Japan is having its “Obon” Buddhist holidays right now, a solemn time when the spirits of deceased family members are believed to return home for a three-day visit. Japan has two main religious traditions, which are Buddhism, imported from either China or Korea (depending on who you ask) around the 6th century, and Shinto, an animistic religion that sees 神 kami (spirits or gods) in natural objects like mountains, rivers, and trees. (By almost any measure, Totoro is one of these kami.) One theme I write about a lot is the way Japanese Buddhism can feel distant and confusing to Westerners, while Shinto seems a lot more accessible because it’s well represented in pop culture, from the characters in Touhou to the ubiquitous shrine maidens seen in anime and games to those omamori good luck charms that are fun to carry around. While it might be less familiar to foreigners, the imagery of Obon is beautiful to witness, especially the traditional bon-odori dance (different in each region of Japan) and toro-nagashi, a ceremony in which hundreds of Japanese lamps are floated downstream to symbolize the passing of the dead into the next world. Tomorrow my family will make a visit to the gravestone of my wife’s uncle Kumakichi, who fought in World War II on the Battleship Ise, and who was always happy to tell stories of the war to me and my kids before his passing in 2010.
If you ordered some of J-List’s famous “dolphin polisher” or personal cosplay products last week, it’s possible it took a couple extra days for your order to come in stock, and the reason might surprise you. Our distributor for these products is located in Osaka, which happens to be the home of Universal Studios Japan, the theme park that which just launched its Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction here in Japan. It seems that the launch succeeded beyond the company’s wildest dreams, proving so popular with fans that it basically brought the city of Osaka to its knees, with traffic snarls and packed trains everywhere. As a result of all the congestion, shipments to J-List have been coming in late…and it’s basically Harry Potter’s fault. According to the Japanese internet, the popularity of Universal Studios Japan has had an effect on another famous theme park, Tokyo Disneyland, which had very thin crowds and wait times of only 5 minutes on popular rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain despite it being summer vacation season right now.
We have great news for hentai fans: the return of Comic AG Super Manga Anthology to J-List, with fresh stock of nearly all volumes available in San Diego. Each issue of AG is an anthology of quality manga stories, with 80 pages of fully translated and uncensored stories by Japan’s top artists, all printed with great care by the highly dedicated publisher. While you can buy individual issues, the best way to grab these awesome issues is using the “AGSET” discount sets, which give you 5 sequential volumes for a very low price. Get your order in now!
