Join Our Newsletter
  • Visit Our Store
  • Come Write for J-List!
J-List Blog
Visit J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
No Result
View All Result

All about Japan’s Comic Market, and working gaijin in Japan.

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
9 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

We hope everyone is enjoying the rest of their holiday season. Just a reminder, J-List is still offering free shipping on all J-List anime and kanji T-shirts and shrinkwrapped visual novels shipping from San Diego, through January 4!

The other day I went into a Family Mart to pick up some onigiri rice balls and strange Japanese Doritos, and saw a rare sight: the girl behind the counter was a gaikoku-jin, a foreigner, instead of the usual Japanese. There are foreigners working in certain industries in Japan, such as the big Sanyo plant in our prefecture which employes thousands of Brazilians, but seeing them working retail is still quite rare. In my most polite Japanese, I said, “Excuse me, but may I ask what country you’re from?” and she told me that she was from Ecuador, and was a nikkei-jin, of Japanese descent. (The sight of two foreigners speaking nihongo is something the Japanese find very cute, and there were many smiles by the other convenience store staff.) While Japanese sometimes think there are “a lot of” foreign-born residents in their country, the actual number is just 1.9%, compared to 14%, 12% and 11% for the U.S., Britain and France. (These numbers are from 2013, and exclude zainichi, people born in Japan but choosing to maintain citizenship of North or South Korea, China, etc., for cultural reasons.) One thing’s for sure: there’ll be a lot more foreigners here in the future, doing all manner of jobs important to society, due to the falling population, which peaked in 2012. Already the unemployment rate is just 3.5% – and this, with the country officially in recession – and turning to foreigners in the future is the only way Japan will be able to function…unless they can get catgirl maid robots ready in time.

Right now Comic Market is going on at Tokyo Big Site, the sprawling event space in Tokyo, and hundreds of thousands of fans are standing in line to buy 同人誌 doujinshi, the fan-created comic-books which have become a sub-culture staple in Japan. The word literally means “same-person-magazine” and grew out of the tradition of like-minded writers forming literary circles and publishing their short stories and poetry in small-run magazines they each contributed to financially. (It’s similar to the magazine the literature club publishes in Hyouka.) The Comiket known was founded in 1975 by members of a “manga research club” at Meiji University to be a place for circles to meet and buy each other’s works, and the twice-annual event grew from just 600 attendees in 1975 to a staggering 590,000 today. Over the years, this underground comic world has served as an incubator for talented artists and other creators. The careers of illustrators like Rumiko Takahashi, CLAMP and Tony Taka, doujin-turned-pro music studio I’ve Sound and Nitroplus founder Takashi Kosaka wouldn’t have been possible without the Comic Market.

See the new Littlewitch Romanesque game trailer!

One reason we love the new Littlewitch Romanesque game is its high amount of gameplay, in addition to the awesome story and characters. The goal of the game is to train two witches, Aria and Kaya, how to use magic over the course of 3 years. You gain “spirit” magic by playing a strategic dice-rolling game, which enables you to learn more spells and get even more magic. There are 79 entertaining quests to go on, as well as lots of unlockable material along the way, with 300+ uncensored images by Oyari-san. For more info on the game, view our official game trailer on YouTube! And remember to vote “yes” on our Steam Greenlight project!

Tags: culturefamilygaijinJapanese languagemangavisual novels

More Posts Like This

Watashi No Shiawase No Kekkon
Your Friend in Japan

‘My Happy Marriage’ is a Serotonin Boost For Your Brain

by Peter Payne
2 months ago

There are so many worthwhile anime series for fans to enjoy each season it can be easy to miss one....

Learn Japanese Through Anime! Otonari No Tenshi
Your Friend in Japan

Learn Japanese With Anime! Otonari no Tenshi-sama Edition

by Peter Payne
6 months ago

One of the most enjoyable romance anime of the winter 2023 season was Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen...

Bad Anime Translations

Why Do Fans Hate Bad Anime Translations So Much?

6 months ago
Anime Famous Outside Of Japan

13 Anime More Popular Outside of Japan than Inside!

10 months ago
Does Sarcasm Exist In Japan?

Does Sarcasm Exist in the Japanese Language? Let’s Find Out!

1 year ago
01 Sagara Board Wide Image Final

Announcing the Sagara Family Hentai Board Game!

2 years ago
Next Post
Jlistfront Kukicr W

Saying farewell to 2014, and hello to a New Year from Japan.

Trending Today

Why Is Umi Yatsugake So Popular
Your Friend in Japan

Why is Umi Yatsugake The Most Popular JAV Actress?

3 days ago
Roxy Migurdia Blog Post
Figures

This is the Roxy Migurdia Figure We All Needed!

5 days ago
Why Are There So Many Characters Named Sakura
Your Friend in Japan

Why Are So Many Anime Characters Named Sakura?

5 days ago
Tan Fighters List1 6
Featured

Lovely Tanned Fighters Who Need No Protection

1 week ago
Neko Pako Fuck Paradise
Adult Toy Reviews [NSFW]

J-List’s Top 11 Hentai Cosplay JAV Works

3 years ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
What Autumn 2023 Anime Will J List Watch
Your Friend in Japan

The J-List Autumn 2023 Anime Guide! Which Anime Should You Watch?

by Peter Payne
September 28, 2023

TenPuru, Episode 12 [END]: Where Are You Looking?

Rurouni Kenshin, Episode 13: Sword vs. Gun

Comic Con Africa Is a Slice of Global Otaku Culture

The J-List Autumn 2023 Anime Guide! Which Anime Should You Watch?

Bibury Animation 100 Girlfriends Who Really Love You

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Discord
  • YouTube

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.