Greetings from Japan, where a man’s fly is referred to as his “shakai no madow” (or “window of society”)…
The events of last week continue to shock everyone here in Japan. Over the weekend, families of Japanese still missing flew to New York on the first available planes. Executives of Fuji Bank also went to New York to help in whatever way they could. The Japanese stock market has down, and up, and down again, as investors wait to see what will happen when the U.S. stock market opens. Based on the strong orders we got at J-List over the weekend, I believe that the American economy will continue to be strong. And if stocks do drop when the U.S. market opens, I, for one, will go shopping…
In local Japanese news, fears of Mad Cow Disease have seized consumers, with the discovery of the disease in a cow in Chiba Prefecture, near Tokyo. Authorities are investigating problems with the feed the animal was given as the most likely cause. As a result of the scare, Japanese are turning to American and “Aussie” beef, which is causing prices to go rise sharply. And in Tokyo, a 16 year old high school girl was working in a convenience store, when a man came in and made a purchase with a counterfeit 10,000 yen note. She noticed that the bill was odd, and when she happened to see the man on her way home, she decided to follow him. He went into another convenience store, where he passed another fake note. He tried to leave, but the girl said “Stop!” and with the help of some people on the street, she was able to catch him while authorities were called. Brave girl!
We’re happy to report that all mail flights have been resumed, and all backlogged packages that had been waiting to be sent are safely on their way to their destinations. We thank all customers for their understanding during this trying time for everyone. We’re making sure that all orders go out to customers in a timely manner.
Calendar season is here! Every year, hundreds of beautiful calendars are made published near the end of the year. Extra-large and printed with very high quality, these glossy calendars cover virtually all possible areas of Japanese pop culture, from anime to JPOP to beautiful swimsuit models and race queens and more. Since J-List’s mission is to introduce as much of Japan to people living around the world, we make these beautiful calendars available to everyone. The first 2002 calendars are ready for posting to the J-List, so please check them out. The rest of the calendars, including anime, JPOP and more, will be posted as soon as we get the data into the computer. (I can hear Kaori typing now…)
In addition to the calendars we’ve posted today, we’ve got some nice items for you, including:
- We’ve gotten in some new magazines, including the new EX CD-ROM, and one of my own favorites, the new Amateur Girl’s Data
- If you like the popular magazines with video CDs inside them, see the new Internet Paradise, with some very nice international AV collected for you
- For fans of O.K. magazine, we have a super O.K. photobook, called K.O., filled with great girls for you
- For photobook fans, some extra-special items, including a new Strawberry Diaries photobook by Garo Aida featuring “Nanami,” and more
- For fans of Japan’s unique doujinshi, we’ve got a great update for you, with both very rare single-issues of new doujinshi recently obtained at the past Comic Market, but good stock of several very nice books — including a new Girl Power and new Sailor Moon hentai books!
- Since we love Japan’s erotic wide manga, we’ve got new erotic manga volumes for you, with many all-new volumes posted in additional to fresh stock of several popular works as well
- Also for manga fans, a special treat — an *all* Azuki Kurenai issue of Angel Club
- For fans of Japan’s bold yaoi manga, we’ve got two new books for you as well, very nice yomi-kiri (individual self-contained manga volumes, not part of a set)
- For DVD lovers, check out the excellent Neo Uniform Collection, featuring excellent and rare AV with Sena Wakana, Mizuho Kanoh (aka Jun Kusanagi), and more
- For lesbian fans, we’ve got a great DVD item for you: a new Deep Kiss series production, featuring 8 lovely Japanese girls who agree to try lesbian “deep” kissing and much more. Who will win the SOD kissing contest?
- Also for lesbian aficionados, a new video from SOD’s Deep’s label explores the deep lesbian love between Chie and Mayu, two cousins who share a private summer together
- If you love anime, check out the anime page for a cool “completed figure” set based on the new Miyazaki movie, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi
- On our “wacky” stickers and signs page, we’ve got fresh stock of two popular traditional Japanese headbands, “Goukaku” (for those striving to pass some sort of test), and “Hisshou” (Certain Victory, for those trying to overcome an enemy in a battle)
- Also on our Wacky Signs page, fresh stock of some popular wooden signs, including “thank you” “now hiring” and “please don’t throw away your trash here.”
- On our popular Japanse snacks & food page, we’ve got several great new items, including two delicious new flavors of Toppo, a baked pretzel with chocolate inside, and a line of butter cookies from Japan in the shape of animals — they have the animals names written in English, right on the cookies
- For fans of our unique Japanse gum, we’ve got not one but two new flavors of Lotte chewing gum, a bold new coffee gum, and a delicious “lemon tea” gum that is right on the money
- For those studying Japanese, either the hiragana/katakana syllibery or kanji, we recommend the Pokemon Japanese study notebooks we’ve gotten in more stock of
- On our “traditional” wacky things page, look for a nifty Japanese air pillow, but one with a traditional covering of igusa, the straw that tatami mats are made from
- Finally, we’ve gotten some cool new items on our general Wacky Things from Japan pages, including a delightful Japanese flowerpot, fresh stock of our best-selling Japanese wall maps, Hello Kitty clips to keep anything closed, and more stock of one of our most popular authentic Japanese bento boxes.
The J-Mate site at http://www.jmate.com/ has been updated with new reviews and English interviews with Japanese AV stars. New reviews of X-Change and Hentai Anime Poker are posted, as well as a photobook of Kyoko Fukada. For Nao Hirosue fans, read a great new interview with her, in which she discusses her nervousness about having small breasts, and more!
