Hello again from your friend in Japan, J-List.
Japanese love to take English words and play with them. In addition to such “wasei-eigo” (made-in-Japan English) words as “nighter” (a night game of baseball) and “skinship” (the loving touch of a mother and her baby), there are many fun words that are combined from English and Japanese. “Otome-tic” is made from “otome” (woman) and “tic” (the back syllable in “romantic, which turns a noun into an adjective), and describes a woman who is trying a little too hard to act demure and cute. When singer Amuro Namie became the shining star of Japan around 1995, causing a generation of young Japanese girls to imitate her, they were labeled Amulers.” If you meet a person with oily skin, know that they are called “aburagish” in Japanese — from “aburagi” (oil) and “ish” (meaning of or about). And the category of up-skirt fetish materials from Japan has been dubbed “chirarism, from chira” (a quick glimpse) and “ism.”
Over the past few decades, many interesting and exotic foods have made their way from Japan to the rest of the world, including sushi and sashimi, sukiyaki, and more. There’s something about the mystique surrounding Japan that makes it fun to eat. One food I’ve thought could become the next “exotic” food from Japan Japan is konnyaku. Called Devil’s Tongue in English, konnyaku is a very firm food that feels at first like gelatin (Jello), but is much more tasty and satisfying to eat. (In block form, it’s supposedly popular as a sexual aid, although I haven’t figured out how this would work.) It’s very low in calories, so it’s popular for dieting here in Japan. Konnyaku is eaten in a variety of ways
- We have more copies of the wonderful hardcover photobook by Fubuki Akira “So Long” (on Photobooks -> page 1)
- For fans of amateur and married women themes, see the various single issues of Apple Shashinkan, on the back-issues and gouka-bon pages
- Leg fetish fans will like Romance Punch, a great leg-fetish cosplay (costume play) book, as well as more copies of the very cool “Bizarre Legs”
- We’ve got even more all-new adult manga releases, including new books by Hit Comics, AV and Izumi
- Also, for dojinshi fans, we’ve got another volley of very nice dojinshi, including some excellent Sentimental Graffiti
- Remember our “first and last” yaoi sale, which allows you to buy-2-get-1-free on any yaoi comic item. We’ve added several items to the list now — boys make exciting drama
- For Gundam fans, a very cool new video on the “theme videos” page, featuring actual Gundam charters in costumes, in fun parody play
- Also in the cool parody department, we’ve got The Clitrix, a totally cool AV parody based on the Matrix, featuring lovely AV stars Izumi and Anna (this disc is a region-2 disc)
- For fans of Japan’s unique adult anime RPGs, we’ve got limited stock of several popular Japanese games, and at great prices. See them on Hentai game -> CD ROMs
- We’ve got the popular soft vinyl girl figures from Sub-Zero back on the site — including both versions of the popular Japanese high school girl, and the excellent “Santa Girl”! See them on the Wacky Things from Japan page
- Also wacky but useful, we’ve got these lovable Hello Kitty “mayonnaise cups, which you can use to store anything from make-up to vitamins to condiments for your lunch to contact lenses
- Finally, the above-mentioned delicious konnyaku fruit packets, in four tasty flavors. Find these items on the Japanese Snacks page.
The shopping cart was acting up for a few hours during Tuesday night, Japan time. The problem has been fixed — sorry for any inconvenience. As always, if you ever have a problem with the cart (which we are working on replacing now), feel free to use the secure email form at https://rook.axnet.net/pages/virtual/jlist/orderjlist_secure.html to order (or click the secure email” link on the page).