Hello again from Japan, home of cars with names like Crown Super Saloon.
Even a simple word like friend (in Japanese, “tomodachi”) can vary quite a bit in meaning between languages. In American English, we use the word friend in many situations to describe everyone from casual acquaintainces to people we work with to close friends of all ages, but the Japanese word “tomodachi” is only used for friends who are close in age to you. Instead of tomodachi, other words are used instead, such as senpai (if the person is in the same school or company as you, and is older), kohai (same, but if they’re younger), and so on. Some of these words create a “barrier of politeness” between you and the other individual, which can make true friendship with people not close to your age difficult.
There’s no doubt about it: the Japanese need to get a national immigration policy. With an extremely low birth rate, Japan has much the same problem as Europe and the U.S.: a society that is aging, placing more of a burden on fewer younger workers (currently, one out of every six Japanese is aged 65 or older). Unlike the U.S., which has a constant stream of people coming to live from other countries, Japan lacks a mechanism for balancing its low birth rate with immigration. The other day I met an Iranian man in the public bath, and we spoke (in Japanese, since he didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Farsi) about his situation. Because he had overstayed his original work visa, he was unable to work openly and was afraid of being deported, despite having lived in Japan for ten years and speaking excellent Japanese. Just as Germany has done with guest workers from Turkey, Japan needs a system in place to encourage people from other countries to settle in Japan and use their unique skills for the benefit of the country.
We’re extremely happy to announce that Peach Princess’s long-awaited bishoujo fantasy RPG, Brave Soul, is finally shipping from our office in San Diego. A totally new kind of game that features an advanced scrolling RPG system, challenging combat against monsters, and multi-scenario romantic paths you must complete with each of your female companions. The crowning achievement of Japanese game maker Crowd, we’re extremely glad to be able to bring this popular game to you in English! It’s in stock and ready for your immediate order.
The Japanese Adult Video Star for the month of November is Asuka Sawaguchi. A charming idol who combines great beauty with the willingness to do anything for her fans, Asuka-chan’s star has risen with incredible speed since she debuted in 2002, and she’s had the flexibility to star in both “pro” productions (by companies like Kuki and Alice Japan) and “indies” (Soft on Demand, Moodyz), allowing her to pick up a lot of fans in Japan and all ove the world. Born in Hokkaido in 1983, she likes walking. Her blood type is A.
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- We’ve posted some more 2004 calendars which came in over the weekend, as well as added internal digital photographs of a few dozen more items, allowing you to see how great these large-format glossy calenadrs are — remember that the time for ordering calendars will be over very soon, so get the calendar you want as quickly as possible!
- For Domo-kun fans, we have a super cool PVC keychain featuring the symbol of NHK, a “BS” dish (which stands for “broadcast sattellite”)
- Smart Girls is an extremely cool magazine/photobook that presents fashionable Japanese girls in charming photographs — we’ve got a cool new special issue of Smart Girls on the street that fans of FRUiTS will just love
- For fans of Japan’s lovely swimsuit idols, enjoy the photobook of Megumi Okina, a wonderful idol who is very popular in Japan now
- J-List loves to carry unique toy and other items from Japan — we’ve got a super cute robot chihuahua in stock for all who want to take part in Japan’s “chihuahua boom”
- For fans of detailed minature candy toys from Japan, we’ve got the new Battle Ship Collection, featuring very cool replicas of submarines, Aegis cruisers, an aircraft carrier, destroyers, and more (and full sets are available)
- Also, by customer request we’ve got the Disney Kubrick toys, which feature a cool mix of famous characters from Disney films (my favorite one in this set is B.O.B. from The Black Hole, it’s so cool)
- Also, we’ve restocked the wildly popular Alien Kubrick figures, with full sets in stock for you (don’t miss them this time around)
- For fans of Japanese snack foods, we’ve got more delicious fish-shaped crackers called Ottotto, along with tasty new miso soup, orange juice candy and more
- Also, another wacky flavor of Recaldent sugarless gum from Japan
- For fans of Japan’s most famous spokeskitty, we’ve got a cool plush Kitty door chime, that’s great
- Panda-Z is a super cute panda who pilots a giant panda robot — we’ve got two new Panda-Z cute keychains in stock for you
- Also extremely cute are the Usako Friends, aka Usacolle, little animals that fly around the sky for some reason — and we’ve got some cool origami paper featuring these cute characters
- Also, a unique and interesting kind of good luck charm, “power stones” that bring you luck in love, help you quit smoking, and more
- Got odors in your house? The Japanese remove odors with charcoal made from bamboo, and we’ge got a great room freshener for you — use it anywhere!
- Then, we’ve got a Japanese way to clean your ears, more green tea onsen powder for your bath and minus ion health masks, fresh stock of the happy Nico Nico toothbrush, and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- First, we’ve got the excellent new issues of Penthouse Japan and Penthouse Special, which feature only Japanese models shot by Japanese photographers — they’re great!
- Then we’ve got the new issue of Celeb Girls, featuring nothing but top-name stars from Japan like Yoko Matsugane, Sayaka Uchida, Ran Monbu, Mai Haruna and more
- For fans of backdoor themes, we’ve got the new issue of Hip de H, which features lovely amateur and pro adult video stars exposing their backsides
- Also, we’ve added fresh stock of many previous sold-out magazine and magazine + DVD combination items, as well as discounted magazines starting at $5 — check out the items before the ones you want are sold out
- For fans of Japan’s incredibly unique erotic photobooks, enjoy Toshimi Horiguchi as the Tokyo Erect Girl, a supremely sexy girl from Japan
- Also, an incredible panty stocking and cosplay themed photobook with beautiful models and long, long legs
- For hentai manga fans, enjoy some great new adult comics, including “When I call your name” by Mujin Comics, excellent breast fetish and cosplay manga, and more
- Also, fresh stock of over a dozen popular books including Irodori, Love Collection 1 & 2, and the excellent Electronic Fighting Daughter series, featuring parodies of the most famous game girls in Japan
- Also, we’ve got great restocked items for Satoshi Urushihara fans, including his color artbook Love and his dynamite Vampire Master 3, which sold out 50 copies in record time (but we’ve got another 100 in stock now)
- For our DVD customers, we’ve got some great new products in stock for you, starting with Haruka Serizawa’s dynamite “Blue File” work, featuring 180 minutes of prime sex at a great price (region free)
- Nao Oikawa is the top adult video star in Japan today, and she looks great in her new Special Service High Class Soapland, a great new DVD from Million (region free)
- Asuka Sawaguchi shows you her “Pussy and Hip” in an erotic new production from Moodyz, featuring extremely innovative sex and erotica that you’ll love (region free)
- From Soft on Demand’s director Hajime, a wacky new production in which amateur girls put on frilly panties and play in front of the camera (region free)
- Then, we’ve got a new type of erotica for you with Ai Nanase and Shinju Umino starring in “Anal Lesbian” (refion free)
- From Waap Entertainment, enjoy prime-quality bukkake and gokkun sex in “I Want to Drink Your Semen,” starring the fresh and erotic adult star Kay (region 2)
- Then, enjoy restocked erotic DVDs, including Aika Miura’s Bondag Special, the Adult Video Wrestling special Fuck Down!, Lesbian Heaven 4 Hours Special, and Miyuki’s delightful 210 minute No Cut!! release.
Do you love the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki? Remember that J-List stocks all the excellent region 2 DVD releases for Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky Laputa, Princess Mononoke and his Lupin III classic, The Castle of Caliostro. These DVDs are released in Japan directly by the studio and include many features that make them great for collectors. All discs feature English subtitles and/or dubbed tracks and are great for fans who want the definitive versions of these anime classics overseen by Mr. Miyazaki himself. The only catch is, you need a region free DVD player to watch them — and J-List humbly recommends the three excellent units we currently sell.
