Greetings and salutations from Japan, where it’s said that if your middle toe is longer than your big toe, you’ll go farther in life than your parents did.
The social phenomenon known as “kogals” — Japanese girls who wear outrageous fashions, with blonde-dyed hair and silly elevator shoes and over-tanned bodies — was one of the keywords of the late 1990’s in Japan. Kogals themselves owe their origins to the fashion-conscious teen movement of the mid 90s called “Amulers,” when every high school girl wanted to dress up like JPOP singer Namie Amuro. But nothing is as constant as change, and the concept of the classic kogal slowly morphed into other versions: mago-gal (literally “grandchild-gal”), a label used for junior high school girls who wanted to dress up in ridiculous fashions too; “gals,” a softer, less brash version of the original kogals; one-gals (oh-NAY-gals), basically ultra-fashionable girls in their low to mid 20s; and yamanba (literally “mountain hags”), girls who tan themselves totally black then wear bizarre makeup. As the sun set on the old Kogal boom, even the trademark of their movement, the “print club” digital photo stickers, called “puri-kura” in Japanese, has faded: game centers in Tokyo which stocked nothing but the print club machines are hard to find, and you no longer have to wait in line to get use them. Every once in a while you see a remnant of the old kogal phenomenon, the “gal mama” — girls who got pregnant in their kogal days and are still dressing up in outrageous furs and false eyelashes, even though they’re pushing baby carriages now. Seeing two “gals” exchanging child-rearing tips while they put on their thick make-up can be quite a sight, and is a uniquely Japanese experience.
It sometimes seems to outsiders living here that Japan is a very death-oriented society. Don’t give gifts in multiples of four because the number four is read “shi” in Japanese, which also means death. Don’t put you chopsticks straight up in your rice, since that’s only done as part of a ceremony for the dead. Likewise, don’t sleep with your head facing north, as bodies about to be cremated are laid facing this direction. Yes for all the customs that have to do with death, nearly all of which spring from Japan’s various versions of Buddhism, the Japanese have almost no concept of estate planning. As far as I can tell, virtually all the things we do in the States to prepare for the event of one’s death, from writing wills to making living trusts to investigating how to avoid death taxes are not practiced here in Japan at all. Since my parents have some land that will be transferred to my wife’s name at the time of their death, I brought the topic up with them once, but it seem like something you just don’t talk about. Likewise, I asked our accountant to recommend some options we might want to keep in mind, but he said no one really did anything to prepare for death estate-wise. Even the concept of drafting a will is not really practiced here. Because all Japanese have strong “common sense” built into them, a natural sense for the “way things should be,” wills are not necessary here. If I were to die, common sense dictates that my wife and children would receive my property, and this logic is rarely contested here.
For the mid-week update, we’ve got a great lineup of products for you from Japan, including:
- First, for fans of our Japanese snacks, we’ve got the delicious Melty Kiss, a limited edition chocolate fudge snack sold only in the winter in Japan — it’s great
- Also, fresh stock of a popular item, Candy Bubbles, bubbles you can blow like soap bubbles, but these can be eaten!
- Cosplay is a national past time in Japan, and we’ve got a special two-volume cosplay photobook set that’s extremely cool
- For fans of high-quality anime statues, we’ve got a superb cold cast statue of Maetel, from Galaxy Express 999, an incredible item from Epoch
- For fans of Japan’s charming swimsuit idols, go to Rome, Italy with the lovely Yumiko Shaku in her new photobook with DVD (region 2)
- See a great photobook by former child idol (now grown into a “sexy idol”) Yumi Adachi, a rare and special item
- For bento fans, we’ve got a new deluxe bento set (everything you need in one package), as well as fresh stock of some other popular bento box items
- If you love Doraemon, the most popular anime character ever according to a recent Japanese poll, we’ve got a great alarm clock
- For fans of our Totoro music boxes, we’ve got another one for you, this one based on a picture from the ending credits of the famous film
- We’ve got a dynamite Hello Kitty mug that’s beautiful, as well as fresh stock of some cool Hello Kitty products available only from Japan
- Finally see many other nifty items from Japan, including a wood tissue holder, a funny pencil case,
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of beautiful Japanese women with large breasts, we’ve got the new Gal’s Dee, featuring many fabulous women, D cup and larger
- Other popular magazine items include love hotel and amateur magazines featuring authentic Japanese amateur kogals and “hitozuma” (married women)
- For fans of our discount magazines, we’ve added several new items to our “Under $7” page — check out these reduced price items
- For fans that want AV samples with their magazines, enjoy the new issue of MPEG Indies, which features a full color magazine and two Video CDs (playable on computer or in most DVD players), a great bargain
- For photobook fans, some great items, including fresh stock of Anna Ohura’s best-selling iNude, and Maiko Yuki’s super hardcover photobook “Maiko”
- For hentai manga fans we have another great selection of new works for you, including beautiful large breast fetish, female teacher, tentacle sex, bukkake and other fetish themes
- It’s a great day for Mai Hagiwara fans, because we have not one but two killer new DVD releases by her — the first is Front Mirukuru, and allows you to go on a virtual date with Mai to the beautiful island of Saipan (region free)
- Then enjoy Back Mirukuru, another fantastic soft porn erotic release featuring Mai at her all-time sexiest, an incredible sight to behold (region free)
- We’ve got the final installment of Blue, the beautiful underwater fetish, featuring Takako Nagashima giving you a “sweet kiss in the water” (region free)
- For Ami Ayukawa lovers, enjoy a staggering 4 hours of her best performances in a new Max File presentation (region free)
- Ryo Aihara and Chika Kobayashi battle it out to see who has the most beautiful breasts in a super “coupling” by Soft on Demand (region free)
- Enjoy the mature eroticism of Miyuki Hourai in a great offering from SOD in which she shows her extreme experience for you (region free)
- Finally, a great restock of DVDs, including Ai Kurosawa and Hitomi Hayasaka Re-MIX (3 hours each), the popular Temptation Lesbian 2, and more!
Remember that we’re having a “free shipping sale” on the G-Collections games this month (half price for orders outside the U.S. and Canada), making it a great time to complete your collection of these great games. And a little bird has told us that the newest game from the company, Private Nurse, will be coming in any day now. Preorder it now and be one of the first to get this super new Japanese love-sim game!
J-List sells wacky T-shirts with message like “I’m looking for a Japanese girlfriend” (our most popular shirt ever), “Your mother has a protruding navel” and so on. They’re funny and wacky, and make great gifts, too. Why not browse our selection of T-shirts today? Because your satisfaction is important to us, J-List goes the extra distance for you, stocking a wide range of sizes (from small to XXXL for most shirts), so everyone can enjoy our fun Japanese T-shirts. They’re printed in the USA and all sizes are full American sizes.
