Hello and Happy Monday from all of us at J-List! It’s a beautiful day in Japan — a great day for a new J-List update!
The Japanese believe some interesting things about a person’s blood type, mainly that it determines much of their personality. Whenever you see a profile of someone in a magazine, you can be sure that beside their birthdate, hobbies and favorite foods will be their blood type, since Japanese readers are always interested in knowing the blood types of their favorite people. Basically, type A are straight-laced, serious about everything, very organized (Felix from The Odd Couple, basically); type B are “my pace” (e.g. they go at their own pace, live in their own world), quickly get bored with things that don’t interest them, and speak their minds to a fault; type O are very bold, hate to lose and have good leadership skills; and AB people are often so smart they look strange to everyone else. We saw an interesting TV show last night that attempted to break down the various personality types according to blood type. In one experiment they separated kids by blood type and asked them to move water from one aquarium to another one, them filmed the results. The type A kids used small spoons to carefully move the water from one tank to the other; the type B children tried to come up with a good way to move the water, but got bored and gave up in the middle; the type O kids lifted the first tank and poured the water into the second tank, not caring how much water they spilled on the floor in the process; and the type AB kids got smart and moved the two tanks around, so that it appeared that they’d moved the water when they hadn’t actually done so.
The statistical data the show presented on blood types was interesting, too. People with blood type O tend to be quite charismatic, and some of Japan’s most popular male heart throbs like SMAP member Takuya Kimura and singer/actor Masaharu Fukuyama are type O. People reported that the blood type they liked least was B (my own blood type) — it seems that men and women with type B blood speak their minds too easily, and can offend others, making them difficult to be with. Most of the top Japanese athletes including soccer star Nakata and Yankee centerfielder Matsui were type O, and the vast majority of Japan’s past Prime Ministers were also of this blood type. However, 60% of the sumo wrestlers to reach the highest rank of Yokozuna (Grand Champion) were of blood type A — it seems it takes a meticulous nature to work your way up the top rank in Japan’s traditional sport. Type B people may be the least popular with people of other blood types, but we have the highest representation at Tokyo University, Japan’s top-ranked school, perhaps because we’re creative and don’t know what can’t be done. The blood type couplings with the highest chance of divorce are two people with type A blood; couples where both have type B, or one has B and the other has O, are supposedly the happiest. Type A people are good at saving money for a rainy day; type B people waste their money on things they don’t need (like me). For the record, Japanese are usually amazed that many Americans don’t know their own blood type. In Japan, the interplay of blood types is always at work in any group.
J-List is proud to bring you dozens of great magazines from Japan, available each month via our revolving subscription system. We’ve got many great titles to choose from: all the popular anime magazines from Japan including Megumi, which comes with tons of free stuff in each issue; JPOP magazines like Zappy and Uta-BON; super cosplay magazines like Gothic & Lolita Bible and COSmode; and delightful fashion magazines like Super Cawaii and FRUiTs. We’ve added some great new magazines to our reserve list today, starting with Kera, a superb fashion/culture magazine that combines elements of FRUiTs and G&LB with superb and bold Tokyo street fashions. For fashion-oriented guys, we’ve got Smart, a super magazine of male fashion culture that comes with tons of cool stuff each month. Finally, for car enthusiasts, you can subscribe to Car Graphic and keep an eye on all that’s happening in the Japanese automotive world each month. All magazines are loaded with color pictures for the Japanese-challenged, and are great ways to keep your finger on the pulse of Japan.
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for fans of Shirow Masamune, we’re happy to announce preorders for the upcoming 2nd series of glossy Galgrease posters, as well as the long-awaited art book Intron Depot 4
- Also for Shirow lovers, two great new figures for you: Kusanagi and ManMachine, great for displaying anywhere
- Fans of Blythe and Kubrick figures, we’re happy to announce a new series of Blythe Kubrick block figures, extremely well made and very fashionable — and full sets are in stock!
- Then for all fans of Pokemon, we’ve got the ultimate toy set in stock for you — a super set of soft vinyl figures that are fun to display or play with — full sets are in stock for this item too (no need buy duplicates)
- Fans of Japan’s delightful swimsuit idols, we’ve restocked several photobooks for you, including the offerings of Yuko Ogura, Maki Goto, Yoko Kumada, and more
- Hello Kitty lovers, we’ve got more cool only-sold-in-Japan items, including a great Kitty coffee cup and a way to cut your fingernails in style
- For fans of Japanese snack items, we’ve got delicious, er, squid meat, along with fun grape candies, tasty tako-yaki snacks and more!
- Restocked snack items include Relaxing Bear cookies, more Sushi Gummi that’s really fun to eat, Grilled Corn Pretz and Pocari Sweat powder for making your own tasty drink!
- Also, for fans of our best-selling Bubble Ball fizzing candies, which have been sold in Japan since the early Showa era, we’ve got new flavors of delicious fizzing candies with bubble gum inside — yum!
- For lovers of Panda-Z, the super cute panda robot who defends our happiness, we’ve got some new keychain mascots in stock
- Want to master a traditional Japanese game? We’ve got really cool kendama toys in stock now
- When Japanese cashiers give you change in Japan, they place it in a little dish to make it easy to pick up — we’ve got these cool items in stock for you
- For fun in the bath, we’ve got some great “fortune monkey” toys that pop out of a dissolving ball in the bath water
- For fans of Japanese cars, we’ve got more Tomica die-cast metal vehicles for you, including the Toyota Estima and Soarer, and the popular Vitz
- Studying Japanese? We’ve got fresh stock of our popular dictionaries that help you learn various aspects of the Japanese language, as well as fresh stock of traditional Japanese writing paper
- Also, look for various restocked Japanese food miniatures, which are great to display as-is or use as food for dolls — in stock are the Family Restaurant ver. 2 and Puchi Burger fast food replicas
- Finally, a super way to store men’s neckties, a traditional air freshener that will improve the look of your home, a deluxe shogi board for anyone who wants to learn the game, and more!
For our 18+ customers, we’ve got many new products. The new items include:
- For fans of Japan’s popular 18+ magazines, we’ve got some great new items, starting with the Diva Photo Magazine of Mihiro, the most popular new face in Japan’s sexy model world — don’t miss out on this fantastic book!
- Then we’ve got a great issue of Mix, featuring super sexy Tokyo girls in various fun costumes for you
- Next up, the new issue of Hip & Lip, a superb magazine with both glossy photographs and H manga, with tons of fun stuff for you to enjoy
- For photobook fans, check out a great new offering from Hiromi Fujishima, excellent for fans of the genre we’ve come to call “Japanese girls in underoos”
- The lovely Aki Hoshino is back with a great new hardcover photobook, which will delight you as it delighted us
- Then enjoy what Nana Natsume has for you, a superb glossy photobook of some of her best photos ever
- We’ve restocked many photobook works for you too, including Mihori’s dynamite books, Moe Yoshizawa’s More II, Nanako Eighteen, and the dynamite low-angle photography of Miki Komori’s Straddle
- For H manga fans, we’ve got some super works for you, including Tropical Pudding 2 by Fujio Okamoto, a delightful new work from Mujn Comics, and from the very popular Bijogi Junction, enjoy a great new manga release that you’ll love
- For yaoi manga fans, we’ve got a great parody for you — instead of Lord of the Rings, we have Lord of the Boy’s Dorm
- DVD lovers, we’ve got some great new titles for you today, starting with 4 hours of the best “super soapland” performances on the Million label (region free)
- Next, SOD brings you a superb collection of all-female “MAX” performances, a super item for lovers of yuri and more (region free)
- Also from SOD, lovely Tokyo girls experiment with various fun places to put their tongues, a superbly wacky new DVD for you (region free)
- For fans of Japan’s highly advanced stocking photography, we’ve got an all new “leg & hip” offering that’s truly breathtaking (region free)
- From Moodyz, a super double performance with Ann Nanba and Kirari Koizumi exploring separate worlds of pleasure (region free)
- Finally, newly stocked DVD titles include Re-MIX 3-in-1 special releases by Marina Matsushima and Anna Ohura, 4 hours of premium back action, Ran Asakawa’s super sexy performances, and more
Remember that J-List is fortunate to be able to carry the high-quality plush toys made by Sun Arrow, a Japanese toy company founded back in the Taisho era. For many years they’ve been the trusted partner and licensee of all Studio Ghibli toys including Totoro, Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and more. The plush toys they create are the best we’ve ever seen, soft to touch and furry to hold, and of such high quality we know you’ll treasure these for years to come.
