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Greetings From J-List

5/17/2013

Besides being a dedicated fan of all things Japan-related, I'm also card-carrying lover of time-travel and related science fiction stories. I've read all the classics, including H.G. Wells' The Time Machine (and its "official" sequel, The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter), the Hyperion Saga which all Haruhi fans should read, and of course the alternate history classic Guns of the South. There's a rich tradition of stories about time travel in anime, too, starting with the archetypcal "person from modern Japan is transported back to the country's 'Warring States' historical period" genre (of which The Ambition of Oda Nobuna is the most recent example), along with various Groundhog Day/Endless Eight style repeating time loops, convenient wormholes that cause characters to "timeslip" if they encounter one, plus films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. One of the best stories time travel stories in years has been the visual novel and anime Steins;Gate, about Rintarou Okabe, a "mad scientist" who discovers how to send messages, and later himself, into the past, which naturally results in a lot of bad stuff happening that he has to fix. Last night I went to the movie theatre to see the new Steins;Gate movie, which was just about as awesome as it could have been. I want to go see it again tonight...


I love fandom because it's a "big tent"; Steins;Gate is a story about love, time travel and Dr. Pepper.

This may not exactly come as a surprise, but I love anime fandom. It's a warm and comfortable place filled with cool people who are all pretty much on the same wavelength about what's important in life. Thanks to the Internet, anime has experienced a "golden age" of sorts, allowing fans in all corners of the world to become part of the same extended "meme group," sharing ideas and pop culture freely. If I were to visit Russia or Mexico or Spain or South Africa, I might not be able to speak the local language…but if I can locate a group of anime fans, I know we'll be able to communicate in the language of manga, Vocaloid and Touhou. One thing I love about fandom is the way it's really a "big tent," composed of many smaller related groups. Aficionados of Gundam model building are quite different from fans of the latest moe cuteness from Kyoto Animation, and serious cosplayers might have different priorities from fujoshi geeking out over girl-centric games and BL manga. While our individual obsessions might each be different, in the end we're all part of the same family, or -- to borrow the Gaelic term -- clannad.

I get a lot of questions from readers interested in working in Japan, usually as a teacher of English as a Second Language (ESL), and I do my best to guide them to useful information, although I haven't been in the field for years. Teaching ESL is a potentially good option for people wanting to work for a few years in Japan, as long as you have realistic goals and know that it's not the healthiest of industries (there were some major bankruptcies of ESL school chains a few years ago). First of all, you need a four-year degree in order to get a working visa, so if you don't have one yet, that'd be the logical place to start. One popular choice for teaching in Japan is the Japan English Teacher (JET) program, operated by the government to get native English speakers into the country to teach and also facilitate "grass roots Internationalization" of Japan. While getting accepted into the JET system can be a challenge since there are so many applicants, Japan's ruling LDP party recently announced an expansion of the program, which might help your chances. There are two types of JET jobs, Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) who do the actual teaching, and Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs), who help guide the program and who need a minimum amount of Japanese, usually 2-3 years. As a rule, I generally recommend people with a deeper interest in Japan to consider trying for the latter job, which will contribute more to your understanding of the country and could help you build コネ kone, or connections which will help you in the future. There are plenty of alternatives to JET, too: for example, most cities have "sister cities" in Japan, like our city's relationship with Springfield, Missouri, and often there are ALT jobs or exchange study opportunities open through these connections. There are also programs like the Lion's Club International Camp and Youth Exchange Program to look into. If you're interested in researching how to live and work in Japan, we've got some books that can help.

We've got some big news today for fans of our English-language eroge and dating-sim games: a huge price drop! We've permanently lowered prices on almost 50 of our great visual novels, from classics like Amorous Professor Cherry or Heart de Roommate to legendary titles like Hitomi Stepsister and Family Project. Prices have been lowered by $5 or $10 on a huge number of games, so it's a great time to browse the reduced-price visual novels and eroge and see which you'd like to pick up!

Today's New & Restocked Items

KERA July 2013

KERA July 2013

Enjoy a new issue of the wonderful magazine showcasing the latest in gothic and punk lolita fashions. Kera is especially cool because it doesn't stick to only one genre, but shows you everything that's cool in Harajuku fashion today. The new issue is loaded with extra-cool photos that will give you lots of fashion ideas. VIEW PRODUCTS