Hello from Japan, on this wonderful Monday evening.
Well, Goro-kun has finally returned to Smap. Smap is a famous team of five male “talents” (idols) who amuse Japanese each week with comedy, singing, dancing and gourmet cooking with a different special guest each time (they once presented George Lucas with a toy light saber as a joke). One of their number, Goro Inagaki, got into trouble with the police by trying to drive away from a police officer who was giving him a traffic citation (he hit the policeman in the leg with his car, resulting in a small injury). In the ensuing scandal Goro was removed from the hit show Smap x Smap, but now that the problem is behind him, he’s back.
Japanese concepts of “love” can be a little complex. First of all, there are two words for love, “koi” and “ai” — if you want to fluster a Japanese, ask him to explain the difference to you. Put simply, koi refers to romantic, sexual love you have while dating, and ai is a broader, more philosophical word which includes the love you feel for your wife/husband and family over the course of your life. Two words for lover are “koi-bito” and “ai-jin,” both of which are written with the characters for love and person, but their nuance is very different since koi and ai have different meanings. I’ve been told by a Japanese friend that the reason Americans have a higher divorce rate than Japanese is that they expect the “koi” part of a relationship to continue forever, rather than recognizing that the passion and romance of the “koi” love is replaced by the cooler, longer-lasting “ai.” Japanese rarely tell each other that they love each other directly (which would be “ai shiteiru” in Japanese), and images in movies and on TV of married couples who kiss often and say “I love you” seem very American to Japanese people, although younger people seem to be moving in this direction. When Japanese do confess love, they use the lower-key words “suki desu” (lit. “I like you”).
One of the features of Japanese is that there are multiple words for “you” and “I” to choose from, and which word you choose says a lot about how a person perceives himself. The basic word for “I” is “watashi,” and this is what is used in formal settings (also as “watakushi”) — this is the first word students of Japanese learn. Girls get a cute version of this word — “atashi” — and good boys are supposed to use “boku,” a good all-around word for males to use in most any setting. Rough and tough boys, as well as men who want to project their manliness, will use the men’s first-person pronoun, “ore” (oh-rey). Kenshiro, of Fist of the North Star, uses this term, and since I learned much of my early Japanese from reading Fist of the North Star manga, I overused it for several weeks and really embarassed myself. For “you,” the formal word is “anata,” but “kimi” (a familiar word for use among friends) is also popular with both men and women (however it’s rude to use this word to someone older than you). The men’s word “omae” is used by men who think they’re pretty manly, or from a man talking to his girlfriend. A person’s choice of what words he uses for “I” and “you” reveals much about his personality and self-image. A cute little girl will use the term “atashi” or “watashi” and play with Licca-chan dolls; young boys, such as my son, will experiment with acting tough by using the word “ore” and acting strong, like his father.
We’ve added a new sub-category to the Anime and Toys section, for the high-end anime figures that are so lovely. These figures are highly detailed anime statues, made with the “cold cast” method of manufacturing, and we’re going to work hard to keep these in stock for you in the coming months. Right off the bat, we’ve got stock of the very nice G-Taste cold cast figures from Hiroki Yagami for you (check them out).
For the first update of the week, we’ve got another nice volley of items for you, including:
- First of all, new magazines for you, including indies, young wife and magazines for fans of older ladies, age 25-40
- For video CD fans, we’ve got the new Video CD and DVD Soft Catalog, which features two video CDs of sampler footage with a great magazine
- For photobook fans, we’ve got several new hardcover photobooks including the lovely nude of Rina Okada and An Sakurai’s lovely first photobook
- Fresh stock of the sold out “Fascination” (anal photobook) which is always a popular seller
- We’ve got fresh stock of In-Gi, the very nice bondage magazine + DVD combo item
- Also: a bold parody of Akira Gomi’s Yellows in which 100 women Japanese women show everything about themselves, in many interesting ways
- We have some very nice erotic manga for you, including many new works as well as fresh stock of some popular titles that we’ve been able to reorder
- For DVD fans, we’ve got several great new offerings — from SOD we’ve got the DVD version of Natsumi Kawahama’s very erotic “Tekoki Lewd Woman” (region free)
- Also from SOD, we’ve got the very interesting “Semen White Paper,” a very detailed and dramatic erotic bukkake title (region free)
- If you love more mature and experienced women, enjoy the Jukujo Best Selection DVD from SOD, featuring the best over-25 AV work they’ve ever done
- For indies fans, enjoy an all-new VIP Shower, featuring bukkake and sperm-fetish erotica with three lovely and famous Japanese actresses
- A new release from Audaz in the Face series, this is the lovely performance of Lum Nagase (aka Ramu Nagase), who is the ultimate “virtual girlfriend” in this great new release
- Finally, from Momotaro Eizo, a charming new “girl next door” sexual performance from the lovely Kaori Shimizu (region 2)
- For fans of lovely Japanese idols, be sure and see the sweet and charming Yoko Mitsuya and Mao Miyaaji starring in Mix Juice, a very enjoyable Japanese sexy idol DVD featuring these two girls (region 2, shot in wide screen)
- On our newly christened High-end Anime Figure page, we’ve got two newly posted beautiful figures in Hiroki Yagami’s G-Taste series, and they are really beautiful to behold. We have only one of each figure and expect to sell out quickly, so more will be on the way soon
- Also, we’ve gotten in stock of the brand-new Ah My Goddess figures from Hobby Base — Urd, Belldandy and Skuld — these are very nice PVC figures with bases
- We have many nice “traditional” items for you, including a very nice Japanese flower pot, a large rice bowl, and a very nice sake bottle with matching ceramic cups
- Speaking of sake, we’ve restocked our Japanese snack and food page with two very popular items, sake candy and Kuro Ame (black candy)
- Fresh stock of many popular items, including the Hamster Club bento box (our best-selling Japanese lunchbox by far), more Japanese “socks glue” for your loose socks, and limited fresh stock of the very nice sushi gummi treats
- Also, a delicious “kimchee fried rice mix” that’s a popular dish in Japan (and Korea)
- Finally, look for super cute metallic Hamster pins, funny Japanese dictionaries, a beautiful Japanese tattoo, kit, a great sushi-making bamboo roller, an all-new Hello Kitty onigiri maker, and more.
Do you have a retail shop or online business? J-List sells some of the products on our site on a wholesale basis, and maybe we can help you out. For more information, see the wholesale link on the J-List page, below the product categories.
