May 31

Job: Preschool, Kindergarden, Elementary School Teachers (Sierra Leone)

via Pacific Northwest JETAA. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields. She is also the former vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.

*Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.

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Job Position: Preschool, Kindergarden, Elementary School Teachers (Sierra Leone)

Job Details:

The American school in Freetown is seeking qualified pre-school, kindergarten and 1/2 Grade teachers immediately. Beautiful and safe country, world-class beaches, wonderful school community. Certification is a plus, experience can substitute.

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May 31

Job: Volunteers Needed for Japan Matsuri (London, UK)

via JETAA UK. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields. She is also the former vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.

*Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.

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Job Position: Volunteers needed for Japan Matsuri (London, UK)

Job Details:

A number of Volunteers and Interns are required for Japan Matsuri 2011, which will take place on 18th September in London.

Period: From NOW up to 18/08/2011(Sun)
Venue: London
Language Skill required: English or Japanese (* depending on the roles)

If you join us as a volunteer we can give you:

  • No salary
  • Certificate/Reference/Achievement issued by the Japan Matsuri Ltd, upon your request
  • The chance to experience Japan-related event which has attracted tens of thousands of visitors
  • Read More


    May 31

    Justin’s Japan: Loudness, Akiko Yano Perform Rare Concerts in New York

    Legendary Japanese metal band Loudness return to Times Square's B.B. King Blues Club & Grill June 1.

    By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.

    After their successful tour of Europe last year capped with a headlining gig at Germany’s prestigious Bang Your Head!!! festival, Japan’s Loudness are invading North America for the first time since their sold out 2006 tour, and only the second time since 1991!

    Formed in 1981 in Osaka, vocalist Minoru Niihara, guitarist Akira Takasaki (A.K.A. the Eddie Van Halen of Japan), bassist Masayoshi Yamashita and drummer Munetaka Higuchi joined forces to become not only Japan’s premier metal band, but a world class act in their own right, releasing five English-language albums in America in their heyday.

    On June 1, the group storms Times Square’s B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, where they last played five years ago in a historic gig filmed for their Loudness in America 06 DVD. (The disc doubles as an epitaph for Higuchi, who succumbed to liver cancer two years later. He was replaced in 2009 by Masayuki Suzuki.)

    Metal not your cup of cha? On June 3, Japan Society presents Akiko Yano Solo: Revealing Her Magic. This one-night-only appearance is billed as a concert and talk, exploring renowned singer-songwriter Akiko Yano‘s original music, as influenced and inspired by the unique rhythm and intonation of the Japanese language. In this performance, Yano demonstrates how she bends prose, phrases and salutations into her own musical expressions.

    Read Justin’s review of Loudness’ previous concert in the spring 2006 JETAANY newsletter here.

    For the rest of this story, click here.

    May 31

    UPDATE 9/27/11:  It turns out an MEF Group on LinkedIn was previously created by Thomas Schalow.  To join, go to this link:  http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=3757582

     

    I’m going to delete the group that I created and would like to encourage MEFs, BETs and other pre-JETs to join the version of the group set up by Thomas.

    Yoroshiku!

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

    Every now and then I hear from a Monbusho English Fellow (MEF) or other person who was part of a pre-JET program in Japan.  I know there are plenty more MEFs out there, and you are very much JET alums from the perspective of the JET alumni community.  So I thought it would make sense to create a LinkedIn group for MEFs and others who participated in programs.  (I think there was also a British English Teachers program?)

    Monbusho English Fellows (MEFs) LinkedIn Group


    May 31

    JQ Magazine: JNTO “Meet Japan 2011” Familiarization Trip

    By Gil Cardon (Hiroshima-ken, 2001-04), for JQ magazine. Gil is the convention manager at the Japan National Tourism Organization in New York. He is the primary contact for promoting Japan MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions) within North America.

    Every year at about the same time, the Japan National Tourism Organization hosts the “Meet Japan” familiarization trip. This year, ten guests from six different countries (U.K., France, Italy, Greece, Israel, and the U.S.) participated in the trip.

    The guests are representatives of international organizations and professional associations that are planning to hold a conference in Japan in the near future. Through the course of the Meet Japan trip, the representatives visit convention centers and hotels in various cities throughout Japan, as part of a study tour to learn about the many amenities that the venues have to offer. Participants also have the chance to visit “unique venues” for holding their conferences, such as traditional Japanese ryokans, historic castles, museums, and Noh theaters.

    As a representative of the Japan Convention Bureau from the New York office, I had the fortunate opportunity to join the Chiba-Nagoya tour of the 2011 Meet Japan trip, from February 25–March 1, 2011. I had never been to Nagoya before, so I was looking forward to checking it out. I had been to Chiba once before, but I was sure that I would learn something new on this trip.

    Read More


    May 31

    MEF Bruce Rutledge’s Chin Music Press launches innovative “BooksRX”

    MEF Bruce Rutledge, founder of Seattle-based independent book publisher Chin Music Press and editor of Ibuki magazine, has launched an innovative new approach to independent book publishing:

    Mail-Order Medicine For Your Mind!

    Announcing BooksRX In 2010, small independent publisher Bellevue Literary Press won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction with Paul Harding’s Tinkers – the first time a small press had won the award since 1981! In 2011, the media bombards us with tales of Amazon’s digital books gobbling up demand for the printed page, and yet small presses continue to pop up all over the US and Canada.

    With the book business in a state of flux, we here at Chin Music Press believe that independent publishers are poised to carry the banner of the publishing world far into the 21st century. We are fortunate to find ourselves in a literal consortium of visionary presses who refuse to believe the media’s Doomsday prophecies foretelling the slow demise of the printed book. In fact, we’re convinced that our fellow indie publishers offer the perfect elixirs for eager readers and despairing booksellers alike.

    Beginning June 1, Chin Music Press will offer BooksRX, a quarterly curated collection of the best that North American independent publishers have to offer. We’re excited to prescribe publishers, writers and artists whom we think should be a part of any literary medicine cabinet. BooksRX ensures that you’re getting your recommended dose of vitamin READ.

    “BooksRX is undoubtedly the gateway drug for unsuspecting readers into the world of independent book publishing!”

    Dr. R. Max Sneezeworthy, Literary Division, US Department of Health and Human Services

    Available as a single dosage (one issue) or as a full regimen (annual subscription), each installment of BooksRX is a limited edition of 100 and arranged around a loose theme. Our first issue is inspired by our passion for finding new ways to tell stories from and about Japan.

    BooksRX is available exclusively through the Chin Music Press online store:

    • Single dose (one issue): $40 including shipping to US and Canada ($10 extra for shipping to international destinations)
    • Full prescription (four quarterly issues, save $20): $140 including shipping to US and Canada, ($35 extra for shipping to international destinations)

    A carefully edited selection including two dynamic books featuring new voices from Japan paired with an exclusive hand-numbered and signed art print!

    More: Chin Music Press · Online Store
    600 North 36th Street, #212, Seattle, WA 98103


    May 31
    WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations. 

    Hisashiburi hello!  I am down south with an IVLP group, enjoying interpreting the Texas twang.   Previously I mentioned my friend Nozomi Terao, head of the NPO Happy Doll, and I would like to share an event her organization is hosting twice next month.  Please see below for bilingual details; it will be watching a movie (with Japanese subtitles) while enjoying Korean food and contributing to her wonderful non-profit work

    HappyDoll  FUNDRAISER:  Movie x Meal  (watch a movie, eat korean, connect children) Read More

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