Hello again from all your friends at J-List!
In my general overview of the Japanese language and collection of advice for anyone interested in learning Japanese, one thing I touch upon is “find what floats your boat”– to find interests that relate to Japanese which help move you forward a little bit each day. Learning Japanese is incredibly difficult, so you need hobbies and interests related to Japanese in order to succeed. I got a lot out of reading Japanese manga, such as Touch (a famous baseball comic), Fist of the North Star, and Orange Road. Reading manga for enjoyment really helped teach me a lot, and gave me a constant stream of new vocabulary words. I also learned that karaoke was a fun way to learn Japanese, and I memorized several songs to sing at karaoke bars and restaurants in San Diego. Japanese always love it when foreigners sing songs in Japanese, so I got a lot of positive feedback, too. I’ve seen friends get into Japanese through martial arts, and leaning Japanese by playing RPGs in the original language is another interesting hobby to have. To see my general advice for anyone wanting to learn Japanese, see my personal homepage at http://www.peterpayne.net .
I remember reading through old Saint Seiya manga, while in college in the 80’s, and wondering why they always write the blood type of each character along with their name, age and astrological sign. In Japan, it’s believed that you can tell a lot about a person’s personality and character traits from his blood type. Type A people are neat, tidy, and plan things meticulously, almost to a fault. Type B are “going my way” (as the Japanese say), meaning that they do their own thing without worrying about the opinions of others, and don’t plan things out in advance. They can be messy, and tend to act on impulse (I am type B, and my wife is always commenting on why do some things I do based on my blood type). Type O people have a private world inside their minds, supposedly, and they’re quick to become passionate about something, but then change to something else just as easily. Type O people have the ability to lead others. Finally, AB people have “two faces,” one that they make in front of some people and another one they keep to themselves. Like the various beliefs that are related to Buddhism (such as, you’re not supposed to sleep with your pillow facing north, as this is reserved for the dead before cremation), the Japanese blood type beliefs are hard to get used to at first, but when you live in Japan long enough, you start thinking there might be something to them after all…
For the new update, our hardworking staff has posted many new items for you, including:
- First, now that Christmas is behind us, it’s time to think about New Year’s, a very important holiday in Japan — enjoy the authentic Japanese New Year’s decorations we’ve posted today
- For fans of anime on DVD, we’ve got the excellent Japanese DTS release of Akira, the famous anime film by Katsuhiro Otomo, with many extras and full English subtitles and dubbed tracks (region 2)
- If you love Hello Kitty, look for several nice items, including great things for babies, a fun Kitty notebook, fun “puffy” stickers, and more
- For fans of Lupin III, we’ve got a great line of Choro Q “super deformed” vehicles and characters that are just too cool
- Also in the “very cool” department, new plush items by Sun Arrow, the high-quality toy maker that is the official licensor of Totoro toys — the items we’ve posted today are extremely cool
- We’ve got fresh stock of the best-selling Three-Colored Cat Mirror, a beautiful and very Japanese item for your room
- The Hyper Godzilla sets are proving very popular, so we’ve posted some more sets for you today
- Parody items are popular in Japan, products that parody other products. Look for some cute parody items in stock today
- For lovers of Tokyo Mew Mew, the super cute show that out Sailor Moons Sailor Moon, we’ve got a high-quality Japanese pencil case with many pockets and features
- If you’re a Star Wars fans looking for something really cool, check out the Jango Fett soft vinyl figure we’ve got — made by Kotobukiya and only for the Japanese market
- Another really cool item, Heroes of the Sengoku Period, feature figures of real Japanese historic persons from Japan’s “Country at War” period, really nice.
- Finally, for fans of Japanese snacks, we’ve got new items, including delicious Japanese calcium snacks, Lotte “Ghana” chocolate, grape gummi treats that are fun to eat, a large restocking of Pocky and other popular treats we sell, and more!
Remember that J-List offers many magazines via subscription, including our best-selling subscriptions like Urecco, Bejean, Best Video, Video Boy, Gal’s Dee and more. These are available by 6- or 12-month subscriptions, and you get 1 or 2 free issues with each subscription.
Also, Remember that J-List is the only place you can get the excellent and authentic high school uniforms from Matsukameya of Nagoya. These are extremely well made uniforms that are famous all over Japan, and they’re just beautiful. They’re not cheap, unfortunately, but we know that you will be totally satisfied with the high quality of Matsukameya’s products.
