JQ Magazine – Book Review: ‘The Way of Taiko’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-10) for JQ magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub-Chapter, Rashaad currently studies responsible tourism management at Leeds Metropolitan University. For more on his life in the UK and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com. Many JETs—myself included—have been drawn to taiko because we love the sound emanating from the […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage’ by Haruki Murakami
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By Eden Law (Fukushima-ken, 2010-11) for JQ magazine. Eden hails from the JETAA New South Wales chapter in Sydney, Australia, aging one hour at a time, his soul still empty, on the slow gentle slide to the eternal sleep of the grave. With the wind in his hair and a song in his heart, of course. Haruki Murakami is […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Cool Japan: A Guide to Tokyo, Kyoto, Tohoku and Japanese Culture Past and Present’
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By Julio Perez Jr. (Kyoto-shi, 2011-13) for JQ magazine. A bibliophile, writer, translator, and graduate from Columbia University, Julio is currently working at Ishikawa Prefecture’s New York office while seeking opportunities with publications in New York. Follow his enthusiasm for Japan, literature, and board gaming on his blog http://brittlejules.wordpress.com and Twitter @brittlejules. When was the last time you picked up a non-fiction book […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Life in Japan: The First Year’
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By Lana Kitcher (Yamanashi-ken, 2010-12) for JQ magazine. Lana is the business development associate for Bridges to Japan. To read more about Lana’s adventures in Japan and New York, visit her blog at Kitcher’s Café. Victor Edison is a young man who remembers always having some Japanese influences present throughout his life. His family hosted a Japanese exchange […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Dreams of Love, Etc.’ from ‘Monkey Business Volume 3’
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By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction. In the latest issue of contemporary Japanese literature anthology Monkey Business Volume 3, Japanese novelist Mieko Kawakami writes of roses, post-earthquake malaise and a friendship that never quite consummates. We first encounter the narrator, who inexplicably calls herself Bianca, as she stands […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-10) for JQ magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub-Chapter, Rashaad currently studies responsible tourism management at Leeds Metropolitan University. For more on his life in the UK and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com. As mysterious as Japan seems to be, there are numerous occurrences in the country that […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Rashaad worked at four elementary schools and three junior high schools on JET, and taught a weekly conversion class in Haguro (his village) to adults. He completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2010, and was also a member of a taiko group in Haguro. Sometimes, we’re just trying to find out where […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘The Accidental Office Lady: An American Woman in Corporate Japan’
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By Lana Kitcher (Yamanashi-ken, 2010-12) for JQ magazine. Lana is the business development associate for Bridges to Japan and enjoys working as a freelance writer for a number of online publications. To read more about Lana’s adventures in Japan, visit her blog at Kitcher’s Café. Laura Kriska’s experience as recounted in The Accidental Office Lady parallels in […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty’s Trek Across the Pacific’
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By Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken, 2007-08) for JQ magazine. Jessica is a freelance writer and a graduate student in arts journalism. She readily admits that while she is an avid Hello Kitty fan, she is always going to like Chococat more. For many, young and old, female and male, Hello Kitty (or Kitty-chan, as her diehard fans lovingly call her) has been […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Amorous Woman’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Rashaad worked at four elementary schools and three junior high schools on JET, and taught a weekly conversion class in Haguro (his village) to adults. He completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2010, and was also a member of a taiko group in Haguro. If you were to tell stories centering on […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945-1989: Primary Documents’
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By Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken, 2007-08) for JQ magazine. Jessica is a freelance writer and a graduate student in arts journalism. She was previously the publicist for Japan-focused publishers Stone Bridge Press and Chin Music Press. The abstract and avant-garde sculptor, painter and all-around revolutionary Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto famously said, “Art is an explostion” […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Persona’ and the Muddy, Dark Spiritualism of Yukio Mishima
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By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction. Who was Yukio Mishima? Persona, the lengthy new tome by Naoki Inose (the current Governor of Tokyo) and Hiroaki Sato, seeks to answer that question with the use of a comprehensive set of primary resources such as interviews, unpublished writings and personal […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Rashaad worked at four elementary schools and three junior high schools on JET, and taught a weekly conversion class in Haguro (his village) to adults. He completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2010, and was also a member of a taiko group in Haguro. “Everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what […]
By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Rashaad worked at four elementary schools and three junior high schools on JET, and taught a weekly conversion class in Haguro (his village) to adults. He completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2010, and was also a member of a taiko group in Haguro. The 1960s were a decade of enormous change […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Samurai Awakening’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Rashaad worked at four elementary schools and three junior high schools on JET, and taught a weekly conversion class in Haguro (his village) to adults. He completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2010, and was also a member of a taiko group in Haguro. For those who have lived in Japan, there […]
