Hello again from your friends in Japan!
Things have really changed in Japan in the last twelve years or so that I’ve been living here. When I came to Japan, the effects of the Japanese bubble economy were still to be seen everywhere, and it was not hard to find expensive melons that cost $30 (they’re very expensive because you give them to others as gifts), or shops with three times as many employees as customers. I also used to pay $35 for a haircut, but oh, what a haircut it was. Over the course of about two hours, I sat in a comfortable barber’s chair, getting my hair carefully cut to perfection. My face was steamed with hot towels twice, shaved with aloe, and steamed again. My ear lobes were carefully shaved, and ear and nose hair deftly removed by the pretty and professional woman doing my haircut, and after that, I got a full massage. It was great. Now Japan’s economy has cooled, and I find myself going to a less expensive establishments, paying around $10 for a “cut only.” It’s cheaper, but a lot less fun.
Employment in Japan is very different from in the U.S. When J-List goes to hire Japanese staff members, we first call up the local Hello Work (that’s what the local employee office is called) to see if they’ve got anyone in their lists with the skills we need. We also run advertisements in the newspapers, and also in some weekly “employment journals” that are published in each Japanese city. When candidates come for their interviews, they always bring a filled-out Japanese “rireki-sho” or standardized resume form, which has spaces for writing all pertinent information about education, job experience, interests, and of course, blood type. Resumes like those used in America aren’t used in Japan at all — you just fill out the standardized form and stick your photograph to the proper area. In the past, Japan allowed companies to list jobs for “women” and “men,” and of course statements that only applicants under the age of 30 would be considered were commonplace. However, this practice has become illegal, an example of Japan taking America’s lead in workplace law.
When Western couples are going to have a baby, they might consult a book of names, which presents a list of possible names for boys and girls along with the etymology of each name is, and so on. Japanese have similar books, but it’s a bit more complicated, as there are “lucky” and “unlucky” names depending on which kanji you choose. My son was to be named Kazuma, which is “kazu” (peace) and “ma” (horse), but my wife consulted a family’s Buddhist priest, who warned us that names with animal kanji in them were bad luck and would result in an unhappy life for the child. So we changed it to Kazuki, which is “kazu” (peace) and “ki” (a kanji for tree), which is much luckier. The number of strokes in a name is also important in Japan. When we named our daughter Rina, we chose the name partially because it has the exact same number of strokes as my wife’s name, another lucky sign. (To see the characters for “Kazuma” and “Kazuki,” see this link: http://www.jlist.com/kazuki.jpg) Incidentally, the Western custom of naming a son after the father is never done in Japan (except for Lupin III, who is really half-French, half-Japanese, so he doesn’t count).
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for Godzilla fans, we’ve got the new Godzilla vs. Mecha Godzilla, a superb film from 2002 that features the best action and special effects so far, with many story elements taken from the original 1954 version (region 2, Japanese only)
- We’ve been anime fans for quite a while at J-List and have fond memories of St. Seiya, the classic anime and manga from the 1980s — and we’re happy to report that we’ve got full sets of a great new miniature figure set in stock for you! As always, we go out of our way to make sure full sets are available to you, with no duplicates
- For Kitty fans, we’ve got some great items you can’t get outside of Japan, including a Kitty payphone that looks like the real ones they have here (this one is a coin bank though), and cute “Kitty Fruit Mascots” that you will die for
- For fans of the super-kawaii “nyanko (meow-child) restaurant,” super cute plush kitties wrapped in Japanese foods
- For fans of delicious snacks and food from Japan, enjoy some new items, including Baked Chestnut Toppo, delicious rice crackers from Hokkaido, gummi candy that tastes like topical fruits, and soup that goes great with sushi
- If you love the beautiful artwork of Amano Yoshitaka, creator of some of the best art in Japan including the Vampire Hunter D,
- For fans of lovely photobooks, check out Megumi Fukushita’s first photobook, very cute and sexy in her swimsuit
- Do you like traditional Japanese things? We’ve got some great items for you, including a new Japanese noren curtain, real bamboo chopsticks, and a cool new incense burner from Japan
- Also, we’ve gotten in some cool new Japanese tatami sandals, aka “zori,” which are really cool and very authentically Japanese
- We’ve got some cool restocked Domo-kun items, including the mini PVC keychain of Domo-kun and Usajiii
- Also, we’ve restocked some cool Totoro items, including PVC keychains featuring Mei and various sizes of Totoros
- Also, enjoy the delicious Japanese drink of summer, mugi (barley) tea, a great taste that is very healthy too
- Finally, look for fun things for your car, delicious Japanese diet tea, fresh stock of Japanese stamps, new items for fans of “The Dog” and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of quality adult magazines from Japan, we’ve got the new issues of Best Video and Video Boy, both packed with top AV stars from Japan
- Then, for those who want erotic love in their sex, enjoy the new issue Be Gentle With Me, which features really beautiful girls making love
- For photobook fans, we’ve got some great hardcover nude photobooks from Japan including Yuki Maioka’s “Fruit of the Breast” offering, or the lovely nude of Keiko Kubo
- Also, check out the great nude photobook of Madoka Ozawa, one of the most popular bad girls of Japan’s adult vide world for the past ten years
- Then for hentai manga fans, we’ve got some great new wide manga, such as Fantasy SP, an anthology of wonderful fantasy-themed erotic artwork, and Bondage School, featuring fantastic bondage artwork
- August is doujinshi month, since the summer Comic Market has come and gone, and we’ve got doujinshi for you! Enjoy a great DOA doujinshi by Fujio Okamoto and a super fun One Piece hentai doujinshi for you
- Yaoi fans should enjoy the new issue of Grand Slam, the yaoi parody of Prince of Tennis that collects great yaoi stories for you
- For our DVD customers, we’ve got some great new items for you, starting with a new Masterpiece Concentration series featuring beautiful AV girls doing it out in the open air (region free)
- Then see a great collection of some of the best lesbian action ever, with 4 hours of material at a special price (region free)
- Then see the erotic kiss and sex of Masumi Mako, a wonderful and very sexually charged AV gal from Japan (region free)
- Then, enjoy the bukkake and hardcore sex of Riho Nanase, a superb and erotic indies idol with many fans (region free)
- Finally, look for various restocked and reduced price DVD items, including Tongues of Magic (all tongue-fetish), Zenra (all-nude) DVDs, bukkake DVDs, and more!
Remember that J-List offers revolving subscriptions to some of Japan’s most popular magazines, including anime magazines (Animage, Newtype), toy magazines (Hobby Japan), manga magazines (Coro Coro and Afternoon), and more. Some of these are very cutting edge and cool to read, such as Japanese street fashion magazines Fruits and Egg, and don’t forget to check out Megami Magazine, loaded with posters and stickers and other cool things. These magazines will be sent to you as soon as they’re available each month, before they’re even sent to the newsstands here in Japan, and you can cancel your subscription any time. See the magazine subscription pages for more information.
