The Star Wars Celebration IV convention continues, and we’re having lots of fun. Highlights have included Carrie Fisher coming by our booth and fawning over our “beware perverts” T-shirt, talking about the intricacies of Japanese dating-sim games with Jedi Master Kit Fisto, and seeing a fun Boba Fett dressed as a clown, along with an entire legion of other cosplayers. The Opening Ceremonies were great too, featuring the official unveiling of the new Star Wars stamps by the U.S. Postal Service, a professional belly-dancing Metal Bikini Leia and a Star Wars birthday cake, complete with cake for all the fans, too. This con is quite a rare event, and there are visitors from all over the world here. It’s especially fun to see the “Stormtrooper Nationalism,” with costumers tweaking their uniforms to match their nation of origin, like berets on the French 501st and a sombrero-sporting Stormtrooper from Mexico. As always, we’re having fun meeting customers and selling the “Japanese Chewbacca” (as many fans say when they see our Domo-kun plush toys). If you’re able to be at the show on Monday, come say hit to us in booth 924!
The Japanese are great lovers of all forms of bathing, and many onsen (OWN-sen, volcanic hot spring baths) have been in use in Japan for over a thousand years. The Japanese are also fans of thinking of long lists of ailments that a given hot spring will supposedly cure, and part of the challenge for an onsen-loving gaijin is learning enough kanji to be able to read these various medical ailments, which include chills, arthritis/rheumatism, muscle cramps, piles, heat rash, “feminine” health conditions, and nerve issues. The Japanese tendency for assigning various healing properties to things can cause problems sometimes, especially with Japanese TV shows that love to get creative with the facts (known as yarase or “faking it”) in the interest of higher ratings. When a TV station in Osaka showed a documentary citing American research that indicated dozens of health benefits of eating natto, Japan’s famous fermented soybeans, they caused a national run on the food, making it impossible to find in stores for days. The trouble is, the evidence was almost completely fabricated, which caused a huge scandal for the station.
When you start to learn a foreign language, it’s important to be flexible and come up with strategies for learning that fit you. These can take many forms — in the beginning I treated Japanese sentences as if they were mathematical equations, which allowed me to swap out the object, subject and verbs like changing variables. I later embraced karaoke as a study aid, transcribing Japanese songs to help me remember the lyrics. To practice his English spelling, my son pronounces words as they’re written, for example saying the “gh” in “enough” until he’s internalized the spelling properly. The Japanese are good at coming up with interesting ways of studying, since they’re arguably the most studious people on Earth. One method I thought was cool is the “Zebra Check Set” that lets you highlight the information you’re trying to memorize with a special pen then place a plastic sheet over the page causing that part of the page to disappear, allowing you to quiz yourself until you have the information down.
Remember, you can get your favorite anime, JPOP/JROCK, manga, Tokyo fashion, cosplay and other magazines sent to you every month through J-List’s popular “reserve subscription” system. Here’s how it works: order the subscription item and we’ll hold it in the system for you, and send each issue of the magazine you want to you until you ask us to stop. You never have to pay in advance, and you can stop or change subscriptions at any time. All magazines are chosen for their great content and color pictures, so you can enjoy them even if you can’t read the Japanese. Browse our subscription mags now!
