Anime Fans Have Lots of Famous Company. William Shatner is an Anime Fan!
I’ve written before about how, when you visit Japan for the first time, you put yourself in some very special company. If you find yourself amazed at the incredible line of products in a Japanese convenience store, you’re following in the footsteps of the Dalai Lama, and if you visit Japan’s ancient capital of Nara and feed the deer, well, Albert Einstein did that back in 1922. Even just being an anime fan can put us in good company, alongside Robin Williams, Quintin Tarantino, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe and Samuel Jackson. (The latter famously said, “Hentai, too.”) And now we can add William Shatner to the list. A few days ago, some anime fans asked him who is favorite Love Live girl was, and he replied, “Why? Okay, it’s Umi.” He then went on to demonstrate a reasonable knowledge of the Love Live universe, proving beyond a doubt that Captain Kirk is a man of culture.
It’s interesting to look at some of the less famous Japanese companies that have nevertheless managed to find success around the world, like Salonpas, who exports those lovely pain relieving patches out of Kyushu, or Japanese pen manufacturer Zebra, or Kyocera, a famous industrial company with 70,000 employees around the world. (Their name means “Kyoto Ceramics.”) When I went to Germany for the first time, I was pleased to see an old friend being sold in the supermarkets: Yakult, the probiotic yogurt-esque drink that’s enjoyed millions of times a day from India to the Netherlands to Texas. In 1954, the son of math teacher Toru Kumon said he was having problems with his studies, so Mr. Kumon developed a learning program called the Kumon Method, which spread throughout Japan and also to the U.S. and Europe via franchised Kumon Math and Reading Centers. (There’s even one near my house in San Diego.) While my kids never used the Kumon Method in their studies, the program does have a good reputation among those who’ve used it, and it helps young students get serious about keeping up with their studies in a way that’s similar to Japan’s juku evening study schools.
In addition to our daily Twelve Onaholes of Christmas (click to see today’s special toy), we’re doing a different flash sale every day, highlighting the awesome products we sell. Today’s special category are all our JAV DVDs ad Blu-rays, as well as JAV and sexy 2018 calendars are on sale.
