Sushi and Sake: JET alum columns
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Elizabeth White (Toyama-ken, 1995-98), the Media Coordinator for JETAA Southern California, has been helping Sushi & Sake magazine collect writing from JET alums for the last few years.
Here’s a link to the JET alum writing on their site, including the latest column by Devon Brown (Tokyo-ken, 2002-04) titled “Taking One for the Team.”
And here are links to columns from past issues:
BACK ISSUES – JET Alumni Association
2008 Issues: December • June • May • April • March • February • January
2007 Issues: December • November • October • September • August • July • June • May • April • March
For anyone interested in contributing to future issues of Sushi & Sake, please feel free to contact Elizabeth via e-mail.
WIT Life #43: ひったくり
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Japan’s status as a crime free haven is being further tarnished by an increase in a kind of petty thievery known as ひったくり (hittakuri) or bag snatching. The culprits make their moves while on motorbikes, bicycles or even on foot, and many times their distracted victims do not notice them until it is too late. According to a policeman, as they are often arrested holding little or no money of their own, it is thought that these crimes are committed out of economic need.
Hittakuri has a comparatively low arrest rate, primarily because Read More
Wide Island View: The latest from Hiroshima JET-land
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Gail Cetnar Meadows says there are some great new stories now posted on the Wide Island View… Takarazuka theater, Traveling to South Korea, Nikujaga recipe. Check it out!
The Wide Island View is the kakkouii online newsletter for AJET Hiroshima-ken, started by current JETs Gail Cetnar Meadows and Joshua Zimmerman.
Roland Kelts column on conversation with Haruki Murakami
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Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, has a short “JapanamericanEyes” column posted on Trannet.co.jp titled “Surfacing with Strength: Haruki Murakami at 60.”
Japan-U.S. business consultant and blogger Yvonne Burton (also a good friend of JetWit) has a good recent post on the likely new U.S. ambassador to Japan–John V. Roos:
There is to be a new kind of ambassador in Tokyo! I just read in the Japan Times that John V. Roos, a Silicon Valley attorney, has been designated as ambassador by President Obama and in my opinion, he is just what Japan-US business needs. But many seem to disagree. Why?
The nay-sayers say he isn’t the usual politico. I say that is a good thing. They say that his appointment means the new presidency is treating Japan as less than important. I say not so.
New conditions call for new solutions
In times like these when the old standards are not working (and that is putting it mildly), it is time to create something new.
How can a successful lawyer who (CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article.)
Roland Kelts update
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Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, has been keeping busy. JetWit just hasn’t been able to keep up. So here are some recent highlights:
- A recent Daily Yomiuri SOFT POWER/HARD TRUTHS column about a symposium on the state of the anime/manga industry and some of the challenges it faces, which you can see on 3:00 A.M. Magazine. The column touches on the shifting market as well as the unsustainable nature of the way anime/manga workers are compensated.
- Giving a speech at book-signing event in Kyoto next weekend as part of a Creative Writing Lecture Series. (A good event for any JETs or JET alums in the area! If you go, say hi to Roland and feel free to report back to JetWit on the event.)
- Japanamerica is now available on Kindle!
WIT Life #42: Guerrilla Rain and Shotgun Marriages
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Japan has just officially entered the rainy season, a period many of us might remember as a time when it’s
impossible to get your laundry done as there are few dry days to hang it outside. Last year the buzzword at this time was ゲリラ豪雨 （gerira gouu) or “guerrilla rain,” referring to the sudden fierce downpours similar to flash floods that on occasion took people’s lives and are thought to be an effect of global warming. Courtesy of innovation from the Japan Meteorological Agency, perhaps this year’s rainy season will be spent a bit easier. It has scattered Read More
Hikaru Utada: The Complete JQ Interview
By Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02)
(Originally Published May 2009 in JQ (JETAA NY Quarterly) magazine, the official quarterly publication of JETAA NY (http://jetaany.org/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
JET alum blog featured in Japanese online news
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JET alum and SC Subchapter Rep Daniel Stone’s blog The Divine Wind Vault has been featured in an article on the Japanese website Searchina. It profiled his recent post about the excellence of Japanese convenience stores and fast food restaurants, especially in comparison to the poor level of service and goods offered at the same places here in the States. Omedetou for this Japanese media coverage!
This is actually the old, PDF version of The Wide Island View. Click this image to go to the new website and prepare to be suitably impressed.
Hiroshima-ken’s Gail Cetnar Meadows and Joshua Zimmerman have announced the launch of Wide Island View, their super-sweet online prefectural newsletter (though “newsletter” doesn’t really do justice to what they’ve put together).
Featured articles include:
- Diving with Sharks in Palau
- JetWit.com: Bringing the JET alumni community together
- Fukuyama Let’s Film Festival 2009
- Homemade Sanuki Udon Recipe
- A Night of Pachinko
- And much much more.
To put it in perspective, when A.J. the JetWit mascot goes to bed at night, this is what he dreams about. :-)
Keep up the good work, Hiroshimites (or whatever the proper term is)!
JQ Magazine’s Spring 2009 “Utada Issue” Now Available Online!
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The Spring 2009 Issue of JQ (JETAA NY Quarterly) Magazine is now available online at http://jetaany.org/magazine/.
O-tsuakare sama deshita to Editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for all his hard work in putting out another outstanding issue, this one featuring a one-on-one interview he did with Hikaru Utada in New York.
Tanjo!! JQ‘s Spring 2009 Utada Issue is Here!
- What do an Oscar-winner, a celebrated ambassador-turned-president, an international author summit and one of the best-selling singer-songwriters the Eastern Hemisphere’s ever seen have in common? That’s right! They all (I heard) turned down Conan O’Brien to appear in the new issue of JETAANY’s quarterly magazine JQ!
- Months in the making but well worth the wait, our new issue also features our newly elected officers, Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a you-are-there piece on the Tokyo Marathon that you’re guaranteed to learn a thing or to from, and interviews with an Off-Broadway star, community honchos, noted authors and local JETs-made-good in both Japan and beyond.
- And how’s this for a main course: for the first time ever our feature interview was too long for the print issue, so we’ve posted the complete 13-page interview with Hikaru Utada at the handy link below. Whether you’re a Hikki-mania or just want to read what might be the most in-depth interview she’s ever done in English, we’ve got you covered. It all happens in the new issue of JQ. Dozo and enjoy!
SPRING 2009 ISSUE – click to download PDF
(Click Here to Read the Complete Hikaru Utada Interview)
Editor: Justin Tedaldi – magazine@jetaany.org
SPRING 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Page 3…..Letter From the Editor / Letter From the Country Rep
- Page 4…..Nippon News Blotter / JQ National Photo Contest Winners
- Page 5…..Comings & Goings – New Officers and JLGC Changes
- Page 6…..JETAANY Author Showcase by Gina Anderson and Justin Tedaldi
- Page 6…..TAIKOPROJECT in Philly by Renay Loper
- Page 7…..Japan Society’s New President Motoatsu Sakurai by Justin Tedaldi
- Page 8…..JETlog featuring Ed Thompson (Chiba-shi CIR, 1994-97)
- Page 9…..STOMP New York’s Yako Miyamoto by Liz Wanic
- Page 10…Running the Tokyo Marathon by Stacy Smith
- Page 11…Nihonjin in NY – Featuring Noriko Furuhata of the CGJ by Rick Ambrosio
- Page 11…Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
- Page 13…Hikaru Utada: The JQ Interview by Justin Tedaldi
- Page 14…Adren Hart’s ConnectForce Productions Jazzes Up NY by Matt Matysik
- Page 15…JETAActivity Photos
- Page 16…An Animated Talk with Japanamerica Author Roland Kelts By Larry Heiman
- Page 17…Destination Nippon: JNTO and Kintetsu International by Sylvia Pertzborn
- Page 18…New York-Tokyo Founder Taeko Baba by Marea Pariser
- Page 19…Film Review: Departures by Lyle Sylvander
- Page 19…Book Corner: Shutting Out the Sun by David Kowalsky
- Page 20…Shutting Out the Sun Author Michael Zielenziger Q&A by Kelly Nixon
- Page 21…Awaji Puppet Theater at Japan Society by Beata Wilk
- Page 23…Top 14 List / Life After the B.O.E. / Let’s Make Chirashi!
- Major domo to (from left) Anson Mau, Kayoko & Rob Werner, Marea Pariser, Louie Reyes, Joe Marucheck, Justin Tedaldi, Steven Horowitz, Laura Pollak, Stacy Smith, and (off camera) Nancy Ikehara and Peter Mallik for pitching in to mail out the Utada Issue.
Suzanne Kamata
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Cristy Burne (Hyogo-ken, Kawanishi-shi, 1998-2000), author of the soon-to-be-released children’s book Takeshita Demons, has a really nice interview on her blog with Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90), who lives in Japan and is the editor of LiteraryMama as well as the author of books such as Losing Kei and Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (which recently won several prizes in the 2009 Indie Book Awards including the Grand Prize for non-fiction overall).
(For all you translators out there lookng for an interesting project, you may notice Suzanne’s comment that none of her books have been translated into Japanese yet. Perhaps a future JET alum collaboration to come?)
Go here for the full interview: http://cristyburne.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/american-writer-in-japan-suzanne-kamata-
Cristy Burne
on-diversity-writing-and-winning-the-indie-book-awards/
- Also, another JET alum writer, Liz Sheffield (Hokkaio-ken, Sapporo-shi, 1993-95), has an interview with Suzanne about the book on her blog motherlogue.wordpress.com.
- To learn more about Suzanne you can visit her website at http://www.suzannekamata.com or her blog at http://gaijinmama.wordpress.com (RSS feed here).
- Read an interview with Suzanne Kamata on children’s books and diversity by the blog Kabiliana.
- Go to the Authors/Books section of the JetWit Library to see a complete list of JET alum authors (at least to JetWit’s knowledge).
Roland Kelts on “Redline” director Takeshi Koike
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In his latest Daily Yomiuri column, “Soft Power/Hard Truths,” Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, sits down with “Redline” director Takeshi Koike to discuss his latest work and delve further into the heart of manga and anime.
Update: The latest from Professor Michael Auslin
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Here’s the latest from JET alum Michael Auslin, a professor of Japanese history and politics and currently the Director of Japanese Studies for the American Enterprise Institute in D.C.
- The Rise of China: Essays on the Future Competition – Edited by Gary J. Schmitt, with contributions from Michael Auslin, Dan Blumenthal, Ellen Bork, Nicholas Eberstadt, Robert Kagan, Schmitt, and Ashley J. Tellis; April 2009; Contributors to this volume challenge the prevailing benign view of China’s rise and analyze what the United States and its allies might do in the arenas of foreign and defense affairs to meet the challenges posed by China’s increased political, economic, and military power.
- Obama’s Hundred-Day Scorecard on Asia Policy
Japan
Grade: BOne step forward, two steps back. Secretary Clinton’s trip to Japan as the first stop on her diplomatic voyage was an important symbolic gesture to reassure Tokyo that Washington still values it as its key Asian ally and a proactive attempt to reengage Japan. However, the U.S. failure to make clear its commitment to defending Japanese territory prior to North Korea’s missile launch, compounded by its inability or unwillingness to secure a new resolution punishing Pyongyang’s provocation–the United States ultimately codrafted a presidential statement with the Chinese–left Japan feeling isolated. Furthermore, Tokyo and Washington face potentially troublesome days ahead fulfilling long-standing alliance agreements to restructure forces. Symbolic gestures will be no substitute for a firm working relationship built on shared interests.
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
When I was in Japan back in March, a topic that was on everyone’s minds (or at least those of my single friends) was 婚活 (konkatsu), 
the idea of pursuing a marriage partner in the same way you would look for a job. The flip side of the coin is the companion term 離活 (rikatsu), referring to rikon katsudou or similar efforts regarding divorce. In keeping with the times, new dramas this spring season revolve around these themes. In the interest of anthropological research as well as satisfying my Japanese drama addiction, I checked out 「婚カツ！」 and 「コンカツ・リカツ」 .
The former stars SMAP member Masahiro Nakai as Kuniki Amamiya, a 34-year old who Read More
