The Japanese like to drink, and beer is usually the drink of choice. Whenever you have a frosty one, it’s customary to eat “otsumami” (OH-tsu-mah-mee), a word which means any snack food you munch on with alcohol. There are many of these foods sold alongside alcohol in liquor and convenience stores, some of which might look quite odd to Westerners. First there’s “kakipea,” spicy rice crackers with peanuts, a favorite of the J-List staff. I am also partial to “chee-kama” or little sausages of steamed fish (kamaboko) with cheese inside. Another treat that goes well with beer are fried okra, which taste like potato chips but are healthier. Spicy beef jerky is often eaten with beer, as is saki-ika, or dried, shredded squid, which seems to taste better the longer I live in Japan. If you don’t like the idea of eating squid, think of it using its other name, cuttlefish, but trust me, it’s really good.
It goes without saying, but the dynamics at work between the sexes in Japan are quite different from the West, with men and women filling roles that might seem incredibly sexist and outdated to outsiders. Often, it’s interesting to analyze the words Japanese people use every day for clues about the relationships between men and women. Two popular words for a person’s wife are oku-san and kanai, which mean “Mrs. Interior” and “In-The-House” and are an echo from an era when women really did stay home all day. (My wife gets a big kick out of these words.) Words for husband include shujin and danna, which basically mean “master” when you look at the original kanji characters. Of course, Japanese aren’t aware of the meanings of these words on a conscious level, any more than we reflect on the Greek or Latin origins of the words we use in English, but it is still interesting to pick apart the words nevertheless. I recommend Womensword by Kittredge Cherry for more information on understanding women through language.
Japanese companies are very good at coming up with special events to promote their products. The meat industry pushes February 9th as “meat day” because 2 and 9 (“ni” and “ku” in Japanese) make up the word for meat in Japanese (“niku”). On February 14th, women show their feelings for men by giving them chocolate. The commercial powers-that-be have established White Day, March 14, as the day when men must return the favor, giving white chocolate or other doilies back to women. Japan’s optometrists designate October 10 as “Eye Day” (Me no Hi) because “10 10” looks like two eyes with eyebrows if you look sideways. And the Glico Confectionery Company has proclaimed that November 11 is “Pocky Day” because the “11/11” looks like little Pocky sticks. In commemoration of Pocky Day tomorrow, we’ve stocked lots of different flavors of Japan’s delicious chocolate pretzel snacks for you, including traditional Chocolate Pocky and the amazing new Cocoa Powder Pocky!
At J-List, we carry some truly amazing items from Japan. Since we love sushi, we’re happy to offer many sushi-related items, from the 2005 Joy of Sushi calendar to Sushi Gummi, delicious fruit-flavored gummy fish on marshmallow rice, a popular product J-List has been bringing the world for years. We also sell an item I personally love, sushi clocks made with real hand-made wax sushi, with chopsticks for minute and hour hands and a toothpick for the second hand. The detail of the wax sushi is incredible, good enough to eat. To make it easier for you to give these amazing clocks as gifts this year, we’ve lowered the prices of all clocks. Don’t delay, as our stock is limited to what we have on hand.
Remember that J-List carries the ultra-cute “Groomy” plush pet line from Elecom, cute plush toys designed with soft chamois bottoms to wipe away dust and fingerprints from your computer screen. We stock both the normal sized Groomy pets as well as the small-sized Chibi Groomy, which include a phone strap/keychain so you can take it with you anywhere.
