Join Our Newsletter
  • Visit Our Store
  • Come Write for J-List!
J-List Blog
Visit J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan
No Result
View All Result
J-List Blog
No Result
View All Result

Peter tastes local politics, the Joba horse-riding machine, and more info on blood types

Peter Payne by Peter Payne
17 years ago
in Your Friend in Japan

Today I took a couple of hours off work to participate in local politics, heading down to sit in on a session of the Prefectural Assembly about my son’s special English school. Although the lawmakers have voted to financially support the school, which teaches the standard Japanese curriculum but with all classes except for Japanese and social studies taught in English, there’s an impasse due to opposition by the Prefectural Governor. At the most recent debate on the issue, a few dozen parents gathered to show their support for the school, and I brought a little “gaijin power” to the mix, since having an American in a group will get attention — the local TV station was there and kept zooming in on me during the debate. It was my first time to see the law-making process in Japan up close, and although it was like watching C-Span dubbed in a foreign language without the ability to change the channel for 90 minutes, it was educational, too. I certainly learned that my prefecture has plenty of money in its budget for beautiful facilities for its legislators to work in, although the educational budget is stretched to the limit…

All companies must come up with fresh and interesting products to interest their customers. When National (as Panasonic is known inside Japan) announced their horse-riding exercise machine, there was a lot of snickering on the Internet. But the company has turned this wonky product idea into quite a profitable category, selling 120,000 of them so far. The Joba (“horse-riding”) device, which looks like a scaled-down bucking bronco machine, simulates riding a horse and tones muscles as the user struggles to keep balance on top of the machine. We broke down and bought one of these last week, and have been putting it through its paces. It’s nice and low-impact, and it’s a fun way to pass thirty minutes. Supposedly they’re selling it in the U.S. now, under the name “Core Trainer.”

Anime fans know that a written profile of an anime character is likely to include their name, place of birth, interests, “three sizes,” and usually, their blood type. The Japanese believe some interesting things about a person’s blood type, mainly that there’s a correlation between blood type and a person’s personality. Supposedly, type A are straight-laced, serious about everything, very organized, and make good accountants; type B are “my pace” (e.g. they go at their own pace, live in their own world), quickly get bored with things that don’t interest them, and speak their minds to a fault; type O are bold, hate to lose and have good leadership skills; and AB people are supposedly so smart they look strange to everyone else. This fascination with blood types is the subject of semi-regular TV specials, which investigate which blood types are most common among famous athletes, politicians, actors, business leaders and so on. In one experiment they separated kids by blood type and asked them to move water from one aquarium to another one, them filmed the results. The type A kids used small spoons to carefully move the water from one tank to the other, while the type B children tried to come up with a good way to move the water, but got bored and gave up in the middle. The type O kids lifted the first tank and poured the water into the second tank, not caring how much water they spilled on the floor in the process, and the type AB kids got smart and moved the two tanks around, so that it appeared that they’d moved the water when they hadn’t actually done so. One possible explanation about why the Japanese are so concerned with blood type is, it adds a dash of individuality in a country that’s otherwise very homogeneous, not unlike an American taking pride in the various countries that make up his ancestry. My son is a very organized, meticulous kid, and my wife had always assumed he was blood type A. We had him checked the other day, and darned if he isn’t AB instead, which caused her blood type-influenced world view to come crashing down.

We’ve got two new wacky shirts up on the site for you. Starting off is the first-ever shirt by Dan Kim, the extremely talented artist of the Clone Army web comics, including Nana’s Everyday Life, Penny Tribute and Kanami, as well as the new “H.H. – The H-Game Webcomic.” The shirt features the deliciously bizarre (and gory) art from one of our favorite comics, Tomoyo42’s Room, which parodies the relationship of Sakura and Tomoyo from Card Captor Sakura. It will be produced in 1-2 weeks, but we’re posting it for preorder now. Then, everyone knows that the Japanese take their shoes off before entering a house, which helps separate the “uchi” (inside) from the “soto” (outside) and of course keeps your house clean. In some homes or businesses there are signs that specifically ask you to remove your shoes. It occurred to us that a wacky T-shirt incorporating these signs would be great for our customers, and hence our new “No Shoes Allowed” shirt was born, which sports a bizarre warning message that “It is forbidden to wear shoes indoors.” Totally cool!

Tags: gaijinkidsPanasonicsports

More Posts Like This

You've Been In Japan Too Long When
Your Friend in Japan

The Ultimate ‘You’ve Been in Japan Too Long When…’ List!

by Peter Payne
2 years ago

You've been in Japan Too Long when... This is a post of the collected list of "You've been in Japan...

Rugby Explosion In Japan
Your Friend in Japan

Rugby Explosion in Japan!

by Peter Payne
4 years ago

(Art via fujii_jun, hirame_sa) The Rugby World Cup is currently being held in Japan, and the country is positively brimming...

The three stages of gaijin eye aversion?

What Are The Three Stages of Gaijin Eye Aversion?

4 years ago
Why Are Some Anime Inaccessible To Foreigners

Why Are Some Anime Inaccessible to Foreigners?

4 years ago
Why Do Foreigners Think Japan Is As It Appears In Late Night Anime

“Why Do Foreigners Think Japan is Like Late-Night Anime?”

4 years ago
Stereotypes In Anime

Exploring Stereotypes in Anime

5 years ago
Next Post
J-List Default Featured Image

Language learning and the "Han Solo Factor," example of silly English in product names, and more

Trending Today

Why Is Umi Yatsugake So Popular
Your Friend in Japan

Why is Umi Yatsugake The Most Popular JAV Actress?

3 days ago
Roxy Migurdia Blog Post
Figures

This is the Roxy Migurdia Figure We All Needed!

5 days ago
Why Are There So Many Characters Named Sakura
Your Friend in Japan

Why Are So Many Anime Characters Named Sakura?

5 days ago
Tan Fighters List1 6
Featured

Lovely Tanned Fighters Who Need No Protection

1 week ago
Neko Pako Fuck Paradise
Adult Toy Reviews [NSFW]

J-List’s Top 11 Hentai Cosplay JAV Works

3 years ago
Get the Newest Figures from J-List - Your Favorite Online Shop and Friend in Japan
What Autumn 2023 Anime Will J List Watch
Your Friend in Japan

The J-List Autumn 2023 Anime Guide! Which Anime Should You Watch?

by Peter Payne
September 28, 2023

TenPuru, Episode 12 [END]: Where Are You Looking?

Rurouni Kenshin, Episode 13: Sword vs. Gun

Comic Con Africa Is a Slice of Global Otaku Culture

The J-List Autumn 2023 Anime Guide! Which Anime Should You Watch?

Bibury Animation 100 Girlfriends Who Really Love You

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Discord
  • YouTube

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Product Reports
  • Your Friend in Japan

© J-LIST. All trademarks, characters and images are property of their respective owners.