark (Suction Cup Type). Put this on your car and confuse Japanese drivers who see you.
	Alice L Malvin Figure *Pumpkin Scissors*. Super cute bishoujo figure from the anime Pumpkin Scissors. It's got a secret, too (click to see).
	R2-D2 Microdroid -- Remote Control ~ Star Wars. Yes! The remote controlled R2-D2 toys are back!
	Meiji Green Tea Fran Extra. Yum! A new Green Tea Fran is here, and just before summer, darn. Better hurry and get this before we remove our chocolate for the season.

Funny English in Japan, teaching about America through Easter Eggs, and confusing Japanese company names explained

Japan can be such a funny place. You could be going along, minding your own business when suddenly, bam, the country will hit you with English that's so bizarre you have to stop what you're doing and gaze at it with amazement. I took my kids to the onsen (public hot springs bath) over the weekend, and while I was getting dressed I looked up to see an air filter with "Clean-Poo" written on the side. In neighboring Takasaki (sister city with Kelloggs home Battle Creek, MI, in case you were curious) there's a swimming school called Koma which decided to be cute and write its name with a "c" instead of a "k," resulting in Coma Swimming School -- not exactly where I want my kids learning to swim. The letters L and R are the same phonetic concept in Japanese, which causes a lot of confusion when speaking English, and most bilingual Japanese I know go out of their way to avoid the word "election" for this reason. A couple of years ago there was a poor restaurateur who built a large Texas-style steak house in our city with a giant sign that proclaimed RONE STAR -- I never did find out if he got the name wrong on purpose to show his originality or if it was an accident. I don't have to go very far to find funny English: the rural liquor shop that my wife's parents run has a delivery van with RIQUOR SHOP YANAI printed on the back.

Nippon, Nippan, Nissan, Nisshin. What's up with those similar-sounding Japanese names? The name of Japan in its own language is Nippon or Nihon, with the former having a little more official-ness by virtue of it being the term used by NHK, Japan's version of the BBC. The name means "origin of the sun" (日本) and was bestowed on the country by China, which names itself the "kingdom at the center of the world" （中国). Since the Japanese communicate ideas with kanji characters rather than an alphabet as we do, it's natural for words to be created by combining kanji the way we make acronyms in English. Since no one wants to bother trying to remember a name like Nihon Shuppan Hanbai Kabushiki Gaisha (日本出版販売株式会社), it's was natural for Japan's second largest book distributor to adopt the more reasonable name of Nippan. Ramen powerhouse Nisshin took a famous slogan meaning "to live a pure life every day" and boiled it down to the most important two characters to get their name. Japan's famous automobile maker Nissan's name originally was "Japan Industrial Corporation Ltd." (日本産業株式会社) but in its abbreviated form (日産) it essentially means "Made in Japan," about as direct a name as you could ask for. Often, a company will come to view its kanji name as outdated and will re-brand itself with cooler English-sounding name, which is what happened when Nippon Denki Kabushiki Gaisha (日本電気株式会社）, aka "Nichiden" （日電） decided that it would call itself NEC instead.

Although it sounds corny, I do consider myself to be a kind of ambassador for the U.S. in Japan, and I like to spread awareness of all things American when I get the chance. On Sunday we had a late Easter with my daughter's Girl Scout troop, decorating eggs and making Easter Baskets and doing all that stuff that you might take for granted, but which is very exotic and mysterious here in Japan. The girls had loads of fun learning to color the eggs and arrange everything nicely, and the new Brownies were especially thrilled since they'd never seen anything like it. Since the Japanese aren't too keen on eating something that's been on the ground, we used foil-wrapped Cadbury Eggs for our egg hunt, and the kids all had a blast. We had one small cultural break-down when my Japanese mother-in-law boiled the eggs we were to color only partially, thinking that they were to be decorated but not eaten, so that everyone who opened one of their eggs got oozing egg yolk all over the place.

Remember that J-List sells a magazine that's personally done a lot of good for me, Nihongo Journal, a monthly periodical featuring Japanese lessons for many levels, from beginner-intermediate on up, covering a variety of language areas, from business Japanese to conversational speaking to preparing for the JLPT. We carry the magazine via our popular "Reserve Subscription" service which lets you get Japan's most interesting magazine sent to you each month, paying on a month-to-month basis or for a year at a time. We have dozens of other effective tools for studying Japanese, from textbooks like the Genki series and kanji workbooks and great flashcards for learning hiragana, katakana and kanji. Why not browse them all now?

Here are today's "really cool products" that I thought were especially noteworthy. Note: the J-List links below may be for adult products and should probably be considered "not safe for work" (a yes/no verification screen will be displayed to filter products from our mature site). To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	eonna Nov 2006 vol. 35. Another issue of eOnna, the magazine of "ii onna" (hot women), who don't need to take their clothes off, they're so pretty.
	ff ~ Fortissimo -- Carrousel Maki. Wow, is all I can say. If a women who may be a grandmother can look this good, then anything in the world is possible.
	My Love Sign -- Mai Ayane. Absolutely amazing photobook from a Japanese angel.
	Motto Ii? -- Naomi I 1st photobook. Another drop-dead gorgeous photobook from Japan.
	Elevator That Rises To Heaven. Japan is all about fetishes, and here's a fetish focusing on being trapped in an elevator with girls and having sex with them.
	Kera Maniax vol. 8. Gothic Lolita fans, this is a great magazine for you to check out.
	Saber DX Figure ~ Hyper Fate Collection *Fate/Stay Night. Wow, this is the coolest Fate item I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot, working where I work and all. Absolutely perfect detail, and she comes with a "human" face too!
	Japanese Nuance in Plain English! ~ Nihonrashisa wo Eigo ni Dekimasuka?. This is a great book by my favorite gaijin author, Boye Lafayette De Mente.
	Fantasy Harem. Japan's manga artists have been on a fantasy kick of late. Here's a new anthology book.
	Mai Shiranui 1/6 PVC Figure *Fatal Fury & King of Fighters* ~ Max Factory. *Fabulous* figure from Japan. The first production run of this sold out in record time, less than 2 hours.
	Bubble Man Soda Bottle Pen . Innovative pen with a carbonated drink (?) built into it.
	Naruto Eraser - Type A *green* . Naruto fans, we've got more wacky things for your school bag.
	Hello Kitty Red Chirimen Memo Pad w/Pen. This is a great item! A little Hello Kitty notebook with built in pen, made of kimono fabric. Wow!
	Doraemon Hanging Plush w/Takecopter. Doraemon fans, this is one of the coolest items we've ever gotten in at J-List.
	Nestle Kit Kat Pack -- Green Tea & Azuki. Wow, new Green Tea Kit Kat this late in the season. Enjoy this great treat!
	Mikakuto Juntsuyu Candy. This is something many customers have asked for, and we're happy to oblige.
	Animal Friends Picks (10pcs). Fun items for your bento box.
	Dengeki G's magazine reserve subscription. Looking for a great magazine to read every month? I like Dengeki G's mix of art, manga, posters and other good stuff, always focused on anime and game charactres.
	*Dark Grey* Totoro Plush Doll -- L. We've restocked a bunch of Totoro plush toys!

Ah, they finally came. I think I've entered that magical world known as "Nerdvanna."

Japan as the land of safety, small conveniences of living in Japan, and the reason for that wacky "Engrish"

I've written before about how Japan is a very safe place -- so safe it might just kill you with boredom. Swimming pools in Japan generally have two or more lifeguards on duty at all times, although it'd be pretty hard to drown since the water is never deeper than your waist, and dangerous things like diving boards are not allowed. My son and I didn't realize what we were missing until we went to visit family in Maryland, and got to jump off the high dive at the local pool, something a non-Olympic swimmer could only dream of doing in Japan. People are constantly bombarded with silly safety messages here, which remind you to "stand behind the yellow line" on train platforms because apparently trains are dangerous or something, and there's even a voice to tell you how to get on or off an escalator safely in department stores. Now the latest trend in obsessive safety thinking is condemning swings, sliding boards, jungle gyms and other equipment at playgrounds due to an infinitesimally small number of tragic accidents involving children at play. Japan is nothing if not the land of duality, though, and just as it tries to "think of the children" on the playground, the country still lacks some of the basic safety attitudes we take for granted in the U.S., like always using approved child carseats when driving, using baby gates to keep little ones from dangerous parts of the home, and so on.

There are some key areas where the U.S. is well ahead of Japan, including availability of Mexican food and the proliferation of sports bar-themed restaurants with excellent beer. One area where Japan has a comfortable lead, though, is the delivering of packages via its takuhai (private delivery company) system, as seen in the Ghibli animated classic Kiki's Delivery Service except with packages being delivered by polite, efficient men in trucks rather than by a witch and black cat on a broomstick. One of the great conveniences of flying out of Japan is being able to send your suitcases to the airport via companies like Yamato or Sagawa for around $9 per suitcase, allowing you to hop on the train or bus to the airport without a lot of heavy stuff to lug along with you. I recently bought a used Mac G4 tower from a friend to use as a backup server at J-List. My friend dropped the heavy box off at the 7-11 at 9 pm on a Sunday night, and the package reached me, two prefectures away, less than 12 hours later. Total cost? Just $15.

As everyone knows, the Japanese are capable of coming up with some amazingly creative (?) English phrases, like "Body Feels EXIT," "Get Chance and Luck," "Fappy, Fax Makes It Happy" or "All Your Base Are Belong To Us." There are several reasons why this happens, including the fact that the Japanese nearly always learn English in a bubble, sitting passively as grammar and vocabulary are explained to them in Japanese by Japanese teachers, with the amount of linguistic input from living, breathing native English speakers being quite limited. Also, when a Japanese person studies English for six years (high school) or ten years (college), it's understandable that they'll want to strut a bit and use what they've learned, even if it results in something like "For restrooms, go back towards your behind." But the biggest reason there's so much colorful English here has to be that, to many Japanese, English is really just a decoration, something to sprinkle around to add color to one's environment without thinking about it too deeply. I was reminded of this fact over the weekend, when I took my family to the Pizza La in Karuizawa and sat down in the to enjoy some pizza. Perhaps because Karuizawa is a town discovered and colonized by Europeans soon after the Meiji Period, the restaurant had a bookshelf filled with English books for customers to browse through while they ate...although no one in the place was showing any interest in them. My family dug in though, each finding some interesting book to page through -- I scored a biography of Hemingway from the 1960s that looked interesting. We even did something we'd never have done in the U.S., liberating some of the books to read at home, since it was clear no one was going to be wanting them anytime soon, and an unread book is such a lonely thing. I'll make it up to the Pizza La people by bringing some of the English childrens' books my kids are too old for by next time I'm in the neighborhood.

One of the fun things about visiting Tokyo is walking down the street and getting pocket tissue handed out to you by people advertising businesses like banks, hairdressers, or newly opened restaurants. J-List lets you experience this thrill with the free authentic Japanese pocket tissue packet that we include with most every order you made from us. We say "most," because we won't include tissue with orders in cases where the tissue would bend or damage your order (like a thin magazine or doujinshi). You can also buy ten of our wacky pocket tissues for the low price of just $3.00, if you have an especially runny nose.

Remember that J-List carries fun PC dating-sim games from Japan, a whole new way to interact with Japan's amazing anime culture. For many games, you've got the choice between a shrinkwrapped CD-ROM package or a convenient download, making it extremely easy to buy. We've got titles for every range of tastes, from the all-ages titles by Hirameki International to the incredible story- and character-centric releases by Peach Princess and G-Collections to classics by JAST USA and more. We even carry yaoi games in English. Why not browse our PC dating-sim game selection today?

Here are today's "really cool products" that I thought were especially noteworthy. Note: the J-List links below may be for adult products and should probably be considered "not safe for work." To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Mecha ii -- Karen Kisaragi. Gorgeous photomag featuring a lovely angel from Japan.
	Japanese T-shirt - How Good Taste This Burger!! (Men's standard). A wacky "Engrish" T-shirt for you -- How Good Taste This Burger!
	The High Leg ~ For Leg Freaks. For leg, stocking and high heel photography fans, this is a nice new photobook from Japan.
	Love Dancer. This is an outstanding photobook feautring exotic dancers who really have beautify in their moves.
	NEON GENESIS EVANGELION CHARACTERS TYPE-F -- Set of 8 *Set of 5* plus 3 Rare Color Eva. Dynamite series of Eva figures, with full sets in stock. Note that we wre shorted in our order, so we only have limited stock.
	Nuku Nuku Onsen Sisters 2 ~ Easy-going Hot Springs Sisters 2. Vol. 2 of the popiular ero manga series.
	Seeing Tokyo. We've posed Seeing Japan, now it's time for Seeing Tokyo, a dynamtie photobook + information book on Japan's largest city.
	My-Hime and My-Otome Figure Special ~ Mai Hime and Mai Otome Figure Maniacs. Gorgeous anime figures listd here -- I love them!
	Hello Kitty Pink Calculator. Dynamite Hello Kitty pink calculator makes your workplace 'kawaii'!
	Oreo Strawberry Chocolate Cookie Bar Mini Pack. Mmm, Oreo Cookie Bars. I wish I were eating them right now...
	Unko-chan ~ Lucky Presentation Pointer. A cute pen with a telescoping pointer that has, er, a cute poop on the end.
	My Melody Plastic Mug Cup. Super cute Sanrio mug cup for you.
	Kanji Sticker -- Inochi (Destiny). We've gotten in more puffy kanji stickers on the site, for all your puffy kanji sticker needs.
	*Mini*Jiji Keychain -- Kiki's Delivery Service. Super cute plush Jiji the black cat to take with you anywhere.
	Kuro Ame. Boy, this has been a popular item over the years, with over 1000 sold. I love it, too.
	Cannabis Works. Popular art book by top name illustrator Toshiyuki Tanaka, who has done a bunch of stuff for Gainax, hence we love him to death. (Note, I once hit on his wife at an anime convention.)

Our weekly (almost) trip to the mountains was pretty cool this time around.

One of the books from the Pizza La (and yes, it does take time to learn to stop saying Pizza LA, as in Pizza Los Angeles) was a great book on the Titanic.

Shots from an electronics store where I'd dashed in for something. This is the NTT Docomo Mushroom.

Softbank, aka Vodafone, is kicking butt with their phone types. This is a great series of phones based on the PANTONE color chart.

And more!

Speaking of kicking butt, they've been scoring big with some famous names.