Hello again from all your friends in Japan!
The Japanese do love their alcohol, and in generally consume a large amount of it each year. Although Japanese rice wine, called sake (SAH-keh; remember to avoid saying “saki” since it’s wrong), is famous all over the world, the national alcoholic beverage of choice is beer. Japan’s big four beer companies — Kirin, Asahi, Sapporo and Suntory — control nearly all distribution of beer and related products in Japan. The biggest two are Kirin and Asahi, and they keep slugging it out, trying to steal the coveted top spot from each other (Asahi’s Super Dry brand currently holds it). The Japanese beer market is divided into two groups: “beer” and “happoshu,” the latter being beer made with less malt, which allows beer makers to pay less tax, making for a low-priced product. If you read the labels on Japanese beer bottles, you’ll notice something interesting: almost all of them contain rice as an ingredient, even the Budweiser sold here, which is bottled by Kirin.
There are some interesting rules about drinking in Japan. First of all, when beer in bottles (as opposed to mugs) with friends, you pour beer into each other’s glasses, saying “sumimasen” (excuse me) when your own glass is filled. Never pour your own beer; doing this is called “tejaku,” and it’s bad manners. Since everyone is usually pouring everyone else’s beer, you may have trouble politely declining another topping off, and in that case, you can just touch the full glass to your lips without drinking any, and they’ll get the message that you don’t want any more. Just for the record, you can get a cup of beer at most large movie theatres in Japan (“I’m talking about a glass of beer”), although they don’t serve beer in McDonald like they do in Europe.
If you ever need to communicate with Japanese people but don’t know any Japanese, just remember this word: “Domo.” Domo basically means “very” and is found in such phrases as “Domo arigatou gozaimasu” (thank you very much), “Domo sumimasen” (excuse me), and even “Domo otsukaresama deshita” (thank you for working so hard), said at the end of the day when you leave work. If you can’t memorize these phrases, just remember the word “Domo,” since Japanese people use this word all the time, leaving the rest of the words unsaid (since they’re picked up from the context anyway). So if you’re ever greeting a Japanese person after a long time away, meeting someone for the first time, saying goodbye, etc. you can usually get along with just “Domo.”
We’re very happy with the success of the “Groomy” plush pets we posted on Friday. They are very soft, well-made beanbag toys that feature soft chamois bottoms, for wiping your computer monitor when it gets dirty. They’ve proved so popular, we’ve sold out of several of them already. Rest assured that more are on the way — you can order them from the J-List site and we’ll hold the Groomy plush toys until they come in again.
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, we’ve been pleased with the response to our Japanese traditional footwear, and we’ve got more for you — really cool wooden geta sandals that are super for summer
- For fans of Lupin III, now on TV in the U.S., we’ve got some cool “handcuff phone straps” that are real handcuffs, with a leather strap — use them as a camera strap, phone strap or a keychain
- For fans of our Japanese snacks, we’ve got delicious items for you, including soy sauce and butter flavored popcorn (yum!), tasty Hayashi Rice, and a unique treat that goes well with beer
- Freshly restocked snacks include soybean pretz (Edamame), miso soup, Fujiya’s delicious Milky Chocolate, and more
- From the “really fun” department, we’ve got a cute “Soft Cream Shop” where you or your little one can have fun making soft cream (that is, soft-serve ice cream) in little cones. Everything you need is included!
- Enjoy the cute cosplay of Moe Kirimura in a cute photobook that’s filled with great costume photographs
- J-List carries Japanese films on DVD, complete with English subtitles — enjoy Another Heaven, a fascinating story about grizzly murders in Tokyo, starring many famous faces
- For fans of collectible items from Japan, we’ve added various sets of the popular “Dinosaur Retro bottlecap collection,” which are really cool to display
- For Macross lovers, we’ve gotten stock of the brand-new YF-21, a great toy that actually transforms — really cool
- For those trying to combat airborne germs in style, we’ve got stock of the rumored Hello Kitty masks — they’re so cute!
- Also for Kitty lovers, we’ve also added stock of the cute Kitty fishing game, the Kitty message magnets, and an incredibly cute Usako Friends character eraser set that will really wow you
- Look for new onsen powder, so you can experience a Japanese hot springs bath at home (note: if these sell out we’ll add more soon)
- Nintendo fans, we’ve posted fresh stock of the Zelda Box, containing a limited edition art book, full game soundtrack and figures, a really cool item for Zelda players — but stock is limited to what we’ve got on hand
- The cute mouse character of Bou from Spirited Away has attained a cult following, and we’ve gotten in two different Bou plush toys for you — they are really incredibly well made, by Sun Arrow
- Also for Hayao Miyazaki fans, enjoy fresh stock of the Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service music boxes, which are so nice to collect
- We’ve also added fresh stock of popular Japan Hot Wheels, sold only in the Japanese market, including the Delorean from Back to the Future and Airwolf helicopter
- Finally, see maps of Japan, more authentic chopsticks, more Japanese study aids including cool vocabulary notebooks from Japan, funny Japanese signs, a “bag in a bag,” and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- First, we’re happy to announce the opening of preorders for Kango Shicyauzo 2 ~ Is The Sorority House Burning?, the newest game from G-Collections. It will be shipping in about a week or so — preorder it now for free shipping when it comes in! Also, J-List has the last stock of the great first release, Kango Shicyauzo – I’m Gonna Nurse You, which is out of print with the publisher — order it before we run out too!
- For fans of quality adult magazines from Japan, we’ve got the new Celeb Girls, filled with fantastic famous Japanese stars and superb erotic photography
- Enjoy the sex of “young madams” (that is, sexually experienced girls aged 22-28) in a new amateur magazine we’ve got for you
- Go on a “Shorts Hunt” (an odd way of saying hunting for girls who will give you their panties) in a new magazine + DVD combination that gives you a 120 minute DVD and a full color magazine
- For hardcover photobook fans, see many nice items, including the lovely nude of Maria Takagi
- Also, the very sexy erotic photos of Sayuri Anzu, with some of the boldest and most amazing photography we’ve seen yet, followed by the super sexy low-angle photography of Moe Yoshizawa
- We’ve added fresh stock of some great photobooks, too, including Maiko Kazano’s erotic “Love Come” and the busty Marina Matsushima’s “Fetish” offerings
- We’ve got unique bondage photobooks from Japan, including very erotic works that capture the spirit of Japanese bondage photography
- Our “buy 5 or more, get 20% off” hentai manga sale is going strong, and many customers are taking advantage of the chance to save money — to help you, we’ve added another great volley of all-new adult manga, including Rough and Ready by Toh Moriyaka, aka Naoki Yamamoto of “Dance Til Tomorrow” and a half-dozen other new books
- Also, look for a massive restocking of hentai manga, including the popular Paradise Lost (hentai Evangelion parody) and Blue Eyes books, as well as other popular books
- For DVD lovers, we’ve got a bunch of superb titles for you, starting with Wakana Itsuki’s “Masterpiece Concentration” release, 120 minutes of her sweet sex for a great price! (region free)
- Then, enjoy super Adult Video Wrestling, as Ai Nagase joins the ranks of Japan’s best erotic wrestlers — it’s really an amazing great for professional wrestling fans, and very well done! (region free)
- From Deep’s, enjoy the beautiful face and sex of Asuka Sawaguchi, who is a super high-class lesbian soap girl who will fulfill all your fantasies (region free)
- From Soft on Demand, a great new concept in which couples go into a studio together — the girl must look at various penises pushed through a cloth and guess which one belongs to her boyfriend (region free)
- From Wanz, enjoy the supremely sexy Mirai Hoshizaki, in a new bondage-themed release that’s innovative and erotic (region 2)
- Then enjoy the fellatio and sex of the sultry Ran Asakawa, delightful bad girl of the Japanese adult video world (region 2)
- Finally, look various restocked DVD titles, including Momo Sakura’s sexy performance, the Holed Panty Best Selection, and more!
J-List carries AG, the excellent manga magazine of “art, sex and CG culture,” bringing superb English-translated hentai manga and more to adult readers. We love the format of the excellent magazine, which comes out every 2-3 months, and we offer reserve subscriptions for fans who want to make sure they don’t miss an issue. We hope you’ll support this great magazine by picking up all the issues. For your ordering convenience, it’s stocked in our San Diego warehouse.
Like Star Trek or the Lord of the Rings? Then logic dictates that you see the video of Mr. Spock singing the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins if you haven’t yet. I found a link here: http://www.game-revolution.com/download/trickyl/goodies/Video/baggins.mov (not sure if it will stay up when everyone on the list accesses it, but search Google if it stops working). Quicktime required.
