You, Too Can Whore Your Native Language in Japan...Maybe

May 17, 2013, 3:40 am

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I get a lot of questions from readers interested in working in Japan, usually as a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL), and I do my best to guide them to useful information, although I haven't been in the field for years. Teaching ESL is a potentially good option for people wanting to work for a few years in Japan, as long as you have realistic goals and know that it's not the healthiest of industries (there were some major bankruptcies of ESL school chains a few years ago). First of all, you need a four-year degree in order to get a working visa, so if you don't have one yet, that'd be the logical place to start. One popular choice for teaching in Japan is the Japan English Teacher (JET) program, operated by the government to get native English speakers into the country to teach and also facilitate "grass roots Internationalization" of Japan. While getting accepted into the JET system can be a challenge since there are so many applicants, Japan's ruling LDP party recently announced an expansion of the program, which might help your chances. There are two types of JET jobs, Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) who do the actual teaching, and Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs), who help guide the program and who need a minimum amount of Japanese, usually 2-3 years. As a rule, I generally recommend people with a deeper interest in Japan to consider trying for the latter job, which will contribute more to your understanding of the country and could help you build コネ kone, or connections which will help you in the future. There are plenty of alternatives to JET, too: for example, most cities have "sister cities" in Japan, like our city's relationship with Springfield, Missouri, and often there are ALT jobs or exchange study opportunities open through these connections. There are also programs like the Lion's Club International Camp and Youth Exchange Program to look into. If you're interested in researching how to live and work in Japan, we've got some books that might help.

Some advice for those considering teaching ESL someday.

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Cool Products Monday, May 20, 2013

May 20, 2013, 2:26 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

Cutie June 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 wearing awesome fashions that you can copy, with lots of visual material in each issue (in case you don't understand Japanese). We love the high quality of Japan's fashion magazine almost as much as we love the free accessory bag this magazine comes with. view this product »

	Model Graphix June 2013 The latest issue of Model Graphix, featuring the best anime toys and models, with an awesome feature on Battleships!		Achtung GIRLS und PANZER Official Book Learn all about the 43 tanks used by the girls in this nothing but awesome 136-page perfect-bound artbook for GIRLS und PANZER fans.
	Drawing of a Girl ~ Onnanoko no Sekkeizu A new yuri manga by veteran shoujo and yuri mangaka, Kita Konno, featuring four different stories about schoolgirls and their secret relationships.		Restocked Yotsubato & Other Manga You'll also want to browse our selection of choice manga from Japan, with the new issue of Yotsubato and other books restocked for you today.
	Be A Master Manga Artist Another great how-to-draw book that aims to teach you how to put life into your character, in Chara ni Inochi wo Fukikomu Illust Jyotatsu Technic 2!		SAO Pencil Boards & Document Protectors We love the art style of Sword Art Online, and these pencil boards and document holders show off your favorite characters.
	Tomo Asama ~ Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere Here comes a sexy 1/7 scale figure of Tomo Asama from Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere sitting on the hero Toori Aoi.		Charizard D-ARTS Action Figure ~ Pokemon We love to carry cool products for our Pokemon-loving customers, and today we posted fresh stock of the large and detailed Charizard.
	Kawaii Products for your Kitchen We've got tons of cute products for your kitchen, including the Love Love Panda Salt and Pepper Shakers we restocked today. We love these!		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.
	Sushi ~ Samurai Tabi Socks Tabi are the split-toe socks which are found in Japan, also called "Ninja Socks" since they were the footwear of choice for the elite assassins.		Sara Sara Touch Pantsu ~ Spats (M~L) This tight form-fitting athletic apparel accessory is used to accentuates every curve when you use them under your skirt.
	Cat Dot Parkas, So Cute! Add a flare of Harajuku fashion into your collection with these straight-from-Japan styles, perfect for summer.		Hello Kitty Bakery We posted the Hello Kitty Ningyo Yaki maker for creating delicious Hello Kitty cakes, plus turn your car into a cool Hello Kitty limited model.
	Mario Sound Bank ~ Retro Nintendo Drop in your coins for saving and hear the old-time sound of the original Super Mario Bros. with these cool coin banks.		Anime + JPOP Songs, Apps + Light Novels There's more than anime and JPOP music and Japan-only apps on iTunes Japan: you can also score great light novels for you iOS device.
	Rocket Pencils, Fun Japanese Pens + Notebooks Start studying like a pro with our cool pens and notepads from Japan, restocked with both kawaii and cool items, that anyone can enjoy.		SHIKISHI ~ Autograph Boards + More The summer anime cons are right around the corner. If you want to get autographs by your favorite creators, bring some of these autograph boards!
	Awesome New Japanese Snacks Posted We've got delicious and healthy snacks from Kameda made with edamame, plus popular Fusen no Mi bubblegum and more today.		Make Your Own Gummy... Also, you make have seen the Gummy Sushi we have on the site, but how about...gummy hamburgers? Make them with all the included parts!
	Traditional Snacks of Japan The most popular candy item in J-List's history is the traditional kompeito star candy seen in Spirited Away, and we restocked it today for you.		Japanese Oreos, Other Fun Snacks Frito-Lay Takoyaki Puffs, Peko-chan Milky Candy, Sake Ame, Japan Made Oreos ,Uranaikko Gum, Fujiya Country Ma'am Soft Cookies + Caffeine gum!
	My Neighbor Totoro 3 Tier Slim Bento Box Oh cool, we posted a new cylinder style Totoro bento with three interlocking sections for bringing your rice, okazu (meat and vegetables) and more.		Beautiful Traditional Bento Boxes Restocked We have a big volley of bento boxes, too, including beautiful bento boxes, well designed traditional lunchboxes + more.
	Our Best Chopsticks Restocked, Too We carry a lot of gorgeous chopsticks with matching cases for bento enthusiasts, and restocked several today.		Our Popular Takoyaki Cooker Restocked Our customers love our electric Takoyaki cookers so much we have trouble keeping them in stock. We got them back in again now though.
	Cute Mug Cups from Japan You can depend on J-List to have great 'mug cups' (coffee cups) for your kitchen, and today we restocked Smile Slime from Dragon Quest and more.		Fun Traditional Items Restocked Today's new traditional Japanese items include our popular yokobue flutes, Japanese phone straps, Lucky Cat items and more.
	Cute 'Mosquito Killing Pig' Wind Chime We've got a nice update of traditional products, including our Katori Buta wind chime and other must-have items for summer.		Yoshino 1/7 Figure ~ Date A Live From the ecchi action series Date A Live, here's a beautiful figure of cute spirit Yoshino. So detailed and awesome, we know you'll love it.
	Scarlet Twins Nendoroid ~ Muv Luv Total Eclipse If you love cute girls in pilot suits, then you'll want to check out these Nendoroid figures of Total Eclipse's ace Russian pilot team. Cute and posable!		Kuroneko Figure ~ Oreimo Being released soon, this Kuroneko comes to us in this adorable one piece dress and over the knee socks, in cute 1/8th scale. We'll be in our bunks.
	Hentai Prince, Maoyu Demon Phone Straps Check out these three phone straps featuring the girls of Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat, the great new anime with art by Kantoku. Plus one from Maoyu!		Maoyu Demon Queen Oppai Mouse pad Protect your wrists with this sexy new upcoming mouse pad that features the Demon Queen, from Maou Yuusha, with her enormous... horns.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

	The Best Magazine Original July 2013 NO. 187 The new issue of The Best has hot lingerie and nude gravure galleries, live action DVD previews and more hardcore content to browse through.		Gorgeous Glossy Photobooks Posted Take a look inside this amazing nude photobook release by the stunning Kaho Kasumi, a Japanese babe with all the right curves.
	Otokonoko Paradise If you're a fan of traps (cute guys who dress as girls), this is a great new manga from Izumi Comics and a selection of top artists of the genre.		Restocked 'H' Manga from Japan Some hot hentai restocked today: Yokujo Hunting, Netorare Kanojo, Nikuyoku Rensa, Seifuku Mesu Buta Chitai and Otokonoko Renaissance.
	My Childhood Friend is a Housekeeper A super new realistic toy for men from Nippori Gift, that invites you to spend some quality time with a naughty maid. 100ml bottle of lotion included!		Restocked Parody Onahole Toys Take home a little piece of your favorite character with these parody anime onaholes, that are newly restocked. Excellent selection!
	Taimanin Asagi Onahole Restocked Everyone loves ninjas, especially those sexy enough bring you to the max. Learn a new style of jutsu with these silky smooth toys for men.		VIRGIN CUP DX Onahole Toys Restocked A new line of elegant toys similar to Tenga with a great new design sense. Pick up some of these toys today.
	Onahole Toys w/ Pantsu? See some great ero toys for couples, like underwear with a special remote control massager inside. Think of the fun you can have!		Advanced USB Powered Onahole + Eroge We've restocked our highly advanced stress toys like the USB Onacon + 3D Custom Girl simulator, plus Greatest Stroke II.
	Huge Price Drop on Nearly 50 English Eroge Remember, we reduced prices on a huge number of popular games, bringing them down to very reasonable levels. Browse them all now!		New Japanese Eroge In Stock A great volley of import eroge from Japan, including Lovely x Cation 2, a stats-based game with cute art!
	Yulia Nova - The Blonde Beauty A dynamite new release for Yulia Nova fans, this time Yulia-chan shows us what she'd be like as a blonde. Preorder this upcoming DVD release now.		SILK LABO ~ No Regret We love the Silk Labo series, which is AV made by women for women, very different from the normal fare viewed by men. A new release today!
	WAAP Super Best 8 Hours ~ Yuna Shiina From the Waap label comes this amazing best-of Blu-ray featuring the gorgeous Yuna Shiina, a nice collection of performance in high definition.		Teasing Ecstasy Sex ~ Mana Sakura The new SOD release starring Mana Sakura is another fantastic juicy production in which Mana drinks a suspicious beverage meant to increase her libido...
	Crystal The Best 8 Hours 2013 Spring Crystal Eizo production delivers their spring 2013 best-of, featuring 2 DVDs for a total of 8 hours of hot sexual encounters!		Euro Women Meet Japanese Massage 2 Japanese AV creators from the Kaishundo label take the oily massage parlor concept to Europe, featuring gorgeous blonde and black haired Europeans.

Excellent Restocked Ecchi DVD and Blu-ray Titles Finally see a great update of prime ero DVD and Blu-ray discs, including the newest releases from gorgeous Shunka Ayami, plus Female Director Haruna's Lesbian Nampa Best Collection, Class Actress HD Quality 8 Hours, Yuma Asami and Sora Aoi 8 Hours Special in full 1080p, Hitomi Tanaka's outstanding kyonyu titles including her Best 24 Hours work, plus several popular ero anime titles you will love. view this product »

J-List Price Drop on Almost 50 English Eroge!

May 20, 2013, 2:26 am

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≪ Previous: Cool Products Monday, May 20, 2013

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Remember our great news for fans of our English-language eroge and dating-sim games: a huge price drop! We've permanently lowered prices on almost 50 of our great visual novels, from The Sagara Family to Yume Miru Kusuri to Kana Little Sister and Brave Soul. Prices have been lowered by $5 or $10 on a huge number of games, so it's a great time to browse the reduced-price visual novels and eroge and see which you'd like to pick up!

The Newest Thing in Japan's Entertainment: Weather Girls

May 20, 2013, 2:27 am

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Japan has a highly developed entertainment world composed of thousands of professional actors, singers, idols, comedians, "announcers" (aka newscasters) and タレント tarento, a general term for anyone with a skill worth putting on TV for any reason. All of this is managed by professional studios like Yoshimoto Creative Agency, who handles the careers of Japan's top comedians, or Johnny's Entertainment, producers of every Japanese boy band you've ever heard of. One pattern I've observed is, if you've got a really interesting and original angle, there might be an opening for you in Japan's entertainment world...but there's only one potential opening for each unique "talent proposition" so you have to get there first. If you happen to be a Japanese-bilingual comedian from Nigeria, an amusing American who's fluent in the Yamagata-ben dialect of northern Japan or a comically huge former Chicago Bears linebacker, you need not apply, as these positions have already been filled by Bobby Ologun, Daniel Kahl and Bob Sapp. The latest fresh and unique concept to appear in Japan's entertainment world is an idol group called Weather Girls, a team of Taiwanese singing idols managed by Hong Kong's Next Media Ltd., who sing and dance and...tell you if you'll need to bring your umbrella to work today. They're more than just a kawaii singing group: the girls are currently studying to take the national weather forecasting license exam to become registered meteorologists in Japan, so they can report the weather on the morning news programs.

Taiwanese idol group Weather Girls is big in Japan.

Butt Washing Toilet Update 2013

May 20, 2013, 2:28 am

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My wife and I recently made the decision to "reform" our house, which is what the Japanese call remodeling for some unknown reason. One thing I knew I wanted to upgrade was our toilet, so we hopped in the car and headed to the local TOTO showroom to check out their latest models. TOTO (short for 東洋陶器 toyo-tohki or Oriental Ceramics) is the largest maker of toilets in the world, and in the 80s they developed a toilet with butt-washing and bidet features built-in called a "washlet" which has come to define Japan almost as much as Akihabara, bullet trains and Sony. While the basic features are the same, the newest models do cool things like sense when you've entered the bathroom and hydraulically lift the lid while heating the seat for you, then a mist of ionized water cleans the bowl so it's nice and fresh when you sit down. (An LED flashes inside the toilet while the mist is released, which I found terribly cool, though I couldn't say why.) There are numerous options for cleaning when you're done, from the standard butt spray to various "massage modes," and when you stand up the toilet auto-flushes and cleans the bowl for you again. If you're interested in getting a washlet toilet, they're available in various countries including the USA. Getting one installed would probably involve hiring an electrician, unless you happen to have an electric plug right behind your toilet as nearly all homes in Japan do.

I went shopping for a butt-washing toilet.

Fun Ways of Memorizing Japanese

May 20, 2013, 2:28 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Tuesday, May 28, 2013

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That Steven Spielberg, he's really good at making movies -- you could even say he's "Jaws." In Japanese, the word for being skillful at something is 上手 joh-zu, which happens to be how the English movie title Jaws is pronounced, hence making a fun (?) little pun. Making word connections like this is one of the ways I helped myself learn the language -- I still remember doodling a little shark coming out of the water in my textbook next to this word -- and it's one way to help "trick" your brain into remembering new information. There are many other ways to learn with these mnemonic games. For example, you might memorize the word りんご ringo (apple) by picturing famous Beatle Ringo Starr eating an apple, and to learn the word 死ぬ shinu (to die), just memorize the sentence "She knew he was going to die." Having trouble remembering the word 揺らす yurasu (to shake)? Well, get out on the dance floor and shake yurasu! You can use these mind games to memorize kanji too, since 肉 niku ("meat") actually looks like a pair or ribs, and the kanji 古 furui ("old") looks like a little gravestone. You can even learn hiragana and katakana using these kinds of mind tricks.

Some unique ways of memorizing Japanese.

Cool Products Tuesday, May 28, 2013

May 28, 2013, 1:30 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

Hello Kitty Bilingual Guide Book Visiting Japan? Let Hello Kitty help you with your travel with this cool book. It has everything you need for your trip to Japan including useful phrases and a ton of vocabulary! The book is fully bilingual, with both English and Japanese printed right on the page. From shopping to healthcare to getting a massage, this book contains all the little phases needed to have a great time in Japan. view this product »

	Fruits July 2013 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!		Hobby Japan June 2013 Get the latest information on models and figures with Hobby Japan. From Gunpla to action figures to Nendoroids to tank/airplane models, this magazine's got everything for everyone.
	Navel Color - Aoi Nishimata - An amazing new artbook covering various works of Aoi Nishimata, the company responsible for Shuffle! franchise. Fans of the bishoujo genre will get a kick with this thick artbook.		Koukaku no Pandora 01 From the mind of Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune, Koukaku no Pandora is a cyberpunk action manga with plenty of moe.
	New Hatsune Miku Artbooks See some great artbooks restocked, including the 138E - DX Artbook with works by the top artists in Japan, plus Hatsune Miku and more!		Himeko Inaba Prize Figure ~ Kokoro Connect For fans of hit anime Kokoro Connect comes these awesome and rare prize figures, straight from the game centers in Akihabara.
	The Asuna Goddess Figure Reposted The most beautiful Asuna figure ever is finally in stock. We sold more than 100 of them to preorder customers already but we have a few in stock now.		Other Anime Figures In Stock Too Plus many great figures are in stock now and ready to ship, including characters from series like Steins;Gate, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, Hidamari Sketch and more.
	SAKURA KINRAN Cap Get some fashionable headgear from Japan! This new style of baseball cap comes in two styles: pink sakura & golden tigers.		Japanese Maid Sexy Yukatas A mind-blowing fusion of east and west! This new type of robe combines the elegance of the yukata and the sexiness of maid clothing. Comes in two great colors!
	Colossal Titan Rubber Mask ~ Attack on Titan Whether to freak-out your friends or just have fun at a party, this cool new Japanese mask is sure to be a hit.		Have You See our Wacky Horse Head Masks? They were a big smash at the convention, selling out in a day and a half. What is it about these bizarre horse head masks?
	Awesome Japanese Socks Restocked Our customers keep buying up our awesome Japanese over-knee socks (aka "Absolute Zone" socks), so we keep posting more for you.		Anime Cosplay Glasses A great accessory for cosplayers who are looking to pull off the Mari look at this year's anime conventions. Grab a pair before they sell out again.
	Touhou Project 13.5th ~ Hopeless Masquerade The new Touhou game is here! This time it's an aerial fighting game starring all your favorite characters like Marisa and Reimu. Supplies limited, so buy now!		Big Restocking of PSP, PS3, PSVita Games like White Album ~ Aquaprice, GALGUN Advanced Pantsu, DREAM C CLUB Complete Edition, Hatsune Miku's Project DIVA F, and more restocked.
	SWORD ART ONLINE 8 - LIMITED EDITION (Blu-ray) Continue the awesome SAO anime with volume 8 on Blu-ray. Comes with tons of limited edition extras for fans and collectors. Get 'em while they last!		Evangelion 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo (Blu-ray) The third Rebuild of Evangelion movie is now available in full HD with tons of extras. Buy the limited edition for cool collector's items.
	Rilakkuma Condoms, Other Random Products You never know what strange and wonderful products Japan will have for you next...like official Rilakkuma condoms?		Moshi Moshi Tokyo Glamorous pop idol Kyary Pamyu Pamyu gives you a tour of Tokyo in this fabulous guide book. Great for anyone with an interest in Japanese fashion.
	Our Favorite Crafts from Japan Restocked Craft your fun with this new edition of the Mousse-chan clay sweets shop, the most artful and inventive "paper clay" molds you will ever seen.		Japanese Garden Style A compact and gorgeous miniature Japanese garden is suitable for any room and is very easy to decorate. Comes in 3 beautiful designs.
	Switch Pitch ~ CHIRIMEN Hello Kitty Enhance your game of catch with this fun, transforming ball that flips and changes colors in mid-flight. You won't believe your eyes.		Mini Size Hello Kitty Sakura Display Hello Kitty is back with another great decoration for your home, this time for your desk or genkan (entrance way).
	Pepsi Refresh Shot Get a jolt of energy from Pepsi's newest unique Japanese drink: Refresh Shot!. It's like injecting caffeine into your bloodstream.		Nisemonogatari Wafers w/Limited Cards Show off your fandom with these great Bakemonogatari wafer sets, comes with 24 collector's cards and delicious treats from Japan.
	Tentacle Grape in stock in San Diego! Although it's just a delicious grape soda, Tentacle Grape is more, a fun way to capture the insane spark that is Japan. Restocked in San Diego.		Restocked Japanese Snacks, Too And you will love these new snacks that we have in stock today, with favorites like Japanese Oreo cookies, ramune candy and neri ame and more.
	Today's Restocked Bento Boxes from Japan Beautifully styled bento boxes for your lunch, in the colors of the season. These plus many other types have been restocked (and are still on sale).		Must Have Bento Accessories Lots of great kawaii bento items are also in stock today, including some of our favorites from Hello Kitty, like this cute onigiri maker.
	Sake Cups, Other Traditional Products Plus many great traditional products have been updated today too, like our samurai sword key chains, handmade wooden ninja sword + shunga sake cups!		Asuna (Titania) 1/8 Figure ~ Sword Art Online For Sword Art Online fans, here's a beautiful figure of heroine Asuna in her Titania form from the Fairy Dance arc of the anime.
	Kirino, Kuroneko Figures Chara-ani presents a cute figure of OreImo's Kirino dressed for the beach in this new series swimsuit figures in time for summer.		Yoshika Miyafuji Nendoroid Figure Shinden ver. Cute Yoshika Miyafuji is ready for takeoff in this new Nendroid! She's very posable and comes equipped with her signature gun and propeller legs for exciting battle poses.
	Caster 1/8 Figure ~ Fate /EXTRA CCC Fate/stay night fans looking for something to add to their collection, wait no more! We've got this awesome 1/8 scale figure of busty Caster from Fate/Extra CCC.		Momo Velia Deviluke 1/6 Figure ~ TLR Darkness FromTo Love-Ru Darkness comes this wonderful 1/6 scale figure of Momo Velia Deviluke dressed in sexy lingerie and wearing a bridal veil.
	Supicotto Hetalia THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD BOX A box of 8 super-kawaii figures for Hetalia fans, each with unique phrases that they speak when you press the button on their base. Cool!		School Days, Fate + Muv-Luv Figures Then see other new figures, including a School Days "cast off" figure, Caster from Fate/EXTRA CCC fans + More.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

	BJ JULY 2013 ~ Bejean JULY 2013 NO. 236 Another great issue of Bejean is out, plus many other favorites like Lingerie The Best and Pent-Japan, all filled with hot Japanese honeys.		WAaI! Boys in Skirts vol. 12 July 2013 Bringing you closer to the world of cross-dressing than ever before, this is WAaI magazine! Definitely not your average publication, about boys who dress in skirts.
	Pichi Pichi Highschool Sailor Leotard An amazing new photobook featuring those sexy sailor uniforms we all love, and various gravure Idols in seductive poses.		Amazing Ecchi Photobooks Restocked We restocked some of our favorite ecchi artbooks too, incl. cute girls baring their bodies in busy Tokyo streets + more.
	New Ecchi Manga, Doujinshi Posted Today Follow Tomoe Hanagasa, the chick with the big dick, as she discovers the pleasure of using an onahole. Fans of futanari will be pleased with this 16-page doujinshi.		Those Science Freaks (New and Restocked) Worlds of reality and fantasy collide in this "H" manga fantasy -- plenty of sexual fetishes within, like maid cosplay, yuri, tentacle/monster sex and more.
	Gorgeous Artbooks for 'Oppai' Fans Restocked See fresh stock of popular 2D artbooks, including a very special one for fans of oppai in their many gorgeous forms.		Gorgeous New 'Cast Off' Figures Fans of legendary bishoujo illustrator Tony Taka will love this cast off figure of Rikka Himegami from Tony's original illustration series; T2 Art Girls Saihate no Shirayukihime.
	SOD Star Mihono Sakaguchi SOD delivers an amazing experience to all men out there, with a addition to their line of stress toys made from detailed casts of their top stars, this time with Mihono Sakaguchi.		Oreimo, Other Fun Stress Toys Restocked Enjoy the Working Woman Onahole toy (in this case it means an OL or "office lady" toy complete with stockings), plus something nice for OreImo fans.
	Better Stress Relief Through Science Also, browse our wide selection of cutting-edge stress relief toys from R-1, makers of the Predator Wand Feel Mont Blanc.		A-chan's Cutie Hip, Other Onaholes Restocked What would it be like to spend some quality time with your favorite AKB48 star or other JAV starlets? Browse today's new items.
	Cat Tail ~ Cat Type Anal Plug 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! So popular, it's hard to keep in stock.		Madou Koukaku From top adult strategy game developer Eushully, here's a new title full of challenging gameplay and interesting characters. Great for Ikusa Megami fans!
	Awesome English-language Eroge In Stock Remember, the Song of Saya is shipping and you can order it in shrinkwrapped package for or speedy Internet Download Edition!		AV Debut!! ~ Minami Hirahara (Blu-ray Disc) Cute Minami Hirahara, her tiny body and breasts once had the dream to become member of popular idol group AKB48 but instead decided to turn to her other passion: sex.
	19 Years, The Awake of Sexual Desire ~ Aimi Yoshikawa Aimi Yoshikawa is back again, this time in a wild exploration in which Aimi-chan let go of the brakes and lets her desire take control.		Momo Takai Best Selection 4 Hours From TMA comes this rare occasion for JAV fans to discovers the talents of Momo Takai, a former AV actress with perfect breasts from the early 00's.
	Riko Tachibana Premium Best 4 Hours Riko Tachibana is a former AV actress, very popular in the early 2000's, with a perfect body and insatiable libido. Enjoy this 4 hours best-of from TMA.		Lesbian Battle vol. 4 ~ Mao Mizusawa vs Ayaka Tomoda When two Japanese newscaster are in competition for the same TV show, things can go bad, or exciting, depending on which side of the screen you are...

Finally, New DVD & Blu-ray Discs Finally, we have a super update of ecchi works including Shunka Ayami's delicious new works Obedient Pet Cadet, Zenra Anywhere and Escalated Amateur, plus Momoka & Ryoko in A Wonderful Campaign Girl, Futanari Lesbian 8 Hours and Anal Sexual All Girl Oil Esthetic, Kana Yume's Female Dominance, Yuna Nanjo's Super New Face Debut, plus dynamite hentai works like Rei & Fuko Special Duty Agent and Taimanin Asagi and Soukou Kijo Iris DVD Box, and more! view this product »

The Most Popular Products on J-List Today

May 28, 2013, 1:30 am

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I often like browsing all J-List products by product popularity ranking, to see which products our customers think are most awesome at the present moment in time. Usually there are sexy anime figures at the top of the list, or the latest English eroge release, or the newest bizarre Japanese snack treats -- usually random Japanese versions of products they are familiar with like Green Tea Oreos or Cheeseburger flavored Cheetos. Why not browse these products and see what we have in stock for you?

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Phoenix Comicon Final Report

May 28, 2013, 1:32 am

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Well the Phoenix Comicon is over, and I'm back in San Diego. The show was a blast, and we had tons of fun. We learned that fans in Phoenix are very awesome and dedicated, and also that they're starved for shimapan, horse head masks, BL games and brain-powered Necomimi ears. Though we're old hands at doing these conventions by now, the Phoenix Comicon offered more surprises than most shows we've been to, such as the fire alarm that forced a temporary evacuation of the entire convention center, or the freak electrical problem we had with our trailer while driving back, which we had to patch with -- I swear I am not making this up -- some Tentacle Grape labels we happened to have with us. It was definitely a fun event, and we're happy to add it to our lineup of shows we regularly attend, the others being Anime Expo and the San Diego Comic-Con of course. (Sorry we can't get out to more conventions!)

More fun memories from Phoenix.

The More Japanese You Learn, the Less Girls will Like You

May 28, 2013, 1:33 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Friday, May 31, 2013

≪ Previous: Phoenix Comicon Final Report

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There are certain paradoxes you encounter when dealing with Japan. For example, we often think of the country as a streamlined high-tech land of the future, but in reality things are quite low-tech, like the NHK employee who comes around to manually pick up people's TV-watching fee each month rather than automating the process somehow. Japan is the most polite country in the world, where society's "golden rule" is to never cause 迷惑 meiwaku (inconvenience, trouble) to others...and yet, politicians and pro-Emperor nationalists regularly drive around with speaker cars shouting their loud slogans and annoying everyone. Another paradox I've noticed is the inverse relationship between how much Japanese a foreigner studies and how popular he is with a given member of the opposite sex. For various reasons, Japanese perceive foreigners to be a lot of "fun" and rarely expect us to be able to speak Japanese properly, let alone be capable of appreciating the Tale of Genji in its original 11th century manuscript form. When we do these things, they nod and smile and compliment us, but on some level they probably wish we could be more like the other gaijin are, perhaps belting out an Earth, Wind and Fire number at the karaoke machine while everyone claps instead of singing a sad enka song about the windswept Tsugaru Strait between Aomori and Hokkaido. A male who speaks a little Japanese might find he's more popular with some Japanese females than he might be back at home...but if he goes overboard and studies "too much" Japanese, well, some of those girls might be less attracted to him. On the other hand, my wife took an interest in me specifically because I was able to write the kanji for "rose" (薔薇 bara) on a napkin, which not even Japanese people can write. I'm sure she thought, a foreigner who can write a kanji like this must surely be someone worth getting to know better.

My theory certain explains this guy.

Cool Products Friday, May 31, 2013

May 31, 2013, 12:07 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

Megami Magazine July 2013 Another fabulous issue of Megami Magazine, the #1 magazine at J-List because of all the awesome free stuff they give you in each issue, like the all the cool original posters you get of all your favorite anime girls. In this month's issues you will also get an extra-large double-sided B2 poster, illustrated with the beautiful art from Hentai Ouji to Waranai Neko (Henneko) and everyone's favorite tank themed show, Girls und Panzer. view this product »

	Dengeki Daioh July 2013 Today's issue of Dengeki Daioh features The Devil is a Part-Timer! (aka Hataraku Maou-sama!) manga and comes with an exclusive Chiho figure!		Gothic & Lolita Bible 48 Summer 2013 Dive into gothic lolita culture with a new issue of this fantastic magazine that features beautiful girls in the most elegant dresses you've ever seen.
	Nyanko Phone Accessories Prepare to be overwhelmed by cuteness with this earphone plug accessory for your phone or laptop, shaped like a teeny-tiny cat playing with a ball of string.		Evangelion Towels Two great designs of these official Evangelion towels, with both the STEELE and the Human Instrumentality Project designs.
	Gorgeous 'I Have Few Friends' Figures Posted Sena, Yozora and all the other cuties from Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, are in beautiful figure form and ready to be taken home today.		Other Awesome Figures Posted Today, Too And we have many other great figures, from series like Infinite Stratos, Trigun, Muv-Luv, Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyo, SAO, and Hidamari Sketch.
	New 'Prize' Figures In Stock Today we're posting four very nice prize figures from Akihabara, of our favorite girls from Persona's P4U and the To Love-Ru series.		Real Sake Cups Drink sake the official Japanese way with these high quality traditional square cups or the wacky businessman NSFW sake holders.
	Stylish Japanese Sunglasses Fitting into the new 80s color revitalization we're seeing in Japanese fashion, here are some great sunglasses to keep yourself looking fine.		Black Bar Censor Sunglasses We live to find random wacky products from Japan, and today we restocked the Black Censor Bar sunglasses, which make you look like...nobody.
	Kawaii Tokyo Fashion Items Restocked You can depend on J-List to have interesting Japan fashion products for you, like our Pink Rabbit Zip-Up Parka w/rabbit ears or our Skull Hoodies.		Cute Cat Ears, Other Sexy Cosplay Products See super cute cosplay products restocked, from the Lovely Baby Doll lingerie to cute cat ears + more from Japan's top cosplay makers.
	Stripe Pantsu Restocked See awesome Gothic Lace Over Knee Socks, because every woman should own a pair of these, plus Stripe Panty + Shimapan.		Awesome 'Hachimaki' Headbands Channel the spirit of Japan or use these to focus your concentration in study or in life -- these headbands will put you in the right frame of mind!
	MUV-LUV Alternative ~ Total Eclipse The awesome story of mecha test pilots battling alien invaders is now on the PS3 with incredible graphics and edge-of-your-seat action! Get it now!		Gorgeous Visual Novels from Japan We stock all-ages versions of some great games from Japan's top developers, like Clannad, Air, Rewrite, Witch on the Holy Night and Sonicomi!
	Sushi Origami + More We love the Japanese art of origami (lit. 'folded paper') and today we restocked Origami Sushi, Lucky Cat and even...Green Tea Origami?		Pokemon Hiragana Notebooks, Japanese Pens See lots of Japanese stationery items restocked incl. fun notebooks for writing or learning hiragana, plus awesome Japanese pens + more!
	Bear House Correction Tape, Other Cute Products Correct your mistakes with this very cute correction tape from Japan, plus many other cute office products you can't live without.		Doki Doki Nyan Egg Plush Cats Restocked Speaking of cute plush toys, we restocked several of the Nyan Egg Neko Cat Toys, which you can use as keychains, iPhone straps etc.
	Glico Cookie & Cream Collon Glico, makers of many other wonderful snack foods, bring you the tragically-named flavored cheese snack Collon.		Morinaga Hi-chew Aloe Yogurt Collection Comes with three flavors, original aloe yogurt, apple yogurt, and grapefruit yogurt.
	Awesome Anime Snacks We have some quite amazing snacks from our favorite anime series like SAO cookies, Evangelion chocolate and One Piece gummies.		Japanese Snacks Restocked Our amazing selection of deliciousness from Japan doesn't stop, with many yummy favorites. Check out the yummy matcha Picola.
	3-in-1 Bento Boxes from Ghibli If you love the Ghibli films, then you'll want these Ghibli 3-in-1 bento boxes -- compact and easy to store plus microwavable with the lid opened.		Moon and Rabbits Chopsticks & Case Set Here's a really nice set of chopsticks that are very traditionally Japanese.
	Colorful Bento Boxes Too Plus lots of great bento boxes have been restocked today too, with some especially nice ones for Ghibli and anime fans, with colorful cute character designs.		ARITA Cup & Paulownia Box This high quality Arita porcelain cup is a beautiful piece of Japanese art that you can use in your daily life. Complete with decorative box.
	Awesome Bento Lunch Picks A nice update of Japanese bento accessories, including Uki-Uki Animal Lunch Pics, Vegetable Shapers for Bento and cute bento cups.		Cute Panda Rice Ball Makers, More Enjoy ridiculously cute bento accessories restocked, including our Panda Onigiri Maker and Sandwich Shaper, plus bento picks and more.
	Let's Hobby English! Eigo de Oryori A nice billingual book featuring 40 home cuisine recipes from all over the world, a great way to learn Japanese and cooking at the same time!		Lucky Cat, Other Traditional Products Posted Bring some extra luck into your life with these great new traditional items, of lucky cats, charms, straps and more. Display them in your home or office.
	Saber Alter & Manaka Figures Two sexy bishoujo figures from Fate/Hollow Atraxia and ToHeart2 XRated: Saber Alter in 1/8 scale and Manaka Komaki in 1/5 scale. Rejoice!		Hayate Yagami & Rikka Morizono Nendoroid We got new cute Nendroid figures of Hayate Yagami and Rikka Morizono. With a variety of optional parts have fun posing these delightful Nendroids.
	Macross Crossover Live Plastic Cups Add some glamour to your tableware with the help of Lynn Minmay, Fire Bomber, Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee with this melamine cup! Comes in two designs.		Sandalphon Paper Knife ~ Date A Live Now's your chance to own Touka Yatogami's signature weapon, the Sandalphon with this unique letter opener. We guarantee no paper can resist its power.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

	New adult Magazines - The Best Premium, more... Free pantsu and lingerie as seen in the magazine in this issue of The Best Premium + new JAV magazines avaialble in our adult magazine section.		Epic Photobooks From Japan See other fun photobooks too, including the awesome Bisho Bijo, Japanese high school girls and OLs who have just had water dumped on them. Because Japan.
	Great New Ero Manga See two new "H" manga posted, a collection of awesome gender-bending stories plus the story of a very ecchi teacher and more.		Restocked 'H' Manga Too Another amazing story based hentai manga with great drawing and super sexy characters with big breasts by zen9.
	New Products for Otokonoko Fans Japan loves pretty boys who look just as cute -- if not cuter -- than real girls. Fans of "trap" themes will love the new books we've posted today.		L.L. CANDY A nice new thick and large artbook featuring Kouhaku's work in Gun Knight Girl and Motto Ne-chan to Shiyouyo, from artist Kouhaku Sumeragi.
	Little Busters! Collection Box An incredible collection of miniature Niitengo figures for fans of the popular series Little Busters! Ten figures in all.		Kawaii Rabbit Kiss Adult Toy maker A One and Tokyo Design team up to release this awesome new line of stress relief vibrators for women and men. Check it out.
	Puru Puru Real Sonico Oppai There comes a time when a man needs to feel something soft and round, and for those times, Tamatoys comes through!!		Sword Art Online Parody Onaholes, More Bring your relationship with the girls of SAO to the next level, with the restocked parody toys from Tamatoys. Recommended for "solo players."
	The Best Personal Lotion in the World Japanese lotion is the best in the world, and we've restocked several varieties for you, incl. the official Sena Kashiwazaki and Kuroneko lotion.		A Certain Ona Hole Cleaner Live a happy and clean onanie life with this amazing detergent especially engineered for onaholes. Comes with cleaning sponges too.
	LEWDNESS ~ Vita sexualis ~ From the creator of Bible Black, Starless, and Discipline, a mind-blowing visual novel packed with every fetish you desire. Not for the faint of heart!		Cosplayer Q : 3.00 We Can (Not) Redo The adult industry celebrates Evangelion's climax with a new juicy cosplay focused hardcore release from TMA, featuring all your favorite characters...
	Akiho Yoshizawa 10th Anniversary Box Fans of Akiho Yoshizawa rejoice! Maxing has put together this amazing 3 DVD box to celebrate Acky's debut 10th anniversary. A must have!		BAZOOKA ~ Ran Niiyama (region 2) The crew from Muteki introduces another serious rival to Hitomi Tanaka and a new kyonyu star, the hot 110cm K-cup bust Ran Miiyama.
	Bishojo Orgy Collection 4 Hours From Uchu Kikaku comes this new hardcore release featuring tons of cute Japanese girls in school uniform, in an amazing group "H" action release.		Restocked Ecchi Anime from Japan Then see restocked "H" anime DVDs, including the DISCODE series that's so much fun to play because it's an interactive game + Tsundere Inran Shojo Sukumi!

Forbidden Lesbian Dormitory Finally, a huge update of popular DVD & Blu-ray titles, including the WAAP Super Best series starring Hina Akiyoshi, Yuna Shiina and more (8 hours each), several popular "debut" works including Azumi Kinoshita, Rui Tsukimoto and Yuki Maehara, Minako Komukai's Alice Japan debut, Bakunyu Guerrilla Sex and other works starring Hitomi Tanaka, the Forbidden Lesbian Dormitory and other all girl titles, plus the Kyonyu 15 Years History and 100 Cute Tokyo Girls 16 Hours collection. Wow! view this product »

Cute Cats for your Phone

May 31, 2013, 12:15 am

≫ Next: When The Higurashi Cry, It's Hot

≪ Previous: Cool Products Friday, May 31, 2013

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J-List loves to find cute products from Japan, like the awesome cute cats for your phone that have won our customers' hearts. The cats sit in your earphone jack and...do nothing at all, but he does it in such a cute way it's extremely charming. We posted some new cute cat toys for your phone today, cats that play with a ball of string (attached to a chain). Browse the newest iPhone and Android phone accessories from Japan now!

When The Higurashi Cry, It's Hot

May 31, 2013, 12:16 am

≫ Next: Foreigners Asking "Why?" About Japan

≪ Previous: Cute Cats for your Phone

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There are many powerful images of summer in Japan, including visiting the Tanabata festival while wearing a yukata, lightning fireworks with friends, enjoying かき氷 kaki-gohri (shave ice) or a bottle of ramune, or taking in the pleasant aroma of mosquito coils burning inside ceramic pig. But for me, nothing represents Japan's hot, humid summers like the endless drone of cicadas, which make their min-min-miiiiin sound outside my window all summer long. In Japanese the insects are known as semi, though they've got an alternate name which will be more familiar to anime fans: 日暮し higurashi, a somewhat romanticized name written with kanji that also mean "sunset." Unlike in the U.S., which faces a massive swarm of 17-year cicadas this summer, the Japanese versions of the bugs are there every year, happily providing background noise for summer.

Higurashi are a symbol of summer in Japan.

Foreigners Asking "Why?" About Japan

May 31, 2013, 12:16 am

≫ Next: The Japanese Passenger on the Titanic

≪ Previous: When The Higurashi Cry, It's Hot

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When a foreigner goes to Japan, especially for an extended period of time rather than a brief visit as a tourist, they usually start to ask why? about everything they see. Why do the Japanese love aloe flavored yogurt so much? Why do Hello Kitty melons sometimes cost thousands of dollars? Why is it bad luck to sleep with one's head pointed north, and how is it that the Japanese are the cleanest people on the planet yet when you go into a public restroom there's usually an old, gross cup by the sink, inviting you to take a drink of water? When confronted with these questions, Japanese often don't have a good answer, perhaps because these things have always been around them all their lives and are thus taken for granted, or perhaps (as I've been told by a Japanese friend), they don't think all that deeply about their own society. The confused feeling when a foreigner asks "why?" about some aspect of Japan is one the Japanese staff of J-List knows all too well, I'm afraid, since I often bounce the strangest questions off them when I'm researching these little updates I write.

Foreigners often ask "why?" about what they see in Japan.

The Japanese Passenger on the Titanic

May 31, 2013, 12:17 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Monday, June 3, 2013

≪ Previous: Foreigners Asking "Why?" About Japan

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It's fun to delve into history and see what interesting people you can find, like Nakahama "John" Manjiro, the first Japanese to visit the U.S. back in 1841, or six Christian samurai who decided to settle permanently in Spain in 1617, which has blossomed to 700 descendants today. Then there's the lone Japanese passenger on the Titanic. Masabumi Hosono was an employee of the Japanese Transportation Ministry sent to Russia to study railroads, and after finishing his assignment, he prepared to cross the Atlantic on the Titanic. When the ship had its fateful collision with an iceberg at 11:40 pm on April 14, Mr. Hosono was asleep, and didn't wake until someone knocked on the door of his second-class cabin to tell him to put his life-vest on. He eventually made his way to the lifeboats and, hearing an announcement that there was room in lifeboat no. 10, he jumped in. His life was saved, but he might have wished it hadn't been: he was attacked in the Japanese press for living when so many others had died, and fired from his job at the ministry, and some even called for him to commit suicide to atone for his dishonorable act. If he'd died, the world of music would have been less bright: he was the grandfather of Haruomi Hosono, one of the founding members of the influential band YMO, which helped bring Ryuichi Sakamoto to the world stage in the 80s.

His failure to die on the Titanic caused his family decades of dishonor.

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Cool Products Monday, June 3, 2013

June 3, 2013, 12:51 am

≫ Next: New Sale at J-List! 2x J-List Points on All Figures!

≪ Previous: The Japanese Passenger on the Titanic

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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

NyanType July 2013 This is a new issue of the super popular NyanType, a Megami-like magazine with 16 awesome posters latest bishoujo anime series, and more. This month you will find some amazing posters from the series A Certain Scientific Railgun S, Haiyore! Nyarko-san W, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Force, STEINS;GATE movie and more, plus you also get a clear file folder with the characters from Oreimo. view this product »

	Restocked Magazines for 'Fujoshi' If you're a "rotten girl" (female fan of girl-centric otome games, Yaoi or BL), we restocked some great magazines and more for you.		Ore ga Heroin wo Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Apocalypse 1 What happens when the hero saves too many heroines? A little apocalypse that will encompassing all of time, space!
	Highschool of the Dead Full Color Editions! The *full color* printing of the Highschool of the Dead manga, a wonderful new release that's B5 extra large size with furigana phonetics for easy reading.		Gorgeous Anime Figures In Stock We have a great Kururi Orihara figure, cute Totoro towels, Nisemonogatari figures, Kuroyukihime from Accel World and more, ready to take home.
	Rilakkuma Kigurumi Short Sleeve Jump into this full body kigurumi costume and become the always cute Rilakkuma. No relation to that other bear from Japan.		Cute Japanese Fashions, Accessories Posted Plus you'll find some other super kawaii items in fashion category, with cool tote bags, sakura pocket tissue cases, cat styled outerwear and many more.
	Unlock Your Inner Samurai See our popular kiseru pipes which are incredibly popular with our customers, plus great new wooden geta sandals for summer.		Spotted on the iTunes Japan store Find great anime songs on iTunes Japan, like the newest Love Live single or the new Maji Love 2000% theme.
	Kud Wafter - Converted Edition - PSP The fabulous Little Busters spin off starring the adorable Kud is now available on PSP! Great for fans of cute girls and beautiful artwork.		Awesome Doujin Games in Stock Also, check out a fun doujin puzzle game based on Madoka Magica, plus other great indie games like Paca Plus and Getsuei Gakuen.
	Cute Hello Kitty Kimono Fabric Products We posted some great Hello Kitty traditional coin purses for holding your money, plus pocket tissue cases compatible with J-List tissues!		The New ENGLISH Dictionary Secret Safe Box Keep your valuables in a safe that looks like a real dictionary! A great way to fool people who might be searching for your stash.
	Shirokuma Cafe, Rilakkuma Plush Toys From the Shirokuma Cafe (Polarbear Cafe) comes the kawaii characters in plushy form. Both Shirokuma and Panda-kun are here today.		Are You 'Takoyaki Curious'? You've been tempted by our new Microwave Taiyaki Cooker, now enjoy our brand new Takoyaki Cooker. Makes them just like in Osaka.
	Totoro Bento Cloths Bento are traditionally wrapped in cloth that also becomes a place mat for when you eat. Here's a fun way to wrap your bento with the help of Totoro!		Totoro Message Stamps, More Restocked Lots of crazy cute Totoro products to be had, like the Totoro tree house, the Totoro and Sho plush mascots and key chains, and the Totoro small stamp set.
	New Tools for Learning Kanji Improve your Japanese through the fundamentals of Japanese writing, with these Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji practice notebooks.		New and Restocked Japanese Pens Lots of Japanese pens and notebooks restocked, plus our popular Mameshiba Kanji Practice Notebooks + wacky erasers.
	Lots of Japanese Snacks Enjoy a big update of unique Japanese snacks today, including seaweed flavor "Curl" corn snacks plus delicious Ju-C candy in Sports Drink flavor.		Lotte Fit's Gum Green Citrus Mix Adding a little kick to your taste buds, Lotte has released two new flavors of its Fit's gum, Grape and Citrus. Yum!
	Restocked Japanese Snacks Enjoy some of the wacky snacks that have been restocked today, like the delicious Frito-Lay cheeseburger flavored Cheetos, ramune Hi-Chew and more.		Meiji Pokepachi ~ Grape Flavor Enjoy fun new snacks from Japan, incl. Poke-Pachi Pokemon pop rock candy that pops in your mouth. Why are you so awesome, Japan?
	GLIT & BRILLIA Bento Boxes, Chopsticks, More Or go modern this year with matching vibrant bento boxes, chopsticks and side dish containers, all from the creative Japanese minds of GLIT & BRILLA.		Traditional and Kawaii Bento Posted, Too Check out our great bento boxes too, with stylish traditional designs, but made with microwave and dishwasher safe materials. There's a size for everyone!
	Cool 'Deco Bento' Accessories, More Plus all the great bento accessories you need to make beautiful and artistic bento boxes, full of animal shapes and cuteness.		Kawaii Chopsticks, 'Shinkansen' Spoon Awesome Hello Kitty training chopsticks posted today, along with other fun Sanrio products for bento fans. So cute!
	Our Most Popular Japanese Umbrella J-List carries the awesome clear umbrellas that can be found everywhere in Asia -- an ironic way to keep dry just like the Japanese do.		TENKAMUTEKI Fan ~ Black A foldable fan with a style that is popular with rebels, bikers, and oendan, those wild rock concert lovers. Great for cosplay too.
	Yakuza Tattoo Sleeves, Other Traditional Items Make your room into a study dojo, with these, lucky statues of fortune, incense sticks, Yakuza-style tattoos, Shinsengumi lanterns and more.		Beautiful Ceramic Cups + More Posted The most gorgeous coffee cup we've ever carried is restocked, with beautiful images of sakura baked into high quality ceramics. We love sakura!
	Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi Doll & Haruyuki Plushie The cute Tsukiko Tsutsukakushi Pureneemo doll and equally kawaii Haruyuki Avatar Plushie are both on preorder today. Grab one now!		Metal Gear Solid Play Arts Kai Action Figures Fans of the hit video game series, Metal Gear Solid, will love our two new action figures of Liquid Snake and Raiden -- tons of detail and optional parts.
	Miku Hatsune 1/8 Figure 'Shinkai Shoujo' ver. Miku Hatsune fans will enjoy this new 1/8 scale figure based on the popular Nico Nico video "Deep Sea Girl" -- an awesome figure for your Vocaloid collection!		Hidamari Sketch x Honeycomb Beach Queens Gentlemen, prepare your nutbladders. Two new Beach Queens featuring the cute residents of Hidamari Apartments; Nazuna and Nori from Hidamari Sketch.

New and Restocked NSFW / 18+ products

	Lingerie The Best vol. 27 Get closer to your favorite JAV stars with another issue of Lingerie The Best, with actual pantsu and other lingerie right in the box for you.		Ushijima Iiniku Collection The queen of Japanese Erotica, Ushijima Iiniku, known for her sexy performances at various Japanese anime conventions, is back with a brand new photobook.
	Gorgeous Hardcover Photobooks Restocked We love Japan's high quality photobooks and never fail to post the best ones to the site. See the wonderful offering of Azusa Nagasawa for you today.		Dynamite Housekeeper Ayame Need a housekeeper? Just call Ayame. Her excellent housekeeping skills and "extra" services will leave customers satisfied and coming for more.
	EROS Survival 1 EROS Survival is an online game show where contestants can win one million dollars. The winner gets the money, the losers are subjected to sexual stimulation.		DCSM ~ Da Capo Sweet Memories 1 The biggest eroge franchise brings us Da Capo Sweet Memories, a hentai manga features your favorite heroines such as Nemu, Kotori. Fans rejoice!
	Japanese H-Manga Restocked, Too Newly restocked titles: Itazura na Hip, Mochizuki San no Koibumi, Cho Nyu for you, Pet Robot Lilly 2 and more.		Awesome 2D Artbooks Restocked Great news: the out-of-print To LOVE-Ru artbook is back in stock for a limited time, plus we have Happoubi Jin, Shirow and more.
	I Love Paradise Give yourself some personal care with this delightful sweet new onahole which shape will adapt and change to fit you better as you use it.		Amazing Stress Toys Restocked Enjoy some wonderful toys, like the Ikkitousen Parody -- Extreme Impact, Anal Doctor and Goku Fella oral simulator.
	Amazing Fellatio Simulation Toys This is great, a highly detailed and meticulously engineered toy that simulates oral play. It's super realistic, doesn't mind if you shoot inside.		Love Body Miyu Doll + Onahole Restocked Stress can really pile up on you if you're not careful, which is why J-List stocks innovative love dolls + accessories for you to play with.
	Onahole Toys w/ Pantsu? See some great ero toys for couples, like underwear with a special remote control massager inside. Think of the fun you can have!		We Recommend: Professor Cherry Combo Pack We've been making combo games on DVD-ROM in order to keep our titles in print. This set features Cherry and I'm Gonna Nurse You 1 & 2!
	Girls Panzer Blitz GalPan fans, the ultimate doujin game is here! Lead your favorite girls and tanks through over 25 challenging strategy maps to win ecchi rewards!		DISCIPLINE Mahjong DX1 Do you love the sexy art of Bible Black and Discipline? Well here's a fun spinoff that pits you against the Discipline girls in a game of strip mahjong!
	WAAP Super Best 8 Hours w/ Reira Aisaki From the Waap label comes this amazing best-of Blu-ray featuring the gorgeous Reira Aisaki, a nice collection of performance in high definition.		Super High Class Nozomi Asou From SOD Create comes this new release featuring the hot Nozomi Aso devoted to give the best relaxation and stress relief services you could imagine.
	Beautiful Onesan Cat Fight 2 An amazing new lesbian production that will delight any amateurs of "cat fights," 4 rounds featuring hot Japanese mature women decided to have it the hard way.		White Fairy Again -- Rola Misaki Rola Takizawa is back in JAV again, under her new name Rola Misaki, checkout her brand new release and performances, from the Prestige label.

Lots of Restocked Ero DVDs + More Finally, a nice restocking of our ecchi DVD & Blu-ray titles, including the popular Northern and Eastern Europe Girls vs. Japanese men, the debug releases of Saaya Minami and Shelby Wakatsuki, my waifu Nana Ogura's Sex Carnival, awesome lesbian "Stop the Time" and Lesbian Esthetic titles (several), DISCODE and Venus Blood for hentai fans, School Swimsuit H The Best 8 Hours, Kurumi Tachibana 8 Hours Special and Momoka Nishina 8 Hours Collection! view this product »

New Sale at J-List! 2x J-List Points on All Figures!

June 3, 2013, 12:51 am

≫ Next: Use of Alternate History in Anime: Samurai Girls

≪ Previous: Cool Products Monday, June 3, 2013

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It's a new month, and a new sale from J-List! This month we're giving 2x points off all awesome anime figures, including prepainted figures, the amazing super-posable Figma and Revoltech action figures, the super-kawaii Nendoroid line, plus "cast off" (naughty) figures. Click to browse all anime figures, ranked in order of awesomeness by our intelligent, attractive customers!

Use of Alternate History in Anime: Samurai Girls

June 3, 2013, 12:52 am

≫ Next: Changes in Japan for Gaijin

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Like other forms of media, there are many types of stories to be found in anime, including love comedy, various kinds of romance story (love triangles, yuri, yaoi), and of course plenty of hard-core sci-fi action. There's also a healthy traditional of "alternate history" to be found in anime, such as The Ambition of Oda Nobuna, classical Japanese history remixed with cute moe girls; Koihime Musou, a reworking of the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms in eroge form; Strike Witches, World War II-era magical girls (?) fighting aliens with the power of pantsu; and Muv-Luv, in which humans reach the moon in 1967 only to find a murderous race of aliens who then invade Earth over several decades. I recently started watching Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride, the sequel to the fan service-laden Samurai Girls. The story is set in a steam-punk -- or more accurately, "Edo-punk" -- world in which the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate never relinquished power and the era of Bushido never ended. The show itself can be summed up as Queen's Blade with samurai swords and lots of ecchi jokes, but the stylized world they create is surprisingly deep and interesting. Our upcoming Nitroplus erogeHanachirasu is another example of alternate history, set in a world in which the atomic bomb was not completed in time to force Japan to surrender, resulting in Kyushu and Hokkaido being occupied by the U.S. and the Soviet Union permanently. When guns are banned from Tokyo, mega-corporations are forced to hire sword-wielding mercenaries to protect their interests.

Samurai Bride is an alternate world of sword-wielding girls.

Changes in Japan for Gaijin

June 3, 2013, 12:53 am

≫ Next: The Grammar Behind "Fruits Basket"

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I saw on online discussion board that asked ex-pats living in Japan whether life there has changed for the better since they arrived, and my answer is a resounding yes. The current age of smartphones and the Internet aside, there have been many serious improvements for gaijin living in Japan since I arrived back in 1991, from the ability to travel around Tokyo without being exposed to endless cigarette smoke to the general flow of useful innovations from the outside world that have improved the lives of people in various ways. Japan has a normal capitalist economy in which companies compete to bring the best products to market, but many industries from books to music CDs had special rules allowing manufacturers to set prices artificially, resulting in higher profits in the short term but companies that were slow to change when the Internet came knocking a few years later. One area that has improved a lot has been banking: back in the day ATMs used to close at 7 pm Monday through Saturday and were closed all day Sunday...and all holidays, meaning if you forget to get cash out before Golden Week you had to starve. Attitudes inside Japan have improved, too: twenty years ago, it would have been highly irregular for company with a female president and an American vice president to exist, but nowadays it's not surprising at all.

Japan has changed much in 20 years.

The Grammar Behind "Fruits Basket"

June 3, 2013, 12:55 am

≫ Next: Cool Products Wednesday, June 5, 2013

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A few weeks ago I went with my son to an onsen hot spring, which is a rarity these days since he's getting too old to do boring stuff with his dad. While we were in the bath area, he asked me to get him a "buckets," using the plural form of the English word, and so I brought him two of the little buckets used for splashing water on yourself, knowing of course that he only wanted one. For phonetic reasons, some English words are imported into Japanese in their plural forms, including words like shirt, suit, swimsuit, peanut, fruit and sport. These words are always used with the 's' sound on the end (e.g. shirts, suits, swimsuits, peanuts, etc.), even if you're talking about just one of the item. In Japanese, one refers to a suitcase as a "suitscase," and it takes the brain a few months to get over the weirdness of this. Learning to ask for a "peanuts butter sandwich" or some "Minutes Maid Orange Juice" are similar, as is the English word "bucket," which always appears as "buckets" in Japanese. There seem to be three reasons for some English words being mapped to their plural forms like this. First is the rather convenient lack of singular/plural in Japanese grammar: saying 花が奇麗 hana ga kirei could mean either "the flower is pretty" or "the flowers are pretty" depending on how many flowers you happen to discussing, and as a result, the Japanese don't sweat the plural/singular state of a word any more Americans consider the gender of nouns in Spanish when they speak English. Another reason is that the softer tsu ending on the plural forms is easier for Japanese to pronounce than a hard 't' consonant sound. Finally, converting some words to their plural forms also avoids the dreaded L/R confusion that can be a problem in the language. Because "fruit" and "flute" would have the exact same pronunciation when rendered in katakana, the musical instrument became フルート furuuto and the stuff you eat became フリーツ furuutsu. So now you know where Fruits Basket gets its rather unique name from.

I had a friend who would put his hands over his ears every time he heard Fruits Basket.