May 16

JET alum Chris Johnson headlines Megu’s Sake Supper

Uncanny.  Just after learning that one of the world’s leading sake experts, John Gauntner, is a JET alum and will be speaking at Japan Society’s upcoming Annual Sake Tasting and Lecture, it turns out that Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95) will be leading the Megu Sake Supper on June 3.  It also turns out that John […]


May 7

JETAA NY: Sake tasting at JET alum Chris Johnson’s Bao Noodles restaurant

Thanks to JETAA NY and JetWit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) for posting about the event on his blog (http://leesean.net): I attended a sake tasting and dinner organized by JETAANY on Monday night at Bao Noodles.   Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95), JET-alum, sommelier, and owner of Bao Noodles, presented a tasting of his restaurant’s Vietnamese specialties […]


Apr 30

JETAA NY sake tasting with JET alum sake sommelier Chris Johnson

SAKE TASTING AT BAO NOODLES When: Monday, May 4 at 7pm  Where: Bao Noodles  http://www.baonoodles.com/ 391 2nd Ave. between 22nd and 23rd St. (map) Price: $25/person (Originally $35) Limited to 25 people!! JET Alum and Owner of Bao Noodles Chris Johnson has agreed to host this year’s JETAANY sake tasting.  Bring your favorite sake glass […]


Nov 23

Two Upcoming Events with Sake Sommelier Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95)

Sake sommelier Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95) will be sommelier-ing at two upcoming events.  FYI, Chris is also the owner of Bao Noodles, the Vietnamese-style restaurant on 2nd Ave. between 22nd & 23rd Sts., and has provided gift certificates for several JETAA NY Newsletter contests. Zagat’s Presents THE ART OF SAKE PAIRING December 8, 2008, 6 […]


Jun 10

JQ Magazine: From Enkais to International Sake Judge: My Wonderful World of Nihonshu

  By Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95) for JQ magazine. An SSI-certified sake sommelier based in New York City, Chris is also known as the Sake Ninja and serves on the board of directors of The Joy of Sake. It is day two of my tenure as an AET in Kusu-machi in Oita Prefecture. After organizing […]


May 30

Justin’s Japan: The Joy of Sake

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Shukan NY Seikatsu. Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here. Returning to New York in June for its 15th annual celebration, The Joy of Sake hosts the world’s largest sake tasting outside Japan, with a record 513 competition-level sakes and 19 […]


Nov 28

Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — Takashi Murakami, Studio Ghibli Documentary, Japan Society Party

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories. With Thanksgiving (and the hopes of sensible eating) now just a memory, we turn to colder weather, falling snow, and the new year to come. Fortunately for Japanese culture fans, December is just as busy as the holiday season itself. Whether you’re hosting […]


Jan 29

Click here to join the new JET Alumni Culinary Group on LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/JET-Alumni-Culinary-Group-4803196/about?trk=anet_ug_grppro L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight and creator of the JET Alumni Culinary Group on LinkedIn. A writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food […]


Apr 25

Justin’s Japan: This week’s Nippon in NY events: NY Loves Japan, Japan-a-Mania, Sakura Matsuri

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories. After all those April showers, it’s finally starting to feel like spring. And what better way to welcome those May flowers than with these events, capped off with the 30th(!) annual edition of a Brooklyn […]


Apr 25

Sake and Chefs Tasting to Benefit Relief Efforts in Japan (NYC)

I believe two JET alum sake experts, John Gauntner and Chris Johnson, are involved with the group that is organizing this event — New York Loves Japan:  Sake and Chefs Tasting to Benefit Relief Efforts in Japan — which takes place Wednesday, April 27.


May 12

Thanks to JET Liason Noriko Furuhata and JET alum Eric Campbell, both of whom work at the Consulate General of Japan in New York, for sharing the link to this Japan Times article about JET alum John Gauntner who has established himself as the leading non-Japanese sake expert in the world.  And this on the […]


Nov 15

POLITICAL ANIMALS – Stories of politics from days of JET

We didn’t go on JET to run for office or start a revolution, but sometimes politics had a way of finding us. Here are some stories from fellow alums. ********************* GIFT CERTIFICATE WINNERS Clara Solomon (CIR Tottori-ken, 1999-2001) Meredith Wutz (Saitama-ken, 2000-02) One Prize: $25 to Kinokuniya Bookstore, now on 6th Ave. between 40th & […]


Nov 17

JETAA‎‎‎‏‏‎​ Podcast Beat is a weekly round-up of current JET and JET alumni podcasts and podcast appearances compiled by Emmalee Manes (Toyama-ken, 2016-19) Do you have a podcast or did you recently appear in a podcast? Help us share it with the community by filling out this form. Welcome to the JETAA Podcast Beat! We’re […]


Oct 27

JETAA‎‎‎‏‏‎​ Podcast Beat is a weekly round-up of current JET and JET alumni podcasts and podcast appearances compiled by Emmalee Manes (Toyama-ken, 2016-19) Do you have a podcast or did you recently appear in a podcast? Help us share it with the community by filling out this form. Welcome to the JETAA Podcast Beat! Every […]


May 9

JETAA May Chapter Beats 2019

Chapter Beats May 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)     JETAA UK Picnic on Primrose Hill –> Bang Bang Oriental hall in Colindale Date:              Sunday, 12th May Rough times:           12:30 […]


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