UPDATE, Oct. 24, 2007!

A soda can version of this Final Fantasy Potion drink is on sale now, and our sponsor J-List has it in stock just for you. Read a review of the Final Fantasy drink as canned soda pop at kotaku.com:
Taste Test: Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Potion
The folks at Suntory and Squaresoft are doing a redux of the Final Fantasy “health potion” drink you can drink when you need to replenish those much needed hitpoints. This is the canned version, with a random Final Fantasy VII character on each can. There are 16 possible graphic variations, including: Tifa Lockhart, Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Aierith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Barret Wallace & Marlene, et al.
Buy it now at J-List.…

When you become tired while engaged in FINAL FANTASY XII, Suntory has the answer for you to pick up the fight: Final Fantasy XII Potion(c)!

Just like the recovery portion that appears in the game, Square Enix has teamed up with the Japanese booze company Suntory to offer the Final Fantasy potion. A genki drink” containing 10 different herbs and royal jelly.

Japanese “genki juice” energy drinks, a major category of product in Japan that promises to improve your health, remove tiredness and give your “genki” (pep) back. This Final Fantasy 10th Anniversary Potion is an extremely limited boxed set that includes a gorgeous potion in a glass and metal container and a commemorative art book, which seemed to sell out completely in Tokyo’s otaku mecca of Akihabara today. Although supply has been extremely limited, the 3Yen’s sponsor, JList.com. been able to get some stock of this “Potion” for you. Featuring the official logo of the Shinra Company, it’s a great item that all FF7 fans should be sure to check out. Get yours before they’re gone! Order now from JList.

In addition to giving you back “genki” (pep), some of these energy drinks promise to revitalize men (wink wink) with Chinese herbs, cure your cold symptoms, and remove your hangover in record time. Although the small single-serving bottles usually provide nothing more than caffeine and vitamins in a sweet syrup, the marketing muscle behind the drinks has turned them into a consumer sub-culture, Japan style, and Japan consumes more energy and sports drinks than any other country. Consumption of Genki juice (with 10,000 times the Min. Daily Requirement of “genki”) is listed on the required question on the official Annual Physical Examination, the Ningen Dock, required of all Japanese. These Japanese energy drinks are listed in the same category as number of cigarettes and the amount of alcohol consumed daily, so consume your Final Fantasy Potion wisely.

In Japanese, more Suntory info is here.
In English find more Final Fantasy XII information on the official Square Enix website.

Japan’s otaku/geek culture continues to spread around the world, and the latest boom is called “dakimakura” (dah-kee MAH-koo-rah), also known as “hug pillows” or “body pillows.” Essentially these are life-sized pillows around which a printed pillow case is wrapped—There’re the ultimate otaku decoration for your room, great to lay around with while watching kinky anime. To learn more be sure to read WIRED magazine’s: Getting in Bed With the Customer.

The 3Yen’s sponsor, J-List.com, now carries the new popular hug pillow covers from Machi Chara and other Japanese companies. Here are the first of the great dakimakura for you….Your very own life-sized version of Choco from Chocotto Sister and Louise and Siesta from the anime Zero no Tsukaima. See all of them on the J-List site now!

The view from Japan
Telegraph - 12:01am BST 14/10/2007—War damage, earthquakes and the rise and fall of the salaryman –the strengths and frailties of post-war Japan all feature in a striking new exhibition. But…how different are they from our own?
‘Japan, if you will forgive the expression, is differently different.’ ….

You can view the exhibition, Eyes Of An Island - Japanese Photography 1945-2007, which the Telegraph’s report is describing, on the online version of The Michael Hoppen Gallery website.

For more (and better) visions of the real Japan, check about these shashinshu/photobooks available from the 3Yen’s kind sponsor, JLIST.com.

Japan Underground
Know the Japan that isn’t meant to be seen — the underground constructions that are made to keep Japan running, without trying to appeal to any aesthetic, just simple function—See underneath the Japan’s concrete towers thought the eye of the photographer Hideaki Uchiyama.

No Music No Life
Feel the joys of everyday life through the love of music as depicted by the Tower Records Japan’s simple statement, No Music No Life. This is a perfect for aspiring photographers that will help you learn about creating Japanese fun in your photographs through the use of scenic locales and creative themes.

Girl’s High School Uniform
Documents the cutest sailor uniforms and the cutest girls from all 52 prefectures of Japan—Of course, these schoolgirl photos are the true “Real” Japan.

What does ‘Wan-wan’ or ‘Gero-gero’ mean?
Let the 3Yen’s kind sponsor Jlist.com sell you the answer and lots more in their new book on sale, Kana de Manga: Japanese Sound FX.

Have you ever wondered what a cat’s meow sounds like in Japanese? How about the grumble of an empty stomach, the wail of a police car’s siren or the crash of an ocean wave?

The Japanese language and manga artists in particular rely heavily upon onomatopoeia - sound-effect words - and this special entry in the best-selling Kana de Manga / Kanji de Manga language-learning series from Japanime is jam-packed with illustrated examples of those sounds (and more!) in action. Featuring more than 100 Japanese onomatopoeia and their English equivalents in categories such as “Humans,” “Animals,” “Machines” and “Nature.” Japanese/English text. From Japanime, the masterminds behind the Kanji de Manga, Manga Moods, and How to Draw Anime Character series.
Buy it now— Kana de Manga: Japanese Sound FX.

Kana de Manga: Japanese Sound FX

Back in June, I wrote the first report anywhere in English about the, ‘Rocobo’ - a moody person’s robot pet.
Now you can buy the Rocobo from our sponsor JList!

Rocobo “Raity” - Interactive Doggy Pet
New from Takara Tomy, Rocobo the interactive robot dog features an LCD face and is interactive by sound and a heart-shaped button on its head. Its 1-inch square face screen shows you his mood and response to your interactions. It sings songs, flaps its ears, and shakes depending on how you ‘treat it’. A very cute electronic desktop pet! And, a full translation of the Japanese instructions will be provided for you with this purchase.

“Rocobo” — a new pet robot from Tomy Corporation will be invading your desktop soon. Advertised as “the moody person’s robot,” the Rocobo reacts to how you treat it—It will shake its body, and flap its arms if you yell at it. Conversely, the Rocobo will glad if you stroke or treat it nicely and will sing a song to you, tell your fortune, smile on its LCD screen or flap its ears.
Annoyingly cute, heh?

Remember sitting around popping bubble wrap all day as a kid?

Well, the Japanese love it just as much…So much so that that invented a virtual bubble wrap keychain
Our sponsor JList.com is offering a great upcoming product will let you recapture that fun with the “Mugen Puchi Puchi” — “The Endless Pop Pop” Machine –an virtual Bubble Wrap Machine

If you just love popping bubble wrap packing, or enjoy tormenting someone who can’t stand the constant popping — this is your dream come true! Someone has finally stepped up and created an endless bubble packing popper and made it into a keychain, so wherever you go, there you pop.

Mugen Puchi Puchi — Endless Pop Pop - *Preorder*. Pop! Pop! Pop pop! Pop pop pop! Pop pop pop pop! It’ll be coming in next month, preorder it now.

Here’s the new iDog from Sega Toys and our sponsor JList. This a cute little robotic dog is an iPod compatible pet that reacts and dances to your music via a small port in its hind leg. Just plug in a 3.5mm stereo mini plug into the iDog and your music source (double sided cable) and you can start interacting with your new robot pet. The iDog plays your music from a built-in speaker in its back and reacts to different music differently, changes its mood (shows by different illuminations and dance patterns), and will even make its own music! You can affect iDog’s moods and musical tones my touching it, “a lot,” which is the recommended dose of affection from the toy scientists at Sega.
Buy it now from JLIST for only $38.00 in either the “Lovely Version” (pink) and “Happy Version” (blue).

Not in the same league as the charming iDog, is a suitable successor Sony’s sadly sacked Aibo that’s now out of production.

BJ the Linux powered robotic dog
Newlaunches.com
IXS Japan has announced a 4-legged walking robot which is developed in co-operation with Kondo Science. Named ‘BJ’ it i.s almost the same size as the Sony Aibo…180×350×312mm and weighs 2.5kg it will be available by 2007 fall worldwide for 600,000 Yen ($4,850) a bit too expensive than the [now-cancelled] Aibo.…more...

Besides “BJ and the Bear“, the craptacular 70s TV sit-com, “BJ” has on one meaning to me as defined in the UrbanDictionary: BJ —”an abbreviation of blow job or blowjob.”
At $4,850 for a robot ‘BJ’ , the JLIST iDog for $38.00 is a much better value for fun.
Of course the best part of either the robot ‘BJ’ and the iDog is: “It’s NOT a Sony®.”

Screenshot taken at 12 noon, Tuesday August 28, 2007.

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Meiji Curl Stick — Smorky Cheese
Meiji’s superdelicious puffed corn snack Curl is a standard favorite of everyone here at J-List, and snack that you can see people eating all around Japan….This delicious flavor is the outrageously good Smoked Cheese version!

As you can read towards the end of the text that smorky is actually smoky, but this begs the issue of why there are so many “No Smorking” signs in Japan even though Japanese write it in Katakana “No Smokingu” without any “r” .

The rest-of-the-story is that “No Smorking” is an extremely common typo on Japanese signage as you can see in this Google Image Search.

The linguist Ben Finney explains the cause of smorking in the archives of sci.lang.japan as: over-generalisation… A Japanese will learn that “long
a” at the end of a Katakana word is probably “er” in English; and a
“long o” in the middle of a word is probably “or”; and a few dozen
other “rules” based on an over-generalized idea of consistency in
English orthography.

Saaaa, gee after 20 years here in Japan, I still learn something new everyday. :-)

Click to watch the NOISY and NSFW video.

Ok, I’m warning you that this “Japanese Fear Factor 2” is not safe work or your ears. Turn your computer’s volume way down. Then the enjoy the slapstick of a screaming Japanese girl as she is covered in cockroaches and then creepy-crawlies poured into her nether regions. This video almost could be salacious but its too damn funny.

In case you need more crazy k1nkiness with Japanese lovelies, check out our sponsor JList’s
BOnd/\ge Fairies ~ Zannin Shimai, which is a true classic of manga in Japan. First published in 1990, Kondom’s story about two beautiful fairies who face some of the h0 rniest creatures in the forest, while trying to save themselves and the forest at the expense of having to use their bodies occasionally to do it. Now is your chance to own the complete B-Fairies in its original Japanese form in this single volume from World Comics Max. All the stories are republished here with no censorship whatsoever, with new afterword by Kondom to explain the enduring success of his creation. Join the naive Pfil and the mature Pamila as they tangle with some of the most realistic looking insects seen in Japanese comics for insect sex and much more. A thick volume — this is 340 pages, with four pages of full color work. A great way to experience a milestone in Japanese comics. Order now from JList.com!

Here’s a great new game from the 3Yen’s sponsor JLIST.com.


Leave to a Japanese game company to work in a terrible many-tentacled enemy into an interactive bishoujo/babe video game.

What is funnier is this game has been translated into English for the Wapanese wanker market. I guess this is the closest many gamers living in their mom’s basement because will get to sexy Japanese girls or combat.

This game, Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048, lets the player lead a troop of female “Biosoldiers”in a Final Fantasy Tactics-style game play while also playing dating-sim stories between the battles. Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048 is a battle simulation adventure game for adults that puts you in the command seat of humankind’s last effort to preserve its existence on post-apocalyptic Earth. Combining intense turn-based tactical unit combat with interludes of mission planning and social interaction (dating) with your squad members, Pretty Soldier Wars presents a unique gaming experience you won’t want to miss.

This Bishoujo game is on CD-ROM for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista is just $24.95 — order your English copy now!