What if you met a Japanese person who went around telling "knock knock" jokes in English all the time? It would be pretty strange, I'd wager, and you might not know what to make of them. But that's essentially what I do in Japanese: making wry Japanese jokes called dajare (da-jah-reh), although in my family we call them dadajare, since I'm the Dad. As a strange side-effect of learning Japanese, my brain has developed the subconscious ability to come up with strange jokes whenever I hear a word or phrase that acts as a trigger, quite unrelated to what I'm thinking about at the time, and when the family does something together they know I'll probably be making little puns until they're groaning for me to stop. For example, one way to say "I don't have it" or "there aren't any" in Japanese is nashi, which also happens to be what those delicious Japanese pears are called, so naturally I might reply "Japanese pear" if my wife asks me if I have her car keys. In Japanese, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is called Pisa no Shato, and since the final word sounds like the French word for castle, I might make a bad joke about how I've always wanted to go see the famous Chateau di Pisa. The other day I was watching TV and needed to switch the sound from Japanese to English, and as I looked around for the remote control, my wife asked me what I was searching for. The Japanese word for "sound" is onsei (OWN-sei), which my brain told me is similar to the word for "eleven" in Spanish (once). So I said, "I'll give you a hint," and proceeded to count from one to ten in Spanish. The next number was eleven, and suddenly everyone knew that I was looking for the remote control so I could change the sound on the TV. For some reason, telling dajare jokes is the domain of middle-aged men in Japan.
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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. Japanese T-Shirt - Lucky Eva Twins. J-List is known for our wacky and fun T-shirts, which blend anime characters and art with cool kanji writing. This new shirt for guys and girls combines the dynamite twins Kagami and Tsukasa from Lucky Star with the iconic plugsuit costume from Evangelion. Lucky Eva! Rin & Ren Kagamine Nendoroid Figures. Miku Hatsune is the super-popular character created to serve as mascot for Yamaha's eerily beautiful voice synthesis software that can recreate a human singing voice. Now you can own the awesome backup characters, Rin and Ren, in awesome Nendoroid form! Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea 2009 Schedule Book . In addition to our great lineup of anime, JPOP, cute idol and other calendars, we carry the outstanding schedule books by Studio Ghibli, which are among our most popular sellers. Today we're posting the 2009 Ponyo schedule book, which features a complete weekly and monthly calendar, a diary and address book, and more. More Anime Calendars for 2009. We've gotten in two new gorgeous large-format 2009 calendars for anime fans, which you should snap up before they're gone. Today we're posting the gorgeous fighting manga and anime Sekirei, as well as the new Fullmetal Alchemist. To LOVE-Ru 2009 Calendar. Also, dig this great 2009 calendar for fans of To LOVE-Ru, a popular manga and anime about an average Japanese boy who finds himself betrothed to an alien princess from another planet. This calendar is fantastic, and is shipped in a protective box. S Cawaii Mar 2008. Remember that J-List offers the most popular magazines from Japan, including anime, manga,toy & hobby and more. We also have a great lineup of popular fashion magazine for both guys and girls. Here's an issue of S Cawaii! (the "s" meaning "super" or the highest possible class), loaded with pictures of fashion in Tokyo today. Louise 1/8 Figure by Kotobukiya ~ Zero no Tsukaima. Zero no Tsukaima is about a girl in a magical world who is so bad at magic, she accidentally summons a human from Japan to be her familiar (tsukaima). Saito turns out to be quite useful, as he has the ability to use any weapon, including, well, you might be able to guess from the title. This fabulous figure is finally in stock. Hip Parade Plus Lovely Waitress The Hip Parade line of "trading torsos" is an incredible concept that could only come from Japan: extremely sexy and detailed lower torsos from females wearing skimpy underwear. This deluxe version adds a new twist: "skirts" that cover the top of the torso figure, allowing you some interesting viewing angles. Both full sets and individual boxes are in stock. Makes a great wacky gift! Totoro Nap Pillow. We love Studio Ghibli's high quality Totoro products, and this year the company released two amazing "nap pillows" that are just perfect for catching some Z's on a Sunday afternoon. They feature the same soft construction as the other Totoro cushions we posted today, but have more support for your head for sleeping. Two different designs are available. Back in stock today! Electronic Mini Hand Whipper for Milk. Here's something fun we picked up: an electric "whipper" that turns boring milk into foamy, creamy goodness. Even the most boring cup of coffee is fantastic to drink with one of these. New Japanese Snacks. J-List customers really love our Japan-only Kit Kat, and if they're based on an extremely traditional Japanese taste like today's Azuki, so much the better. Also, enjoy a fantastic "Black Plum Candy" made with sugar from Okinawa and tangy plum on the outside. Also, we've got a new flavor of Cube Gum from Lotte, Pineapple Mint. Hot Pot (Nikomi) Ramen -- Miso Flavor. This is something I've wanted to carry for a while, and I'm glad we have it back. It's one of my favorite foods, basically everything you need to make a big pot of delicious hot miso ramen with tons of vegetables for the family to eat. I am not kidding when I say that this is my favorite Japanese food, and now it can be yours! Monster Hunter Illustrations Fabulous dual set of artbooks for the popular Monster Hunter game series, which is taking Japan by storm right now (my son had me drive him to more than ten stores before he found his copy). This is back in stock today. Japanese Plush Beanie - "Domo-kun Face." J-List loves Domo-kun, the official spokesmonster for NHK, Japan's version of the BBC, and we've brought the joy of Domo-kun to many all over the world. In addition to T-shirts and hoodies that are great, we've got these fantastic plush beanie hats in stock for you! DX Kumon Katakana Card Set. Kumon is a chain of study centers in Japan and around the world that has developed incredibly effective techniques for learning any material. Here is their official deluxe Katakana card set, a great way to learn to read the character set used for writing foreign-derived words like "ice cream" and "amenity communicator." Hello Kitty Pink x Brown Nylon Lunch Bag. A fun bag for carrying your bento in (or anything else), featuring Hello Kitty on the side. Traditional Items from Japan. We could all use a little good luck, and we've restocked our Super Micro Lucky Cat Pair, which you can carry with you anywhere. Also, check out our Lucky Kimono Rabbit Display, a really nice item for your home. Restocked Urban Photobooks. I'm always fascinated at what Japanese fans can get turned on to, and photobooks about old run-down factories or "modern ruins" are simply amazing. Today we're restocking several of these items, including a book for fans of danchi, the large-scale apartment units in Japan, which certainly are beautiful in their lack of beauty. Includes paper-craft you can cut out and build! Moe Encyclopedia Books Restocked. Moe (mo-EH) is, of course, the ultimate expression of super cute female anime characters, roughly describable as the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when contemplating your favorite anime females. We've restocked the outstanding Moe Moe Encyclopedia books, which explore girls wearing various uniforms, lingerie, cat girls and more. DX Bento Box, Accessories. Also, see fresh stock of the Simple Man's DX Bento Set, the excellent bento made with a man in mind, one of our most popular items. We've also restocked our popular Easy Gyoza Makers for making "pot stickers" (as they're called in the U.S., or so we hear) and a great Green Tea Cup. Kaori Kanzaki 1/8 Figure ~ To Aru Majutsu no Index *Preorder*. Then from the popular anime, manga and light novel A Certain Magical Index, this is Kaori, who looks darned good with her long katana sword. Dig the hair flying all around! Restocked StitchLock Zn, One of the coolest items in J-List's history is the Sun-Star Paper StitchLock Zn, the super heavy-duty paper stitcher that takes sheets of paper and "knits" them together so you never need staples. Also, see fresh stock of the Sarasa Ball Point Pen set of 3 colors (the best pen in Japan!) and the Pentel Handy Line S Click Marker Set. Popular Japanese Snacks. Finally, enjoy some awesome restocked snack items from Japan, including Glico Winter Pocky (available by the case, too!), Peko-chan Milky Candy, super-tart Shigekix Melon Soda flavor, Sake Candy and more. Ero Lovers -- Minashika Works. This is a really nice artbook featuring the works of highly talented "ecchi" illustrator Minashika. Thrill to page after glorious color page of the artist's super females, doing all kinds of naughty things. I've never seen an artbook that was as bold as this -- every page is in color! Bible Black DVDs. The Bible Black series is a fantastic exploration into the world of demonic possession in the best hentai tradition. We've lowered our prices on all the Bible Black DVDs, in stock in San Diego now!
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Schoolgirl finds lost keys under bed with pantsu exposing consequences. The work of master Kantoku.
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I don’t know how many other people are aware of this, but Mizuki Nana’s younger sister Konda Mika (stage name MIKA) was in a group called Daisy x Daisy. They’ve been active for a couple of years, releasing a bunch of singles and albums before guitarist YUUKI left, leaving MIKA to go it alone. And [...]
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Earlier this week, Japanator posted about how the Latino Review got a hold of a working script for the upcoming live action Akira movie. Apparently, it comes down to this: Good news: They appear to be sticking very close to their source material, even taking the initiative in incorporating parts of the manga that never made it into the animated version. This is fantastic because even though I've
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JUST TUNE [savage genius][OP] & Nagareboshi [ROUND TABLE feat. Nino][ED] Yozakura Quartet; I have yet to watch the anime, but am quite interested in the manga. Might pick it up soon, by the way. Before I proceed, I apologise for this post’s lateness, since the SINGLES came out quite early. ^^;; JUST TUNE: Tracklist 1. JUST TUNE 2. Mizu [...]
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Hello kids! I’ve just left the AFA08 Media Press Conference! A more detailed report will be up once I get home and upload the photos but I’ve got to study now LOL. Don’t have time to hob-nob, sadly. In anycase, AFA08 is looking to be really sweet! Expect lots of opportunities to empty your [...]
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An unfortunate relationship turn.. Summary: During class, the raffle decides the competition between Ami and Taiga will be a 50 meter swim, much to Taiga's lament. Later, Ryuuji comes across a letter being passed around the class betting on who will win. Most of them seem to be expecting Ami to win easily as Taiga can't swim, but Ryuuji puts down a bet for Taiga saying
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An over-eager user of NicoNico Douga has stunned Toradora fans (let us not say in what way) with a rendition of the Toradora OP made using only the spreadsheet functionality of Microsoft Excel. Player 1 Nico. It looks as if the method used was to reconstruct each frame of animation as a separate page, and then have [...]
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I’ve been playing way too much red alert lately. IF LENIN COULD SEE US NOW.
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A gallery of idols prominently displaying what are their main, and in many cases very substantial assets. If all this restraint is too much for you, other galleries may better suffice…
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I’ve received 12 entries so far for the contest and have saved the photos to my comp. ^^ So far so good. If you didn’t get a “failed delivery” email then I most likely received it (sorry, I didn’t have time to reply to everyone). Those who still want to join or missed out on [...]
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. Thus begins my journey to decultard-ism. Watching Macross Frontier piqued my interest so much that I bombarded my mecha-head friends for their copies of the other Macross series (if they had any). Of course, they would. Well, I finally got my hands on Macross Zero, Macross Do You Remember Love, Macross Plus…, and a [...]
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Oh boy, time flies by fast. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been ding this for three years at this point. Last year I celebrated this by showing some statistics (props to Google Analytics), which is what I’m going to do this time as well. General Statistics: Up till now, I’ve made 2217 posts, regularly blogged [...]
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I'm guessing the Naruto box sets did well in the tills because Elex is doing it again—this time re-releasing the first ten volumes of One Piece in one batch. And take note, the set costs IDR 100,000 (around USD 8.40) or IDR 10,000 per tanko, a price last seen circa 2004. By popularity Yummy pricing regardless, the most popular Get! award this release goes (again, hands down) to Eyeshield 21
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Ronald McDonald’s back and he’s here to rock your world Touhou-style yet again. I’m lovin it.    Tagged: i'm lovin it, lol, perfect hamburger blossom, ronald mcdonald, Touhou, video   
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  Man, you were doing so well for almost two whole months. Impressions: I have to admit that as the action started winding down and Enjin started ranting and raving about how much this world sucks blah blah blah humans and youkai blah blah blah will remake the world, I got up to get a brownie [...]
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I keep writing these short blurbs but honestly there’s not much to say other than trying to get the news out to others. Thanks to - スタート - ACG | 声優 雜談 and his searching skills, we now have some official photos from the 2 day Animelo 2008 concerts! Check his site for the links [...]
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Neliel’s Past Revealed! Bleach returns this episode with Szayel Aporro fighting with Renji and Ishida. Neliel’s past is revealed through her fight with Nnoitra. Meanwhile, Pesche and Dondochakka mounts an offensive against Szayel after seeing Renji struggling against the Espada. The flashback begins with Nnoitra and Neliel fighting. Neliel, ofcourse defeats him without much effort. It [...]
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Now i will be the first in line to tell you I’m tired of the hype of Haruhi Suzumiya. I’m tired of all the fandom and how people are even worshiping Haruhi.Really people need to get over it already, but in all honest then I’d have to get over Gurren Lagann so much… But that’s [...]
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