Hello again from Japan. Sorry for the pictures on the “about us” page all being dead — the problem is fixed now. What a difference a search/replace can make…
And now for an update on Chuyan and Manaka, hitchhiking across the world in 80 days: they got a message on their pager that a friend in Des Moines had some Japanese friends and would help them. It turned out he was a pilot with a small plane, and he offered to fly them all the way to New York — so they’ve crossed the rest of the U.S. in one fell swoop! At the end of the show, where they tell you what help they need now, they requested that anyone with helpful information on Europe (where they can go for food or shelter, etc.) send it to them at [email protected] . (Since they’re in Europe, they must have found a way across the Atlantic for free.) Remember, you can see their progress (in Japanese) at http://www.ntv.co.jp/denpa/sekai/index.html (although last night’s broadcast isn’t up yet).
Japan has a few new laws in the books. Starting next April (Japanese start everything in April, by the way), they’re finally getting a child car-seat law. I can’t help but thinking that this has come about partially from foreigners living here like me, who were horrified to see children jumping around unrestrained in a moving car. Also, starting this month, it’s now illegal to use a portible phone in a moving vehicle, due to the high incidence of traffic accidents that result from this. (At a street near J-List, where a Mr. Doughnuts stood before it went out of business, there are several wreaths of flowers left in memory of a sixteen-year-old girl who was killed by a driver using his “keitai denwa” (portible phone).)
In a way, Japan is sensitive to criticism from both the foreign community living in Japan, and from other countries, since Japanese aways want to look good in the eyes of people of other nations as a matter of its national pride. issues such as the child seat law and occasional loopholes and poor
tell them about how the japanese are always lookingforaffirmation from overseas, hence they’re rebuilding narita airport
We’ve got some nice items on the J-List site for you this evening. First, there is a big cache of both new and back-in-stock adult dojinshi, for fans of Japanese parody manga. Included on the list are some rare items, so check them out fast. (Remember that you can enter alternate items in the “extra order information” field of the order form.) We’ve got new magazines on the list, including the new Gal’s Dee. Final Fantasy VIII fans will enjoy the excellent new action figures posted to the anime page — we’ve also got several items available as special order on the anime page, including Sentimental Graffiti soft vinyl figures and a really cool Great Mazinger die-cast metal toy.
Christmas is right around the corner, and J-List has some unique items that would brighten the day of anyone on your Christmas list. If you’ve got Pokemon fans in your family, J-List has several interested in “authentic” (read: written in Japanese) Pokemon items, including some snacks that come with collectible cards and toys. If they love Japanese animation, we have some unique and special anime cards, puzzles and toys — including new cool Gundam and FF8 items. For over-18 friends, why not give a 6 or 12 month subscription to Urecco, or a DVD they’d never expect, to go with their new DVD player? And while calendar pre-orders have closed, we’ve got quite a few Kusanagi Jun calendars coming in
