Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Japanese Top Secret Cleared Linguist
Posted by: Language on Demand, Inc.
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Contract: Full-Time

Please see below the job passed along to us directly from the organization.

Northeast Asia Linguists – Japanese

Written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03), WIT Life is a periodic series about aspects of Japanese culture such as film, food and language. Stacy starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.

Hope everyone is doing well in quarantine and looking forward to early summer. It seems like we’re getting closer to having some restrictions lifted here in NY. Over in Japan, the number of cases remains low and PM Abe just lifted the state of emergency for Tokyo and the other four prefectures that were still under it. However, it seems like his time in office might be cut short due to several significant blunders.

It’s been a heartbreaking week in non-Corona related domestic news, and I’ve been using podcasts and webinars to keep my mind off the awfulness. I’m especially fond of Asia Society programming, and tonight at 6:30 you can check out “Tattered Fans and Talismans.” It’s streaming on the organization’s Facebook page, but if you aren’t able to catch it live they offer access to events post-recording.

And in other exciting news, mark your calendars for the inaugural Casa Con! This all digital convention focusing on gaming, content creation and cosplay will be held on Discord from June 12-14. If the fact that I’ll be participating in a weekend panel discussion is not enough motivation for you to attend, registration is free! You can connect with the event over social media at #casacon and @thecasacon.

Hi all, 

We hope you are safe and well. Another month has passed and another round of virtual events are happening around the world. Have a look at what chapters are hosting!

JETAA Chapter Beat is a periodic mosaic of events taking place in the JETAA sphere. Compiled by AJET‘s Director of Alumni Relations Megan Buhagiar (Ishikawa Prefecture, 2017- Present)

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Student Relations Coordinator
Posted by: Ashinaga Foundation
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to JET alumna, Jennifer Butler (Shizuoka-ken) for passing along the job opening with her organization, The Ashinaga Foundation.

Please see the below job description and background information. 

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Associate Director of Programs
Posted by: Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation
Location: Washington, DC
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to JET alum, Kelly Primrose (Nara-ken) for passing along the following job opening:

https://mansfieldfdn.org/blog/now-hiring-program-officer-washington-office/

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Investigative Specialist or Seller Support
Posted by: Amazon Japan
Location: Sapporo City/Sendai City/Tokyo, Hokkaido/Miyagi/Tokyo, Japan
Contract: Full-Time

Please see below the PDFs for two job listings for Amazon Japan that were passed along to us. 

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Japanese Linguists for a US Military facility
Posted by: JTG
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Contract: Full-Time

Here are a couple of jobs for 4-5 American citizens passed along to us:

http://jobs.jtg-inc.com/x/detail/a29egmnc0ius

http://jobs.jtg-inc.com/x/detail/a29egmn4edmt

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Various Positions
Posted by: Learning Lab Kobe
Location: Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to JET alum, Lee Ung (Okayama-ken) for the following job openings at her company:

Hi everyone, 

I hope you and your loved ones are doing well. Attached is a compilation of virtual events that are happening around the world. This may be the perfect time to meet new JET alums from another country or city. Enjoy! 

JETAA Chapter Beat is a periodic mosaic of events taking place in the JETAA sphere. Compiled by AJET‘s Director of Alumni Relations Megan Buhagiar (Ishikawa Prefecture, 2017- Present)

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email

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Position: Policy Research Fellow
Posted by: Reischauer Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Contract: Full-Time

Written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03), WIT Life is a periodic series about aspects of Japanese culture such as film, food and language. Stacy starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.

Hope everyone is holding up ok as we enter our second month of sheltering at home. Some days are better than others, but one thing I’m really missing is soaking up spring. This would typically be the season when I’d be attending all of the 桜祭り (sakura matsuri or cherry blossom festivals) in various parts of Queens, but of course that can’t happen this year.

Thankfully the Sato Sakura Gallery has a virtual fix for people who are craving the cherry blossoms. Check out this related article, which discusses 花見 (hanami or flower viewing) culture, as well as the museum’s amazing collection of sakura screens and paintings. For those who want a literal taste of sakura, try the cherry blossom shake at Shake Shack or pick up some sakura mochi at your local Japanese supermarket.

Hope this tides you over until next year, when we can hopefully enjoy the blossoms by sitting under them with food, drink and friends!

I’ve often met JET alumni who have come back from the most incredible time of their life in Japan and struggle with their next career steps.

Here are the top 4 things I hear about this struggle:

1. What can I possibly do with the experience I gained while on the JET Program? 
2. I’ve had such a life-changing time in Japan, and I’m super confused about what I want to do. 
3. I’ve been gone so long in Japan that I don’t know how to find a job in <country>.
4. I’m “behind” in the job search and/or no one is hiring.

I will answer each of these struggles and provide my top tips on job searching regardless of where you are at in your journey.

Read More

By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-10; Kochi-ken, 2018-present) for JQ magazine. A former head of JETAA Philadelphia’s Sub-Chapter, Rashaad is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University with a master’s degree in responsible tourism management. For more on his life abroad and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com.

Read More

Posted by Tom Baker

The annual Japan Writers Conference is seeking writers, editors and translators to give presentations at this year’s event, to be held in October in Kanagawa Prefecture. Through the years, many JETs and JET alumni writers, including freelancers, have spoken at or attended this event. This year, former JET Charles Kowalski will be cohosting the conference at his university.

The organizers are aware that the coronavirus has added uncertainty to everyone’s plans this year, but they intend to go ahead with the event if it is safe to do so in the autumn. However, they are also contemplating online options, so it might become possible to attend remotely. Here’s the official announcement:

Each year, English-language writers from many fields gather at the Japan Writers Conference to share ideas and experiences on the art, craft and business of writing. In 2020, the 14th annual Japan Writer’s conference will be held on Oct. 10-11 at the Shonan campus of Tokai University in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Award-winning novelist and JET alum Charles Kowalski, a popular speaker at past conferences, will cohost this year’s event with food and travel writer Joan Bailey.

“The Japan Writers Conference is something special,” said poet John Gribble, a co-organizer of the event. “It is open to all, beginner to pro. It is also an annual collection of rigorous, authoritative lectures, workshops, and discussion groups. Anyone with a concern for the written and published word would benefit from coming.”

The conference is now accepting proposals for presentations. All published writers, as well as translators, editors, agents and publishers, are welcome to submit proposals.

Last year’s JWC presenters included astrophysicst Elizabeth Tasker on writing about science, novelist Evan Fallenberg on writing about sex, and screenwriter Steven Wolfson on structuring plots. Authors Holly Thompson and Mariko Nagai held a workshop on revising young adult fiction.

“This has been a year of isolation for everyone,” Kowalski noted. “But for English-language writers in Japan, that’s familiar territory, and it’s often the most fertile soil for the seeds of inspiration to take root. I hope that, come autumn, we’ll all be able to poke our heads above ground again and share a rich harvest of ideas.”

Writers and others interested in giving presentations, or simply attending the 2020 conference, can find details, including proposal guidelines and a submission form, at http://www.japanwritersconference.org. The deadline for proposals is June 1.

Run entirely by volunteers, the Japan Writers Conference is a free event open to all. Inquiries should be sent to japanwritersconference@gmail.com

Posted by Tom Baker

This job listing come from Brendan Craine, a managing editor at Export Japan, a small translation and content production company in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. The job involves the production of expository text for Japan’s various tourist sites under the auspices of the Japan Tourism Agency. Applicants must complete certain trials by April 10. They can receive the trial material by emailing their credentials to writing@export-japan.co.jp with the subject line: “JTA Signage Revision Project 2020 – Inquiry about Freelance Work [first and last name].”

The following is the description provided by Craine, lightly edited:

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Information about the project (in Japanese) can be found here.

This project has been ongoing since May 2018. Last year alone, we produced over 500 pieces of text for 24 different localities. These texts ranged in topic and medium, from museum panels about national parks to online text about castle ruins, and had our writers traveling to well-known sites in Kyoto and Nikko as well as seldom-traveled islands like Oki and Ogasawara.

The project will continue in this coming year, and we are looking for writers and copyeditors to assist in the text production process.

Position: Writer or Copyeditor
Term: Ongoing between May 2020 and January 2021
Duties: (see trials for in-depth explanation)
Writer: Preliminary research on assigned location, accompanied coverage of local site, production of text and revision in response to editor feedback
Copyeditor: Preliminary research on assigned location, editing of drafted text
Compensation:
Writer: ¥18,000 per 250-word piece of text
Copyeditor: ¥5,000 per 250-word piece of text
(Participants are assigned 15 texts on average)

[Candidates with Japanese language proficiency equivalent to JLPT N2 or better are highly preferred.]

Because writing signage text is markedly different than writing for journalistic or academic publications, the JTA has mandated that writers and copyeditors must be vetted with trials. In order to be considered for either position, you will need to submit its associated trial. (Applications for both positions are also accepted, provided both trials are submitted.) Trials will be accepted until April the 10th.

Although writers residing in Japan are desirable, transportation to/from Japan can be provided for a strong candidate living overseas. Any lodging and transportation costs associated with coverage will be provided. The copyediting work can be performed entirely from overseas.

If you have any clarifying questions/other inquiries, please feel free to respond and ask.
This position is open to any qualified candidate, and referrals are welcome.
In that case, please have your colleagues email their credentials to writing@export-japan.co.jp with the subject line:

“JTA Signage Revision Project 2020 – Inquiry about Freelance Work [first and last name]”