Strange Things You Might Hear in Japan

November 18, 2013, 1:37 am

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There are some things you say when you live in Japan that you'd certainly never utter back home. For example, when you give someone a gift it's common to be self-effacing and say つまらない物ですが tsumaranai mono desu ga ("please accept this boring gift") as you hand it to them, something you'd never do in English. (If it's food you might say, "I'm not sure if you'll find this delicious or not, but please eat it anyway.") Asking a person's blood type then having a deep conversation the implications raised by them being a certain blood type is odd, as is hearing someone ask "Where is your domicile?" instead of "Where do you live?" since Japanese people sometimes think the most complex and difficult English word is the "best." When a member of the J-List staff goes home for the day, I'll usually tell them 気をつけて ki o tsukete, which means "please be careful [driving home]," but this farewell greeting might sound a bit strange if said in English. Then there's, "At what age did you stop bathing with your parents?" In Japan, parents will generally take baths with their kids up to a certain age, usually fourth grade a few years later. It's a wholesome time for parent-child communication which the Japanese call "skinship," and something I liked a lot back when my kids were small enough to do it. A common joke in anime is a character who's embarrassed when his friends find out that he was taking baths with his mother well into junior high school.

"Please accept this boring gift, you imouto-loving pervert."

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Fuku-bukuro Return to J-List!!

November 20, 2013, 6:17 am

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Announcing the start of Fuku-bukuro Season! Every year J-List prepares Japanese "grab bags" filled with great products for you to discover, from random Japanese figures and plush toys to bento boxes and related products to some very ecchi items. This year we've got a great lineup, including Anime & Toy, Bento & Traditional, Doki Doki Random and the always popular 18+ Grab Bags. Each grab bag contains a value of up to 2x its price, so why not grab some grab bags now and enjoy cool random stuff from Japan?

A Great All-Ages Visual Novel!

November 20, 2013, 6:18 am

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We love visual novels in all their forms, and one game we like a lot is If My Heart Had Wings (Japanese title この空に翼を広げて Kono Sora ni Tsubasa o Hirogete), a great story about youth and love and dreams. The game is available in convenient download or shrinkwrapped package editions.

The Return of Sailor Moon

November 20, 2013, 6:19 am

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One of the more welcome developments in the anime world has been the return of Sailor Moon merchandise after an absence of more than a decade. Despite its huge impact on the world of anime, calling millions of new fans into the genre and introducing more than a few to the concept of "cousins with benefits," the franchise was allowed to die completely in Japan as Toei moved on to other shows like Ojamajo Doremi and Pretty Cure. Like fans of the original Star Trek series, which was snatched away unkindly in 1969, Sailor Moon's fans both in Japan and around the world kept the faith, expressing their love of the characters with fanart and, ahem, doujinshi. I might have helped the cause of Sailor Moon in some small way, when I visited an industry convention two years ago and happened to see a young employee from Toei. I buttonholed him, and explained about how there's a worldwide generation of fans in their 20s who want to have cool Sailor Moon products to buy and new Sailor Moon to watch on TV. Many of these fans have becomes mothers by now, I explained, and they want to share their love of Sailor Moon with their daughters, making costumes and memories together. (Nothing warms me more than the thought of mothers and daughters become closer thanks to Sailor Moon.) J-List's buyer for bento products and traditional Japanese products is Mai-chan, and she's in charge of stocking Sailor Moon products, too. It's a real joy for her because she grew up loving the show, and never dreamed there could be thousands of fans all over the world who feel the way she does.

We're very happy to see the return of Sailor Moon products!

Onsen Culture in Japan

November 20, 2013, 6:20 am

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Like many people in Japan, I am a 風呂人 furo-bito, or a person who likes taking baths in natural hot springs (onsen in Japanese, pronounced own-sen), and wherever I drive I've got a bath kit with towel, razor and toothbrush in the car with me. Just as saunas are important to people in Nordic countries in Europe, volcanic hot springs are almost a national treasure in Japan, and many existing onsen towns have a history that goes back 1000 years or more. Most hot spring baths have a official-looking sign posted somewhere describing the chemical make-up of the water and affirming that it is a true volcanic hot spring, since some establishments have gotten in trouble buy promoting boiler-heated baths as natural. It's also common to see signs boasting of all the ailments that will be cured by a sitting in a given bath, including rheumatism, chills, muscle or joint pain, skin problems, cramped shoulders, sleeping disorders, and even anemia. One famous image associated with Japan's culture of bathing is the "onsen mark," the official icon used to denote the presence of a public bath on maps.

I'm a big fan of Japan's bathing culture.

Japanese Girls Who Refer to Themselves in the Third Person

November 20, 2013, 6:21 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Friday, November 22, 2013

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One of the cuter -- or possibly creepier -- things that Japanese girls do is refer to themselves in the third person, done by Fuko from Clannad After Story, Katyusha from Girls und Panzer and Misaka's clone sisters from A Certain Scientific Railgun. Usually, Japanese girls will use their own names in place of a first-person pronoun at a young age, then when they start school and begin interacting with other girls will switch to atashi, a feminine version of watashi, the most common word for "I" in Japanese. (Some will opt for the slightly masculine-sounding boku, and the Japanese word for "tomboy" is bokukko or "girl who uses boku to refer to herself.") My daughter is almost 17 and still refers to herself by her own name. When I asked her about this, she told me, "Well, I can't go around calling myself atashi [I]. It would sound too grown-up, and it wouldn't go with my personality at all." It's really amazing how the Japanese have been able to make a simple concept like "I" so incredibly complex.

Whatever you do, don't get this song stuck in your head for 10,000 hours.

Cool Products Friday, November 22, 2013

November 22, 2013, 2:48 am

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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

Comptiq Dec 2013 It's time for a new issue of Comptiq, a wonderful magazine full of great art and latest info of your favorite anime and games. This issue features awesome content for fans of Lucky Star, Type-Moon, Nanoha, Vocaloid, Kantai Collection (KanColle) and more! As omake (free stuff), you get a Kantai Collection Big Poster and 3 cellphone straps. Supplies limited, so act now! view this product »

	Cutie Dec 2013 For the cutest fashions in Tokyo today, there's no better resource than Cutie. Each issue is packed with photos of only the trendiest Tokyo girls.		Hiragana Times Dec 2013 Hiragana Times is a highly recommended monthly publication that combines useful current events with learning the Japanese language.
	Nyanko Daisensou Nyanko Seitai Report One of the most popular smart phone / iPhone games in Japan is now adapted in manga form! Enjoy this funny 4koma manga about cats.		Nice Restocking of Manga We've also got a huge restocking of popular manga titles, like Maken-Ki!, Queen's Blade Rebellion and some joso works.
	How to Draw Manga Moe Girls We got a new How to Draw Manga and this time you will learn how to draw yuri couples + sexy poses. Click to see now.		Japanese Notebooks, Study Products Restocked Japan's stationery is the most awesome in the world, and we've restocked some fun notebooks for you, including great Japanese study aids.
	Awesome 2014 Calendars In Stock J-List is brimming with great 2014 calendars, from Free! to Attack on Titan to Totoro and Tony Taka. Why not grab some calendars during our sale?		Gorgeous Figures In Stock Today See the gorgeous Nitroplus character Super Sonico along with Tari Tari, Kurumu from Rosario + Vampire and many "cast off" figures.
	Sailor Moon Make Up A great item for Sailor Moon fans: official eyeliner (pencil and liquid type). Now you can literally "Moon Princess Power...make up!"		Bring the Aroma of Sakura Into your Home These new products from Niji-Iro are made in Kyoto, infusing the aroma of sakura petals into oil and incense that you can enjoy at home.
	'Lucky Bag' Season has Started Our customers enjoy getting random items form Japan through our Fuku-bukuro or Lucky Bag system. Browse this year's grab bag offerings!		Great Discounted Items, Too In addition to our big pre-Christmas sale, we've got some awesome hand-picked items we're reducing, including My Little Pony, anime Blu-ray + lots more.
	Animal Foot Warmers Keep your feet nice and cozy with these awesome animal foot warmers. They're very cute and eco-friendly. Choose from three kawaii animals.		Fun 'Otokonoko' Products If you're a fan of Hideyoshi and Yukimura, we've restocked our popular otokonoko sized cosplay products for "crossplay" fans.
	Huge Update of New Japan Snacks Enjoy today's big update of Japanese snacks, including Chocolate Covered Strawberries from Hokkaido, Green Tea Chocolate and Pumpkin Puffs.		Wonderful Kyoto Green Tea Snacks, More In addition to Kyoto Matcha Green Tea Pudding, we posted Green Tea Picola snacks, awesome Lemon Gochi Gummy + yogurt caramels!
	Japanese Kit Kat Makes Great Gifts We restocked the awesome rare Japanese Kit Kat flavors made by Nestle Japan, including Shizuoka Wasabi, Yokohama Cheesecake and Strawberry!		Tons of Restocked Pocky Today Finally, a super update of our favorite snack incl. Melon Soda Wata Pachi (cotton candy w/pop rocks), Pocky + Konpeito Bento!
	Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked, Too bento products are always popular around Christmas, and we've restocked some really nice traditional + anime themed bento boxes.		More Bento + Kitchen Products Restocked Also see fun Boiled Egg Shapers, a grater for grating fresh wasabi, plus a great Taiyaki cooking pan and more.
	Kawaii Pikachu Cake Molds When life gives you lemons, make Pikachu-shaped cakes, using the cute silicon molds we restocked in time for Christmas.		Awesome Anime Chopsticks Today's Pokemon and Totoro chopsticks are sure to be super effective at making someone in your family happy...maybe yourself.
	Miso Soup Bowls, Other Kitchen Items We have a wide variety of miso soups and bowls just waiting for you to try! A nice restocking of items today.		Restocked Bilingual Cookbooks, Bento Books The popular "bilingual" Japanese Cooking book is restocked -- 100 recipes for great Japanese foods, and more.
	MOCHITSUKI Nyanko If you're looking for a friendly reminder of the winter season, here's a cute display item to bring you smiles in the form of this decorative Mochitsuki Nyanko.		Fun Traditional Japanese Products We've restocked our traditional Japanese products like the Kitsune Mask, Mini Jizo Display, Samurai Sword Display, various Daruma's, Lucky Cat, and more.
	Sorceress 1/8 Figure ~ Dragon Nest Fans of the hit MMORPG, Dragon Nest, will want to preorder this excellent figure of the Sorceress class in her classic sexy outfit. So hot!		Sasara 1/8 Figure ~ Fantasista Doll Take a look at this gorgeous figure of Uzume Uno's first doll, Sasara, from the popular anime Fantasista dolls. We love her cute design and awesome pose.
	Other Preorder Products The cute event helper from Dragon Nest, Irine, gets a Nendoroid figure. See also the reissue of the popular Batmobile figure. Preorder now!		Awesome Galilei Donna Products We have a huge update of preorder items from the new anime Galilei Donna about 3 sisters who are descendants of Galileo Galilei. Click to see them all.
	Kantai Collection Kanmusu Honor Rubber Straps Check out these cool medal-like rubber straps featuring your favorite moe battleship girls. Choose from individual or box set.		New Attack on Titan Products for Preorder Finally, we have awesome Attack on Titan products ready for preorder like these really cool bath towels or the funky Colossal Titan door stopper!

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

New San Diego 'Hentai' Fuku-bukuro Lucky Bags J-List's Fuku-bukuro grab bags are off to a great start, with our anime + toy, bento + culture, Doki Doki Random and ecchi grab bags selling briskly. Now we've got great news, that we've added three new San Diego-based "H" grab bags, so you can get your hentai game and manga fix. view this product »

	Hontoni Itayo! Konnani Yasashii Onesan vol. 112 Aug 2013 Sponsored by Prestige, get your hands on this stunning magazine, featuring a 157 min DVD (wide screen) for you to enjoy the maximum of the latest releases.		Smoking Hot Photobooks Posted We've got some great photobooks on the site today, including Underwater Knee High Girls and Super Pose Book for (ecchi) artists.
	Pure Mates ~ Bishoujo Mahou Senshi We found an excellent ero manga packed full of nonstop tentacle action, amazing detailed artwork, and sexy magical girls.		National Married Woman Academy Taro Yamashita is a young teacher who finally lands a job at the prestigious National Married Academy; a school that trains hot wives of rich & powerful men.
	Restocked Ero Manga A nice update of H-manga, including Naisho Banashi, Inuke! Harem Gakuen, Kiss x Sis, Wife Swapping Game & more.		Seishojyo Visual Complete Book From the fantastic adult game by Frill, Seishojyo, comes this outstanding artbook packed with amazing artwork from the creator of Bible Black.
	Artbooks Restocked See great artbooks restocked, too, including Shirow Masamune, Tinkle Illustrations plus ecchi works you will love.		Super Awesome 'Cast Off' Figures See several red-hot anime figures with "cast off" features, meaning clothing that be, ah, "reconfigured." Nosebleed warnings apply.
	Restocked Parody Onaholes From the Attack on Oppai parody to Misaki from A Certain Scientific Railgun and something for KanColle fans, we've got great stuff to browse during our sale.		A Certain Male Massager Restocked Here an awesome and rare item to add to your ecchi accessories lineup, the Dengeki Dual Vibrator, for men! Finally back in stock!
	The Best Stress Toys Ever See several popular toys restocked including Puru Puru Oshiri Finale and oppai toys that let you play in interesting new ways.		Girls Fragrance ~ Girls Secret The ultimate addition to your collection of Japanese dolls, this is the scent of girls, the perfume and natural smell of her body captured in liquid form.
	New Milky Adventure Here's a great vibrator for our female customers that's great for beginners, with an excellent shape and power to relieve stress.		ViaRing (Vitality Ring), Personal Lotion from Japan This popular tool to help men last longer is back in stock, a great took to help guys who need a little extra sometimes. A popular item with our customers!
	Stock Up on English Eroge During Our Sale The J-List Pre-Christmas Sale is a great time to score gifts for others, but we'll understand if you want to get some English H-games for yourself.		Restocked Import Eroge Enjoy a nice update of imported eroge, from Da Capo III to Tsujido-san no Virgin Road and Innocent Bullet. Highly recommended.
	Virgin Love Miku Blu-ray Special KMP delivers with this Blu-Ray the dream of any otaku, with the cute Miku, a former Akihabara Idol who made the jump to AV!		Cafe Shaburi-nagara Fellatio Cafe...? Another wacky production from SOD, that we highly recommend to JAV fans, taking place in a very special Coffee Shop.
	Non-Lesbian Girls Hunting SOD delivers another hot lesbian documentary release, featuring college girls hunting for prey in the streets of Tokyo.		Prestige Premium Best - Yui Akane 3 8 Hours Yui Hakane fans, don't miss the 3rd volume of her Prestige best-of series, including 7 titles + unreleased material.

Finally, Super Ero DVD and Blu-ray Restocked Finally, a huge update of popular DVD and Blu-ray ecchi titles, including Perfect Ero Hips 8 Hours, the great works of Hitomi Tanaka including Bakunyu Landlady, 24 Hours Living Together and J-Cup Super Soapland, Max-X Female Teacher Special 8 Hours, Nana Ogura's "Always Sex" release, Deep Lesbian Soapland and Women Who Are Addicted to Women, and fun hentai titles, too. view this product »

Fuku-bukuro Grab Bags at J-List!

November 22, 2013, 2:50 am

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Remember that Fuku-bukuro Season has started at J-List, too. Every year J-List prepares traditional Japanese 福袋 fukubukuro grab bags filled with great products for you to discover, from random Japanese figures and plush toys to bento boxes and related products to some very ecchi items. This year we've got a great lineup, along with new San Diego-based grab bags posted today. Each grab bag contains a value of up to 2x its price, so why not grab some grab bags now and enjoy cool random stuff from Japan?

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The J-List Pre-Christmas Sale is Starting Early!!

November 22, 2013, 2:51 am

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Christmas is racing towards us, and as we do every year, J-List has prepared thousands of awesome items for our customers around the world. But there's a special problem this year: the traditional start of hardcore shopping season (Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S.) is a week later than normal, meaning that our customers wouldn't be able to to take advantage of more affordable shipping options when purchasing, like First Class Airmail. We did the only thing we could: we're starting the sale a week early! Through November 29, you can take an awesome 12% off of all items on the site*, including all bento and kitchen items, plush toys, figures, snack items, apparel and cosplay products, as well as the naughty stuff. In addition, the J-List staff has gone through and discounted some special items by up to 50%, including Sailor Moon, My Little Pony, and more. (Note that the 12% off sale doesn't cover grab bags, iTunes and PSN cards, gift certificates, or the specially selected sale items, though 99.5% of products are covered by the sale.)

The Holy Land of Evangelion

November 22, 2013, 2:53 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Monday, November 25, 2013

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I took a couple of days off this week to travel with an Italian friend of mine to Hakone, a pleasant mountain town famous for hot springs and onsen tamago, eggs boiled in natural hot spring water. Hakone is the setting of Evangelion, of course, and part of the fun of going there is doing 聖地巡礼 seichi junrei, "making a pilgrimage to the holy land," e.g. visiting the actual places seen in the anime series, which was super easy thanks to the official Evangelion Instrumentality Map app. The trend of setting anime series in real places isn't really new: many shows of the 1980s were set in the Tokyo's hip Shinjuku district, and the first thing I did after arriving in Japan in 1991 was visit the famous Studio Alta TV from Megazone 23. The trend got moving in earnest when series like Please Teacher/Please Twins and Lucky Star showed that rural regions of Japan could find significant economic benefit by promoting "otaku tourism," allowing their towns to be used as the settings for anime series then profiting from the increase in tourists. (In some cases, including Hanasaku Iroha and Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne, municipalities actually provided funding to the animation studios in the hopes that otaku tourism would prove a boon to the region later.) So the next time you come Japan, you can spend some time relaxing at the coffee shop visited 15,527 times during the Endless Eight arc in Haruhi, search for Menma while exploring the town from AnoHana, or have a picnic in the park where Kyosuke and Kuroneko went on their first date.

We were staying at a nice hotel with several traditional onsen baths, which is of course something gaijin love to experience when in Japan. When I asked my Japanese wife to find a good hotel for us, a funny thing happened: she kept suggesting modern hotels with sleek lines and steel-and-concrete construction to us, which looked more like art galleries than traditional ryokan inns. All we want, I told her, is a fantastic experience with tatami mats and yukata to wear and traditional sashimi to eat, but as a Japanese her idea of what would be a good hotel was different from ours. One of the attractions of the Hakone area is the beautiful views of Mt. Fuji you can discover as you drive around Lake Ashinoko, and it was great getting to see Japan's most famous mountain from so close. Though I love Mt. Fuji, I've never been able to interest my wife in a trip to this part of Japan. Part of it is that she's more fascinated with the U.S. and Europe than she is of her own country -- she'd rather visit Los Angeles or New York, while I'd prefer to go to Kyoto. Then there's a the Aokigahara Forest, called 樹海 jukai or "Sea of Trees" in Japanese, which sadly became a famous suicide spot after a novel published in 1960 featured the area as its setting. She doesn't want to go anywhere near the place, sure that she'll hear the spirits of the dead calling to her or something.

As we explored the area, we stopped at Hakone Shrine to pray for good luck and freedom from Angel attacks. Japan, of course, has two main cultural traditions: Shinto, the original religion of Japan, which sees 神 kami (spirits) in trees, rocks and mountains; and Buddhism, the religion of writing and culture, which entered through China and Korea in the 6th century A.D. and which now is largely associated with funerals and honoring the dead. Of the two, Shinto is definitely the more happy and upbeat tradition, and it's not surprising that 90% of the imagery brought to Westerners through Japanese popular culture is from Shinto, making it much more familiar to us -- an unintended gift from Rumiko Takahashi and the other creators of anime and manga. One happy tradition related to Shinto is writing wishes on a wooden "wish board" called an 絵馬 ema (which we happen to have in stock here), and we saw hundreds of these hanging up at the shrine, including many prayers to pass a university entrance exam. Reading through the messages, we saw many of them were written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and even Thai, posted by foreigners who had visited the shrine. It occurred to me that Shinto is really a gateway for people all around the world to become closer to Japan, since we're often more familiar with its imagery than many other aspects of the country.

I had a relaxing couple of days at the "holy land" of NERV headquarters in Hakone.

Cool Products Monday, November 25, 2013

November 25, 2013, 2:37 am

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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 Jan 2014 The definitive magazine for all things fujoshi, B's Log is the first and best source of information for girl gamers and anyone who loves yaoi, BL, or otome games! Grab the latest issue for new content from Uta no Prince-sama, Diabolik Lovers, Amnesia, and all the other great otome titles this season. You also get free posters, stickers, and more featuring art of your favorite characters! view this product »

	Fruits NO. 198 Jan 2014 Check out what's hot and what's not in Japan's street fashion. Featuring the latest trends and clothing, unique street culture will be pleased with this no-ad magazine!		Nintendo, Idol Magazines Great magazine filled with information on the DS and Wii world from Japan, w/free stuff for fans inside. Also see the new Myojo for Johnny's-kei fans!
	Nice Updating of Popular Manga We've restocked our popular manga including Kiyohiko's brilliant work of "slice of life" child's-eye view manga; Yotsubato and more.		2014 Anime, Idol & Other Japan Calendars Enjoy a special 2014 with your favorite anime series on your wall. We posted a large update of great calendars to browse today.
	Sailor Moon Cups, Sailor Mercury Figure! Sailor Moon fans will love these great Sailor Moon products we posted today including the Sailor Mercury figure and Sailor Moon cups.		Cute Animal Crossing Products for Christmas I'm sure you can think of someone who'd love this great Animal Crossing Nendoroid, which came in stock for the last time today. Maybe...you?
	Fuku-bukuro Grab Bags are Selling Like Crazy The 2013 Fuku-bukuro season is off to a great start, and our customers are snapping the popular grab bags up left and right. We have some nice ecchi ones, too.		Animal Cleaning Slippers If you are like us, you wish there was an easier way to keep your house clean. With these cleaning slippers, you'll have one less chore to worry about.
	Pikachu Kigurumi Become the ever adorable Pikachu by jump into this full-body kigurumi pajama costume. Suitable for men or women.		Popular Japanese Fashion Or why not get one of the cute Boa Parka with Bear Ears which we restocked? So cute, but don't wear this during hunting season.
	Pokemon & Other Plush Toys There's nothing like giving (or receiving) a super cute plush toy from Japan. Why not see today's restocked items during our Pre-Christmas sale!		Panda & Kitten Balancing Game The popular Neko-Darake and Panda-Darake games are now back in stock. A fun and cute party game for the whole family to enjoy.
	Let's Make Original Origami Make lots of fun and original origami paper without using scissors or cutters with the handy Origami Factory.		JPOP Songs on iTunes Japan You can follow all your favorite JPOP and anime song singers through iTunes Japan. ClariS has a new single for you to check out!
	Snack Fuku-Bukuro is Back! J-List brings back our tradition of the ultimate snack lucky bag. It comes with 15 ~ 20 unique candy, chocolate and snack items inside.		Other Fun Snacks Posted See awesome Japan-only Mentos flavors, Matcha Green Tea puffs and the strangest thing in a while...chocolate covered Squid?
	Traditional Snacks from Japan We love to carry dagashi, the traditional candy of the Showa Period, and today we restocked the Kompeito Candy Bento + Kyoto Candy!		Amazake (Hot Sake Drink) Amazake is a traditional and popular Japanese drink served in New Year as seen in anime like Kimi ni Todoke. Now you can make it at home!
	Nestle Strawberry Kit Kat Bag Remember that J-List carries all the exotic Kit Kat flavors from Japan, including the big bag of Strawberry Kit Kat!		Other Items Restocked Finally, a nice update of popular Japanese snacks, from Unchi-kun Poop Candy (note, contains no actual poop) to Green Tea Latte Mochi and Toilet Candy.
	Big Restocking of Innovative Bento Boxes Score some wonderful bento boxes during our sale, from traditional Japanese to Totoro and Hello Kitty and more. I love the Donburi Bento a lot.		Sakura SETOYAKI Tea Pot and Tea Cup A beautifully themed teapot with a sakura design, painted by hand here in Japan. Goes well with the matching tea cup we also have.
	Totoro Chopsticks 21cm ~ My Neighbor Totoro Dine with Totoro in with this gorgeous chopstick made from natural bamboo -- the perfect item for Ghibli and Totoro fans.		Other Kawaii Kitchen Accessories See a nice update of random bento and kitchen items, a great category to browse during our sale!
	Octagon-Shaped Sakura Nishiki Gold Leaf Case A traditionally shaped box w/ a design featuring sakura leaves upon a layer of gold leaf. This style of box is typically used for holding jewelry or things of value.		Ninja, Other Traditional Products Restocked See a big update of traditional products too, from yokobue flutes to delightful traditional things for your desk and more.
	Popular HANTEN Winter Kimono Restocked Also, we restocked the extremely popular Hanten short kimonos, such a great way to keep warm in winter. I wouldn't part with mine for anything.		Great Visual Novels On Sale Our Pre-Christmas sale also applies to all great visual novels, from the gorgeous If My Heart Had Wings to Steins;Gate preorders. Are you tempted?
	Dangan Ronpa Reversible Tote Bag What better way to carry your stuff than in this reversible tote bag featuring the popular anime Dangan Ronpa. Preorder now.		Great Sailor Moon Products We've got a great update of Sailor Moon pens, notebooks, pointers and other items that had sold out but which are available to preorder again.
	Rei Ayanami Shoulder Bag for Preorder We have a new item for Eva fans to collect. This time it's the shoulder bag Rei was carrying as seen in the movie Evangelion: 3.0!		Nanoha Takamachi Excelion Mode Real Action Heroes Our beloved Nanoha is back in this all new Real Action Heroes figure featuring her Excelion Mode gear in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 2nd A's.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

	Bachelor Jan 2014 A popular magazine in Japan for fans of busty women from all over the world, be they from America, Europe or Japan, this is Bachelor.		Black Chronicle 2 Here's volume 2 of the very amazing ecchi manga series by Rakko full of sexy heroines, awesome fights, and hot fanservice scenes!
	Tricolor Highschool Motoharu Irima is an out of luck NEET who becomes a janitor in a private all-girls high school full of hot babes just waiting to be fucked.		Aya Yuri vol. 7 If you're a fan of yuri manga about girls who love girls, we've got some fine ones restocked for you today. No men to be seen anywhere.
	Today's New Doujinshi We have a variety of new doujinshi in stock including Queen's Blade, Kantai Collection (KanColle), Bleach, and original works. Click to see.		Great Ero Manga Restocked Plus, lots of great new hentai manga in stock today. Get all the best like Shimapan wa Justice, Itsu Sex Suruno? Ima Desho, and more.
	Runa -Ashu- 1/12 Cast off Figure S.M.G. Series No.3 Adult figure maker Daiki Kogyo presents this incredible rendition of a sexy soldier girl in a very enticing pose. Preorder now.		Restocked 2D Artbooks You can always find the most delicious artbooks from anime, eroge or the Pixiv art sharing website. Hinata Katagiri restocked today!
	Passionate Gimmick From Nippori Gift comes this new original onahole for men, with 3 power rings that are incorporated in the hole structure, maxxing out the experience.		Onnanoko no (i) ~ Learning to Love Boy, people really love this new onahole toy, which is super realistic and a great way to take the edge off at the end of the day.
	Other Popular Onahole Toys Restocked Need something to help you relax? No problem. We have lots of other great onaholes restocked today that are popular with our J-List fans.		I Can't Believe my Parody Onaholes Are This Fun Great news: the "Kirino" version of the Oreimo parody stress toys is back in stock, so you can relieve all that stress you've got built up.
	Glow in the Dark Condoms J-List carries awesome and wacky condoms from Japan. This particular condom called Pikkari Kon-chan can glow in the dark. Check it out.		Hentai Anime Titles Restocked A nice restocking of ecchi anime titles, like Princess Knight Lilia, Kangoku Senkan, Magical Girl Isuka plus more.
	Great Eroge in English During our Sale Take advantage of the J-List Pre-Christmas Sale by picking up Yumina the Ethereal and other great H-games in English.		Volley Coaching! This fun and unique erotic visual novel puts you in charge of coaching a team of six cute and sexy volleyball players.
	Cosplayer Chronicle HD 8 Hours (Blu-ray Disc) Another awesome cosplay focused hardcore release from TMA, featuring the best Evangelion cosplay action you've seen, performed by Rei Mizuna and more.		Akira Fubuki Re-Mosaic Revival Series For JAV fans and Akira Fubuki lovers. Re-discover her performances in the 2 new re-editions of her debut titles we have in stock for you today.
	Global Bishojo is my Pet - Rola Misaki A new Absolutely Perfect release from Prestige feature the hot Rola Misaki as your private sex doll.		Passionate Wife Lesbian Battle The Deep's label delivers an awesome new lesbian battle release featuring only hot and mature Japanese Housewives testing their lesbian skills on each other.

Finally, Great JAV Restocked For You Finally, a healthy update of ecchi works, including Nana Ogura's School Days, the lost virgin debut of Kyoko Maeda and Noa Kasumi, Lesbian Appreciation Club and other fun all girls works, Prestige Premium Treasure starring top idols like Shunka Ayami and Kokoro Harumiya, plus Carnivorous Ero Girl, Tentacle Ecstasy and more. view this product »

J-List's Pre-Christmas Sale Has Started Early!

November 25, 2013, 2:38 am

≫ Next: Japanese Grab Bag Season is Here

≪ Previous: Cool Products Monday, November 25, 2013

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Christmas is racing towards us, and as we do every year, J-List has prepared thousands of awesome items for our customers around the world. But there's a special problem this year: the traditional start of hardcore shopping season (Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S.) is a week later than normal, meaning that our customers wouldn't be able to to take advantage of more affordable shipping options when purchasing, like First Class Airmail. We did the only thing we could: we're starting the sale a week early! Through November 29, you can take an awesome 12% off of all items on the site*, including all bento and kitchen items, plush toys, figures, snack items, apparel and cosplay products, as well as the naughty stuff. In addition, the J-List staff has gone through and discounted some special items by up to 50%, including Sailor Moon, My Little Pony, and more. (Note that the 12% off sale doesn't cover grab bags, iTunes and PSN cards, gift certificates, or the specially selected sale items, though 99.5% of products are covered by the sale.)

Japanese Grab Bag Season is Here

November 25, 2013, 2:38 am

≫ Next: Ghosts and the Japanese

≪ Previous: J-List's Pre-Christmas Sale Has Started Early!

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Remember that Fuku-bukuro Season has started at J-List, too. Every year J-List prepares traditional Japanese 福袋 fukubukuro grab bags filled with great products for you to discover, from random Japanese figures and plush toys to bento boxes and related products to some very ecchi items. This year we've got a great lineup, along with new San Diego-based grab bags posted today. Each grab bag contains a value of up to 2x its price, so why not grab some grab bags now and enjoy cool random stuff from Japan?

Ghosts and the Japanese

November 25, 2013, 2:39 am

≫ Next: The Anime Industry as Seen from Inside Japan

≪ Previous: Japanese Grab Bag Season is Here

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Last time I talked about how my Japanese wife didn't want to visit the Mt. Fuji area in part because she was scared of going near Japan's "suicide forest," sure she'd hear the spirits of the dead calling out to her. Japan can seem a very death-oriented place to outsiders -- several holidays here started out as Buddhist days of remembrance for the dead -- so perhaps it's not surprising that Japanese have a higher awareness of ghosts and the supernatural than people in other countries. Some individuals are said to be 霊感のある人 reikan no aru hito, that is, people with a greater than average sensitivity of ghosts and apparitions, and in our family my wife and daughter believe themselves to be part of this group. Once after my father passed away, my daughter (who was about five at the time) turned to empty air and shouted, "Stop watching me!" My wife thought I'd gotten out of bed and was standing there looking at my daughter while she ate her breakfast, but I was still asleep, and the general consensus was that she was "sensing" the spirit of my father who had come to visit us. There was another time when my daughter saw a man dressed in a dark suit who nodded politely to her, though no one else could see him. I have no reikan sense at all, and my wife often tells me how lucky I am to be so unaware of spirits all around me.

My wife and daughter seem more aware of ghosts than me.

The Anime Industry as Seen from Inside Japan

November 25, 2013, 2:40 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Wednesday, November 27, 2013

≪ Previous: Ghosts and the Japanese

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The anime industry has certainly gone through changes over the years. You could break it down into different eras, perhaps with the Golden Age being when early shows like Space Battleship Yamato and Speed Racer were laying the groundwork for the future popularity of the genre; the Silver Age, as Macross, Sailor Moon and Akira (a.k.a. "the first anime guys could talk about with girls") exploded onto the scene; and the modern period, defined by the bursting of the licensing-for-broadcast-and-DVD-sales bubble, the rise of the Internet and the move from manual cel animation to digital production. The changes keep coming, of course, and these days anime companies have to learn to work with business models that didn't exist a few years ago, for example distributing new series through legal streaming sites and the future prospect of crowd-funding anime projects. One thing the great sci-fi franchises of the 70s like Planet of the Apes and Star Wars showed us was that the licensed goods related to a property are worth more than direct sales (movie tickets etc.) of the property itself, and animation studios have been embracing this, licensing their characters in new and innovative ways...including advertising everything from Lawson convenience stores to horse racing and Mitsubishi cars.

Treating the anime world as a proper industry to be tracked and analyzed like any other is very much in vogue in Japan these days -- there's even a new quarterly magazine called Anime Busience [sic], which features articles on how Japanese companies can profitably export anime and related "contents" (though I really hate that word) to other countries, how different regions of Japan might market themselves through anime as Hakone has done, etc. Because Japan's population has already started to contract, there's a lot of fear that the domestic market for anime and related pop culture will also contract, and if it continues, Japan will eventually see its "Gross National Cool" eroded by South Korea or China. So anime creators need to look overseas for new revenue streams, though this is often difficult for various reasons, including differences in culture, language, and of course 常識 johshiki, or "common sense." Taking a page from South Korea, which provides government money for marketing K-POP music and K-doramas around the world, the Japanese government is starting to be more supportive of anime creators, in part through NHK's "Cool Japan" TV series.

Anime is popular all over the world, though making it profitable can be a challenge for companies.

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Cool Products Wednesday, November 27, 2013

November 27, 2013, 2:38 am

≫ Next: Did You Grab a Japanese Grab Bag Yet?

≪ Previous: The Anime Industry as Seen from Inside Japan

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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

Monthly SUNDAY GX Dec 2013 See the latest issue of Sunday GX, an excellent magazine that is packed cover-to-cover with fantastic manga and wonderful art. Each issue is loaded with some of the best manga Japan has to offer like Infinite Stratos, Uncanny Brains, Yuritetsu, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru, and more. In addition to more than 400 pages of excellent manga and more. Plus, every issue comes with an awesome freebie! view this product »

	New Issues of Shonen Ace Posted Grab a new issue of Shonen Ace, Kadokawa Publishing's flagship magazine packed with all the famous manga you love!		Yotsubato Himekuri Daily Calendar Spend one year with Yotsuba, the adorable green-haired girl from one of our favorite manga. Every day is a new drawing to bring a smile to your face.
	Attack on Titan, Other Calendars in Tock See our huge update of great anime calendars today, w/ dozens for you to browse and buy, including Attack on Titan, Psycho-Pass, Railgun, Infinite Stratos and more.		Totoro & Ghibli Calendars, Too From the timeless Miyazaki masterpiece, this fun Totoro calendar is sure to make every month fun, as you enjoy Totoro on your wall.
	New Volumes of Maken-Ki Pick up two new volumes of Maken-Ki for more pitched battles and awesome fanservice. See if you can count the panty shots!		All-Ages Manga Restocked See our popular bilingual Doraemon manga restocked plus Yotsubato, Watamote and more fun stuff, all covered under our sale.
	Elizabeth D-Arts Action Figure ~ P4U Persona 4 The Ultimate fans, get ready for a new action figure by Bandai featuring The Lethal Elevator Attendant; Elizabeth.		Great Animal Crossing Plush Toys + More We've restocked our popular Animal Crossing plush toys plus other awesome Animal Crossing goodies. Get your very own furry friend today!
	Pink Pyon Pyon Rabbit Ear Hoodies Become a super soft and huggable rabbit, in this new hoodie from Japan. Just don't wear this during hunting season.		Japanese Eye Patch, Other Cosplay Products Several popular cosplay items are restocked, including our Socks Glue and Japanese Eye Patch. Click to see them now.
	Today's Recommended J-List T-Shirt J-List T-shirts are an otaku institution, and all of them are on sale during our Pre-Christmas sale, which ends Friday.		Touhou Black Bags Restocked We love to carry awesome Touhou products at J-List, and today we've restocked several of the black bags featuring awesome Touhou art.
	'Lucky Bag' Season has Started One of the problems at J-List is, getting out the front door at the end of the day, since there are so many of these grab bags packed and ready to ship out.		Awesome Sailor Moon Products from Japan Enjoy the awesome Sailor Moon products we've got on the site like these eyeliners for cosplay or just daily wear. Get the ones you want before they sell out!
	The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat ~ First Limited Edition The ultimate game is here for fans of Henneko, the popular anime series with ultra-moe character designs by the amazing Kantoku.		GLOW - Miyabi Natsuyaki (Berryz Koubou) Miyabi Natsuyaki is a singer and member of popular idol group Berryz Koubou. Enjoy her 2nd photobook w/c celebrates a more glowing and mature Miyabi.
	Kanji Notebooks Restocked Great tools to help you learn Japanese, with text books, note books, pens, and official Kanji training booklets.		New Japanese Notebooks, Erasers + More From notebooks to erasers to pens, we've got one of the best selections you will ever find. Click to see the new items now.
	Bath King Rose + More We've got a great selection of bath products including Bath King, a variety of bath tablets that will help relax and re-energize you.		Lucky Panda, Ninja 106Relaxation Toys Then see awesome solar-powered relaxation toys like our Lucky Cat and Lucky Panda toys, which soothe you yet never need batteries.
	New Snacks Posted Huge updated of delicious Japanese snacks from seaweed flavor Cheetos to Meiji Chestnuts Poporon to Fujiya Mont Blanc Chocolate & more.		Microwave Rice, Yum! Try this microwave rice with authentic Japanese rice grown in rice paddies in rural Japan. Normal rice and sekihan (red rice) are restocked!
	Japanese Green Tea ~ 40 Tea Bags for Hot/Cold There's nothing more refreshing than delicious Japanese green tea, which is healthy and free of sugar and calories. Make it hot or iced!		Japanese Snacks Restocked See today's restocked Japanese snacks including the Heart Moko Moko Toilet Candy, Glico Winter Pocky, Morinaga Hi-chew, Kracie Happy Kitchen Hamburger, and many more.
	Big Restocking of Bento Boxes Friends and family are very important, and no one knows that better than the lovable Totoro. Browse our selection of Totoro bento now!		Handy Sealer For those who like to snack on things lightly and leave more for later but hate the idea of the snacks going stale from being opened, get this Handy Sealer.
	Sushi + Kitchen Accessories Also: sushi and kitchen accessories restocked including our most popular sushi maker, so you can make perfect sushi. Awesome!		Wonderful Traditional Tea Cups from Japan Our customers love our high quality Japanese tea cups, and the Sakura Tea Cup made with setoyaki ceramics is a hit!
	Also: Fundoshi, Hachimaki + More Fundoshi (pronounced foon-doh-shi) is the traditional underwear worn by the samurai, which we've restocked. Also: kanji headbands!		Ninja Shuriken, Samurai Sword Phone Straps A cool update of traditional products, including cute ninja and samurai related products. Because Japan.
	Evangelion Mug Cups for Preorder Give your coffee that extra kick when you serve it in these amazing mug cups featuring your favorite Eva characters. Preorder now.		Haganai NEXT Cat Cosplay Figures Preorder these gorgeous Haganai NEXT figures of Sena and Yozora dressed in sexy catgirl costume. Irresistible!
	Aigis Nendoroid Figure P3 Edition ~ Persona 3 Fans of the popular RPG Persona 3 will want to preorder this Nendoroid featuring the Anti-Shadow Weapon Aigis in her classic costume.		Silica 1/8 Figure ~ Sword Art Online Enjoy this new figure of our favorite beast tamer from the Sword Art Onine (SAO) world of Aincrad. Silica is now ready for preorder.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

'Ecchi' Fuku-bukuro from Japan or San Diego J-List's Fuku-bukuro grab bags are off to a great start, with our anime + toy, bento + culture, Doki Doki Random and ecchi grab bags selling briskly. The ecchi grab bags we make every year are always a big hit, and this year they're selling even faster than ever before. view this product »

	Bejean Jan 2014 With oversized pages and many beautiful girls, Bejean continues to be one of the best magazines among customers at J-List.		Sexy Photobooks Restocked See a nice update of sexy photobooks, including one dedicated to the "Absolute Airspace" between a girl's thighs.
	Sexy New Ero Manga Today Ryu must fuck 5 hot girls living in a mysterious mansion in order to know the whereabouts of his missing friend Miki. Also check out our other new ero manga titles.		To Love-Ru Darkness Series In Stock. The amazing fanservice series To Love-Ru Darkness restocked in full! Don't miss this amazing sexy and fan service series.
	Ecchi Manga Restocked A nice update of ero manga including Welcome to the Apartment of Everlasting Spring, Bishoujo Club, Black Rubbers + more.		We Love Yuri We always have lots of products for yuri fans, and today we restocked several manga volumes, including Aya Yuri and Girl x Girl. So lovely!
	Gorgeous Sexy Artbooks Restocked We have a nice update of ecchi artbooks, including Tony Taka's legendary Fault! + Shirow Masamune and more.		Reika Kitami 1/6 Cast off Figure Red ver. ~ Bible Black From the classic ero anime Bible Black comes this erotic figure of busty super seductress Reika Kitami with cast-offable panty! We like.
	Fella Pet The geniuses a Toys Heart have created a very realistic fella onahole, shaped like a face with an accurate recreation of a girl's juicy mouth.		The Best Stress Toys Ever See several popular toys restocked including Puru Puru Oshiri Finale and oppai toys that let you play in interesting new ways.
	The Most Advanced Stress Products from Japan Japan is great at applying technology to private time, and we've restocked the A10 Cyclone, R-1 Starter Set and other toys by Rends.		The Legendary Cat Tail Butt Plugs are Back One of the biggest hits of 2013 so far is the Cat Tail Anal Plug, which turns the wearer into a cat with a real tail! Get it during our sale!
	Ecchi Cosplay from Japan We've got fun cosplay from Japan, from shimapan to maid costumes to fun things for "trap" fans to try on. Click to browse.		Pick Up English Eroge During our Sale What better way to use our Pre-Christmas sales discount than by picking up great English eroge like the fully animated and phenomenal School Days?
	Gorgeous Import Eroge Restocked Enjoy great import Japanese eroge during our sale, with tons of great new games restocked today, incl. Hanabira and Tony Taka!		Versatile - Ittetsu J-List also want our women customer to enjoy every pleasure Japan has to offer, like this production featuring Ittetsu, a red-hit AV actor.
	Bondage Sisters Blu-ray Special A 150min of totally mind blowing ropeplay featuring Erika Kitagawa and Yuuka Minase, in full high definition Blu-ray.		Obscene Earnest Fellatio - Karin Aizawa The Debut titles of Karin Aizawa at Maxing and Alice Japan was well received by fans, this is her second movie featuring juicy bjob action!
	Could you Enter a Bath with Only a Towel? The producers from SOD bring their famed "Can you Enter a Hot Spring" series back, featuring the talents of 20 cute amateurs girls over 8 hours!		Female Director Haruna's Lesbian Nampa 76 Haruna is nothing if not prolific in her pursuit of young women to show the pleasures of another woman's touch -- 3+ hours of all female love!

Huge Update of JAV Titles Finally, see awesome restocked DVDs, including the amazing Little Devil JK Temptation Lesbian and Futanari Cheerleading Club Lesbian Training Camp, TMA Cosplay Paltinum Best, Eastern Europe Bishoujo and Blonde Fairy International, the AV debuts of Karin Aizawa and Arisa Misato, plus the legendary 500 People Sex in which 250 random men and women perform together in the same room while the cameras watch. view this product »

Did You Grab a Japanese Grab Bag Yet?

November 27, 2013, 2:39 am

≫ Next: J-List's Pre-Christmas Sale Continues

≪ Previous: Cool Products Wednesday, November 27, 2013

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Remember that Fuku-bukuro Season has started at J-List, too. Every year J-List prepares traditional Japanese 福袋 fukubukuro grab bags filled with great products for you to discover, from random Japanese figures and plush toys to bento boxes and related products to some very ecchi items. This year we've got a great lineup, along with new San Diego-based grab bags posted today. Each grab bag contains a value of up to 2x its price, so why not grab some grab bags now and enjoy cool random stuff from Japan?

J-List's Pre-Christmas Sale Continues

November 27, 2013, 2:40 am

≫ Next: Pacific Rim vs Anime

≪ Previous: Did You Grab a Japanese Grab Bag Yet?

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Christmas is racing towards us, and as we do every year, J-List has prepared thousands of awesome items for our customers around the world. But there's a special problem this year: the traditional start of hardcore shopping season (Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S.) is a week later than normal, meaning that our customers wouldn't be able to to take advantage of more affordable shipping options when purchasing, like First Class Airmail. We did the only thing we could: we're starting the sale a week early! Through November 29, you can take an awesome 12% off of all items on the site*, including all bento and kitchen items, plush toys, figures, snack items, apparel and cosplay products, as well as the naughty stuff. In addition, the J-List staff has gone through and discounted some special items by up to 50%, including Sailor Moon, My Little Pony, and more. (Note that the 12% off sale doesn't cover grab bags, iTunes and PSN cards, gift certificates, or the specially selected sale items, though 99.5% of products are covered by the sale.)

Pacific Rim vs Anime

November 27, 2013, 2:40 am

≫ Next: Some New Words for 2013

≪ Previous: J-List's Pre-Christmas Sale Continues

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The other day I watched Pacific Rim, a movie I'd not managed to catch in theaters due to my convention schedule during the summer. It was a great film, a well executed love letter to the classic Japanese kaiju (monster) movies of decades past, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Of course you can't make a serious movie featuring giant robots without a lot of comparisons with anime, and it was fun to observe the influence of classic robot series like Great Mazinger and Giant Robo on the film design. The ending especially felt like an extended homage to Aim for the Top: Gunbuster, which suited me just fine, old school Gainax fan that I am. I thought the film was great for another reason: having an actual Japanese actress (the lovely Rinko Kikuchi) play a Japanese character. All too often "Japanese" characters in mainstream American media are played by Koreans (Heroes, The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Star Trek Enterprise, the new Star Trek film remakes), with the unspoken implication being that Japanese are so bad at English they can't perform the roles themselves. Pacific Rim went the extra mile and found a Japanese actress who was great for the part, and I appreciated the extra connection to Japan this brought to the film.

I enjoyed the Japanese pop culture references in Pacific Rim.

Some New Words for 2013

November 27, 2013, 2:42 am

≫ Next: America to China: Love is War

≪ Previous: Pacific Rim vs Anime

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Every year the Oxford English Dictionary chooses to bless a few new words by adding them to its hallowed pages, and every year people react, often strongly, because most of us make a distinction between "proper" language and the latest slang words we use when speaking. In the past words like tweet, hashtag, app and Googlegänger were added to the official listing of English words, and this year the word "selfie" joins them. There's a similar listing of influential words popularized this year in Japan, too. This year's words include アベノミックス Abenomics, the economic policies of Prime Minister Abe, also known as The Man Who Makes Our Anime Cheaper; パズドラ pazu-dora, the popular Puzzles and Dragons game that my son can't stop playing for five minutes; and 今でしょ！ ima desho! ("the time to do that is right now!"), the catchphrase of famous prep school teacher Osamu Hayashi which became so popular Toyota hired him to do a car commercial ("When are you going to buy a new Toyota? The time to do it is right now!"). Another word I've been hearing a lot is バカッター bakattaa, rendered in English spelling as "bakatter," which means "to do something really stupid on Twitter." Like the planking boom of a few years ago, it's become quite a thing, with people posting pictures of themselves sleeping in convenience store freezers, eating ramen in restaurants while naked or standing on top of police cars just for the lulz.

Some new words for 2013, from "selfie" to bakatter.