Hello again from your friends in Japan!
Halloween has come early to J-List. At various times during the year, my mother sends me a care package of goodies from the States, things that she knows we miss like Easter candy and Girl Scout Cookies. Now Halloween is approaching, and my mother sent some American Halloween candy for the staff here in Japan, which has me feeling quite “natsukashii” (NATS-kah-SHEE), a Japanese word meaning “nostalgic” which comes up in anime quite a bit. While some of the American candy — the caramel with coconut inside, the waxy Tootsie Rolls, and the rock-hard Bit-o-Honey — was a little odd to the Japanese staff members, they tried everything like good sports (although only Daisuke liked the candy corn). If you’re looking for something for your Halloween (either the unique costume or candy items J-List offers), there’s still plenty time to get items to you from Japan by EMS shipping.
With the poor economic performance of the past decade in Japan, many industries have been brought down as some others flourish. When companies go bankrupt and vacate buildings, they are often replaced by the bright signs of “sara-kin,” the high-interest loan companies (some would say loan sharks) that have taken hold in debt-ridden Japan. Everywhere you look are signs for companies like Acom and Yen Shop and Lake, which lend money to individuals — perhaps Scott Adams would call them “induhviduals” — at up to 30% per year. These companies spend millions on advertising on late-night TV to get consumers to borrow money, and anyone can borrow up to $3000 with just a drivers’ license. They’re incredibly good at what they do, too. Some customers are embarrassed by the need to borrow money, so they set up automated “cash corners” (like ATMs but they bankrupt you) which let you borrow from a faceless machine. Other companies promote the fact that you can come in and talk to a real human being — in the TV commercials, usually a pretty idol — about the best way to borrow money. In the New Japanese Economy, the growth of these high-interest loan companies has been incredible, and many company founders top the roles of Japan’s wealthiest businessmen.
One area that I’m glad to see booming are Japanese hot springs and public baths, a uniquely Japanese way to enjoy yourself. With the opening last year of Yura no Sato (“Land of Hot Water and Comfort”), I now have three great hot springs within 10 minutes of my house. Yura no Sato sports at least twenty different indoor and outdoor baths, several saunas, a traditional Japanese “pot bath” (tsubo-buro), and more. I take my kids there every Friday evening.
Anyone with inquisitive kids knows that it’s as much fun to take apart and put together toys as it is to play with them. J-List is happy to announce the availability of new “Tech Toys” from Seibun, a Japanese company well-known for its science-based educational toys and other products. For starters, we’ve got a great Solar Mars Crawler and Hovercraft kit that you and your kids can put together, as well as ‘Hinoki’ Soft Wood Clay, a fantastic clay that kids can do anything with — but it’s so light it floats. (My kids play with stuff every day in Japan.) See the new Educational Toys page for these items. For your ordering convenience, these items ship out of San Diego. They’re great for Christmas, too!
In addition to Credit Card, check or money order, Western Union, and check/money order (or cash sent carefully through the mail), J-List accepts Paypal for payment of non-adult orders. Unfortunately we’ve had a temporary problem with our Paypal account, which has made it impossible for us to accept payments for a couple of days. We’ll have it fixed soon — sorry for any delay!
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, I’m a big fan of NASA and the space program, and am therefore proud to be able to sell the Royal Museum of Science, a series of miniature “shokugan” toys celebrating the best years of space (as always, we’ve got full sets available for purchase, with no duplicates)
- For Domo-kun fans, we’ve got a really cool item: Domo-kun hand-towels that
- For photobook fans, we’ve got more lovely swimsuit idols and Race Queen offerings for you, including the delightful hardcover photobook of Airi Mita
- Also, cute star Mayumi Ono became a hit when she put her cute smile on the late-night TV commercials for Acom, a high-interest finance company — see her super-cute photobook
- We’ve got some cool Hello Kitty items, including a deluxe sold-only-in-Japan alarm clock, a cool leather Kitty coin purse and more
- If you’ve got foot pains, try the power of tree sap (?), a Japanese product that cools and relaxes your feet
- We’ve gotten in more wacky notebooks with funny English, a deluxe new version of our “Times too simply…” cool notebook
- For fans of delicious Japanese snacks, enjoy more tasty miso soup (“raw type,” the good stuff), delicious salmon onigiri mix, peanuts and rice crackers, and more
- Also, tasty “green tangerine” flavored Hi-Chew soft candies from Morinaga, as well as fresh stock of Choco Banana candy and yakiniku (Korean barbecue) Pretz
- For fans of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime films, we’ve got fresh stock of a favorite of mine and Daisuke’s: Ocean Waves, the simple story of love and growing up in rural Japan
- For anime fans, enjoy two great figures of Astro Boy that would look great on any desk — they come with cases too
- For fans of uber-cute, we’ve got fresh stock of the Kabaya “Nyanko Restaurant” keychain cookies — they are so cute you won’t believe it!
- We’ve got fresh stock of the cute Cat Bus Mini Mascot, for Totoro fans, and fresh stock of the oh-so-popular miniature Japanese food toys
- It’s getting cooler, so we’ve reduced the prices of our authentic Japanese tatami sandals, which are a stylish way to cover your feet in any season
- Finally, enjoy a great way to keep your toilet smelling fresh, a neat all-leather coin purse
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of Japan’s great professional adult magazines, we’ve got the new issue of Gokuh, featuring superb Japanese stars like Alice Ogura, Kana Aoyama, Yumi Kobayashi, a giant pull-out poster, and more
- The Digi + Girls photobook series presents incredibly beautiful Japanese girls posing in bold “fashionable nudes” for you — enjoy these great photos, which are so lovely to look at that these books are marketed to women in Japan
- Then enjoy the sweet nude of Hitomi Kurosawa, age 19, a delightful offering for photobook fans, followed by the erotic “Flexible” photobook of former gymnast Ayuri Iisaku
- Also, enjoy hardcore cosplay performances by five erotic AV stars including Shinobu Kasagi, as well as some limited stock of the Yellows photobooks
- For fans of the very cute, affordably-priced pocket-sized photobooks from Japan, we’ve got two great new ones too, capturing the loveliness of several superb Japanese ladies
- We love Japan’s unique hentai manga, and have some great works in stock for you, including super maid fetish as only the Japanese can convolve of, a great “sweat and sperm” comics by Plaza Comics, and one of the most incredible “dick girl” mangas we’ve ever seen
- For doujinshi fans, we’ve got two great new works by Okachimentaiko, the famous circle that’s been making quality erotic parody comics for a decade, as well as fresh stock of two of their popular works
- For our DVD customers, we’ve got some excellent new titles in stock for you, starting with a new Stars!! release featuring 150 minutes of sweet sex by Makoto Imajuku, age 19 (region free)
- Then enjoy the silky, sexy trio of Nao Oikawa, Hitomi Hayasaka and Ran Monbu in a new offering from Million (region free)
- Bunko Kanazawa looks as good as ever in her new release, a 180 minute presentation of her best sex ever, by HRC (region free)
- Then enjoy The Greatest Fudol Battle, in which “fuzoku idols” (fudols, also known as soap girls) complete in an erotic contest of Turkish bathing (region free)
- “Senzuri” is a Japanese word which means “one thousand strokes” and is a euphemism for masturbation — see the lovely Mai Haruna in a superb erotic work from SOD’s Chujitsudoh label in which she assists your own masturbation (region free)
- Ran Asakawa is a beautiful Japanese AV star — see some of her best-ever sex in her hot new production, by Moodyz (region 2)
- Finally, we’ve restocked some great erotic DVDs, including Ran Asakawa’s Endless Semen, more erotic fighting girls, fresh stock of OL fetish DVDs, fresh stock of Black Black sugarless caffeine gum, and more!
Remember that J-List offers revolving subscriptions to some of Japan’s most popular magazines, including anime magazines (Animage, Newtype), toy magazines (Hobby Japan), manga magazines (Coro Coro and Afternoon), and more. Some of these are very cutting edge and cool to read, such as Japanese street fashion magazines Fruits and Egg, and don’t forget to check out Megami Magazine, loaded with posters and stickers and other cool things. These magazines will be sent to you as soon as they’re available each month, before they’re even sent to the newsstands here in Japan, and you can cancel your subscription any time. See the magazine subscription pages for more information.
Also, remember that J-List offers you discounts for buying multiple items. Want to get some great bishoujo games? Pick up 4 or more and get 20% off. Looking for hentai manga? Get 4 or more books and get 15% off. You can also get 15% off 4 or more DVDs. All discounts are calculated automatically at checkout.
