Hello again from Japan, where a popular dessert is “coffee jelly” (coffee flavored gelatin), one of my personal favorites.
Languages deal with new vocabulary words in different ways. In Chinese, when a new concept comes along like the computer, they express the word in kanji characters (“calculating table”). In Japan, they have a choice: import the kanji-based word from China, such as the word for “operating room” (“hand-technique room”), or more frequently, import the word from Western languages (usually English) and write it in the katakana syllable system, which is used exclusively for writing foreign loan words. Katakana is very useful — any foreign name can be written easily, unlike with kanji characters, which have multiple readings. Certain types of words tend to be written using foreign loan words — anything having to do with cars or computers or the Internet, and the names of many occupations (engineer, illustrator), for example. The problem is that more and more words are written in katakana these days, which creates a “comprehension gap” between young and older Japanese, with people over 40 not understanding much of what is being said around them. The problem is so bad that there are actually “katakana dictionaries” you can buy in stores, which help explain what these strange words mean. (Several of the Wordtank electronic dictionaries that J-List sells also have katakana dictionaries built into them.) Just as some English speakers throw a dash of French into their writing to show off their intelligence, Japanese businessmen and news commentators love to pepper their speech with English words like “consensus” and “manifesto” and “Initiative” which can cause plenty of confusion.
Yes, it’s quite common for Japanese speech to contain words borrowed from other countries, and there are two grammatical aides that allow Japanese to plug these words into Japanese grammar easily. The first are is the adjective particle “na” which allows an adjective to be used without any tense. This makes it great for using English adjectives in Japanese, and you do hear words like “kyuuto na hanii” (cute honey, perhaps a term for one’s boyfriend or girlfriend), “chiipu na oto” (a cheap sound coming out of your stereo), and “torendii na dorama” (the latest trendy soap opera on television). Then there’s the catch-all verb “suru” which means “to do” and can be used with English words to easily plug them into a Japanese sentence. Words you often hear are purei suru (to play a game), doraibu suru (to go for a drive), and of course, sekkusu suru (to have sex). The staff at J-List uses lots of English in their Japanese, too, and you can hear terms like sukyan suru (to scan something), pikku suru (to pick products in preparation for shipping) being used everyday.
It’s 2004 Calendar Season right now, a special time of the year when J-List is a-buzz with lots of beautiful anime, idol, JPOP, character and other fun calendars sold only in the Japanese market. We got a shipment of calendars in over the weekend, and have added the new items to the J-List site — lots of great ones in stock, and no waiting!
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, we’ve got more wacky Domo-kun handtowels for those who want to really make an impression on guests!
- For fans of beautiful anime girls, we’ve got a limited edition series of “shokugan” figures by Megahouse, that are very detailed and very cool
- Then, for collectors of Kubrick and Blythe toys, we’ve got the perfect crossover — Blythe Kubrick figures. They’re eerily compelling!
- Also, for those who wish they could paint garage kits like the pros, we’ve got a beautiful cold cast pre-painted figure from Comic Party that would look great on your desk
- We love Japan’s sexy swimsuit idols, and one of our favorites is Chinatsu Wakatsuki, whose new photobook features removable poster pages that you can hang up in your room
- Also, enjoy a super cute new photobook by Aiko Ito, who will charm you with her beauty and cuteness
- Yuko Ogura fans will enjoy the delightful new idol DVD, Peach, featuring the superb Japanese idol who has captured the hearts of so many
- For Final Fantasy VIII traditionalists, we’ve got a super art-and-data-book with over 500 pages of information and visuals from the game and its world
- Keep cool with our wacky “fruit fans” which can be used as tabletop or portable fans just about anywhere
- When I was a boy, I loved Micronauts almost as much as I loved Star Wars figures — we’ve got limited stock of some of the cool re-issued Micronauts (the good ones from Japan, not the awful Palladium toys)
- We’ve got some cool wooden Buddhist beads that you can use as a religious item, or to make you look fashionable
- Like Crayon Shinchan? We’ve got a cool plush toy for you then
- Hello Kitty fans, enjoy a cute portable phone strap/charm that is really cool, and other interesting Kitty items sold only in Japan
- Also, make you portable phone even cuter with a plush “happy face cover”
- For fans of Japanese snacks, we’ve got tasty fruit candy from Fujita’s Peko-chan world, real tart Japanese “ume-boshi” plums, super minty mints, and more
- Also, for people who don’t get enough vegetables in their diets, we’ve got more “Green Vegetable Pretz”
- We’ve got a handy wallet from japan with a cute panda on it, that will serve you for many years
- Also, for fans of Japan “minty eyedrops” (and you know who you are), we’ve got some cool eyedrops just for contact lens users, as well as fresh stock of several popular other items
- We’ve got a dynamite illuminated message board that shows your notes in vibrant color, very cool
- Finally, look for a wacky “open” sign from Japan, more bento boxes and other items for your kitchen, and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For fans of beautiful Japanese kogals, the young, sassy and stylish girls from Japan, we’ve got the new issue of Urecco Gal, and this one is really lovely
- For fans of Ryoko Mitake (ME-tah-KAY), enjoy a super new Diva Mook, featuring nothing but lovely nude photographs of this fantastic AV star from Japan
- Then enjoy the super sexy Erika Ogawa, who shines in her super sexy hardcover photobook
- Don’t miss the new nude photobook of Akira Watase, who shows you everything about her erotic body and sex
- Also, look for great restocked adult photobooks, including the best-selling Kaoru offering by Akira Gomi, European Fairy Tale, Moe Yoshizawa’s hit photobook, Akane Souma wonderful erotic offering and more
- Also, for art book fans, we’ve restocked the dynamite Yui Shop 3, by master hentai artist Yui Toshiki
- For hentai manga fans, enjoy some great new erotic books, including “reverse lesbian” play with Takeshi Matsuzawa, erotic fantasy and “furry” sex by Hot Milk, a superb new erotic manga by MEE-kun and more
- Also, fresh stock of many great hentai manga, including Your Eyes Only, Urushihara’s hentai masterpiece Dark Crimson vol. 1 and 2, Slight Fever Prince, The Ties That Bind and more
- For doujinshi fans, we’ve got some great new ones, including Gundam Seed and more
- Adult DVD fans can enjoy many new items today, starting with a new No Cut!! release giving you three full video releases on one low-priced disc, enjoy the dynamite Haruka Tsukino (region free, 3 hours)
- Then, Hitomi Hasegawa shows you her sweet sex in a new “4 HOURS of Hitomi Hasegawa” release by Million, with lots of “virtual sex” shot from the point of view of the actors (region free)
- The lovely Reika Yoshizawa must endure 24 hours of “anytime and anywhere sexual intercourse,” in which she is called upon to service men at all hours of night and day (region free)
- From Deep’s, a great “2 in 1” release featuring the sultry leg fetish and low-angle photography of Rumiko Hasegawa and Sara Akigawa, great for fans of Japan’s stocking and mini-skirt fetishism (region free)
- Then enjoy the delightful Asuka Sawaguchi in a great release from Waap in which she performs sex and fellatio in a great array of sexy costumes (region free)
- Then, we’ve got some great restocked DVDs, including Kurumi Morishita and Nao Oikawa’s superb Forest in Nude, more fun sex with Russian and Swedish girls, great bukkake with Kokoro Amano, Asuka Sawaguchi’s oh-so-lovely No Cut!! release, anime cosplay sex, and more!
Remember that we’re having a “free shipping sale” on select DVDs on top of our regular “buy 4 get 15% off” discount. It’s a great excuse to buy a bunch of quality DVDs from Japan and save some money. Search for “free DVD special” to find the DVDs included in the discount.
