Hello from a somewhat nerve-wracked J-List. Wildfires are raging across several parts of San Diego, and unfortunately, the area of Tierrasana where our home is located in is one of the areas that is threatened at the present time. The San Diego staff of J-List has evacuated and everyone is safe, things are really up in the air still, including the fate of our home. The fires have paralyzed large parts of San Diego, and we thank everyone in advance for their patience while we resume shipping product out of J-List’s San Diego location, which will take a few days at least. There is no delay with shipping of items from Japan. It’s really awful, being on the other side of the world and unable to do anything during this difficult time for everyone in San Diego, and our prayers are with everyone there.
Well, on with the update, as best we can. We caught Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill on its opening night this weekend. It was a very entertaining film, although not one you should take too seriously. Throughout the movie, my wife and I had to laugh at little inside jokes, from the kogal phone strap on O-Ren Ishii’s portable phone to bizarre views of Tokyo that don’t actually exist. As with the Matrix Reloaded, it was interesting and vaguely satisfying to see how deep the influence of Japan has been on the world at large in the past 15 years. We’ve certainly come a long way from the mid-80s, when Japanese animation was relegated to small clubs on university campuses, gathering to watch Japanese shows they couldn’t understand. Tarantino fans in Japan were treated to an extra 2 minutes which were shaved from the U.S. release to keep the violence within acceptable levels. Anyway, it was a great film, which all fans of the director’s entertaining style of on-screen violence should catch.
It’s interesting, the things you learn about the human brain when you learn a second language. For example, when I was learning Japanese, I found that my brain was not able to “parse” Japanese that I didn’t understand when it was spoken at me. In fact, my brain didn’t even register that I’d been spoken to at times — effectively, Japanese words that I had not learned registered as so much static when they entered my brain. At other times, a person’s brain will convert an unfamiliar word into something it can store. For example, when we bought a Mazda Bongo Friendee (like an MPV but taller, with a top that opens up), my American nephew kept calling the car “Bongo Frenzy” because he wasn’t used to weird Japanese English car names. Another time, I was interviewed by a magazine about bishoujo games (the Japanese dating-sim games that we sell on J-List), but when I checked the article, it listed them as “bushido games” (bushido being the samurai code of chivalry) — oops. Interestingly, embarrassing yourself by not knowing a certain word in a certain situation often serves as a “memory hook” that will help you remember the word in the future. I remember hitchhiking to Aomori Prefecture (famous for apples and Japanese “enka” singers). I was trying to buy a flashlight, but I didn’t know the correct word to use. I know it now — kaichuu dentou — and the frustration I felt trying to communicate probably helped me memorize the word.
(Speaking of Bongo Friendees, aka the Mazda SGL or Ford Freda, they’re getting popular outside of Japan. See the official U.K. owners’ club website at http://www.bongofury.co.uk/)
Poor Daisuke is in the hospital with his knee injury, so we paid him a visit on Sunday. Visiting someone in the hospital is called omimai (oh-me-MAI), not to be confused with omiai (oh-me-AI), what is usually thought of as an arranged marriage. We brought him a basket of fruit and his Powerbook, and a bag full of DVDs to watch while he heals. He’s doing very well and wants to come back to work as soon as he can.
We’ve got hundreds of great Japanese 2004 calendars in stock for you, with so much variety that almost anyone should be able to find some great calendars for themselves or to give as gifts. To help you better choose which calendars you’d like to get, we’ve added interior digital photographs of many calendars, allowing you to get an good idea of the quality of these large-format calendars are. Enjoy the new photographs. Also, we’ve gotten in another volley of new calendars, including the long-awaited 2004 Domo-kun calendar!
For the new update, we’ve got some excellent products from Japan for you. They include:
- First, for Shirow Masamune fans, we’ve got vol. 10 of the excellent Ghost in the Shell animated series, featuring episodes 19 and 20
- Domo-kun fans, we’ve got some cool new plush toys for you: the TV-watching Usajii and sports-watching toting Ta-chan
- For fans of the new Gundam Seed, the fantastic latest anime series from Rising Sun, we’ve got a great Gundam Seed Character Data Book
- Kubrick and Batman lovers, we’ve got the great new toy series from Medicom Toy, featuring three classic crimefighters and three great villains
- The hardcover photobook of Emi Kobayashi is also a treat for all fans of Japan’s swimsuit idols
- Also, sweet idol Hitomi Ito will charm you with her nice hardcover photobook, too
- For Final Fantasy X fans, we have a fabulous 600+ page data, art and characer info page for the game, a really special item that FFX fans shouldn’t miss
- Fans of doujinshi can enjoy a great “parody doujinshi anthology” that mocks famous anime and video game characters
- We loved the movie Kill Bill, especially the scene where Lucy Liu sports a cute kogal phone strap with beads on it — now we’ve got these in stock for you
- We’ve gotten in some beautiful 2004 desktop and small wall calendars featuring stunning traditional Japanese artwork
- For fans of Japanese snacks and food, we’ve gotten in some fun new gummi treats that you can pick off a gummi tree and eat
- Also, delicious Japanese ume, unique Japanese soup, and teeth-whitening sugarless gum from Japan
- We’ve added two really unique “animal alarm clocks” that are unique and look great in any room
- Also, a wacky game called the Angry Old Man Game, fun for all ages
- For Hello Kitty lovers, we’ve got a really high-quality coin purse made of chirimen, the fabric kimonos are made out of
- Anyone who loved Ultraman as a kid (as I did) can get five dynamite Ultraman keychains, featuring the collect and most popular Ultramen
- Also, we have fresh stock of the popular “It is forbidden to urinate here” stickers
- Want to take a Japanese-style hot springs bath? we have some great Hello Kitty bath powder for you
- Finally, find super happy wallets, more Japanese study aids, a super way to bring some negative ions into your life, and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- First, enjoy Ryu-Gu (Dragon Temple), a great hardcore amateur magazine that features great couples in love hotels
- Also, the always-popular Yo!, a treat for guys who worship Japanese kogals doing the nasty for the camera
- Bachelor is a magazine that presents busty women from Japan and all around the world, including women from Eastern Europe and Russia — enjoy the great new issue
- We’ve got more bargain magaznies too, starting at just $5
- For photobook fans, enjoy the oh-so-sexy hardcover offering of Waka Inoue (her last name is pronounced EE-no-OO-way)
- Then taste the lovely Erotic Revolution of Yoko Kawahara, a dynamite and stylish girl who will amaze you with her eros
- Hentai manga fans will enjoy several new offerings, including anime and game parody works, a great hentai manga anthology, and a beautiful erotic manga for girls (erotic shoujo manga) and a super “lesbian dick girl” offering
- Also, enjoy freshly restocked manga, including Teacher Kisaragi’s Sexual Class, Tousaku – Delusion, Michael Plan and Amber Girl
- For doujinshi lovers, we’ve got some great new erotic parody comics, including Urusei Yatsura and Boy Detective Conan hentai parody
- Yaoi lovers have a great treat too: the superbly gothic “A Slaves’ Condition” by Kousai Comics
- For our DVD customers, we’ve got some great items for you, starting with a low-price reissue of Izumi Morino’s anime cosplay masterpiece in which she has great sex while wearing famous anime cosumes (region free)
- Next, Mai Sakashita shows you her “other side” in a great hardcore production frmo Million (170 mins., region free)
- Then SOD’s famous director Hajime has a great new project for you: beautiful amateurs who xerox their breasts, asses and more for you, using a color copy machine (region free)
- Then enjoy a great “2 in 1” production of Les Commando, the great combination of military fetish and lesbian erotica (region free)
- From Waap, enjoy a great erotic bukkake festival in the Dream Shower series, starrring the erotic and lovely Tsubasa Okina (region 2)
- Also from Moodyz, enjoy the last word in lesbian OL sex in “The Triple Lesbian In Office” (region 2)
- We’ve added another dozen or so close-out DVD titles to our free shipping DVD sale — get a great bargain and free shipping on some fantastic adult titles from Japan
- Then enjoy fresh stock of other popular DVDs, including Aika Miura’s “Respect,” Kimiko Matsuzaka “The Complete,” Bondage Mania with Chika Kawamura, and fresh stock of the popular Leg Fetish Best Selection series from SOD!
Remember that J-List carries wacky snack and gum items from Japan, which aren’t available overseas. In addition to Pocky and other pretzle-stick-type snacks, we have the full line of Lotte’s delicious gum, including the best-selling gum at J-List, the spicy, caffeine-enriched Black Black, that was mentioned in the past issue of Wired Magazine.
Also remember that J-List has a great offer — get 20% off any four or more bishoujo (“pretty girl”) games, also known as love-sim and hentai games. We pride ourselves on having the best selection on the planet, and we carry the games of every English love-sim game company in existence. See the great items we’ve got for you!
