Hello from all of us in Japan!
First, about the site: some users did have some display problems after all, which cause images to not show up in their browsers. We’ve tweaked the site and think it should be working now for everyone — if it’s not, please contact us ASAP.
When you learn a foreign language, you have to get used to concepts that just don’t translate comfortably into words in your native language. Four words used a lot in Japan are: oniisan, oneesan, ojisan and obasan (note: short vowel on ojisan and obasan). They mean, respectively, older brother, older sister, uncle and aunt. But the words have a different nuance when applied to people who aren’t related to you. Oniisan and oneesan can be applied to any friend aged 12-28, while ojisan and obasan are generic words for “middle-aged man” and “middle-aged women.” Whether a given adult is an “oniisan” or an “ojisan” (i.e., perceived as being young or old) depends on the person who is talking, and sometimes it can be a grey area. At 34, I consider myself quite young at heart, certainly nowhere near middle age, yet from Japanese kids’ point of view, I fall squarely into the “ojisan” demographic. A cornerstone of Japanese humor falls around these concepts — for example, a young woman who is called “obasan” by a child, when she considers herself to be an “oneesan.” It comes up in anime all the time.
It sounds corny, but as a foreigner living in Japan, I try my best to project a good image of Americans to the Japanese. I never throw trash on the ground, and even take trash bags to the park sometimes to pick up trash we see on the ground with my kids. (Note about Japan: there are never enough trash cans.) I do my best to make sure my kids follow “bath rules” when we go to the public bath, since their actions reflect on my country. And whenever I find myself around children when I’m wearing sunglasses, I take my sunglasses off no matter how bright it may be outside. This is because, to Japanese kids, a big foreigner wearing dark sunglasses like a yakuza is likely to be a little scary for them, in the same way that, say, a group of large black men from the ‘hood might make white, suburban kids uncomfortable. It’s not due to any lack of political correctness or anything, it’s just the way it is, and when you’re going to live in a foreign country it’s best to be realistic.
Halloween is right around the corner. Japanese know about the festival as an American tradition, but it’s not celebrated here at all. The closest thing the Japanese have to Halloween is Obon, a three-day holiday in August during which Buddhists believe the spirits of a family’s ancestors return for a visit. Since it’s a long holiday, Obon is an excuse for people to go home to their parents’ house and reconnect with their families, in a way very similar to Thanksgiving in the U.S. During a visit home, Japanese would likely do “haka-mairi” or make a visit to their family grave to pray, bring flowers and wash the gravestone with water. My own kids didn’t know anything about the American tradition of Halloween until we took a special trip home so they could experience it. They loved it.
First, we have another *huge* volley of calendars, with another six large boxes delivered. We’ve processed the preordered calendars and will get them out ASAP. We’ve got stock of many great calendars for you now, including JPOP calendars (Ayumi Hamasaki), anime calendars (Tenchi Muyo, Totoro Desktop Calendar), bento calendars (a big hit this year!), Japanese scenic and traditional calendars, sexy idol calendars, and more. Also: we’ve added many pictures to existing calendar images so you can get more information on them. These calendars make unique and thoughtful Christmas gifts, too!
For the new update we’ve got a lot of great items for you, including:
- If you love Japan’s lovely swimsuit idols, we’ve got more items for you, including a beautiful special issue of Sabra magazine that you must see
- Also, enjoy the pure, youthful hardcover photobook of cute idol Sayaka Taniguchi
- If you love Japan’s highly developed Race Queen culture, we’ve got some nice items, including Toko Ushikawa’s excellent DVD
- For Hamtaro fans, a super photograph book that holds 40 photos — very cute
- We’ve got some nice Japanese Transformers toys from Takara, which transform into guns, cars and more
- Also, a cute Snoopy lighting keychain that lights up when you press Snoopy’s head
- For Hello Kitty fans find new items including Hello Kitty cupcake papers (useful as food separators too), as well as fresh stock of many items
- We have a handy set of Japanese writing instruments, including pen, “rocket pencil” and colored grease pencil, very cool
- If you love Thunderbirds, we’ve got a very cute “Thunderbirds Capsule” series from Yujin (full sets are available, too)
- For bento fans, we have a major stocking of bento box and bento box sets, courtesy of Mayumi
- We’ve got fresh stock of the fun Japanese notebooks that are very handy to have around the house — and they’ve got funny English on them!
- Finally, see a great shoulder and foot massager, more Japan-only Hot Wheels toys, a nifty condiment holder from Japan, and more!
For our adult customers, we’ve got many new 18+ products. They include:
- For magazine fans, we have the new Urecco, which is overflowing with beautiful girls like Ryoko Mitake, Chinatsu Wakatsuki, Hitomi Hayasaki and more, all with the incredibly high Urecco quality
- Also, several new amateur adult magazines
- If you love Japanese panty stocking fetish magazines, we’ve got the dynamite new Panst Best in stock, and it’s really nice
- We love the glossy Japanese photobooks, and have several nice ones for you, including Senna Kurosaki’s dynamite nude and a hardcover offering from Masako Umemiya — incredibly beautiful
- For fans of Japanese adult toys, sold in the Japanese market, we’ve got a nice new personal massager that can be enjoyed by two people at once, and a real stethoscope for couples who want to play doctor
- There are many magazine + DVD or VCD combination items, and we’ve got a nice new one: DVD Wow, featuring 2 hours of DVD footage and a full color magazine (region free)
- Of course we love hentai manga, and we’ve got a superb lineup of hentai comics for you, including a great work by Mercy Rabbit, creator of the Legend of Fairies and Fairy Nights English bishoujo games
- Also see many restocked items including the Vaginal Lovea and Vaginass series, Suddenly Cat Tale, and many other items, in stock for you
- For “dick girl” fans, we’ve got two “She Male Behavior” doujinshi by hentai doujinshi artist Amanojack
- For DVD collectors, we’ve got a great selection of items for you, starting with a super parody of Ayumi Hamasaki, the red-hot JPOP singer who sets the pace of fashion for young people all over Japan — see the new Ayu Cosplay DVD (region free)
- Next, enjoy three full hours of top-notch AV starring Bunko Kanazawa, Akira Watase and Nana Kawashima, from VIP (region free)
- Enjoy the erotic performance of Momo Sakura in a new Double United series DVD, with 150 minutes of satisfying AV for you (region free)
- From SOD, a great “soft breast fetish” offering featuring Kyoko Ayana’s lovely body (region free)
- From Deep’s see a great “lesbian training” performance in Bishoujo Lesbian Soapland (region free)
- Finally, Moodyz has made a name for themselves with the “Japanese girl vs. black man” featuring real black amateur actors from the USA — now see a great compilation of their best works (region 2)
- Finally, find many restocked DVD titles, including the Complete Compilation of Ai Nagase, Obtain Future Memorial, Eating Sperm 3, the very popular Skirt Diving (!) and American Hardcore 2. Enjoy all the new items!
The J-Mate site has been updated again, with a review of several of the Adult Video Wrestling DVDs, which accurately recreate the thrill of professional wrestling with sexy results when one team loses. Don’t forget to browse the English interviews with famous AV idols on the site, too. The URL is http://www.jmate.com/
Want to see everything that’s been recently updated at J-List? Click the “three day” link on the J-List front page to see products added or updated in the past three days.
