Japan's sumo world was rocked today by the announcement that Mongolian wrestler Asashoryu, the top-ranked yokozuna (Grand Champion) in the sport, would be retiring to take responsibility for an incident in which he got drunk and punched an employee at a drinking establishment. This was far from the only time the sumo star has been in trouble: he'd also been reprimanded for brawling with other wrestlers privately and was photographed playing soccer back home in Mongolia while he was supposed to be on medical leave for a back injury. One of the biggest problems with the wrestler, from the Japanese point of view, was that he lacked the hinkaku (dignity) that's expected in a person of that rank, yet Asashoryu refused to accept Japanese-style humility, often striking a "guts pose" after a tournament win and preferring a large Hawaiian shirt to his official sumo wrestler yukata while in public. Asashoryu was one of the strongest wrestlers the sport had ever seen, with an unprecedented 25 tournament victories in his 11-year career.

The 60th Sapporo Snow Festival is going on right now; Asashoryu's name always makes me think of a Street Fighter special attack.

Today is the start of the Sapporo Snow Festival, the famous snow-sculpting event in which a dozen or so teams work to create beautiful masterpieces out of snow. This is the 60th anniversary of the festival, which got its start in 1950 when the city of Sapporo decided to turn several local snow sculpting competitions into a regular event, and everything just sort of snowballed from there (sorry). Different sculptures are created each year, and it's always fun to see what the will be made -- one group is making a giant Miku Hatsune Nendoroid this year, for example. During my days as a single gaijin I did a fair bit of hitchhiking around Japan, and I visited the city of Sapporo but not during the festival. I'd love to go see it properly sometime.

My son turns fifteen this year, and in accordance with a Japanese custom I'd never heard of before, he'll be participating in a school ceremony called risshi-shiki, the Ceremony of Attending Manhood. It's a revival of an old tradition that goes back a millennium or so in which boys who had reached the minimum age of adulthood had their hair cut in the fashion of adults for the first time, and after that point they could be called to go to war and kill with a sword. In these modern times, it's become a ceremony where boys (and girls) stand up in front of their teachers and other students and declare their goals, what they want to do with their lives in the future. My son goes to a special experimental immersion school in which 50% of the classes are taught in English, so he has to give his speech twice, once in English and once in Japanese.

J-List sells a ton of unique and wacky products from Japan. We love all forms of Japanese subculture, and whenever something becomes popular on the Japanese Interwebs, we'll be there to offer products to you, like our excellent lineup of Touhou manga, figure and cosplay products, or our fun Yukkuri! T-shirt. The Japanese always have a knack for coming up with fun new ways to explore our obsessions, and products like our "3D" Mouse Pads, which provide just the right wrist support an otaku needs, or those Evangelion earphones. Finally, there's a lot of crossover between "wacky" and "traditional" in Japan, and we like to think our line of hachimaki headbands are a little bit of both.

For the new update, we've got some excellent products from Japan for you. You can view all new J-List products by clicking this link.

	Prince Animage 2010 Winter Prince is a special magazine published especially for girls who love all the best male characters in anime, from the handsome guys of Hetalia to Sengoku Basara's good-looking men to Code Geass. Free stuff, too.
	Moe Moe Fighting Girl Encyclopedia It's time for another fun Moe Moe guide to the the world, in this case all the various forms of fighting, from karate to judo to Brazilian Capoeira and much more, all with awesome illustrations.
	Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's ~ The Battle of Aces Awesome fighting game for Sony PSP featuring all the Nanoha characters rendered in 3D, with a fun original story.
	Restocked Love Plus, Queen's Blade games Then, we've restocked the awesome 3D animated dating-sim game Love Plus, which made headlines on CNN when a Japanese man "married" one of the characters in the game, plus the fun Queen's Blade fighting game with an ecchi "armor damage system."
	POND'S Bamboo Charcoal Black Facial Cleaner We've been carrying more make-up and skincare products from Japan, which our customers enjoy being able to buy. From Pond's we've got two fabulous items that are made with sumi, that is bamboo charcoal, to make your skin extra-clean.
	Nail Clipper with Lens for Multi-use This is cool: a really well made pair of fingernail clippers with a built-in magnifying glass to make it easy to see what you're doing. Made in Japan, and very sharp.
	Chirimen Hello Kitty Gama-guchi Mini Purse These are awesome: Hello Kitty coin purses made of chirimen (traditional kimono fabric). Two colors available.
	Rilakkuma Bath Ball Have fun in the bath next time with this awesome ball that fizzes and turns your bath into a relaxing onsen hot spring, while revealing a Rilakkuma toy at the center.
	Keep Warm the Japanese Way This year yutanpo hot water bottles are a hot item (sorry for the pun) because they're eco (ecologically good for the Earth) because you put hot water in them and they keep you warm all night. We've restocked our most popular (and kawaii) items today, plus the popular Hot Hand Cream.
	Authentic School Briefcase Don't look now, but we've restocked the Japanese school bag that's used by thousands of real high school students in Japan every day. Made by the famous Matsukameya of Nagoya, who also create the authentic school uniforms we sell.
	New Snacks from Japan Today's new Japanese snacks are very nice: a new flavor of Meiji's Mushroom Mountain, little cookie mushrooms with chocolate tops, in Strawberry Tart flavor, plus fabulous Porte in Creamy Raisin Whip, and new Shigekix.
	Akihabara Canned Bread is Good Food for Otaku We've restocked the Space Battleship Yamato bread-in-a-can, a popular omiyage (souvenir) from Akihabara that's fun to eat, or just display the can on your anime shelf.
	Ukiyoe Drops (Azuki Flavor) Got even more traditional Food Drops candies for you too, this time in delicious Azuki flavor. Also restocked other popular flavors like Kushi Katsu and Takoyaki from Osaka, Buta Don and the "Going To Hell" spicy candies.
	Food Pencil for Bento Nothing makes a man happier than having a heart drawn on an plate of omrice (omelet over rice) by a woman he loves. You can do that and much more with the Food Pencil set, restocked today.
	Sugar Bunnies Sanrio Bento Box Set Today we're posting a really kawaii bento featuring the new Sanrio character Sugar Bunnies. This bento box comes with everything you need: tight lunchbox with interior compartments and chopsticks w/case.
	Red KIKU Flower Art Lacquered Stacking Bento Box Then see restock of the beautiful jubako (stacking bento box) type bento box with vibrant images of kiku (chrysanthemums) on it.
	Make Onigiri for the One in Your Heart Show that special person in your life you love them with the fun heart-shaped onigiri shaper we're restocking today. Other fun shapes also restocked.
	Hello Kitty Bento Items Also, see some great bento accessories restocked, including the Hello Kitty DECO Bento Set which makes cute Sanrio-shaped onigiri and furikake images, one of our most popular Sanrio products.
	Rilakkuma Items Also: the Rilakkuma salt and pepper shaker is restocked, a popular item that will add many cute points to your table.
	Oil Brush for Takoyaki Maker Our popular Takoyaki maker is a fun way to make authentic Osaka-style octopus batter balls, as well as other fun foods like pancake balls with sausage inside and syrup on top. We've restocked the special brush for applying oil before cooking.
	Awesome Ghibli Playing Cards Then for the Studio Ghibli fan in you, we've restocked the fun playing cards for Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away. I've spent hours with these cards, playing with my own kids.
	Lucky Panda, Ninja Relaxation Toys Next, see fresh stock of our great Hidamari no Tami inspired items, including Lucky Panda and Lucky Ninja. They never need batteries!
	Fun Japanese Study Aids J-List stocks hundreds of products to help you learn Japanese, and today we've restocked the Chibi Maruko Kanji Dictionary, as well as the Kanji Drill workbooks used by Japanese kids.
	Kanji Practice Flashcards Also, we've finally gotten the popular Kanji Flashcards from White Rabbit in stock in San Diego. This is nothing less than the single best Japanese study item J-List has ever carried, in my opinion.
	My Japanese Coach for the Nintendo DS Another great item for students of Japanese: we've restocked My Japanese Coach for the Nintendo DS in San Diego, which is a great way to start learning Japanese. Compatible with all DS systems in the world.
	Restocked Traditional Items Making some tea? Why not do it in our awesome Lucky Cat Tea Pot, which we've restocked today. Also enjoy the Gold Lucky Coin Key Chain, "Surprise" Daruma whose eyes pop out at you, Kyudo Archery Set and a fun wooden ninja sword.
	Uncho Kanu Figutto Action Figure *Preorder* I have to admit, Uncho is not the character I think of when I think "cat ears" to myself, but she sure is awesome in this new figure that we've posted for preorder.
	Sasara Kusugawa Figutto Action Figure *Preorder* Another fabulous cat ear figure, this is a unique sculpt of Sasara from the popular eroge ToHeart2. Comes with various optional parts.
	Sora Kasugano 1/6 Figure School Swimsuit *Preorder* From the (slightly ecchi) folks at Griffon comes this new figure of Sora from Yosuga no Sora, wearing a sexy swimsuit that she's having trouble keeping on, apparently.
	Rei Ayanami, Kaoru Nagisa Plush Toys *Preorder* Japan is having a "plush boom," with some really outstanding toys being released for fans to collect. You can preorder the upcoming Rei and Kaworu Eva plushes now if you like.
	Restocked Japanese Pens, Erasers We've gotten some good stationery-related items today, including the KADO-KESHI, the most advanced eraser in the world with an incredible 28 corners to it. Also, the Signo JUMPOP One-Touch Ball Point Pen and retro magic marker pens.
	Restocked Snacks Finally, awesome restocked Japanese snacks for you, including Meiji Chip Chop which are chocolate nacho chips, UHA Shigekix in various flavors, Lotte "Spash" gum, wonderful Ramune mochi treats, Village of the Bamboo Shoot chocolates, plus restocked Japan Kit Kat.

For fans of our NSFW items from Japan, we've got many new and restocked products, too -- click here to see all new products. The new and restocked items include:

	Russia Blond Beauty vol. 2 The Japanese are fascinated by Western women, just as we're fascinated by theirs. This is a magazine collecting some of the most gorgeous blonde women in Russia.
	Chingcame 4 Deluxe Photobook Without a doubt my favorite series of photobooks from Japan are these, the chinkame line of small photobooks filled with stylish and elegant photography. So glad to see the series has started up again.
	Champion RED Mar 2010 A fun monthly manga that's filled with the most delightful ecchi artwork and themes, which will entertain any fan of cute anime and manga girls and bishoujo style characters. Not only do you get 500+ pages of awesome content, you get a cool figure, free.
	Under Equal Bloomers A superb erotic manga offering from Megastore Comics and Kaneko Toshiaki, which features ten dynamite stories spanning 220 pages. We know you'll love this one.
	Otome Senshi Lovely 5 A nice new offering for fans of yuri (Girl x Girl) themes, this is really special collection of stories that combine beautiful characters, goth-loli outfits and more.
	Chooooo Skinship Love Plus Parody In Japanese slang, cho means "super" or "extremely," so the title of this full color Love Plus parody doujinshi becomes clear. I would love some skinship with those three girls.
	Restocked Manga Volumes Got some great restocked manga today, including Aneimo - Big Sisters, Little Sisters, Dungeon of Shame, the innovative gyaru manga TABE RUMBA and the awesome futanari work Do You Like Girls With One?
	J-List's Valentine's Day Sale Remember we're having a great Valentine's Day special on all our "H" games. Here's how it works: buy Bazooka Cafe, a great game to play this Feb 14th, and get $5 off. Then get $5 off for each additional game you buy together, which adds up to a huge savings!
	The Virgin Great Pussy You know, I've lived in this country for long enough to think that I wouldn't be surprised every time I got out of bed. But I am surprised by the incredible hole toy we've just posted which simulates being with a girl for the first time.
	TENGA Flip Hole, Brush Massager Restocked Even more sock of the popular TENGA Flip-Hole, which is incredibly well-designed and popular with our customers, as well as the innovative Electric Ecstasy brush and popular Pururun Lotion Bath.
	Maikohan ~ Deluxe Floating World Soft on Demand is an extremely bold and creative company, as you can probably tell when you look at this awesome new release that accurately captures what sex would have been like during the Edo Period.
	Mini Skirt Knee-Socks Bible 8 Hours We're big fans of zettai ryoiki, a word which translates as "the Absolute Zone" and which describes the patch of skin visible between a girl's over-knee socks and where her skirt starts. Like this Japanese genre? Well here's *8 hours* for you.
	Girl x Girl Battle vol. 2 -- HIkari vs Azusa The Japanese really love exotic couplings between females and here's a great new release that brings two red-hot actresses together.
	Fabulous Restocked DVDs Finally, enjoy a huge restocking of some amazing DVDs, including Anime Cosplay Trance Premium, Maria Ozawa's Healing Waltz, Chloe Fujisaki in Dream Shower!, Best Hit TMA 8 Hours, Hi-Vision Cosplay on Blu-Ray, plus Blonde Hair White Gal Nampa 4 Hours.