Mar 20

Job: Experienced translators of literary works (also seeking financial translators)

Via the Honyaku List:

D.C. Lyall
Modis Design
info at modisdesign.com
03 5672 8891
03 5672 8892
D Cook Bldg 4F, Aoto 1-5-7, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo 125-0062, Japan
Translator
Contract
Japanese <> English
We are looking for translators who have had experience translating novels, short stories and other works of fiction. Please submit your resume citing a list of works to your credit, including samples where possible.

Please include your rates, including volume discounts, additional charges for scans, etc. where applicable.

We also continue to seek competent financial translators, with experience in handling IR disclosures and annual reports. Agencies are also welcome to submit rates and sample projects.

Shortlisted candidates may be subject to a trial, in cases where potential work is available in their field.

Many thanks,

C. Lyall
Modis Design


Mar 20

JetWit BlogBeat by Crystal Wong

JetWit Blog Beat by Crystal Wong (Iwate-ken, 2002-04) is a recurring item featuring posts from the blogs of various JET alumni.  Crystal is a formerEnglish-language writer for Kyodo News. She now works as a media planner in Chelsea and sorely misses all her favorite midtown ramen joints.

As she job hunts while at work, current Fukui-ken JET Jody Godoy reflects on why she is leaving a secure job with great benefits during these unpredictable times.

Missing your J-TV? Jamie Patterson shows us Key Hole TV, a way to get your lo-fi Japanese TV fix online.

Interesting post from Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-2004), author of Zorgamazoo, about the relationship between the giant server farms used to power the Internet and global warming. Might going back to paper someday be the greener way to go?


Mar 19

New JETAA NY Officers

JETAA NY just announced that the election process for the officer positions effective April 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010 is complete. Omedetou gozaimasu to the new officers for JETAA NY.

President: Megan Miller

Vice President: Monica Yuki

Secretary: Amber Liang

Treasurer: Kelly Nixon


Mar 19

JETAA Orange County – Bowling and Dinner this Sunday

Via JETAA Southern California’s Orange County subchapter:

Here’s the info for this Sunday.  The plan is to bowl a couple of games at the Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley then dinner at Ebisu afterwards just down the street.  And whoever is interested in a nijiikai, karaoke is right there a couple doors down.

I’m holding this event so alumni who live in Orange County who have not been able to attend any events held by the major alumni association have something to go to and hang out with fellow alumni and meet others in the area.  I also hope this gives a chance for any new members who recently return to attend.  Basically, let’s just get together and have some fun.  Read More


Mar 19

JETAA NY Meishi Exchange tonight

MEISHI EXCHANGE Thursday, March 19 at 7pm Come join JETAANY for the biggest networking/social event of the year. Meet fellow JET alums, their friends, and co-workers. We have rented out the 2nd floor of Aja; the very chic Asian fusion restaurant in the West Village . Don’t forget to bring your business cards.  We are giving away many great prizes this year.
Aja
http://www.aja-asianbistro.com/ 432 Sixth Avenue (between 9th and 10th)  Subway: West 4th A, B, C, D, E, F, V or Christopher Street1, 2, 3  
Admission:
JET alums: free admission including 2 free drink tickets & hors d’oeuvres. Friends of JET and guests: $10. Includes 2 drink tickets & passed hors d’oeuvres.  
Photo/art contest:
All are welcome to join.  Fabulous prize for the winner!  Theme: “Story Through a Picture” Work should reflect a Japanese theme through photography, drawing, or painting. Size: 5×7 to 8×10;  One entry per person.
Questions: contact Monica at social at jetaany dot org


Mar 19

Meet Utada Hikaru – New York, LA, Miami

hikaruutadaevent

Thanks to JQ (JETAA NY Quarterly) Magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for sharing this info for the benefit of all the Utada fans out there. Oh, and stay tuned for Justin’s exclusive, in-person interview with Utada-san in the Spring 2009 issue of JQ.

Come Meet Utada!

Utada will be appearing at the following Sephora Locations:

Sephora Hollywood & Highland
Tuesday, March 24 – 6-8PM
6801 – Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028

Sephora 5th Avenue
Wednesday, March 25 – 6pm-8pm
597 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Sephora South Beach
Friday, March 27 – 7-9pm
721 Collins Ave
Miami, FL 33139

More info at http://utada.com/news/default.aspx?nid=1698


Mar 18

By translator and writer Jamie Graves (Saitama-Ken 2002-2003)

The Google Honyaku group has a great discussion going on trying to pin down exactly what physical sensation karai (辛い) refers to. The easiest English analogy is “spicy“, and it’s often used to refer to hot foods, but as I learned from a few years of working in restaurant kitchens in Japan, the word can also refer to anything that’s a little too salty, too strong (dark Belgian beer with a high alcohol content) , or strongly flavored (sun-dried tomatoes).

People even provide examples of native Japanese speakers (NJS’s) using karai to describe such disparate flavors as minty Colgate toothpaste or cola.

As Marc Adler ably sums it up, “Anything that is over-stimulative of the mouth gets labeled as ‘karai.’ I think we just don’t have a single word in English that covers all of karai’s lexical bases.”

Case in point, the word used to describe a dry wine is kara-kuchi (辛口), which isn’t by any stretch of the imagination “spicy”. Laurie Berman supplies an excellent and concise theory about this:

My impression is that [karai] 辛い and [amai, “sweet”] 甘い are regarded as opposites, and  as a result, [amai] 甘い can be used to mean “not [karai] 辛い,” and [karai] 辛い can sometimes be used to mean “not [amai] 甘い”–which is how I interpret [karai] 辛口.

Does anyone else have an example of an unusual food that they heard a native Japanese speaker refer to as karai?


Mar 17

Special Event Masthead


Photo © Asif Iqbal.

KRAZY! Cosplay Party

Saturday, March 28, 2009

In conjunction with the exhibition KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games, Japan Society holds its first-ever Cosplay Party, inviting local fans to create and showoff costumes of their favorite characters and share their enthusiasm for anime, manga and video games.

Admission to the Cosplay Party includes:

  • Classic anime film screenings – Paprika, Akira, Mind Game, and more!
  • A costume competition with prizes from Kinokuniya Bookstore and Manga Entertainment and judging from World Cosplay Summit Team USA and Ningin.com!
  • A special performance from Reni singing songs in Harajuku and Akihabara style!
  • Free entrance to the KRAZY! exhibition featuring original Manga artwork, hundreds of manga to read, an environment by cutting-edge architectural practice Atelier Bow-Wow, and playable video games!

Those without a costume are welcome to attend, to observe, and to cheer on their friends.

Costume Contest Prizes:
1st Place:  $200 gift certificate to Kinokuniya Bookstore
2nd Place: $100 gift certificate to Kinokuniya Bookstore
3rd Place: $50 gift certificate to Kinokuniya Bookstore

Tickets:
$10 pre-register
$15 at the door

Pre-registration is strongly encouraged!

Buy Tickets Online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. – Fri. 11 am – 6 pm, Weekends 11 am – 5 pm.

Join the discussion on our Facebook Page!

LOCATION
333 East 47th Street New York, NY 10017
(212) 832-1155
http://www.japansociety.org/


Mar 17

Job: Japanese and Asian Studies – One Year Position – Furman University (S Carolina)

Via JETAA Southern California:

Japanese and Asian Studies – One Year Position

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and the Department of Asian Languages of Furman University invite applications for a one-year replacement position at the assistant professor or instructor level in Japanese language and Asian studies to begin on August 26, 2009 and end in early May 2010. The appointee will teach Elementary Japanese I in Fall term and II in Spring term, supervising the Japanese Language House, and two courses in his/her specialization such as literature, culture, film studies, or gender studies in English. Qualifications include native or near-native fluency in Japanese and English; ABD, or Ph.D. in Japanese language, literature, culture, film studies, gender studies or other related fields; commitment to undergraduate education. Preference will be given to those with elementary language teaching experience at the college level. We particularly seek enthusiastic teachers who are interested in teaching in a liberal arts environment. Letter of application, CV, and three letters of recommendation by March 20, 2009 to: Professor Shusuke Yagi, MLL Dept., Furman University, Greenville, SC 29613. We will interview at the AAS Meetings in Chicago March 26- 29, 2009.

Read More


Mar 16

Writing Opporunity: Write the ending for “The Strange Ship: Part II”

strangeship_0001James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish, has a strangely compelling post on his blog asking readers to help him write the ending to the first book he ever wrote–The Strange Ship.

[A]s a lark, back in November I posted The Strange Ship, the first book I ever wrote (I was seven years old). I mentioned I had written a sequel. Some of the students in Mrs. Vivian’s fifth grade class asked me to put it online. My pleasure!

In The Strange Ship, two nameless space explorers called “moneymen” and their trusty droid 5-0-6 stumbled upon a strange ship full of monsters (including the giants Carziperes, Diploziperes, and Zarzit). The moneymen then proceeded to blow up the ship by making all the monsters simultaneously sneeze.

Clearly a sequel was required, to tie up all those loose ends. So let me take you back to March 13, 1981-almost exactly 28 years ago-and The Strange Ship: Part II.

However, I must warn you-the last couple pages are, tragically, missing! The story breaks off right in the middle of the climax! But America, my carelessness is your opportunity. I propose a contest. Draw / write YOUR OWN ending to The Strange Ship: Part II and send it to me! Let’s make the deadline April 15, 2009. I’ll post the new endings right here on this blog, and there will be prizes!

Click here to read the full post and experience the wonderful drawings in their entirety.


Mar 16

Job: Associate Provost for International Education – U of Georgia

Via the Chronicle of Higher Ed’s international programs job page:

3/16/2009 University of Georgia (Georgia) : Associate Provost for International Education


Mar 16

JETAA DC Grad School Night Panel Discussion and Networking Event – March 31

********************

“2009 JETAADC Grad School Night Panel Discussion and Networking Event” on Tuesday, March 31 at 6:30pm.

Event: 2009 JETAADC Grad School Night Panel Discussion and Networking Event
“Come to eat, drink, and discuss opportunities with various graduate school programs.  ”

Time: Tuesday, March 31 at 6:30pm

Where: Old Ambassador’s Residence, adjacent to the Japanese Embassy.

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=61450641385&mid=289272G1faf3ed5G1cb332bG7


Mar 16

Jan Hagels

Devon Brown (Tokyo-to, 2002-04) is a freelance writer with a focus on food.  You can read more of her writing at TravelingTastebuds.blogspot.com

dscf1737

 

What’s in a name?  A friend introduced these buttery, easy to make, cookies to me about a week ago. They are so good that I have already baked my own batch at home, but what’s up with the name?  Pronounced yan hagels, they sound more like a complicated squat thrust exercise than a cookie.  Research revealed that these cookies are actually Dutch and they’re usually made around the holiday season.  The cookies are topped with rock candy and almonds in the traditional recipe, but I prefer the simple walnut topping my friend uses.  These cookies are fantastic with a cup of tea and, dare I say it, even easier to make than chocolate chip.

Click here for the recipe


Mar 15

JetWit seeks a “Job Listings Czar”

JetWit is looking for someone to be in charge of posting job listings to JetWit.  If interested, contact Steven at jetwit at jetwit dot com.

Reasons to do it:

  • Potentially a good opportunity to get a big picture view of what’s going on in the jobs marketplace and perhaps position yourself well for HR type positions.
  • Good way to  find a new job or freelance opportunities for yourself if you’re looking.
  • A chance to help out the JET alum community in a tough economic climate.

There’s an organized and methodical way to do all of this that’s not as hard as it seems. I’m happy to explain my process, and you can innovate and improvise from there.  This job can also be broken up among more than one person with different areas of focus.

Requirements:  You must be a JET alum, and you must be willing to stay with this on a relatively consistent basis.

Bonus:   Can be an platform to write posts about job searching and the job market that would be helpful to the JET alum community.


Mar 15

More acclaim for Robert Weston’s “Zorgamazoo”

Zorgamazoo Cover ArtAccording to Rob Weston’s (Nara-ken, 2002-04) recent post on his blog, “Zorgamazoo has been chosen by the Children’s Literature Assembly as a notable book for 2009. The Assembly is affiliated with the National Council of Teachers of English.”

Rob explains that each year the Assembly selects 30 titles that “demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style; involve word play, word origins, or the history of language; and invite child response or participation.”

It would be an understatement in the extreme to say that Zorgamazoo makes unique use of language, style and word play.

Omedetou gozaimasu from the JET alum community on collecting yet another accolade for your writing.  And see you Sunday, March 22 at the JET Alumni Author Showcase in NYC!



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