animerevue

FUURIN ~ Japanese Summer Bell -- Happy Message Double Lucky Cat

Lucky Cat (Maneki Neko) is a universal symbol of good luck and fortune in Japan and can be seen in the entrances of many homes and businesses here. This is another appearance of the famous traditional cat figure in this nostalgic ceramic windchime, that you can hang in your home to catch the breeze for a chiming melody. This summer bell in particular features 2 summer cats that spread the message of "Shiawase Koi Koi Yattekoi." A nice cultural item from Japan that will help to make fond...

NIOI-FUKURO ~ Mini Potable Fragrance Sachet KINCHAKU / Bag

For those who love little trinkets of joy from Japan, here's a cute nioi fukuro (good fragrance bag). It measures 2.5 cm (1 inch), is decorated with a cute floral pattern kinchaku bag and has straps that you can use to tie on a key chain or backpack for that great attention getter. A cool item that's "Made in Japan." (More like this) (Direct link to this product)

Revoltech No.25 -- Megatron

Ruthless, maniacal, Megatron. The evil leader of the Decepticons returns in this Revoltech "Destron Leader" figure (in the Japanese Transformers series, Decepticons are called Destrons and Autobots are called Cybertrons). As part of the Revoltech series, this figure features revolver joints placed in 14 different locations on the body, so it's highly posable. Includes alternate head, arm-mounted fusion cannon, and extra pose hands. (More like this) (Direct link to this product)    

FUURIN ~ Japanese Summer Bell / Gold Fish in Water

Enjoy this wonderfully designed bell which you can hang from your house or trees during those hot summer months. It has a kingyo (gold fish) theme, swimming in a bowl, and has a cute card stock "sail" decorated with other goldfish. When the wind catches on the sail it chimes, to make a very relaxing sound. In Japanese, these are Fuurin or wind chimes (summer bells) , that many Japanese associate the sound of this kind of bell as a 'cooling sound'. Measures 5.5 x 6 cm (2 x 2.3 inches). Something...

Double Lucky Cat Display ~ Case & OKIAGARIKOBOSHI

Enjoy this beautiful ceramic figure display, that combines the Russian Nesting Dolls with that of Japanese culture. Made of high quality ceramics, this beautiful maneki neko (luck cat) consists of one large hollow white cat, which encases a smaller black cat inside, both of which have a kanji script written on their cute bellies. It comes with a red display pillow and is great for all Japanophiles. Measures 8 cm tall (3 inches). A heartwarming image of traditional Japan that looks great on...

Ask any gaijin living in Japan about dentists, and you'll be sure to get an earful. While Japanese dentists are good at fixing teeth, they're famous for making you come back dozens of times to finish your dental work, instead of getting it out of the way in a few visits. Once I had some work done on three teeth that took an incredible 18 months. I believe Japan's dentists take so long to work on teeth because of the way insurance is structured -- they're only allowed to charge a certain amount to the system each day, so they spread it out as much as they can. Like men whose job it is to stand by the road and wave a flashlight to let you know there's road construction going on and NHK employees who knock on millions of doors to collect the $20 monthly fee from households in person, Japanese dentists are an unfortunate symbol of Japan's lack of efficiency in some areas.

This is the best reason to go to dentists: hot, hot oral assistants who clean your teeth for you. I just know there's a major Japanese fetish for having your teeth cleaned by a beautiful woman. I'd go every week if they'd let me. 

Well, the International Day of the iPhone is here, when Apple's new 3G iPhone launches around the world. In Japan, the line outside Softbank's flagship store in Omotesando, Tokyo reached 1500 people and over a kilometer in length, as Japanese fans lined up to get their hands on the device for the first time. Masayoshi Son, the enigmatic president of Softbank and the mind behind the success of Google-trouncing Yahoo Japan, was beaming as he watched the lines of iPhone buyers, most of whom were switching from competing cellphone companies au/KDDI and NTT Docomo. Being a maverick has helped make the UC Berkeley-educated Son, a third-generation Japanese of Korean descent, the richest man in Japan, and his ability to "think different" probably helped him win the contract for the iPhone from Steve Jobs. While I'm still not sure if the iPhone will bowl over Japanese keitai users, who are extremely hidebound and love their flip-fones with the fancy styling and easy-to-type (for them) numeric keypads, I do love the coming havoc the iPhone will wreak in the Japanese cellphone marketplace as users realize they don't have to give cellular providers power to dictate everything about their phone, from what music formats they can listen to to what applications they can run -- they can just stick anything in iTunes and sync it over. Today I updated my (first-gen) iPhone to the updated 2.0 firmware and downloaded the app I've always wanted, a light saber sound simulator (iTunes link). Any phone platform that can bring that kind of awesomeness to its users will certainly find a niche in Japan.

Humor is a very cultural thing, and it's fun to analyze the things people from different countries consider amusing -- jokes about the lack of education or hygiene among people in a certain region, visual or slapstick forms of humor, orifice-related jokes and so on. Often, we can't comprehend the things that people in one culture find funny -- Canadian stand-up comedians telling jokes about Nova Scotians go way over my head, for example. Then again, there are times when the cultural difference can make something all that much more hilarious, which I believe is why Monty Python and the Holy Grail is such a cult favorite in the U.S. -- the gap between the two countries magnifies all the jokes, and our unfamiliarity with British understatement ("There are some who call me...Tim?") make it a ridiculously funny film. Humor in Japan often seems to be situationally-based, putting a character in an impossibly bizarre position and drawing laughter from his embarrassment, for example. One important category of humor in Japan comes from manzai, two-person stand-up comedy that involves a dumb comedian (boke) who makes erroneous observations and his sharp-tongued partner (tsukkomi), who berates him at every turn. The interplay of R2-D2 and C-3P0 in the Star Wars films is largely a reflection of this comic tradition, of course filtered through the films of Akira Kurosawa. The old adage that if you have to explain it, it isn't funny holds up pretty well in my experience, and back when I was a teacher I tried using American humor as teaching tool, bringing in Far Side comics or funny song lyrics for my students to discuss. I remember once trying to explain the concepts of irony, sarcasm and cynicism, all three of which are represented by the exact same word in Japanese (hiniku). It was, ahem, not my most inspired of lessons, and I think my students were more confused when I was finished.

Here are today's "really cool products" that I've picked out for you, out of the 30+ new items we've added to the J-List and JBOX.com sites today. Note that some products may be "not safe for work" but that all links will allow you to redirect yourself either to the J-List or JBOX.com websites. To see all the J-List products, check out J-List or the JBOX.com updated products link.

Ceramic Lucky Cat Coin Bank

Make your savings lucky with this ceramic Lucky Cat (aka Maneki Neko) coin bank. Lucky Cat is one of the most visible traditional symbols in Japan, often used to wish for business success or for good will towards guests. A fun way to save up some extra cash, and great as a tip jar, too! Measures 5.5 inches tall (15 cm). An authentic traditional Japanese item, made in Japan. Includes a bilingual explaination of Lucky Cat from the ceramics manufacturer in Aichi Prefecture. (More like this...