Nov 15

Rise of the West: JET Alum Michael Auslin article on the conservative movement

JET alum Michael Auslin (Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former Professor of Japanese History at Yale University) has a new article titled Rise of the West offering some suggestions for the conservative movement as it contemplates its future direction.


Nov 14

Event at Center on Japanese Economy and Business: Lessons from the Japanese Bubble for the U.S.

Thanks to CJEB’s Jennifer Olayon (Nagasaki-ken, 1999-2000) for passing this along.

Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School Panel Discussion:

Lessons from the Japanese Bubble for the U.S.

Panelists
Takeo Hoshi, Pacific Economic Cooperation Professor in International Economic Relations, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego
Paul Sheard, former Global Chief Economist, Lehman Brothers
Michael Woodford, John Bates Clark Professor of Political Economy, Economics Department, Columbia University

Moderator
David E. Weinstein, Carl S. Shoup Professor of the Japanese Economy, Economics Department, Columbia University; Associate Director of Research, Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School

Wednesday, November 19
4:30 – 6:00PM
Uris Hall, Room 301, 3022 Broadway

Co-sponsored by the Program on Alternative Investments, Center on Japanese Economy and Business of Columbia Business School; Columbia University’s Program for Economic Research and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute

For more information and registration details, please visit www.gsb.columbia.edu/cjeb


Nov 13

JET alum Michael Auslin (Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former Professor of Japanese History at Yale University) will be speaking on the future of the U.S.-Japanese Alliance together with Christopher Griffin, defense policy adviser to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, on November 20 at the American Enterprise Institute.

Securing Freedom: A Report on the Future of the U.S.-Japanese Alliance

You can find this online at: http://www.aei.org/event1840

“In a new report entitled Securing Freedom: The U.S.-Japanese Alliance in a New Era, AEI’s Michael Auslin and Christopher Griffin, defense policy adviser to Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-D-Conn.), demonstrate that the United States and Japan should reorient their alliance to support political and economic liberalization. These reforms would in turn create bulwarks against authoritarian expansion and ensure that democracy, free markets, and transparent security policies become the animating principles of politics in Asia.” Read More


Nov 7

Writing Opportunity – Man discovers his samurai roots through old family photos

This is an article idea suggested by Bobby Okinaka (Wakayama-ken, 1992-95) who works for the Japanese American National Museum.  If interested in writing about this, email stevenwaseda atto jetwit dotto com for contact info.

Story pitch – Man discovers his samurai roots through old family photos

Mitch Homma still has thousands of family photos to sort through, but he has already done an incredible job documenting his family’s history. He discovered that two of his great-grandparents came from important samurai families in northern Japan.

Reverend Masahiko Wada (1880-1957)
Born to a high-ranking samurai family serving the Date clan of Sendai.

Mrs. Kuni Anazawa Wada (1887-1967)
related to Inazo Nitobe, man on the 5000 yen note (cousin)

Rev. Wada, a Christian, came to southern California in 1928 to minister to Japanese immigrants in the United States. His wife and family joined him in 1931. During WWII, they were arrested as potential threats to the security of the U.S. and later sent to a relocation camp. After the war, they went on to live normal American lives and their samurai roots were forgotten until Mr. Homma started digging into his family’s past.

What makes this story interesting is that Mr. Homma has thousands of photos, documents and family heirlooms that belonged to his great-grandparents. This is rare because for many immigrants, family possessions were lost or destroyed because of World War II. Also, most Japanese immigrants to the United States were poor laborers and farmers.

He has contacted the family of Masahiko Wada in Japan and returned a copy of the koseki that was destroyed by American firebombs. Mr. Homma has compiled his family’s history into a picture book of 89 pages.

Mr. Homma has done extensive research and he has many stories about his family. This would make for a good piece on a man discovering his Japanese family’s history as well as pre-war Christianity in Japan or the Japanese American wartime experience.

Mitch lives in San Diego, CA.


Oct 9

JET Alum Conversation with Haruki Murakami

Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) will be having a conversation with Haruki Murakami tonight at a UC Berkeley event following a reading by Murakami-san.  Roland is a lecturer at Tokyo University and the author of Japanamerica:  How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. (Roland explains on his blog that the photo of him with Murakami on the right was taken several years ago.)


Oct 8

JETAA Resume Guide 2008

If anyone is looking for some help with their resume, Clara Solomon (CIR Tottori-ken, 1999-2001), who is now the Director of Career Services at NYU Law School, put together a great JETAA Resume Guide for the recent JETAA NY Career Forum.  It was passed out to all the attendees in conjunction with her presentation, and she agreed to let Jetwit.com post a copy.

Particularly helpful are a range of suggested ways to characterize JET experience.


Oct 7

Michael Auslin: A “Third Neighbor” Strategy for Asia

The latest article from JET alum Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and previously a professor of Japanese History at Yale.

A “Third Neighbor” Strategy for Asia,  Posted Date: Monday, October 6, 2008
“By serving as a disinterested “third neighbor” to put-upon allies in East Asia, the United States can strengthen liberalism and democracy in the region.”  http://www.aei.org/publication28731


Sep 30

JET Alum article on new Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso

JET alum Michael Auslin (formerly a professor of Japanese history at Yale and currently a researcher for the American Enterprise Institute) has a new article about the new Japanese prime minister Taro Aso entitled Can This Man Save the LDP?


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