Japan's latest "boom" is Tae Bo, all about the Three Great Unifiers of Japan, and managing by studying Japanese history

Japan is the land of the boom, and you never know what will be popular next. Right now the country is experiencing a "Tae Bo Boom" as Billy Blanks makes a visit to the country to promote his line of "tae kwon-do + boxing" workout videos. There's something about Japan that makes them go especially ga-ga when foreign celebrities visit, and Billy was getting star treatment as he made an appearance on a TBS morning "wide show" that's roughly a local version of Good Morning America. Showing off for the camera, he modified his training workout so that instead of lifting weights, he was lifting the tiny body of the female Japanese announcer who was interviewing him. The Japanese like to quantify things with numbers, and you often hear about things like the "three most beautiful views of Japan" or "the three famous tea gardens of Japan." Similarly, when you study Japanese history you come across the "three unifiers" of the country. During the Sengoku (Warring States) Period of the 16th Century, Japan was a patchwork of separate domains of feudal lords fighting against each other for power, with the ultimate goal of forcing the Emperor to name them Shogun or "supreme military general" over the whole nation. The first unifier was Nobunaga Oda, who conquered the provinces starting with the Nagoya area until a third of the country was controlled by him; he also supported the arts, and was a fan of sumo wrestling tournaments. Then came Hideyoshi Toyotomi, unique in Japanese history because he started out as a peasant, rising in Nobunaga's army to become the most powerful man in Japan, although his reign ended with just one generation. Finally there was Ieyasu Tokugawa, who founded a 15-generation dynasty of shoguns that brought 250 years of peace and unique cultural growth known as the Edo Period.

Just as you can buy books that tell you how to manage your company using the Captain Piccard "Make It So" Method or live your life by the Tao of Pooh, these three unifiers of Japanese history have inspired many ideas on business and personal philosophy over the years. Nobunaga was famous for being calculating in everything he did, and if you manage yourself using the Nobunaga Method you divorce yourself from emotion and calmly do what needs to be done in any situation. Hideyoshi was a very social person, able to "grind the sesame seeds of" (i.e., flatter) anyone, so if you live your life by the Hideyoshi Principle you maintain close relationships with those around you for everyone's mutual benefit. Hideyoshi was pragmatic, too: although he managed to climb to the top of Japan's ruling class from poverty, he established the four-class social system (samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants) that effectively kept anyone from the lower classes from following in his footsteps. Finally, if you subscribe to the Ieyasu Way, you probably balance boldness with caution, and work to build a big tent, as Ieyasu did when he allowed his former enemies to keep their fiefs after he defeated them at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600). You probably stress long-term planning for the future, too. Soon after Ieyasu was named Shogun, he abdicated to his son in order to help him lay the groundwork for the future success of the family. When he established his city in Edo (Tokyo), he supposedly did so because it lied in a "lucky" direction in relation to the capital of Kyoto according to a feng shui-like belief system popular in Japan. Some believe that Tokyo's circular Yama-no-te train line and the Chuo line that curves through it (both based on old road systems dating back several centuries) crate a yin-yang symbol, with Tokyo's administrative offices and the Imperial Castle forming the dots, to increase the fortunes of the nation.. Every year J-List is fortunate to be able to participate in some of the best anime conventions in the U.S., and we'll be at the upcoming Anime Expo (June 29-July 2), greeting our customers and showing our many fun and wacky products from Japan. This show is really the seminal annual event for fans of animation and Japanese pop culture, and this year is going to be a blast, with dozens of guests from Japan including Gackt, the Haruhi voice actresses and many more. If you'll be at the show, please come by booths 852, 854 and 856 and say hello! (And don't forget our dating-sim game panel on the first evening of the show, we'll have some great news for you there.) Remember that J-List makes dozens of magazines available through our "reserve subscription" system. Basically, we'll reserve the current issue of each month's magazine for you and have it in the mail to you by the time it's in bookstores here in Japan -- a few days earlier, actually, since we get our stock earlier than most bookstores. Popular magazines include anime (Megami Magazine, Newtype Japan), J-Fashion (S Cawaii, Kera, Fruits), cosplay (Goth-Loli Bible, COSmode), study (Nihongo Journal, Hiragana Times), J-Rock (Shoxx, Pure), and more. Most magazines can also be purchased on an annual basis, too. The magazines we sell are always filled with great color pages and lots of illustrations, so you can enjoy it even if you don't read Japanese. Why not browse our magazine subscriptions 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. We also recommend watching our "new products" RSS feed

	My Girl -- Yuma Asami. Yuma Asami is truly a gorgeous woman, and you can get to know her in this photomagazine w/ DVD.
	Super Erotic Chijo Sex -- Tsugumi Nagasawa. Tsugumi Nagasawa has been really popular at J-List. A girl who only performs on the Soft on Demand label, she combines straight black hair (the mark of a pure "goody goody" type) with a wild naughty side.
	Sugar Baby? -- Chise Nakamura. A really nice photobook just published here in Japan.
	Mikuru Asahina 1/8 Figure "Mikuru Beam" ver. *The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya* ~ Max Factory. This isn't just any figure of Mikuru from the greatest anime series of our age, the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya: it's the first "cast off" figure, meaning you can carefully disassemble her and remove her clothes (to see everything molded underneath). If that's your thing.
	Sweet Body ~ Happou Bijin Illustration. Man, this collection of Happou Bijin's illustrations is not to be believed. So beautiful I can't take my eyes off the pages.
	Living Japanese Style 2 - Nihon e toki Jiten. I have to say, these books are outstanding -- very readable, very easy to carry, and full of useful information.
	A Secret of School ~ Gakkoo ni Himitsu. A really outstanding "ero" manga from Irumakamiri and Megastore Comics.
	Tamaki Kousaka 1/6 Figure Swim Suit ver. ~ ToHeart 2 *Preorder*. Speaking of figures, this is today's preorder figure, and it's a really nice one.
	Hello Kitty Chirimen Strap with Bow -- Blue. More Hello Kitty + Kimono goodness.
	"Furinkazan" The Japanese Famous Armor Collection ~ Full Set (Set of 9). The timing on this was incredible -- I'd just finished my piece on the three unifiers of Japan when lo, the staff brings out this cool item for us to post today.
	Kokeshi ~ Shiki / Four Seasons . Gorgeous collection of four wooden dolls representing the seasons.
	NAGOMIN Body Sponge -- with Long String. Arrgh, it's the return ot too-cute sponge!
	Jigabachi AV Plastic Model ~ S.A.C 2nd Gig. Ghost in the Shell fans, take note of this cool new item.
	Chelsea Candy -- Summer Dessert Mix. Hungry for something delicious? I recommend the Chelsea Candy Summer Dessert Mix.
	Cominica Mini Select Series *01* -- Sleeping Totoro w/ Mei. Gorgeous Totoro PVC toy for dispay anywhere.
	Oppai Ball *G Cup* -- Breast Ball. Popular "wacky things from Japan," back in stock.

On the relationship of foreigners and the Japanese, the "gaijin samurai" and an unexpected crime wave in Japan

All countries have foreigners living in their midst, whether its a Swedish college student working for a season at a ski resort in Arizona or an Iranian assembling windshield washer motors at a factory in Nagoya. Japan's 1.6 million foreigners currently make up around 1.5% of the population here, which sounds like a lot until you consider that the foreign-born populations of countries like Germany and the U.S. is 9% and 11%, respectively. As you probably know from reading J-List, the Japanese word for foreigner is gaijin (GUY-jihn) which could also be translated as "outsider" since the characters literally mean "outside-person." Because the word can carry negative connotations, you'll always hear the more polite word gaikokujin or "outside-country-person" used on the NHK news and in formal situations. Japan's first encounter with Westerners came in 1543, when Portuguese sailors washed up on Tanegashima, an island near Kyushu. To the Japanese, these foreigners were Bigfoot-sized giants, disgustingly unhygienic and very hairy, and they were called Namban (Southern Barbarians) and thought to be the embodiment of Tengu, legendary long-nosed spirits who lived in the mountains and who loved to cause havoc. We do, don't we?

One of the most influential foreigners in Japanese history would have to be William Adams, an Englishman who arrived in Japan with a Dutch ship in 1600 and who was befriended by Ieyasu Tokugawa, the third of the three unifiers of Japanese history. Adams' arrival was good timing for Tokugawa, who put the 19 cannon on the ship to good use at the Battle of Sekigahara, the watershed victory that made him the Shogun (military general) of all Japan and ended Japan's Warring States Period. Adams showed the Japanese how to build the first Western-style ships, and freely shared his knowledge of astronomy and navigation. As he rose in rank in the service of the Shogun, he eventually became his personal advisor and translator. In thanks for his service, he was made the only gaijin samurai in history, given honorary swords and a fief with retainers in present-day Yokohama. If you've read your James Clavell, you know that this is the basis for the book Shogun. Japan is experiencing an unexpected crime wave, as the rising cost of metals is causing unsavory elements of society to steal anything that's not nailed down. All throughout the Kanto area there are reports of metal pipes, aluminum siding, wires and other metal objects being stolen from homes, factories and other public places, presumably for shipping for sale to hot markets like China. Even something so lowly as the steel gratings on roads are in demand, and yesterday our city was on the national news when it was reported that sixteen heavy grates had been stolen over the past few days. Additionally, there's been a rash of thefts of traditional solid copper fire bells that are hung outside at Japanese fire stations, some of which are more than 100 years old. We hope the culprits are caught soon. J-List sells a line of unique Japanese-themed T-shirts, warm hoodies and embroidered hats, with wacky and fun original designs on them. Today we've got a new T-shirt that celebrates one of my favorite things, Japanese beer, with a wacky parody logo that looks great. Let everyone know you love delicious Japanese beer with this wacky new J-List T-shirt. Neon Genesis Evangelion, the ground-breaking anime series from 1995, is popping up everywhere here in Japan. The Japanese post office has even gotten Eva fever with a rare issuing of Evangelion stamps featuring characters from the series. We've managed to get our hands on some of these stamp sets, for fans looking for something really special to add to their collection, on the site 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.

	Mini Skirt Illustrated DVD vol. 86 ~ Minisuka DVD Dec 2006. Great item for leg, stocking, and mini-skirt fans. Comes with a DVD!
	Gay Erotic Art in Japan vol. 2 ~ Transitions of Gay Fantasy in the Times. This is quite a book, for fans interested in exploring Japan's traditional gay erotic art.
	Hitomi no Lesson 123 -- Hitomi Ito. Super cute gymnastics idol in her new photobook.
	Zenra Lady's Chiropractic Clinic. Great new Zenra title from SOD. We just love this concept.
	The Sportful Exercise. There's a big base of fandom for cosplay, and here's a collection of four gorgeous girls in sports-related outfits, including leotards.
	Neon Genesis Evangelion Stamp Set *Rare Limited Edition . Evangelion stamps, available now only.
	Japanese T-shirt - Japanese Beer (Men's standard). I love Japanese beer, and now we've got a T-shirt that lets the whole world know this!
	NEON GENESIS EVANGELION CHARACTERS TYPE-F -- Full Set *Set of 5*. Cool new Eva figures, now in stock.
	Momoko Doll ~ Love, Yukata Summer. Another Momoko Doll, a large-scale doll featuring a beautiful kimono figure.
	Seeing Kyoto. Excellent Japanese photobook of Kyoto that's also filled with English explanations of Japan's most amazing city.
	Comic AG Super Erotic Manga Anthology vol. 51. New issue of Comic AG, now featuring one of my favorite manga, the Spirit of Capitalism (!).
	Pocky Decore -- Chocolate. New Pocky flavor, yum! This is the very thick, rich Decorer Pocky.
	Puchi Blythe -- Shy Bear ~ Tip Toe. Blythe is back on J-List with a cool new doll that's so stylish.
	Cinnamoroll with Magnet ~ White. Cinnamoroll is cute Sanrio character that's part rabbit, part cinnamon roll (?).
	Takoyaki Maker Set. Score! We've gotten in the cool takoyaki makers back for you again, by massive customer request.
	Hello Kitty Emblem - Chrome Plastic. Now you can turn your car into a Hello Kitty Limited Edition, just like they have in Japan.
	My Neighbor Totoro Deluxe Cuckoo Clock. Back in stock -- one of my all-time favorite J-List products ever.
	Hello Kitty DX Ice Tray. Also back on the site, the best-selling Hello Kitty Ice Cube Trays
	Neko Bus *Knitting* Doll -- Totoro. We've restocked those cool hand-knit style Totoro plush toys, too.

A Yakuza gang war in Tokyo, my trip to the concrete jungle of Tokyo, and how the wisdom of China is at work in Japan today

Japan has a reputation for being a peaceful place with very little in the way of violence, giant monsters emerging from the sea and smashing Tokyo notwithstanding. This happy image was somewhat shaken this week when a minor gang war broke out in Tokyo, with several shots fired back and forth and one gang boss killed. Japan's Yakuza have been around for centuries, and usually go about their business in a very orderly fashion, with the major groups -- Yamaguchi-gumi in Osaka and the smaller Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai in Tokyo -- respecting each others territory. This harmony was broken when some members of the 3rd-ranked Inagawa Group of Tokyo allowed the traditional protection money collected from restaurants and bars in Roppongi to go to the Yamaguchi group, which amounted to the Osaka mafia muscling in on territory that wasn't traditionally theirs. Some arrests have been made so hopefully we've seen the last bit of fighting. The Yakuza like to pretend they're modern day Robin Hood anti-heroes, but their various criminal enterprises, including ultra-high interest loans and protection scams, cause great harm to people. The term Yakuza is a phonetic play on the numbers 8, 9 and 3, which add up to 20, representing the worst possible hand you can get in a traditional card game played since the Edo Period.

Yesterday I went to Tokyo on business, just a 45-minute Shinkansen ride away. Whenever I visit Japan's capital I experience a brief period of localized culture shock as I adjust to having that much concrete and steel around me, and having my own personal space cut down to a fraction of what it is in our home prefecture of Gunma. My eyes always go a little wide when I see the, er, extremely beautiful and fashionable women riding trains or crossing the famous "scramble intersection" in Shibuya, so different from the more down-to-earth females back home that it seems to my eyes like the difference between regular television and HD-TV. Even the men are image-conscious in Tokyo, reading magazines like Smart or Myojo and no doubt being subtly influenced by the endless stream of boytoy "talents" from Johnny's Entertainment, Japan's most successful talent management company. Passing through Shinjuku, I spied one extremely fashionable youth who was busy playing with a pink Nintendo DS, and it occurred to me that in Japan today men and women are in open competition to see which set can be more fashionable and stylish -- an odd phenomenon that probably wouldn't happen in the U.S., unless I've really been away too long. In a very real sense, the culture of Japan flows from China, just as everything in the West from laws and courts to roads originally came from ancient Rome and Greece. China is so much a part of Japan's history that you couldn't express ideas without thinking in kanji, the pictographs that Japan imported along with Buddhism in the 6th century A.D. (this is in contrast to the two Koreas, who have largely decoupled their language from kanji in favor of the "purity" of the home-grown hangul writing system). Just as elements of classical languages survive in our speech ad infinitum, the Chinese language pops up in Japanese from time to time, for example in the poetic phrase shimen-soka (she-men-SOH-kah), which means "being surrounded by enemies on all sides and totally betrayed." The wisdom of China also survives in the form of proverbs that the Japanese have imported, such as the old standby ningen banji saiou-ga-uma, which means "All human affairs are like Saiou's horse." This refers to an old Chinese story about a man named Saiou whose horse ran away, making everyone say how unfortunate he was. "How do you know this is a bad thing?" he asked. His horse came back, bringing another horse this time, and when people congratulated him on his good luck, he asked, "How do you know this is a good thing?" He then or bad happens, no one can say for sure if it is truly a good or bad thing in the end. It's kind of like marrying an 80-year-old billionaire -- in the end, who can say if it will be a good thing or not? Today is February 9th, which according to the usually-incomprehensible- to-gaijin Japanese numbering system is "Meat Day" (Niku no Hi, 肉の日), since 2/9 can be read ni ku meaning meat in Japanese (refer to Yakuza, above). Today is also my wife's birthday, so we're off to enjoy Korean Barbecue, a popular delicacy in Japan. Have a nice weekend! Remember that J-List provides a great service for our customers: a custom calligraphy message on a Japanese shikishi writing board, which lets you get anything written in Japanese, from your favorite slogan to a message of love to a cool kanji for use as a tattoo or you name rendered in kanji or katakana. The message boards are very nice, featuring high quality thick paper, and are suitable for framing or just displaying in any room. 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.

	Gokuh Sep 2006 vol. 182 - Final Issue! The last issue of Gokuh -- I am really sad, actually, as I've been reading this magazine off and on for many years. Hrrm, for J-List related purposes only, of course. The articles, you know.
	ai -- Ai Takahashi. The lovely Ai Takahashi of Morning Musume, in her bold and cool photobook.
	Azuing -- Azusa Yamamoto. Really cute Japanese idol and actress. If you happened to catch the '24' Calorie Mate commercials, she was the one driving the van ("I have to get to Shinjuku!").
	Pole Dance Sex -- Mina Fukuhara. Mina Fukuhara is really an amazing thing to behold in ths new DVD release.
	Love Exercise -- Rola Sato (Laura Sato). Rola Sato's latest release. She's popular because she looks a lot like Aya Ueto.
	Getting Wet ~ Adventures in the Japanese Bath. Ha! A cool book that tells you every about the onsens that I love so much.
	Rei Ayanami PVC Figure -- Evangelion. Dynamite new Rei Ayanami igure. Love it.
	Tenori Mamegoma -- Panda Goma . I've never thought of how cute a cross between a baby seal and a panda might be. Now I know!
	BLEACH Characters Figure 4th Edition -- Full Set *Set of 5*. Cool new Bleach character toy line, with full sets in stock.
	Figure Tsushin vol. 1 ~ with DVD A new figure magazine has been launched, with loads of pctures and a DVD to enjoy.
	Techno Line Ball EX Ball Pointed Pen -- Light Green. Enjoy some stylish Japanese pen action from Zebra.
	Akihabara Electric Appliance Store -- Full Set *Set of 5*. Wow, cool new series from Re-Ment. I mean, any toy line that gives you a miniature flat screen TV and takoyaki maker is cool.
	Kanji Quiz Toilet Paper. Quiz your Japanese skills while you poop. Back in stock!
	Venus Pillow -- Oppai Breast Pillow. Hehe, I love the thought that somewhere, J-List customers are using this wacky item to bring some calm into their lives.

Some random images. I have in my home a brand new Magic Window from 1973, which set me back a bit on eBay. Just thought I'd show it to you.

Made and printed in the U.S.A. Pretty spiffy.

Not a great picture of my setup at home (which will be upgraded to a Mac Pro if Apple would *deign* to get a new machine out for us). I've never seen these Japanese notebook computer racks that hold your laptop upright for cooling purposes. They're quite nice to use.

That's?

Kicking back at the family restaurant we go to a lot for lunch, called Joyful, a name which somehow makes me happy. This is the steak part of the menu.

Of course, at a cheap place like this a "steak" is always a "hamburg steak."

Of course, the highlight of the manu is, Yuko Ogura appearing in it. Don't ask me, I don't know what she has to do with Hamburg Steak.

The reality of "learning Japanese," Japan's special relationship with garbage, and the history of the Japanese Postal Mark

One thing I've heard from foreigners who have recently come to Japan -- and which I've probably uttered myself a long time ago -- is the phrase "And then, when I've learned Japanese..." This is amusing to me since you never actually "learn" any language in the sense of suddenly becoming completely competent in all aspects of its use. A foreigner living in Japan naturally stakes out the important areas of his life or work and attains working fluency in those areas, usually not bothering with aspects of the language that will probably never touch him. After four years of study in college and a decade and a half of living in Japan I'm able to function in a wide variety of situations here, including business settings, dealing with family and friends, ordering a pizza and giving directions to my house, attending funerals and weddings and so on...but if I were suddenly thrust into the world of a banker, a politician or a daiku carpenter who builds houses using traditional Japanese techniques, I'd be completely lost. Similarly, my wife is perfectly functional in English in most cases, yet when its time for the CSI broadcast on NHK, I know she'll flip the TV into Japanese mode since the show lies outside of her established linguistic boundaries. As your life meanders on and the way you use language changes, naturally your language skills will change too. When I became a father, I realized that I didn't have a clue how to speak Japanese "baby talk," so I started that aspect of my language education. In the process of running a Japanese company I've had to learn how to read contracts in Japanese to make sure I didn't accidentally sign away my house or something, and now I'm quite comfortable with most Japanese legalese.

Every morning my car greets me and gives me my daily "What day is today?" trivia point, informing me that today is Ice Cream Day (May 9), Natto Day (July 10), Haiku Day (August 19) and UFO Day (June 24), and so on, and every time I get in my car I never know what wacky and esoteric new information I'll be presented with. Tomorrow is "Japanese Postal Mark Day," celebrating the establishment of the unique symbol used to indicate a place where you can find postal services here, which looks like the marriage of a capital T with an equals sign, or like the katakana symbol for te (テ）. The Japanese post office was established in 1871, just four years into the reign of the new Emperor Meiji that proved to be a watershed moment in the modernization of the country. In 1887, as part of a national revitalization effort, the Postal Service announced that the English letter "T" would be the new symbol of the Post Office of Japan. Ten days later, the ministry sheepishly admitted that they had mis-read their own symbol, and the actual symbol of Japan's postal organization was the one that's in use today. The "postal mark" symbol is officially registered with the International Standards Organization and is included in all Japanese fonts on personal computers. One of the first words a foreigner who comes to live in Japan learns is gomi, the most common term for garbage in Japanese. The reason is that Japan -- a nation that ranks 63rd in the world in terms of land area yet 10th in terms of population -- must understandably take some special measures to make sure its trash situation doesn't get out of hand. As newly arrived gaijin must learn, trash can be disposed of on designated days, and must be separated into various categories (burnables on Tuesday and Friday, non-burnables on Wednesday, organic trash every other week) and disposed of in approved bags you can buy in stores in that city. Although the words "environmentally conscious" don't spring to mind when you think of Japan, with its custom of covering the sides of mountains in concrete on the off chance there might be a rock slide someday, the country has been recycling for decades as one way of reducing the amount of trash generated by society. When you buy shampoo or bathroom cleaner, you're presented with a choice: a regular plastic container, or a cheaper refill-only package that lets you refill the bottle you've already got at home and cut down on what you throw away. There are many laws on the books requiring that you take special steps to safely dispose of old cars, computers and televisions, and it's common for home electronics stores to take away your old stuff for free when you buy something new, to save customers from the hassle of paying a recycling company money to take care of their old junk. In addition to an extensive line of cool Japanese T-shirts and super-warm hooded sweatshirts, all printed with loving care by our staff in San Diego using the best printing methods for years of use, we also sell embroidered hats featuring cool and wacky kanji logos and anime designs for you to wear on your head. Many of our most popular T-shirt designs, from our "Cheshire Totoro" to our "Otaku" parody of the Oakley brand to our world-famous "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend," are available on high quality Vintage Chino Twill Caps made by Alternative Apparel, featuring soft "bio-washed" fabric, an adjustable brass buckle for "set and forget" size adjustment, and handy holes in the top to keep your head cool. Today we've got a new addition in our hat lineup: the three cute cats from the Mona Neko, three cute ASCII characters from Japan's famous 2ch BBS who love to drink, dance and always have fun. Check out the new hat 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." To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

	Urecco Gal DVD Oct 2006 . Urecco Gal has really changed, there's no denying it. Gone are the ultra-stylish girls showing their bubblegum nudes. This new Urecco Gal comes with a massive 4 hour DVD in place of it.
	Love Pola -- Misaki. Beautiful photobook featuring Misaki, shot as a series of bold polaroids in a love hotel.
	HISUI -- Mayumi Ono. Cute-as-a-button Mayumi Ono is looking great in her newest photobook.
	Sexual Esthetic Full Course -- Kaho Kasumi. Why do I love the elegance of the Japan side of "ero" over, say, much of what I see in the U.S.? The elegance of this woman is part of the answer.
	A Graceful Degenerate of Lesbian -- Noa. Enjoy the very beautiful Noa as she shows you how to perform with other women.
	Japanese Hat - Beware of Perverts. New embroidered hat for you, featuring the popular 2ch characters Mona Neko, who sing the Numanuma song.
	Fighting Heroine Insult Princess 22 ~ Touki Ryoujyoku vol. 22. A brand new Fighting Heroine Insult Princess, in which real characters from anime and video games right the good fight against tentacle monsters.
	Oishiku Meshiagare (Delicious Seduction). An aptly named manga about delicious seduction in a variety of short stories.
	Replication Space ~ Fukusei Kukan. Why is this cool? I can't put my finger on it, but they recreated a part of old Japan back in the Showa Era with perfect faithfulness. Looking at these pictures is calming, somehow.
	Bata Bata Mamegoma. Awww, this is the cutest Mamegoma plush I've ever seen. Not only is he (she?) soft as all get-out, but he (she?) flaps his (her?) tail when you press the right place.
	HIragana Learning Tape A *Three Refills. This is, um, celophane tape that helps you learn Japanese, starting with hiragana. Wow!
	Miniture Geta for Display. Cute little Geta to display in your home, or wear if you have extremely small feet.
	Sanko Soy Sauce Rice Cracker . Mmm, my favorite type of senbei, bar none...
	Soyjoy -- Mango/ Coconuts Flavor *Energy Bar. A cool new healthy energy bar that's got tons of soy inside.
	Tomica 114 -- JSDF Light Armoured Vehicle. Cool! Japanese miltary vehicles in the Tomica series.
	Saber *Kisekae* Figure -- Fate/Stay Night. Wow, a figure of Saber that you can dress up in different outfits.
	Kanji Sticker -- Moe "Cute". We got some cool kanji stickers in, with beautiful designs and fun meanings.
	Best of YesJapan Volume 1. It's back! Our good friends over at YesJapan have the most entertaining and useful 4 hours you can imagine. Go on a date with Keiko, and learn to be annoying in Japanese!
	Nintendo DS Can Pen Case. Nintendo DS fans, here is the ultimate pencil case.

Since I'm talking about shampoo, here you go, some pictures of shampoo. Yes, I did get some rather odd looks taking these, thanks.

I've often thought this would be a good name for shampoo... This is one of the refill only packages, of course.

Another one. This one is Nuance Airy, whatever that is.

Wash your hair with black, sooty charcoal, yes!

From across the room, Tommy Lee Jones was silently watching me with eyes that were somehow sad.