Hina Matsuri!

Today is March 3rd in Japan, and it’s Hina Matsuri aka Girls’ Day in other parts of the world. It’s a big day for families that have daughters, and it starts with the Hina Dolls that start to be displayed in February inside the home.

This one is quite elaborate and expensive, however most households that celebrate Hina Matsuri display smaller glass enclosed Hina Doll sets (they still run several hundred dollars). Along with the dolls, there are traditional confections such as diamond shaped multi-colored hisamochi, or hina-arare, and chirashi-zushi is also a commonly served dish.

Here we have a couple of Hina-bento boxes. As you can see, there’s lots of goodies to make a girl grow healthy and strong, even a Hello Kitty kamaboko slice.There’s also a little portion of chirashi-zushi, sushi rolls, and other small treats. Aside from the Hello Kitty kamaboko, almost everything in this bento box is quite easy to make, and you could even make your own Hina-bento box for your own daughter next year. beNippon has a wonderful selection of Japanese bento books to give you ideas on what you can put inside your Hina-bento box such as Chiaki’s Rarara Kindergarten Obento Diary.

Hands on with the Casio EX-word XD-B7200

Last month, I was able to play around with the new Casio EX-word XD-B7200. Rather than recreate the posts, here are my reviews:

Unboxing
Hands-on

With US tax season around the corner, maybe some of you have a tax return burning a hole in your pocket. You can’t go wrong with educational expenses 🙂 We’ve got your Japanese electronic dictionary needs covered at beNippon. Check out the Casio EX-word XD-B7200 (French) and the full XD-B series foreign language line up at beNippon.

Welcome to the new beNippon Blog!

Greetings dear readers!

The beNippon blog has relocated to wordpress.com, and we hope you continue to follow us. With this winter’s snows finally melting away, the warmer weather is bound to get me out from under the kotatsu to bring more exciting adventures from the land of Kanazawa.

In addition we’ve launched a few more blogs for readers interested in learning more about our store’s other products:

• beJapan: a hodge-podge of Japanese products not normally found outside Japan.
• Totoro & Ghibli blog: dedicated to showcasing the latest and greatest Studio Ghibli products.
• Studying Japanese: showcasing text and study aids to help you with your Japanese language studies.
• Japanese Gadgets: Japan’s latest and greatest gadgets have been on your radar, but when you’re ready to buy we’ll be here.
• Japanese Lifestyle: You don’t have to live in Japan, we’ll help you create your own Japanese lifestyle right where you are now.

Thanks for sticking with us. If you haven’t done so already, give us a “like” on Facebook. We’re looking forward to continuing to help you all get your Japan fix.

>Yotsuba Mark

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Wakaba Mark

Having passed my Japanese driver’s license test last summer, this bit of news caught my eye. First year drivers in Japan have to sport the “wakaba mark” on the front and back of the car. Drivers usually choose a magnetic mark or suction cup mark. Since we have multiple drivers in the family, the magnetic ones are the easiest to use.

Momiji Mark

Older drivers in Japan, those over the age of 70, are required to display the momiji mark, so other drivers can use caution around them. However, this mark’s design was not very popular among the older generation.

Most recently, this 4-leaf clover designed by graphic designer Mikio Matsuyama, was chosen to replace the momiji mark from Feb. 1st, and is apparently a little more popular than the momiji mark among the older generation. You might notice there is an “S” placed in the center to signify, “Senior.”

New Yotsuba Mark

I’ve always liked the design of both marks, and before coming to Japan always thought it would be cool to sport the wakaba mark on my car. Now that I live here however, it’s just a pain in the ass to remember to put it on and take it off when I’m finished with the car. I know the US doesn’t have a aged driver designation, but how about other countries? Do you think that older (and new) drivers are being discriminated against by having to display these marks?

>Texas Ver. 2.0

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After what seems like an eternity of not eating McDonald’s, I finally got the itch a few weeks ago. Since the Texas 2 burger was out of beta testing, I thought I’d give it a try, even though I didn’t plan on it.

Opening the box, no surprise here. All I could see was a rather large patty of beef and an onion slice sticking out of the side there.

Flopping the bun over, you get a view of some “Texas” chili con carne, slice of bacon, and more onions. Doesn’t look pretty, but it all goes down to the same place, right?

It’s quite a big burger by McD’s standards, and since I’m not a food fighter the meal with fries and drink really filled me up. For me, the Texas 2 burger was quite tasty, especially in comparison to last year’s version. The chili con carne-ish sauce was had a different sort of spiciness than you might expect, very “sharp” akin to what you’d find red chili sauce, and was lacking in the “con carne” department. However, the hint of nostalgia for chili con carne on a burger really drew me in, and it was satisfying in its own right.

In the end, I think the selling point is that if I had the choice between a Big Mac and the Texas 2 (and didn’t mind spending the extra 200 yen), I would choose the Texas 2.

>2011 Casio EX-word Denshijiso なう!

>Those of you who have been on the fence about purchasing a new electronic dictionary (denshijisho), now is the time. Casio’s new EX-word XD-B series electronic dictionaries, are now in our catalog and we hope to have our first shipment ready to go sometime this month (depending on the model).

Here’s our line-up (Pre-order for 5% OFF):

General Purpose

XD-B10000: The professional model, with 150 contents. Has everything, but the kitchen sink (there are probably photos though).
XD-B6800: 130 contents, including reference material for the history and haiku buff.

Foreign Language Models

XD-B7100: German language version with 72 contents.
XD-B7200: Soon to be our best selling French version with 72 contents.
XD-B7300: Chinese version with 85 contents, in white.
XD-B7400: Italian version with 69 contents.
XD-B7500: Spanish version with 70 contents.
XD-B7600: Korean version with 73 contents.
XD-B7700: Russian version with 70 contents.

XD-B9800: English version with 130 contents, including the sought after Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English dictionary.

>2011 Casio EX-word, updated!

>

On Wednesday, Casio casually announced the release of their 2011 EX-word denshijisho collection the XD-B Series, a mere 10 days before the release date of the first models. Let’s take a look at what’s new!

First of all, they’ve updated the design, which is the first major design update in several years. Looking at this “business model” the XD-B8500 as an example, they’ve nixed the angular edges of the previous models and replaced them with smoother rounded lines, giving a more book-like appearance. Additionally, some models will sport a new texturized shell.

Taking a look a the keyboard, you’ll immediately notice the addition of a full color sub-panel, which is a smaller version of the main Blanview display. With the backlighting, you’ll be able to study in the dark! This new display also gives more advanced viewing options; full text or thumbnail images for example, providing a more integrated user experience. One minor negative of the sub-display is the minor loss in overall battery life, an estimated 20 hours compared to the XD-A series. Flanking the new sub-panel are two circular controllers. The left side houses the internal speaker and feature buttons such as history, while the right side has all important the navigation arrows. If you remember, I wasn’t happy about the squishy feel of the navigation buttons on my XD-A9800 model so I’ll be excited to see if they’ve remedied this part.

Much to my relief, there isn’t much that has changed internally. As far as I can tell, the main and content dictionaries are the same, aside from an Oct. 2010 update to Kangorin, 8th Ed. of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, and 5th Ed. of the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Aside from Kangorin, these are not dictionaries I use regularly. The one feature that I am interested in testing is the search, which is supposedly “smoother” than before. And the inclusion of multiple keyword and image search is interesting, but I’m not sure if they only apply to the encyclopedia data.

The new Casio EX-word XD-B models will be released from January 21st and into February, and beNippon will have them ready for order as soon as humanly possible. So save that left over Christmas or otoshidama cash!!

Via EX-word XD-B Site [JP] and Casio XD-B news release [JP]

>Lightsaber Chopsticks, 1 Year Later.

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Last year the release of Kotobukiya’s Star Wars chopsticks was plastered over the internets, and I was one of those waiting for months. I ended up purchasing 6 pairs, two of each type. Those that read this blog may have noticed them appearing in a couple posts in the past, as I actually use them. The Luke Skywalker is my everyday pair and the Yoda is my bento pair, while Darth Vader and the extras went back to the US as gifts.

When they first came out I was a little bit worried about the quality. If you just use them as decor, they look great and will last forever, but what about for everyday use? Let’s take a look:

Here are the tips. They’re still fine, no chipping or anything. The plastic is very smooth so it’s been hard to hold on to food, and at times pieces of slippery things have fallen in my lap. If you’re they type that manhandles your food, breaking up big chunks into little pieces you may end up snapping them in two. Of course they’re not as clear as before, with constant washing they outside becomes a little opaque.

The handle part is painted, so of course it’ll wear off eventually. However, as you can see even with daily hand-washing, the metallic paint is still mostly all there.

In the end, the verdict is that even with daily use, these chopsticks will last as long as most others. I recommend you reclaim them your lovely Dollfie and take them down to your local sushi joint to get some oohs and aahs. Tell them you got them from beNippon.

>Bye-bye Tiger, Hello Rabbit!

>

After a nice long New Year’s vacation, we’re back in the offices of beNippon. Happy New Year to all!

明けましておめでとうございます

今年も宜しくお願いします！

All of us at beNippon look forward to another year of giving you of top-class service, great prices, and our ever increasing selection of anime, manga, books, plushies, electronics, and beyond.

As I get started on my day, just wanted to leave you all with a quick warning. When you’re getting your Year of the Rabbit tattoos done, make sure your favorite tattoo artist uses 卯 and not 卵.

>Japan Post: Move along there’s nothing to see here.

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Starting December 1st, shipping packages over 16 ounces from Japan to the USA  will be permitted once more. Just expect longer arrival times, even longer for places like Hawaii so the packages can be screened.

Just another reason to get your Christmas shopping done early.

Japan Post [JP]