Hello and happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Thanksgiving is a very American holiday, and when you live in another country as I do, it’s frankly hard to keep in the spirit all the time. Turkey is all but unheard of in Japan, unless you order it through companies that import food for the foreign community, and even if you get your hands on some turkey, most Japanese homes don’t have ovens, so it’d be impossible to cook it. Most of us take the easy way out and get a bucket of KFC, which is delicious and easy to buy. We all have many things to give thanks for in the world, our health and the loved ones around us — I know all of us at J-List feel especially blessed and thankful for all that we have. We wish everyone reading this, both in the U.S. and all over the world, a happy and warm special day!
One of my favorite entries in the You’ve Been in Japan Too Long When list (found at http://www.peterpayne.net) is, “You’ve been in Japan too long when ‘natsukashii’ comes out of your mouth instead of ‘what you’re saying makes me so nostalgic that I must look like one of those wide-eyed manga characters with a tear rolling out of my eye.’ Natsukashii, a Japanese word which could be translated as “nostalgic,” is a fun word that comes up quite a bit in anime. Basically, when you see something that reminds you of the fond memories of your youth, give it a try. It’s pronounced NOTS-ka-SHEE.
One thing you learn when you study a language like Japanese, is that a meaning in one language will not necessarily match up with meanings in other languages perfectly. In English, there is one concept for the word “cold,” but in Japanese, there are two, one for coldness in the air (samui) and one for something that’s cold to the touch (tsumetai). Getting these two concepts down is always difficult for learners of Japanese, just as learning the genders in nouns in Romance languages is difficult. When you learn very a basic word like “life” in another language, you realize how difficult it can be to match meanings of some concepts up with their counterparts in other languages — some of the words used in Japanese which correspond with the English word include “seikatsu” (which means a person’s life, as in, a new life in a new city), “jinsei” (which is a person’s life, from their birth to their death), and “seimei” (the biological fact of life, and also used for life insurance). Implementing the Chinese character for “life” was evidently difficult for the Japanese, too, and as a result, this character has many possible pronunciations, compared with most characters, which have two pronunciations (one Japanese and one Chinese). To see this character for yourself, click here: http://www.jlist.com/c2/life.jpg
A potential problem with the “top 5” links on the J-List site has been fixed. Before, clicking on the links when using some browsers, customers could find themselves diverted to strange URLs that didn’t exist. Please let us know if you experience any problems with the site!
For the new update, we’ve got tons of cool items for you, including many nice items that would be great for Christmas gifts, including:
- First, we’ve gone through and lowered prices on a bunch more calendar items, making them even better buys — we’ve got hundreds of great items in stock for you, so check them out now!
- Since Christmas is around the corner, we’ve got a huge volley of potential Christmas presents for your loved ones, staring with a super-cute set of robot plush dogs that we fell in love with
- For anyone fans of Tokyo Mew Mew, we’ve got the super-cute Tokyo Mew Mew costume sets, which feature the girls ears, cute chokers (necklaces) and tails — they’re great, from Takara
- Also for Tokyo Mew Mew fans, we’ve got a cute soft character figure set, so cool!
- Next we have limited stock of a fabulous Totoro apron that’s really beautiful, a great gift for all fans of Hayao Miyazaki’s classic film
- Then, for Snoopy fans,
- For fans of rare Star Wars items sold only in Japan, we’ve got the R2-D2 light saber game back in stock, as well as some of the last remaining stock of the Japan-only light saber (much cooler than what was sold in the U.S.)
- For fans of beautiful Japanese idols, enjoy photobook offerings by Wakana Sakai and Takako Uehara
- We carry many Japanese films on DVD with English subtitles, and we’ve got a new item for you: the riveting story of a hostage drama involving the Japan Red Army and the police trying to do battle with them (region 2)
- For Hello Kitty fans, we’ve got a great cardboard pen and pencil stand as well as other cute only-sold-in-Japan Hello Kitty items
- We’ve lowered our prices on all delicious Mousse Pocky, and added a fantastic new flavor: Blueberry Yogurt, a creamy and delicious Pocky that makes you think you’re floating on a cloud
- Also for fans of Japanese foods, more furikake (food which you sprinkle on white rice) and new flavors of miso soup!
- For your kitchen, we have a handy Japanese soup bowl for miso soup, cute eating utensils for you or your children, and more!
- Finally, we’ve got a new bento set that has two levels for hefty eaters, Japanese onsen powder, great Japanese cotton ear cleaners, and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of Japanese adult magazines, we’ve got some nice items for you, including the new Junk, with many nice Japanese couples in love hotels
- Magazines with anal themes are always popular, and we’ve got an interesting new issue of “Anal Shower”
- We have some nice photobook items, including classic works shot by photographer Shin Yamagishi and a new “Chinkame” format photobook
- For hentai manga, we’ve got some excellent new items for you, including great erotic comics from AV Comics, Million Comics and more
- For erotic DVD fans, enjoy many new offerings, starting with “five super coquettish” women, including Ran Asakawa, in a fantastic lingerie paradise (region free)
- See the sexuality of “young wives” in a super new offering from E:Complex (region free)
- Enjoy the bukkake of Rika Uehara and Yukari Sakura in a new “How do you do, Mr. Semen?” from Soft on Demand (region free)
- SOD has an F1 racing team and a set of lovely SOD Racing Girls — see the sexual lives of the lovely Nanase Nanami as a real Race Queen (region free)
- From Moodyz, a great “Semen Real Battle” in which ten red-hot AV actresses do battle with bukkake (region 2)
- Also, enjoy the sweet and erotic lesbian performances of Yayoi Yukino as only Moodyz can bring it (region 2)
- Finally, enjoy fresh stock of many nice adult works, including lesbian works from Aroma Planning, Hikari Kisugi’s excellent 180 minute offering, restocking Bunko Kanazawa DVDs, and more!
J-List sells many interesting items from Japan, including our trademark “funny Japanese T-shirts” which are printed in the USA and come in all sizes, from small all the way up to XXXL. Our most popular T-shirt by far is the “Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend,” which outsells all other shirts, followed by “Dirty American Devil” “Confident in my Sexual Power” and “I am a Pervert” shirts. Up and coming is the very popular shirt “Respect the Emperor, Expel the Foreign Barbarians.” All shirts are 100% cotton and all sizes are stocked, for speedy shipment to you! And yes, we can get your shirts to you by Christmas with time to spare.
