Japan as the land of the middle class, thoghts on Japan and Krispy Kreme, and fun Japanese things you can put on your car

Japan is nothing if not the land of contradictions. On the one hand, society has been organized in a vertical structure that puts barriers of politeness in place, resulting in top-down relationships that shuffle more respect to higher-level individuals (senpai, sensei, etc.) while requiring them to play their part by providing guidance and leadership to those younger than them, picking up the tab at restaurants, and so on. On the other hand, the Japanese have managed to achieve what Marx and Lenin could not, creating a society where 90% or more of the people consider themselves to be part of the same equal social group, in this case Japan's sprawling middle class. It's not exactly clear to my gaijin mind why someone driving a BMW 750i would go out of their way to consider themselves in the same group as those of us of lesser means, but for the most part Japanese of all income levels seem to strongly identify with the middle class. While everyone feeling like they're all part of one big happy in-group is certainly a good thing overall, there are some downsides, too. For example, one of the reasons there are so many "personal finance" (loan shark) companies like ACOM, Promise and Lake, which loan money at 20-30% to people who should know better, is that their customers seem to have a desire to "keep up with the Yamadas" and buy things they don't need to reassure themselves that they're not falling outside the main economic group. The cover of the current Japanese Newsweek has a feature article dealing with this strange phenomenon, entitled "it's okay to live a class-differentiated society, Japan!"

One observation I've made before about Japan is that it generally seems to follow a decade or so behind the U.S., with many aspects of society appearing in Japan about ten years after making their debut in the States. Everything from the revolution in e-commerce to laws curbing smoking in public places seems to get started in the U.S. then make its way over to Japan after a several-year delay. Quite a few businesses that are successful in Japan merely watched for new trends to emerge in the U.S. -- like home pizza delivery or NetFlix -- and brought the ideas to market locally before the original company could set up shop here. Perhaps the next trend in ideas being imported from the U.S. will be food-related. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Tokyo and happened to pass the new Krispy Kreme doughnut shop that I'd heard had been built in Shinjuku's south side. I didn't think it would be that popular, though, and I was bowled over by the massive press of people waiting two hours or more for their turn to buy. The sight of slender, stylish Tokyoites carrying three dozen doughnuts back the office was also new to me. The Japanese have some interesting customs when it comes to driving. When waiting at an intersection, it's considered polite to turn your headlights down (put them in "park" mode) so that you don't blind the person in front of you. When someone lets you in front of them, you flash your emergency lights at them twice to say "thank you." And around our city, young men with nothing to do at night will drive around the train station looking for girls in cars, and when they see them they flash their high beams in a gesture that seems to mean "let's go get some coffee together" (an act which is called nampa, apologies to people in Nampa, Idaho). Another interesting car-related thing they do in Japan is the "Beginner's Mark," a green-and-yellow sign that newly licensed drivers must put on their cars for the first year that lets other cars know that the driver may not have as much experience as a full-fledged driver, and presumably give them a wider berth on the road. Similar to this is a Senior Citizen's Mark, an orange-and-yellow sign that older drivers can put on their car (with either magnetic or suction-cup attachment), a way to let other drivers know they should give you the respect you deserve and get out of your way. I like to imagine the confusion in the minds of Japanese people when they wonder why these only-found-in-Japan signs are being displayed on cars in the U.S. -- which is why we sell both on the site, of course. J-list carries virtually every PC dating-sim game available in English, and we're always happy to see customers discover the interesting and dramatic world of Japan's "H" gaming culture. We also license and publish "doujin" CG collections, which are created by artists for sale at the legendary Comic Market doujinshi convention held twice a year at Tokyo Big Sight. We're happy to report that two of our popular collections are now available as Internet Download Editions, so fans who missed out on these great collections can get them again. First there's Dream World II, a breathtakingly beautiful collection of several separate releases by Japanese artist Kobayashi Yuji that parodies the characters of Evangelion and more. Then enjoy all three of our previous Creamy Angel CD-ROM releases available as an Internet Download, a staggering gigabyte of top "H" artwork by Japanese illustrator Mashitaka, including his speciality of Ah! My Goddess futanari (um, wow). Remember that the summer anime conventions are not that far off, and what better way to wow 'em at the shows this year than wearing your very own authentic Japanese high school uniform. J-List has an exclusive arrangement with the famous Matsukameya of Nagoya, a company that brings real high school uniforms to fans all around the world. Here's how to order: check the site for the type of uniform you'd like (we've got several styles of uniforms for girls, and a standard gakuran school uniform for guys, too), and find which size is closest to your body measurements on the chart. Then submit your order, and we'll get your new high school uniform off to you as soon as its delivered to us by the company. 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.

	Mecha Ii -- Yuna Takizawa. One problem with writing Japanese in romaji (the Roman alphabet) is that you get pronounciation errors, like "mecha" (prounounced 'meh-CHA' meaning 'fuckin') which looks like "mecha" (the stuff from Gundam and Macross). Oh well.
	Hip Complex Part 2. A nice photobook by Shinkosha, the people who really know their "hips" (which is what they call the "ass" in Japanese).
	Double Happy ~ Dabu Hapi -- Aki Hoshino. Double Happy! Aki Hoshino has become a world-class star, and she's appearing everywhere in Japan today. Unlike many former gravure (bikini) idols however, she still likes to show off what she's got, which makes us happy.
	Female Announcer Nakadashi 20 Times -- Arisa Kanno. Another woman who makes me think, what the hell is she doing in this line of work? Grat for fans of "nakadashi."
	Swimsuit 4 Hour Special. The Japanese are very much in touch with their fetishes, and here's one for fans of girls in performance swimsuits.
	Getsumen Touheiki Miina -- Full Set *Set of 5*. Got the killer Gashapon toys of the anime that appeared in Densha Otoko -- an anime appearing inside a drama, cool!
	Replicant vol. 27 Winter 2007. Killer new anime figure magazine, filled with pictures of great figures -- I especially loved the Haruhi Suzumiya stuff in this issue, wow!
	Nobu: The Cookbook. This looks like a great item -- an English cookbook featuring the famous recipes of Nobu, a Japanese chef from New York with many famous friends.
	Momoko Doll ~ Dash! After School. A high school girl doll that's very doll and beautifull put together.
	Senior Citizen Mark (Magnetic Type). Increase visitibility and confuse Japanese drivers with this rare item.
	Japanese Soup Bowl -- Tortoiseshell ~ Brown. Enjoy delicious miso soup with this handy soup bowl set.
	Cinnamoroll Hand Puppet. Kawaii! A cute little Cinnamoroll hand puppet plush toy!
	Re-ment Fresh Kaiten Sushi *Petit Sample*. Wow! New Re-Ment set -- miniature sushi! This stuff looks so good I wanted to eat sushi all day.
	Kuromi Memo Pad -- Gothic My Melody. Sanrio's most gothic character, in a cute notepad for you.
	Gothic My Melody "Kuromi" Pen Case. Also, a Kuromi pen case, which you can put just about anything in.
	Kirarin Revolution B5 Note Book *A. More Kirarin Revolution products, with artwork so kawaii it could only be descrbed as "desperately cute."
	Dream World II: Plagiarism ~ Original CG gallery for adult only. Nice to have Dream World as an Internet Download. Gorgeous collection of (barely) erotic Evangelion artwork by Japanese artists.
	Japanese Swimsuit. In addition to the high school uniforms we sell from Japan, you can get those killer swimsuits too.
	Creamy Angel Collection vol. 1-3. We're also posting the Creamy Angel series, long out of print, for you. The guy is rather good at, er, Ah! My Goddess futanari art.
	Driving Beginner's Mark. Show everyone you're into Japan with this cool Beginner's Mark, a magnetic sticker you stick to your car's metal surface. Not only will you surprise any Japanese who see you, you'll increase how car's visibility.

Lots and lots of people in line...

Wow, even more people. The line goes all the way down to Tokyu Hands.

Is this the beginning of the end of all those slender Japanese girls that I like so much? [_][_];;

There's so much strange English around me I don't even notice it. But for some reason I felt I had to capture "Gutsy Repair" for all of you.

You may remember that I collect photographs of the little metal "life advice" signs that the local PTA put up about 20 years ago. I found a new one that's great for my daughter: 忠告も君を思う親心, chuukoku mo kimi o omou oya-gokoro, possibly translatable as "Giving advice and warnings to one's children is part of showing our love for them as parents, even if they think we're just yelling at them."

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.