Hi again from Japan, where you bow to drivers when they give you the right of way.
America is divided up into various sections, which reflect the industries that are strongest in those areas. Idaho is “potato country, and the south is the grain belt that feeds most of the nation, for example. These patterns are a little difficult to figure out in Japan, but they’re there. First of all, the northernmost island of Hokkaido is the breadbasket of Japan, providing corn, potatoes, and dairy products, many of which use the shape of Hokkaido to sell themselves. Shizuoka Prefecture, next to Mt. Fuji, is known as the Green Tea capital of Japan, but also for its factories and industry. If there’s a Bible Belt in Japan, it’d have to be the westernmost island of Kyushu, which was the first to be Christianized back in the 16th century, and is home to some of the oldest churches in Japan. And I’ve always though that the Tohoku region of Japan, the prefectures north of Tokyo was sort of parallel to the American South, which had to play catch-up with the rest of the U.S. during the hundred years after the Civil War.
Every November there’s a mini-event for parents called Shichi-go-san, which is just the numbers 753 in Japanese. Originally a Shinto ceremony celebrating the health of boys (who celebrate Shichi-go-san at the age of 5) and girls (who do it twice, at the ages of 3 and 7), it’s evolved into a glorious reason to have studio photos of your children taken. Virtually all parents take advantage of this time to get professional pictures taken of their kids, and Chiharu and I are no exception: since my son is 5 and my daughter is 3, we couldn’t let the chance to show what oka-baka” we were. (Oka-baka literally means “stupid parents, this term refers to parents who love their kids so much they post pictures of their kids on their websites.) See our 753” pictures at http://mall.jlist.com/cgi-bin/tame.cgi/myjapan/peter/753.html .
Since this year’s calendar preorder season was so short, we made sure to order lots of the most popular 2001 Japanese calendars so we could make them available to you now. We’ve got dozens and dozens of calendars in stock and ready go to out without delay, so please check our selection. We’ve got dozens of calendars in stock, from Miyazaki’s popular calendars to Ah My Goddess and Ruro ni Kenshin, JPOP and swimsuit idols, and the excellent nude 2001 calendar of Kanazawa Bunko. All are ready to go out with no waiting, so please check our list, before our stock starts to run out.
In addition to our calendars, we have a bunch of nice new items, including:
- First, we’ve got new magazines for you, including the new Gal’s Shower, a deluxe size (twice the thickness of a normal magazine, and perfect bound) book for sperm fetish fans
- We have more copies of the excellent Ike Ike vol. 3, as well as other value-priced magazines, posted on magazine page 3
- For photobook fans, we have several excellent new books, including Toyama Maiko’s “Virgin Nude, Yoshinaga Chinatsu’s elegant Queen” and several excellent photobooks from the Bishojo Nude Gallery series
- Leg fans should check several back-in-stock items on the leg fetish photobook page
- Gouka-bon fans should also check out our unique Japanese bondage & fetish photobook page, for fresh stock of several sold-out items
- Also for photobook fans, a great — more issues of Cosplay Cuties and Enra, the excellent kimono-erotica photobook
- For dojinshi lovers, we have a major update of older books, including a large number of really excellent and rare dojinshi that will no doubt go fast — see the dojinshi page soon!
- Also on the dojinshi page, new dojin-soft items, fan-created CG collections and more
- Of course we have more of our patented Japanese erotic manga — a half-dozen new items, posted to the manga page for your enjoyment
- For art books fans, we’ve got fresh stock of the excellent Twinkle Review, the Viper Fan Book, and Kakyusei
- Anime fans should check out the fresh stock of the Space Battleship Yamato “fixed data” art book on the anime toys page
- Lovers of the elegant Yoshino Sally will love her cool DVD, Sally is Perfect!, posted on the DVD (Main) page
- In addition to our new “wacky” section (see below), we’ve got a great new Japanese wooden sign — “Benkyo-chu” (Now studying), a perfect little sign to hang on your door when you want some quiet time.
Finally, a dream come true for me: J-List finally sells one of my favorite categories of “cool things” from Japan, Japanese car goods! In Japan, because land is so expensive, many younger consumers give up on the dream of buying a house someday, and instead plow their excess spending money into their cars. Japan is a car-lovers dream, with tons of beautifully designed accessories for your cars — fancy interior lights and pen holders, holders for your portable phone, with English on them that say things like “Excellent amenity collection.” We hope to see our selection of fun Japanese car interior accessories grow in coming months, so please check out our new section now — on the Wacky Things from Japan master category!
