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Hello again from Japan. First, sorry for some
confusion over the iTunes Music Cards we posted last time -- due
to an error they weren't appearing on the JBOX.com site, so some
customers were unable to find them. They're on both sites now,
though. We've been very happy with the response from the prepaid
cards, which are the only way for customers outside of Japan to
buy through the iTunes Music Store Japan. The cards are proving
so popular, we've already had to restock our supply of the
cards!
All of Japan is watching the damage caused by
Hurricane Katrina in horror. Located along the Pacific Ring of
Fire, Japan is no stranger to disasters -- my mother came to
visit us from the U.S. once, and she managed to experience
typhoons, earthquakes and a nearby volcanic eruption during the
short time she was here. However, we've never seen anything on
the scale of the current tragedy, ever. All of us pray for the
safety of everyone affected by these terrible, terrible
events.
I'm a big fan of onsen (OWN-sen), or Japanese
hot springs, and whenever we're trying to decide where to take
the kids on the weekend, I'm always ready to suggest going for a
hot bath up in the mountains. I also like onsen hotels, the
large resort hotels that pamper you with delicious food, a
soothing volcanic bath, and maybe some late-night ramen or
karaoke before going to sleep in on a traditional futon. These
hot springs hotels are located in every corner of Japan, and
there seem to be certain universal constants about them. For
example, the hotels will always have a dilapidated game center
filled with arcade games manufactured before 1993, and you can
find a ping pong table and vending machines selling Haagen Daaz
ice cream, too. The staff will never fail to try to speak to you
in halting English even though you're speaking fluent Japanese
at them. Tokimeki Check in!, one of our most popular PC love-sim
games, is based in a traditional hot springs hotel, and many of
the elements you see in a real hotel can be found in the
game.
When it comes to cleanliness in Japan, there's
one rule -- anything having to do with the feet is kitanai, or
dirty. Japanese homes (and some offices, such as J-List) have a
lowered area at the front door called a genkan, where you leave
your shoes before going inside. After you've lived in Japan for
a while, the idea of wearing shoes on hardwood floors or on
plush carpeting becomes really strange. Because you have to take
your shoes off a dozen times a day in Japan, you tend to get
very good at choosing shoes that can be put on easily --
high-top basketball shoes or boots are not very popular here.
When I was a boy, I used to spend virtually the entire summer
barefoot, as I roamed the neighborhood playing, but I realized
that my own kids never get to experience this joy, since the
idea of going outside "hadashi" (barefoot) is not
really accepted here.
Announcing the start of 2006 Japanese Calendar
season! Every year in Japan, hundreds of beautiful large-size
calendars are printed exclusively for the Japanese market, with
an incredible selection of photographic, traditional, art,
beautiful idol and other calendars. Because these great items
aren't available outside of Japan, J-List goes out of our way to
carry hundreds of these glossy calendars for you, and we've
added the first volley for you now. All calendars are preorder
-- just order the items you want and we'll send them to you when
they come in stock, in October and November. Calendars require
mailing tubes, which are $2 for up to two calendars; order 4 or
more calendars and get a 15% and free tubes! The second batch of
2006 calendars, including JPOP, anime and other popular items,
will be posted when we get the information in a week or so.
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