For some reason, it's easy to find yourself fascinated with the most mundane things in Japan. I have an odd obsession with train crossings here, and whenever I'm near one as a train approaches, I'm happy to roll down the car window and drink in the soothing kan-kan-kan sound the train train crossing barrier makes as the train passes. Another example of this phenomenon might be the photobook we're posting to the site today, which celebrates the austere beauty of various old and cool-looking stairs in Tokyo, including some that have been in use since the Edo Period. A Japanese person would probably tell you that these bland, normal things are interesting because of the concept of wabi-sabi, the aesthetic ideal that can be translated as "sober refinement and elegant simplicity." Derived from Zen Buddhism, it essentially embraces simplicity and modesty while forgiving imperfections such as being old, worn or common. Another example of a simple, everyday object being viewed as exceptionally cool are those clear plastic umbrellas that are carried by the millions here in Japan, which no one ever thinks twice about although everyone depends on then. (We've gotten these esoteric umbrellas back in stock today, just in time for the Japanese rainy season!)

The most famous image of wabi-sabi is a room for tea ceremony; living next to Kim-Jong Il is not a lot of fun.

There are many good things about living in Japan, like friendly people, a language that you can study by reading comic books, and being able to run into the convenience store with your car running without fear that it will be stolen. There are bad things, too, like being effectively illiterate until you learn to read basic kanji and having a single monolithic culture around you that isn't always flexible about outside ideas, which would present a challenge to, say, someone wanting to live a completely vegetarian lifestyle. The worst thing about living in Japan, though, is having to be next to North Korea. Between shooting missiles over the Japanese islands and doing nuclear tests to kidnapping Japanese citizens and flooding Japan with North Korean-made drugs and counterfeit money, there's just nothing good about being this close to those guys. The country is reported on in the news quite often, and everyone is quite familiar with the scary North Korean newscasters who report their government's version of the news while Japanese commentators parse it for us. One of the biggest links between Japan and North Korea is a surprising one: pachinko. Up to 40% of pachinko establishments are owned by North Koreans, who naturally send their profits back home.

Words are fleeting things, and their meanings are never set in stone when you're in a country like Japan. For example, the English word "attack" is used in Japanese to mean "to actively pursue a goal," and if you had your eye on a certain girl, a Japanese person might advise you to attack her, which would sound quite odd. Similarly, the English word "mansion" has come to mean a high-rise apartment that's usually owned rather than rented, which can take a little getting used to at first. There are many examples of this subtle re-mapping of English words in Japan, including "bike" (always a motorcycle, never a bicycle), "rouge" (what lipstick is called here), "manicure" (nail polish), "hip" (buttocks), and so on. Once I was teaching English, and a (very attractive) female student introduced me to her her boyfriend who was sitting in on the class. The trouble is, instead of using the term boyfriend, she introduced him as her "lover" (in Japanese, koibito or "love person"), which caused the temperature in the room to rise considerably for the rest of the lesson.

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.

	Dengeki G's magazine July 2009 Another very nice issue of the fabulous moe magazine, with a focus on Da Capo II To You, To Heart 2, Miku Hatsune, K-On and more.
	ToraDora! Costumes Then, J-List now sells awesome anime cosplay sets, allowing you to transform into a character from your favorite series. We've posted a great ToraDora! uniform to the site today, in several sizes.
	Fate/stay night Blu-ray BOX If you're a fan of Fate/stay night, today is your lucky day. We've gotten the brand new Blu-Ray box set in, which includes the whole series in lickable 1080p. Compatible with U.S. Blu-Ray players including PS3.
	Fate/unlimited codes PORTABLE Also: the awesome Fate/stay night-based fighting game that lets you play all the characters from the series, from Saber to Rin to Archer and even Dark Saber -- cool! Fully compatible with Sony PSP fro anywhere in the world. In stock now!
	Gorgeous Shana Artbooks by Noizi Ito Shana of the Blazing Eyes creator Noizi Ito is one of the top artists in Japan, and we've gotten in both of her new artbooks, featuring the most beautiful collection of illustrations ever seen. Browse both before they sell out.
	Other Restocked Photobooks Also: fresh stock of other artbooks from Japan, incouding Noizi Ito's first-ever Haruhi Suzumiya artbook release, the Push Art Library and more.
	Nostalgic Stairs of Tokyo Yes, this is a photobook that shows you the oldest and most gnarly old staircases of Tokyo, including some that are hundreds of years old. Pure wabi-sabi at its best.
	Japanese Disposable Vinyl Clear Umbrella Also for those who appreciate something odd from Japan, we've restocked the Classic Japanese Clear Plastic Umbrella, just in time for rainy season in Japan, and added an upgraded version, too. The essence of Japanese aesthetics, captured in a simple umbrella!
	McVitie's Mango & Orange Digestive Biscuits New J-Snacks for you today, including McVitie's Digestive Biscuits in yummy Mango and Orange (do they have that flavor in the U.K.?), plus Fizzing Pokemon Candy and the deluxe Xylish Gum Bottle.
	Re-ment Grandmother's House Then: fresh stock of the Re-Ment Miniature Food Toys, including the old traditional foods your baachan used to make.
	Fuurin / Japanese Summer Bell Summer is here, and that means J-List is busting out some awesome fuurin, wind chimes that make a pleasant sound when the wind blogs in through the door. See several types posted to the site now.
	Red MATSURI Fan Also, summer couldn't begin without this hand-held uchiwa fan, as non-folding Japanese fans are called. Features the character for "festival" on it and is made of awesome bamboo and paper.
	CANDIDE Slim Style Tight Bento J-List's bento selection just got a little cooler, with the Slim Style Bento we've posted, which has two tiers for your rice and the rest of your lunch, and features built-in chopsticks.
	Fun Bento Books Basic Bento is a great book that shows you a variety of how-to recipes for making your next Japanese boxed lunch creation, extra special.
	Restocked Hello Kitty Bento The #1 selling bento box is the Hello Kitty "Wagara" Japanese Style Bento, which blends traditional awesomeness with Sanrio's iconic character. Back in stock today.
	Restocked "Stacking" Bento Boxes Also, we've restocked our jubako (stackable) bento boxes with sakura themes, in brown or pink, both just lovely. There's a special joy to separating the sections and opening each to see what it contains. Buy several and stack them even higher!
	Charcoal Natural Face Cleansing Foam Get really clean with this new Natural Charcoal Face Cream, a popular item in Japan right now because of the way charcoal (made from burned bamboo) gets everything incredibly clean.
	Hello Kitty Black Eye Mask Keep light from ruining your nap with this delightful Hello Kitty eye mask, which blocks 100% of ambient light around you to help you sleep, while being very kawaii.
	Lucky Panda, Lucky Ninja Solar Relaxation Toys Next, see fresh stock of our great Hidamari no Tami inspired items, the solar powered Lucky Panda and Lucky Ninja, which both bring peace and healing to you while never needing batteries!
	Hello Kitty Toilet Paper Nothing says "I love Hello Kitty" than this official Sanrio toilet paper, which features their famous character not only on the high quality plastic printing on the outside of the toilet paper, but on each sheet as well. Great for decorating the guest bathroom in a new motif.
	Study, Travel Books Several restocked books to help you learn about Japan, including the Illustrated Japanese Language Dictionary, just loaded with pictures to help you memorize, and the very good Tokyo Greatest Travel Tips, a bilingual book.
	Kannagi ~ Crazy Shrine Maidens Then see fresh stock of the very popular manga for Kannagi, too, great both for fans of the series who want to enjoy the original story or for students of Japanese who want an effective way to practice reading Japanese. (All kanji have furigana beside them).
	Drift Tengoku Reserve Subscription J-List brings Japan to you ever month with our Reserve Subscription system, letting you get the latest issue of your favorite magazines sent each month, from red-hot offerings like Megami and Kera to esoteric magazines like Drift Tengoku, for car enthusiasts. Browse the top 50 magazines this month.
	Restocked Traditional Items Then see fresh stock of various traditional items, including our DX Wooden Ken-Dama wooden ball toys, our Happy message Lucky Cat Strap, and our Happy Lovers Owl Display.
	Totoro Hand Rolling Music Box An item truly worthy of Hayao Miyazaki, this is a gorgeous real wood music box that plays the classic Totoro song when you turn the handle. Fresh stock for you today.
	Studio Ghibli 2010 Schedule Books *Preorder* Then: a special item for Ghibli fans: the new schedule book for 2010, which is a huge treat because of how well made it is. Features original designs of Totoro, Cat Bus, Kiki's Delivery Service, Laputa Castle in the Sky and of course Ponyo.
	Saber Lily 1/8 Figure *Preorder* Completing "Fate/stay night Day" at J-List is this preorder figure, of the Saber variation from hot new Fate/unlimited codes. Order her now and she'll be yours in August.
	Yamanote Line Light Timetable Wrist Watch Also: the most interesting watch we've seen in a while, this replicates the famous Yamanote train sign but in a watch form. Beautiful styling which will be a treasure for you for years.
	Japanese Erasers, Paper Dolls The Japanese do love their bizarre but fun eraser culture, and we've rstocked the Let's Make Eraser With Microwave series, as well as a complete kit for making Japanese paper dolls out of origami paper, which comes with instructions in English.
	Big Restocking of Japanese Snacks Another way to get the feel for the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi is through traditional dagashi candy, which we've restocked today. Also, see Aloe Yogurt Gummy, Kasugai Anzu Gummy, Lotte "Spash" Gum and more.

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:

	Karami 31 -- Nao Yoshizaki We love the Karami ("intertwining") series of photomagazines because they focus on a single gorgeous AV idol, with no ads or other type of filler at all. Super issue featuring Nao Yoshizaki.
	Hirohisa Onikubo Mehyo manga Hirohisa Onikubo continues his famous Female Panther series with "Revolution", featuring all new adventures starring a trio of trained female assassins who use their talents (as well as their bodies) to right wrongs.
	Girl with a Thousand Curses The awesome futanari work from Icarus Comics has come in, and it's one J-List customers will really love. A fantastic fantasy story of a succubus with an undying hunger.
	Restocked H-Manga See some really nice restocked manga too, including Hamedere by Asakura Mitsuru with super female characters and oppai, A Wish For Sister and more.
	Bible Black ~ Yoshiten Artwork The hugely popular artbook documenting the best art from the Bible Black anime universe, directed by the masterful Yoshiten. Back in stock today!
	More Bible Black Hole Toys Apologizes for selling out of the new Bible Black stress relief toys for men -- they were more popular than we could possibly imagine. See fresh stock of these awesome items today.
	Hana Hirara DX Toy Also: a great new toy for getting rid of the day's stress and feeling more relaxed, this is your very own anime girlfriend. This novelty item is made in Japan by ToysHeart.
	Cosplay fascination Academy Wow, we've really impressed with the response to the release of our newest "H" game over the weekend. This is an outstanding game for any fan of Japan's amazing interactive dating-sim games, because of its great characters, art by the Lightning Warrior Raidy artist, and more. Order now!
	Ero Teacher -- Cecil Fujisaki Next, half-Japanese half-French Cecil Fujisaki is back, in a new DVD in which she plays the most awesome teacher ever. Her eyes! Her hair!
	Hyper Magic Mirror Lotion Spa Japanese AV is all about innovative ideas, and in the newest SOD "Magic Mirror" release, girls from Hakone are invited to sit in a warm "lotion spa" while the camera looks on.
	Huge Human Memory Card Game Then from SOD's Rocket brand, another bold idea: a "memory" card game in which the cards are actually girls who are "claimed" when the players collect two of the cards.
	Great Restocked DVD Titles Finally, see awesome restocked DVDs, including Maria Ozawa's live-action tentacle release, TMA's S-Body Factory featuring 8 hours of hotness for you to enjoy, Girl x Girl Love Best 4 Hours, Anna Ohura's super oppai, Cecil Fujisaki's wonderful release, and 500 People Sex!

Do you love the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki? Remember that J-List stocks all the excellent region 2 DVD releases for Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky Laputa, Princess Mononoke, and very soon, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. These DVDs are released in Japan directly by the studio and include many features that make them great for collectors. All discs feature English subtitles and/or dubbed tracks and are great for fans who want the definitive versions of these anime classics overseen by Mr. Miyazaki himself. The only catch is, they're Japanese releases (region 2), so you need a region free DVD player to watch them -- and J-List humbly recommends the excellent upscaling DVD player with HDMI that we happen to sell.