Greetings from J-List November 6, 2000

Happy Monday, from Japan!

To an expat like me, living far from my home, the Internet is a wonderful thing. I can browse Amazon.com for books and DVDs, and get them sent to me from our house in San Diego. The situation’s 180 degrees different from when I came to Japan, in 1992, when we’d take the train into Tokyo just to find Doritos — I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Amazon.com has discovered Japan, now, and has opened Amazon.co.jp, which will sell books and other products inside Japan. Jeff Bezos appeared on News Station 23, a leading evening news show, to discuss his company’s plans for his new operation. There are some core problems with their business plan, however. For one thing, in Japan, books and CDs may not be sold at discounts, but only at their full list price

American companies like Amazon.com, Toys R Us and Costco represent a good chance for American brands to enter the Japanese marketplace. Battery maker Duracell is virtually unknown in Japan, but if you go to Toys R Us, all they carry are Duracell batteries, allowing Duracell to piggyback their product onto the Toys R Us retail model and gain share here. Through these beachheads in the Japanese marketplace, many American companies hope to increase their business success in Japan.

For this evening’s update, we have a very special selection of new items for you, including:

• First, new magazines, with new issues of the excellent Dela Beppin and Gokuh, two of our most popular items each month
  
• Also for fans of Japanese adult magazines, a treat — some extremely rare backissues of Urecco and other popular items, with issues going back to 1995 — see the Magazines (backissues) page for these items
  
• Also back on the list, some back issues of Gal’s Dee, featuring the wonderful Kusanagi Jun (see magazines page 2)
  
• For photobooks fans, we’ve got some excellent new items, including the new Wonderful, and the super playful nude photobook of Misusawa Nana, as well as fresh stock of Morishita Kurumi’s “Tennyo” and more
  
• For our erotic manga fans, we’ve got a major update on both the new releases and classics pages, with dozens of new and limited stock items, many of which won’t be available again once they’re sold
  
• We’ve got in-stock issues of several anime and trendy magazines on the Anime & JPOP magazines page, including new copies of the newest Goods Press, featuring everything that’s trendy in Japan right now
  
• For our SOD video fans, we’ve got three new videos in the popular “stark nakedness sports series, featuring lovely Japanese women in a variety of all-nude sports activities — see them on the SOD main page
  
• We’ve got some other excellent videos on the New releases page, including Sexual Life of Wives and Yanagi Haruka’s Bitch of Bitches”
  
• On our Anime Toys page, some more cool anime straps that you can use with your phone, keys, beeper or camera: a highly cool Macross Valkyrie robot strap, and the excellent Giant Robo anime version (both posable!)
  
• Also for anime fans, the really cool die-cast metal model of the Yamato from Mimco
  
• On the Stickers & Headbands page, new wacky Japanese stickers and signs, including our popular wooden signs, as well as a deluxe “No shoes allowed” signplate
  
• Finally, new items on our Wacky Things from Japan page — Japanese shiatsu inserts for your shoes that give you a wonderful massage while you walk or stand; and a fun “Hello Kitty name card play set” that could only come from Japan
  

Remember that J-List has “reserve subscription” magazine available each month, allowing you to automatically receive your favorite anime, JPOP, hentai and other magazines as they come in Japanese newsstands (actually, about 2 weeks before they appear in newsstands). You can cancel your revolving subscription at any time. Please see our magazine subscriptions pages for more information.