- Of course a nomikai is the official way to end the three-week journey. Otsukaresama IVs!
By Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2002-03) for JQ Magazine
Since becoming a freelance Japanese translator/interpreter/writer, one of the opportunities that I have enjoyed the most has been interpreting for the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). IVLP is an exchange program designed to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through carefully designed visits that reflect the participants’ (the titular IVs) professional interests and to support U.S. foreign policy goals. For IVs, it involves meeting professional counterparts and learning to appreciate America’s ethnic, cultural, political and socioeconomic diversity.
IVs are established or potential foreign opinion makers in government, public policy, media, education, labor, the arts and other key fields, and after being nominated by someone they are selected by American embassies abroad. Since the program’s inception in 1940, there have been over 140,000 participants (about 5,000 each year), including 290 current and former heads of government such as Tony Blair and several Japanese prime ministers.
However, here in the States all IVs are considered “honorary Americans.” This means that no matter what their rank is back home, during the program everyone is of equal status. This takes quite a bit of pressure off the lowly interpreter (who of course has hopes of being fondly remembered when her former participants go on to become big shots!).
Best of JQ: Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya: Diplomat, Collaborator, Fly Fisher (Summer 2009)
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Anne with Ambassador Nishimiya (photo by Noriko Furuhata)
By Anne Koller (Fukuoka-ken, 2002-2004) for JQ Magazine.
Having been spotted at various local Japan events, JETs were curious to know more about the new Consul General Shinichi Nishimiya. JQ talked with Ambassador Nishimiya to find out his plans for the consulate in New York and how JETAANY can help.
How are you and your family adapting to New York life? What has been the hardest part about living in the city and the most satisfying? What do you miss the most about our beloved Nippon?
We are adapting very well. The hardest part has been the weather. Nobody told us that NY weather is this unstable and unpredictable. [Jokingly] I have been told that there is no spring or fall between the long hot summer and a long, cold winter: then how do you describe what we have now? The most satisfying part of living in New York for my wife and I is meeting people. Everyone has been very welcoming and kind. I miss ramen! There are ramen shops everywhere in Japan and they are always open. You can go to places in New York, but it isn’t the same. I do think the lack of eating ramen has allowed me to live a healthier life here which my wife is certainly happy about [laughs].
Best of JQ: The Hikaru Utada Interview (Spring 2009)
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By Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) for JQ Magazine
It was perfect timing. Back in January, Hikaru Utada, the New York-born recording phenomenon who before she was out of her teens notched three of Japan’s top ten bestselling albums (including Number One), was back in town working on a new album for the U.S., and JQ spent a full hour with Hikki to talk of many things, including her new disc This is the One, which hit stores in May.
I know you want to talk about the new album and the single.
The song…
I heard it about two and half weeks ago, as I think I was already on the e-mail list from when your last English album came out.
Oh, right, right, right.
So we go way back. Ten years ago I found out about First Love when I studying Japanese as an undergraduate…
Oh, wow.
It’s amazing to be here now talking about it.
I’m humbled [laughs]. Read More
- From left: JET alum authors Randall David Cook, Robert Weston, Roland Kelts and James Kennedy talk shop at the Author Showcase in Midtown (photo by Noriko Furuhata)
By Gina Anderson (Nara-ken, 2003-05) and Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) for JQ Magazine. This article was previously published on JetWit and appeared in the Consulate General of Japan in New York and Japan Information Center’s Japan Info e-newsletter.
New York City’s Holiday Inn hosted a summit for published JETs as JETAA NY launched its debut JET Alumni Author Showcase on March 22. The panelists included pro writers Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), Robert Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) and James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06).
Drawing over 60 JET alums, friends and family, the event kicked off with some words from Akira Sugiyama, director of the Japan Information Center of the Consulate General of Japan in New York. Moderator and playwright Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93), creator of the critically acclaimed Off Broadway plays Sake with the Haiku Geisha and Fate’s Imagination, asked each author to share a favorite selection of their works with the crowd.
- Japan Society President Motoatsu Sakuri (photo by Ken Levinson)
By Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) for JQ Magazine
Even century-old organizations can find new ways to change. In April, New York’s Consul General of Japan Motoatsu Sakurai became the first Japanese president of the city’s esteemed Japan Society. JQ talked with President Sakurai (who has graciously hosted JET gatherings at his home numerous times over the years) shortly after his inauguration to ask about his new plans and ideas for the future.
How did become the new president of Japan Society? Did you campaign, or were you appointed directly by their board of directors?
I have long been an admirer of Japan Society, its mission and its programs. In fact, I served as member of Japan Society’s Board of Directors from 2003 until my appointment as Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York, after which I became an Honorary Director. Towards the end of my term as Ambassador, when former president Richard J. Wood was looking to retire, the Society’s board approached me to see if I had interest in the position. As my first venture into the nonprofit sector, leading this venerable 102-year old organization seemed like—and now is—an exciting new challenge.
JET alum/Inuyama city councilman Anthony Bianchi
By Michael Glazer (Chiba-ken, 1995-97) for the JETAANY Newsletter
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn native Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, 1987-91), the first-ever North American to hold an elected position in Japan, is still going strong in his role as a city councilman in Inuyama-shi, Aichi-ken. Michael Glazer (Chiba-ken, 1995-97) recently did a recorded interview with Anthony to discuss the hot local topics, learn more about politics in Japan and get a sense of how things look across the pond.
You have a very interesting background. How does a JET program teacher become a city council member?
Well, I’ll try to make the story as short as possible. I studied filmmaking at New York University and I was interested in Kurasawa films and whatnot, and I was out in L.A. for a while. I came back to New York. I was working for New York City and I saw an ad in the paper about the Expo that was held in Gifu about 20 years ago. So I went over to Japan on a homestay program and decided it would be nice to try to live there for a year or so. I joined the JET program, stayed for a couple years, and decided I wanted to stay longer.
Best of JQ: Pride of the Yankees (Far East Edition) (Summer 2008)
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- JET alum George Rose with Yankees captain Derek Jeter after winning the 1998 World Series
By Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2002-03) for the JETAANY Newsletter
JET Alum George Rose (Fukushima-ken, 1989-91) has mingled with Japanese royalty, interpreted for two baseball superstars named Hideki (Irabu and Matsui) and currently heads Yankee operations in Japan. How did this New York native manage to accomplish all this in his post-JET life? The JETAANY Newsletter had a chance to talk with George about his past exploits and his present position. Here are some excerpts from Stacy, who is collaborating with George to lead Japanese tours during games at Yankee Stadium this summer.
What was your post-JET career path?
I was going for my MBA at Columbia when I had the opportunity to become the interpreter for the new Yankee Hideki Irabu, so I took a leave of absence and worked with him from ’98-’99. When he got traded, I resume my studies and after graduation worked on Wall Street. When Hideki Matsui came over, I did a bit of interpreting for him such as at his opening press conference. Because at the time I had my own business I wasn’t able to do this full-time, but I did help with the interview process for his interpreter. Then last year the Yankees asked if I was interested in helping out with the opening of their office in Tokyo, and I went over last summer. Read More
Tom Baker reviews “Crazy Heart” and “Brothers”
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Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91) is a staff writer for The Daily Yomiuri. He usually writes for DYWeekend, the paper’s arts and leisure section. You can follow Tom’s blog at tokyotombaker.wordpress.com.
Recently he reviewed movies, “Crazy Heart” and “Brothers.” He found poetry in both of them. Here are some excerpts:
“Crazy Heart”
Country music singer-songwriter Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, sweats like a pig, and urinates into a plastic jug while driving from town to town. As I watched him perform under hot lights at a variety of small and unglamorous venues in the movie Crazy Heart, I could almost smell him. He didn’t smell very nice.
…
On the bright side, Bad’s personal problems are grist for the mill. One of his most popular songs looks back on a dissipated life with the refrain, “Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’/for a little while.”
Anyone who doubts that country music is the primary home of modern American poetry should meditate on that line. “Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin'” is alliterative and catchy, but also trenchant. And Bad has flown and fallen quite a way…
Read the rest of the review here.
“Brothers”
In William Shakespeare’s play about his life, King Richard II is forced to surrender his crown to his usurper cousin Henry IV. In doing so, Richard compares himself and Henry to two buckets in a well: “The emptier ever dancing in the air,/The other down, unseen and full of water:/That bucket down and full of tears am I,/Drinking my griefs while you mount up on high.”
The title characters in Brothers, although they dwell in an American suburb rather than an English castle, are not unlike the tragic royal cousins.
Sam (Tobey Maguire) is an upstanding husband, father and U.S. marine who is about to be separated from his family for a tour of duty in Afghanistan. On the eve of Sam’s departure, his surly brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), a ne’er-do-well with a drinking problem, rejoins the extended family after a stint in prison…
Read the rest of the review here.
An International List of Writing Organizations and Opportunities
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Laura Popp (Mie-ken, 2009-Present) is a current JET who writes fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults, and is an occasional playwright/film maker. Her short work includes a short story titled “In theShadow Realm” and a documentary she made in Malawi. To read about her amazing adventures all over Japan, go to her blog at laurajanepopp.blogspot.com.
Here is a practical list of organizations, market guides, and networking opportunities for jump starting your writing career. My apologies that it is heavy on the America and Speculative Fiction side, but that is who I am and what I write, so that is what I know best. But hopefully everyone can find something useful from this list:
WIT Life #102: Learning Disabilities in Japan
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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.
I was very excited to hear from one of my closest college friends that her husband would be having a business trip in Japan. Not only was I happy for him, a fellow classmate as well, to be able experience Japan, but also because of his line of work. Pictured at right, Jonathan Mooney grew up with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia and didn’t learn to read until he was 12. However, he is now an amazing author and public speaker. He has his own non-profit based in California and often travels both domestically and internationally to share his experiences and help children like himself and their families.
Jon has spoken in China before, but this was his first time going to Japan upon the invitation of a professor from Osaka. He will be giving a presentation in Read More
WIT Life #98: 鳩山おろし
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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.
This morning’s news was buzzing with the announcement that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will be stepping down from his position. This makes him the fourth PM in four years to quit, a statistic that will likely lead to some self-reflection in Japan. The 2 main reasons cited for his resignation were 1) 普天間問題 (Futenma mondai or the fate of the Futenma Marine Corps Air base on Okinawa) and 2) 政府と金 (seifu to kane or government and money, the investigations being carried out regarding Hatoyama’s political financing).
As for the former, Hatoyama directly apologized to Okinawans for his waffling on the matter and the loss of faith he had caused as a result. When on the street interviews were conducted with Okinawa residents, the response was largely one of disappointment and regret that Hatoyama was cutting and running. In terms of the latter, Hatoyama pledged to “return to a DPJ that separates government and money and to deal with the issue properly.”
The title of this post is 鳩山おろし (Hatoyama oroshi or “Down with Hatoyama”), referring to Read More
WIT Life #95: 事業仕分け
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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.
The Japanese government is currently undertaking 事業仕分け (jigyo shiwake), budget screening or review and prioritization of government projects. This has become a buzzword since the DPJ came into office promising to eliminate wasteful government spending. The party sees this reassessment method as a potentially powerful way to chop budgets. It is being carried out to the point where no one knows where the ax will fall next.
In fact, the group I am currently interpreting for is here in the U.S. for a year through a program carried out by Japan’s National Personnel Authority and supported by the State Department. They are representatives of a variety of Ministries and will spend their time researching and producing papers on topics relating to their respective fields, with the hopes of applying this knowledge when they return home. However, they are concerned that due to jigyo shiwake there might not be a group to succeed them next year.
I recently received news from a friend at the Japan Local Government Center, the New York branch of the Council for Local Authority on International Relations (CLAIR), one of the sponsors of the JET program. He told me that Read More
How to Present Yourself to a Publisher or Agent at a writers conference
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Laura Popp (Mie-ken, 2009-Present) is a current JET who writes fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults, and is an occasional playwright/film maker. Her short work includes a short story titled “In theShadow Realm” and a documentary she made in Malawi. To read about her amazing adventures all over Japan, go to her blog at laurajanepopp.blogspot.com. (And check out the Authors/Books section of the JetWit Library for a list of more writers in the JET-o-sphere.)
Tired of submitting queries to agents and editors and simply getting form rejection letters or worse, NO RESPONSE? Wondering if they`re even bothering to read your stuff? Frustrated by wanting to submit to publishing houses that only receive submissions from agents and “referred” writers? Consider meeting publishers and agents at a conference!
Recently I returned from a writers` conference in my home in Oklahoma and came back with some great success stories to tell. Even better than the wonderful presentations on writing, polishing and marketing were the opportunities for networking and industry contacts. One literary agent asked me for the first fifty pages of my middle grade novel Dargon, another agent requested a proposal for my young adult novel Treasure Traitor, and a publisher from Simon and Shuster asked to see the full manuscripts of BOTH. A travel publisher also requested a proposal for a non-fiction travel-essay book on Japan, and best of all, a Christian magazine publisher accepted one of my stories on the spot! Of course, most of these are just birds in the bush, if you will, but they are certainly a good start.
So how did you do it? you may be wondering. Well, let me tell you…
Do your homework
Many conferences post information about editors and agents who will be attending in advance. Research them and pick the ones that look like they may be interested in your completed fiction projects or non-fiction ideas. Note that most agents and publishers will ONLY consider finished fiction works and proposals for non-fiction articles and books.
Try to make an appointment
If you have the option to make an appointment, Read More
JQ Magazine’s May/June 2010 “JET Author Issue” Out Now!
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It’s a veritable JET literary review in the new issue of JQ, featuring an interview with bestselling Learning to Bow author Bruce Feiler and three-time Stephen Leacock Medal winner Will Ferguson! Click here to view.
Additional contents below. Thanks to JQ editor Justin Tedaldi (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) for another solid issue. Contact Justin if you’d like to pitch or write a story for the next issue.
CONTENTS
- Page 3….From the Editor, New Country Reps
- Page 4….Nippon News Blotter / Wynne Memorial
- Page 5….JETAANY Election Recap
- Page 5….Gorgeous Entertainment by Anthony Waldman
- Page 6….Int’l Center of New York by Pamela Kavalam
- Page 6….Yoko Shioya of Japan Society by Lyle Sylvander
- Page 7….JETlog Feauturing Gail Cetnar Meadows
- Page 8….Bruce Feiler: The JQ Interview by Justin Tedaldi
- Page 9….JETAANY Society Page Photos
- Page 10…Nihonjin in NY: Nobuya Nagahama by Stacy Smith
- Page 11….Echostream Rocks the Anime Circuit by Earth Bennett
- Page 13.…Robataya Restaurant Review by Nancy Ikehara
- Page 13….The Niigata Sake Book by Yukari Sakamoto
- Page 14.…Will Ferguson: Canadian Cousin by Joshua Graubart
- Page 15….The Funny Page
Tom Baker interviews 2 movie directors, pans one manga
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Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91) is a staff writer for The Daily Yomiuri. He usually writes for DYWeekend, the paper’s arts and leisure section. You can follow Tom’s blog at tokyotombaker.wordpress.com.
He recently interviewed Shane Acker, director of the animated film “9” and Richard Kelly, who most recently directed “The Box,” a thriller starring Cameron Diaz. He also reviewed the manga “Hot Gimmick.” Here are some excerpts:
Shane Acker
[The characters in the movie are all animated dolls with numbers instead of names.] A different personality aspect is dominant in each one. Rigid orthodoxy is represented by leader 1 (voiced by Christopher Plummer), creativity by inventor 2 (Martin Landau), bravery by warrior 7 (Jennifer Connelly) and so on. Elijah Wood does the voice of 9, the truth-seeker of the group, and John C. Reilly voices his timid friend, 5…
The most amusing character is 8 (Fred Tatasciore), who embodies sheer physicality. In one scene, he achieves a moment of strange bliss by stroking his head with a large magnet, an activity that Acker called “degaussing himself.”
“In film school, especially in the days of video, if you had a videotape and you wanted to just wipe it clean, there’s a degaussing machine, which is basically like a supermagnet, and you would wave the videotape over the degausser and it would just take off all the footage that’s on there,” Acker explained. “So that’s the kind of idea, he’s sort of wiping his memory banks. You realize why he’s so dumb.”
Richard Kelly
Imagine that a mysterious stranger has just handed you a wooden box with a red button on top. He explains, rather convincingly, that if you push the button two things will happen: Someone whom you don’t know will die, and you will receive a payment of 1 million dollars…
In writer-director Richard Kelly’s movie The Box, based on a short story by Richard Matheson, the stranger’s name is Arlington Steward (Frank Langella), and he is conducting a high-stakes social experiment by visiting the homes of middle-class American couples and offering them the choice of pushing the button or not.
“Tonally this movie crosses a lot of genres,” Kelly, who previously wrote and directed Donnie Darko (2001) and Southland Tales (2006), told The Daily Yomiuri in a recent phone interview. “It’s a science fiction film, it’s a domestic melodrama, it’s a suspense film, there’s elements of horror in it, and there’s also some black comedy inherent…The conceit of pushing this button on this contraption and someone you don’t know dying is very mischievous. Anyone who would build this contraption and make this offer is smirking when they do it. And Matheson was smirking, I’m sure, when he wrote this short story.”
…[The story is set in the 1970s because] the mysterious stranger is a character type whose day has passed, according to Kelly. “When I set out to write this screenplay, I initially was trying to figure out how to make it work present-day, but when you introduce modern technology and the Internet, social networking sites, Google maps, satellite maps, reality TV, just our media-saturated world that we live in…there is no such thing as a real stranger anymore. Everyone can be found on the Internet. You can find anyone’s house, you can go onto a satellite map with a 360-degree view.”
“Hot Gimmick”
[In this manga, a high school girl’s seriously unhealthy relationships with her would-be boyfriends is presented as perfectly normal.]
For example, the day after one of her suitors is unable to reach her by phone (for reasons that are no one’s fault), he slaps her across the face so hard that bystanders rush to offer first aid. But Hatsumi chases after him to make the following speech, which he receives in stony silence: “I’m sorry. For being so clueless. For…never being able to get your calls…I’m so sorry. I’m really sorry. For not understanding how you feel about me. I’m sorry.”
Later, when one of the boys proposes to her, she thinks, “Maybe if we got married, he’d finally be nice to me.”
She seems unaware of some basic principles of healthy human interaction, such as this simple standard: If a friend arranges for you to be gang-raped, that person is not really your friend.
