Hello again from Japan!
One of the difficulties facing Japan’s economic future is the lack of entrepreneurial spirit among Japanese. The numbers bear this out — the number of Japanese running a business less than 42 months old is just 2%, compared with 12% in China, 14% in Korea, 18% in Thailand and 10% in the U.S. The Japanese government is trying to make it easier for people to start companies, however. In the old days, you needed to have $30,000 cash in the bank to start a “yuugen gaisha” (limited corporation) and $100,000 to form a full “kabushiki gaisha” (stock corporation), requirements which helped young companies gain trust by showing they were fiscally solvent from the beginning. Now, however, you can start a company with just one yen in the bank, a move the Japanese government hopes will get more Japanese to start thinking about starting a new enterprise. (American concepts like limited partnerships and easy-to-declare S-corporations don’t exist in Japan at all, unfortunately.) A big part of the problem is probably that Japanese are more group-oriented and are more averse to the risks involved with being an entrepreneur. There are many other reasons why Japanese are less likely to take the plunge and start a company, though: the strained banking and investment system here is not friendly to start-ups, there’s very little venture capital system, and if you should have to declare personal bankruptcy, you’re forbidden from going overseas for ten years.
The Japanese people are some of the longest-lived in the world, partly because of a stable country with a good medical system. When you get sick in Japan, you usually either go to a large hospital (there are three or four around us here in Isesaki), or to a smaller medical clinic. You must always bring your “hoken-sho” or insurance card, a little booklet that has all the information about your insurance printed inside. There are two systems of medical insurance in Japan: Citizen’s Insurance, which is open to everyone including foreigners and self-employed, and Social Insurance, which is arranged through companies. In Citizen’s Insurance, you pay monthly premiums and must pay 30% of all medical costs that you incur; if you don’t have any other insurance, you’re required to join this system by law. With Social Insurance, workers pay monthly premiums that are matched by the companies they work for. This system used to have a deductible of just 10%, making it more popular with company employees, but last year the Japanese government raised the deductible to 30%, too, blurring the lines between the two insurance systems. Japan has free health care for everyone under 5 and over the age of 60, a very enviable situation compared to how things are in the U.S.
Have you ever spoken to a Japanese person and wondered why they make noises of agreement while you’re talking? This is aspect of Japanese speech called “aizuchi,” basically “agreeing sounds” that speakers make when having a conversation. In Japanese, I could be explaining something that happened to me, and the person I’m speaking to would say things like “ee” (rhymes with way; it means yes), “so” (that’s true), and “ne” (a general word of agreement) constantly as I spoke. These agreement words may sound odd in English, but in Japanese they’re necessary to show that you’re listening attentively to the other person — not making these noises shows you’re not paying attention, and the person you’re talking with is likely to stop talking and ask what’s wrong. The trouble is when Japanese carry aizuchi into English, and butt into what you’re saying with “that’s right” and “yes.” Aizuchi sounds very strange when done in English.
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, we’ve got the excellent new film by Versus director Ryuhei Kitamura, Azumi, an incredibly beautiful samurai film featuring the lovely Aya Ueto, with full English subtitles and many extras (region 2)
- For fans of traditional Japanese items, we’ve got more beautiful New Year’s decorations, including an authentic “kadomatsu” pine and bamboo decoration that’s really beautiful
- Also, we’ve got some cool 2004 Japanese tea cups, with the images of monkeys (since 2004 is the year of the Monkey)
- The new Encyclopedia of High School Girl Uniforms is a hardcover photobook featuring pretty photos of all the most famous uniforms of Japan’s top schools
- We have the newest issue of Gothic & Lolita Bible in stock for you, filled with breathtakingly beautiful gothic cosplay photos, tips on how to make the clothes, and a complete pattern for you too — great for fans of “dandy gothic style”
- For fans of Japanese swimsuit idols, we’ve got the newest photobook of Mayumi Ono, the cute girl in TV commercials for Acom, a high-interest finance company that bombards late-night TV in Japan with this cute girl’s face
- We’ve stocked several of the traditional plates and trays, too, which are really fun to eat with
- Enjoy delicious treats from Japan, including “black sesame seed and milk” Pretz, tasty furikake for your rice, and spicy flavored Japanese seaweed
- Also, check out delicious new bubblegum including cute Little Twin Star bubblegum
- For fans of Domo-kun, we’ve got a new all-purpose pouch that you can use to keep anything
- For anime fans, enjoy a new pre-painted figure from the Utawareru Mono anime series, a very cool item for your collection
- For fans of Crayon Shin-chan, the most famous little brat in Japan, we’ve got cute little plush toys of Shin-chan and his cute dog Shiro
- For Dragonball Z fans, a very rare “super strap set” with PVC versions of your favorite characters, very cool
- We’ve added stock of various “How to Draw Manga” books, including Getting Started, and A Day in the Life of a Japanese Schoolgirl
- From Japan’s famous computer peripherals company we have the Choro Q Mouse, a great small-sized USB mouse great for mobile computing, which is fully functional yet looks like a cute Choro Q car toy, and works with English computers (Windows or Mac)
- Also, we have fresh stock of the oh-so-cool Shirow Masamune designed computer mouse, a joy to use and hold, and fully compatible with all computers (Mac or Windows)
- For those who like Japanese cars, we’ve got some new Tomica die-cast cars, the Honda Odyssey and the Mazda RX-7, so cool
- If you like to drink green tea, we’ve got a very stylish Japanese tea tin in stock
- Finally, see great chopsticks for New Year’s (or for any celebration), more socks glue for your “loose socks,” and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of the excellent Diva series, enjoy the erotic Kaori Nakatani’s stylish nude, with many fresh and innovative photographs for you (including “Girls in Underoos”)
- Then enjoy the erotic sex of Run Gal, featuring real Japanese amateurs having sex in love hotels
- Also, enjoy the very stylish and erotic “Tequira” [sic] featuring many fetishes: getting naked outside in public places, bukkake, girls who smoke, cosplay and more
- Then enjoy the delightful nude of Riko Aoyama, who charms with her traditional Japanese nude photographs
- For hentai manga fans, we’ve got some extra-special items for you, starting with the erotic Live Wire Insertion from Megastore Comics with 340 pages of extreme erotic manga, the charmingly erotic Night Milk by Takaoka Motofumi, and an Excellent series hentai manga exploring sex and the sisterhood
- Also, more restocked hentai manga for you, with fresh stock of Nami SOS, Love Diary, Mocchi Presents DV, and more
- For yaoi fans, we’ve got a great compilation manga with works by a dozen talented yaoi artists, Deep Aqua, as well as a major restocking of the Kinniku Otoko (Muscle Man) series
- For our DVD customers, enjoy some great new erotic releases for you, starting with the 4-hour Non-stop Ecstacy of Kaori Fujimori, a great new DVD by Million (region free)
- Then take in the incredible busty beauty of Marina Matsushima in her erotic new DVD release (region free)
- Then enjoy the erotic sex of three mini-skirted angels, Akira Watase, Mako Umino and Miri Sugihara, who will knock your socks off as they perform hardcore sex for you (region free)
- See the sweet, natural sex of Yui Hasegawa, age 20 (region free)
- Then enjoy the delicious lesbian action of Moe Yamasaki and Shion Natsume, in another top-quality erotic lesbian selection from U&K (region free)
- Finally, we’ve added fresh stock of some great DVDs, including more that ship free — browse our selection to see them all!
Remember that J-List carries over 100 quality adult magazines from Japan, with stylish professional titles like Urecco, Urecco Gal, Bejean and Gokuh, as well as great amateur magazines. A unique part of Japan’s erotic culture, we hope you’ll browse our selection of magazines or try a revolving monthly subscription (you can cancel at any time). See magazine page 3 for bargains — we’ve got dozens of discounted items starting at just $5!
Also remember that our 2004 calendars are going fast — so fast, that we’ve sold nearly half of them already, and no more will be coming in! We hope you’ll browse our still-extensive selection of anime, JPOP, Japanese idol, unique traditional and other calendars now! Order 4 or more and get 20% off, with free mailing tubes, too.
