animerevue :: 2008 :: October

Japanese Food Gifts

The Japanese, they take their gift-giving seriously, a fact that I was reminded of while in Tokyo yesterday. I was passing through Ueno Station, one of my favorite parts of the city, and I saw an interesting shop selling omiyage (oh-mee-YAH-gay, souvenirs) of Tokyo, with the interesting name of Gift Island. They offered all manner of exotic sweets for sale, from the famous Tokyo Banana (banana-shaped cakes) to Goma Tamago (a traditional manju cake shaped like an egg and made with black sesame seeds, supposedly very healthy) to the fabulous castella, a cake rich in eggs that was introduced by the Dutch in the 16th century. One of my favorite traditional treats is called dora-yaki, which looks to the Western eye to be two pancakes with sweet Japanese beans inside; this is the favorite food of Doraemon the time-traveling robot cat, by the way. Of course, J-List has recently started carrying some interesting gift boxes of souvenir snacks you normally can only buy in places like Akihabara or Asakusa, with packages that are specially designed to be suitable for giving to others as gifts, or you can munch them yourself. Check them out on the site!

It looks like a Twinkie, but it's Tokyo Banana, so it's much cooler ^_^

2008 10 01

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Japanese Convenience Stores And You

You can pick almost any area to compare Japan with the U.S.: history, culture, sports -- or if you like, convenience stores. The modern combini came to Japan in 1974 with the opening of the first Seven-Eleven here, a project which got its start when Japanese businessman Hideo Shimizu took a bus trip across the U.S. looking for the "next big thing" and fell in love with the idea of stores that offered items customers might need to buy on short notice, sold in a uniform way. Now there are dozens of convenience store chains here, including Lawson ("your town's hot station"), Sunkus (the name is a bizarre merging of "sun" and "thanks"), FamilyMart, MiniStop, Heart-In, and Yamazaki Daily Store. While most of the foods sold at U.S. convenience stores are pre-packaged and highly processed, many of the offerings in their Japanese counterparts are downright wholesome, with traditional Japanese-style food (bento and onigiri), Western favorites like cucumber and strawberry sandwiches, bread products including sliced bread as well as specialty items like Curry Pan, a good selection of salads, dozens of types of bottled Asian and Western teas, aloe-flavored yogurt, and so on. Convenience stores are the salvation of the single male since there are enough healthy choices that you can usually eat pretty well there without resorting to that most famous of bachelor foods, instant ramen, although they sell that, too. You won't find the iconic Slurpee or Big Gulp at Seven-Elevens in Japan, but I'd give them up any day in exchange for niku-man, a steamed Chinese bun filled with meat that's great in the Winter. Combini offer other forms of convenience, too, like a full color copier and digital photograph printer, the ability to pay your electric and phone bills at the cash register, shipping services for sending packages, and increasingly, real banking services, including making cash withdrawals and deposits using the smart ATM. That first pilot store back in 1974 has really paid off: Seven-Eleven's parent company Seven&i Holdings purchased its parent company in 2005 and now owns the brand worldwide.

Seven Eleven in Japan

2008 10 01

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October 1st — Time To Change Your Uniform

Do you that rustling noise? It's the sound of millions of Japanese students, mostly in junior high and high school, changing from their summer to their winter uniforms. Today is the day for koromo-gae (koh-roh-moh GA-eh), meaning "seasonal changing of clothes," when Japanese students will switch from their light uniforms for summer to their heavier uniforms for winter, which they all do on the same day, from Kyushu to Hokkaido. (Okinawa, being extra warm, gets to wear their summer uniforms for two months longer than the rest of the country.) Of course, the weather doesn't always get the memo, and at the end of September it got really cold in Japan, forcing my son to go to school shivering in his summer uniform...and of course, now that the uniform change has come, it's gotten really warm again, so he'll be sweating. Like many aspects of Japan there's more to the clothes-changing custom than meets the eye, and it turns out that it dates back to the Heian Period (794-1185), when the Emperor would commemorate the seasons by officially changing his ceremonial kimonos from winter to summer or vice-versa. Of course, J-List sells authentic high school uniforms for guys and girls, including both summer and winter versions of girls' uniforms, which are custom made to your exact size by the famous Matsukameya of Nagoya. If you'd like to own a cool high school uniform of your very own, browse our site now. Yes, there's plenty of time to get your uniform made and shipped to you by Halloween, although it's a good idea to order quickly.

2008 10 01

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Cool Items: Wednesday, October 1, 2008

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.

	More 2009 Calendars In Stock. We've gotten a huge volley of 2009 Japanese calendars in stock today, including dozens of anime calendars (Studio Ghibli, Dragonball, Kateikyoshi Hitman), Japanese idols (Yuko Ogura, Megami Yasu, famous actresses wearing kimonos), kanji calendars for fans of aesthetically beautiful Japanese writing, beautiful images of Japan in all seasons, sushi calendars, and more. Why not browse them all now?
	Dengeki Maoh Sep 2008. Find a huge amount of quality manga with the new issue of Dengeki Maoh, which brings you a staggering 500+ pages of gorgeous manga from Japan, including Utawaremono, Tales of Vesperia and Tales of the Abyss, Wolf and Spice, Sengoku Basara and more. Also, free calendar and poster!
	Animage Sep 2008. A new issue of the popular anime magazine, which in fact gave us the word "anime" back in 1978 when it first appeared. Includes art and information from Code Geass, Gundam 00, Macross Frontier, Ikki Tousen / Dragon Destiny, and more. Gorgeous posters for you, too!
	Kera Sep 2008 vol. 122. Lots of cuteness in this new issue of Kera, the #1 fashion magazine we carry. See the new School Punk look for autumn, and the latest in goth-loli kawaii. As usual, this issue us incredibly thick and satisfying, with 190+ pages to browse and enjoy.
	KIE - Kateigaho International Edition 2008 Spring issue vol. 19. We've got a new issue of KIE, aka Kateigaho International Edition, the drop-dead gorgeous "Arts & Culture" magazine from Japan, which is loaded with photographs and images from Japan's cultural world. Special report of Izakaya food in this issue -- don't miss it! This awesome magazine is all in English.
	Ponyo Travel Pouch ~ Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Ponyo is the story of a fish who wanted to become a human girl, and it may well be the last film ever by Hayao Miyazaki, that most gifted of animation directors. Enjoy this travel pouch which lets you store all your important stuff safely in one secure place.
	Fraulein Revoltech No.010 Yoko ~ Gurren Lagann. Wow, the newest Fraulein series from Revoltech is going to be one of their best: Yoko from Gurren Lagann, that sexy and interesting girl with the really big, er, guns. Because this is a Revoltech toy there are about a bazillion ways to pose her, making this one of the most highly recommended products to come along in a while. This popular figure has been restocked.
	Choco Egg Super Mario. Then, Japan's "chocolate egg" boom is back when a great Super Mario line from Furuta, Each delicious choco egg contains one of 12 Mario toys. Fun to collect and eat. (The egg, not the toys.)
	New Japanese Snacks. See delicious Japanese snacks next, including a deluxe package of Hi-Chew in an amazing array of fruit flavors (including a rare taste, Banana), along with delicious chocolate cookies from Meiji with the huggable name of Friend Bakery.
	NARUTO Shippuden Playing Card. Here's a really cool set of playing cards for Naruto fans, with all the characters represented on the beautifully printed cards.
	Totoro, Fox Squirrel Fuwa Fuwa Plush Key Chains. I just love these cute plush keychains for Totoro fans, featuring the traditional grey Totoro and the Kitsune-Risu or Fox-Squirrel. Kawaii.
	Totoro Match Box Music Boxes. They're small enough to hold matchboxes, but they're really nice Totoro themed music boxes made by Sun Arrow and approved by Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki himself. They play the Totoro theme song when you wind them up, and inside you can see two little Soot Sprites hiding. So cute!
	DECO ONIGIRI Shaper Set ~ Bear & Flower. For bento fans, something quite nice: onigiri shapers that allow you to take boring blobs of rice and turn them into something delicious and fun to om nom nom nom.
	Animal ONIGIRI Bento Boxes. We've restocked all three of those cute bento box with space for onigiri, those triangle shaped rice balls that are eaten as a casual snack in Japan, like sandwiches. See Frog, Banda and Black Cat, all back on the site.
	Hello Kitty Fountain Pens. Wow, what a find: Hello Kitty pens with fountain pen-type writing tips, for long life and smooth movement over the page. We've gotten in three colors, red, blue and green.
	Hello Kitty Nail Clippers. Keep your nails from getting too long the cute way, with this pair of excellent Hello Kitty fingernail clippers, which will effortlessly clip excellent fingernail length and keep you nice and hygienic.
	Word's World Word Book with 2 Check Sheets -- RED + GREEN. You can't learn Japanese without having the right tools, and this cool word book will make it easy to record the words you want to learn. The red and green covers are designed to "black out" highlighted words, allowing you to quiz yourself on words while waiting for appointments. Good for memorizing any information, not just Japanese.
	Traditional Items. See fresh stock of our very popular His-and-Hers Sake Set, which comes with a gorgeous sake bottle and matching cups, as well as a Japanese traditional fan with the famous image of the wave as well as our classic Ken-Dama.
	*Lala Satalin Deviluke, Haruna Santa Version ~ To LOVE-Ru Preorder.* To LOVE-ru is the fantastic story about a very lucky young man who finds himself in a love triangle between a beautiful childhood friend and an alien princess from space. Enjoy these great Santa-themed versions of Lala and Haruka, due out in December. Preorder both now!
	New Doujinshi. Got some great new ero doujinshi for you, which you should get sooner rather than later since stock is limited. See a gorgeous Haruhi x Kyon release, a Doki Doki Witch Judgement futanari work, and for people who love the quarter-Zentraedi Ranka Lee from Macross Frontier F, another awesome book.
	Be Boy Gold Aug 2008. Looking for a huge book of the best BL comics? We've got the new issue of Be Boy Gold in, with 500 pages of great works by artists like AMi Oyamada, Tomoko Yamashita, Yu Toya and Haruka Minami.
	2009 Calendars for Men. In addition the hundreds of other gorgeous Japanese calendars we have for you each year, J-List carries the incredible calendars for men to enjoy, featuring such lovelies as sexy idol Yoko Kumada, AV superstar Yuma Asami, the super cute photoidol Hime Ayase and more. Also, we've gotten in this year's calendars for fans of bondage themes, which the meticulous Japanese are especially good at.
	Ever Re-Take ~ Neo Generation Evangelion Parody. Great tribute to Evangelion from TMA in this new release, featuring parodies of Rei, Asuka, Misako and all the rest, with lots of performances that will be pure joy to any Eva fan.