Yomitime JetWit article translation (by Joel Dechant)
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Back on January 15, JetWit posted a link to its first media hit, an article that ran in Yomitime, a free Japanese-language weekly publication. Below is a translation of the article into English generously provided by professional translator/interpreter Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04) at the request of JetWit. (FYI, Joel actually translated it very quickly. I just forgot to post it until today.)
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Two Men Work Behind the Scenes for the JET Program, Publish Newsletter on Japan
By Kinoue Imai Weinstein
Translation by Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04)
The original article ran in Japanese in Yomitime, a free Japanese weekly newspaper 1/9/09
The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program is a Japanese government-sponsored program under which fresh university graduates from English-speaking countries are invited to teach English in Japan’s junior and senior high schools. Started in 1987 with 848 participants, the program’s American alumni association alone now boasts 5508 members, approximately 1000 of whom are in New York. One alumni, Steven Horowitz (age 38) began publishing a quarterly newsletter, JETaaNY, in 2002. The 24-page[1] newsletter covers recent JET alumni developments and news about Japan. Horowitz recently handed off his editor-in-chief duties to Justin Tedaldi (age 29) who plans to expand and enrich the newsletter.
The reason for starting the alumni association and holding the occasional gathering after returning to the States, says Horowitz, was “because our experience working in Japan when we were younger is an important part of our identity, and of course because we wanted to be friends with people who we had something in common with.” Read More
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JETAA NY Magazine Editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) has apparently just landed a phone interview with Hikaru Utada to run in a future issue, and he’s looking for good questions to ask her. E-mail responses to Justin at magazine /atto/ jetaaany /dotto/ org.
Hi everyone,
I just received an e-mail saying that Utada Hikaru will call me tomorrow (Fri. 1/30) afternoon to do an interview with JETAA NY Quarterly about her forthcoming English studio album, which will be released in the U.S. at the end of March.
I thought it would be cool to put out a request to the JET Alumni community for any questions you’d like to ask her. I’ll do my best to include as many as I can.
Please e-mail your questions to Justin Tedaldi at magazine /atto/ jetaany /dotto/ org no later than 1:00 p.m. this Friday.
Official release info for the new album appears below. Yoroshiku! Read More
There’s an article in today’s NY Times on increased availability and usage of self-publishing/print-on-demand companies such as iUniverse, Blurb, Lulu Enterprises and CreateSpace. Something for all the writers out there to be aware of.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/books/28selfpub.html?th&emc=th
Roland Kelts latest column in Daily Yomiuri
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In his latest recurring column “Soft Power/Hard Truths” for the Daily Yomiuri, Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) attempts to explain the phenomenon that is Afro-Samurai.
See his column here: http://japanamerica.blogspot.com/2009/01/afro-samurai-anime-and-game-follow-soft.html
The Chopsticks NY – JET Alum Intersection
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FYI, the February issue of Chopsticks NY (The “Exploring Japan” Issue) is out and contains articles by:
Stacy Smith (CIR Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03) – Focus*Culture: Learning the Meanings Behind the Rituals of Shintoism. Stacy also translated the issue’s lead feature article on actress and calligraphy expert Yoshiko Sakuma, written by Chopsticks NY editor Noriko Komura, and wrote the unsigned “What’s New” articles (Joost, Kari Kari cookies, Anime Castle, Dainobu). (Stacy is a professional interpreter, translator and writer and also writes the WITLife series on this site.)
and
Nori Akashi (Friend of JET and Writers Interpreters Translators Group member) – Welcome to Japan: Traveling Through the Sub-Zero World by Train. (Nori is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and writes for the Japan National Tourist Organization as well as well as for freelance assignments.)
Japan Works Hard to Help Immigrants Find Jobs
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There’s a telling article in today’s Washington Post by frequent Japan writer Blaine Harden (not a JET alum) on efforts by the Tokyo government to help immigrant workers in Japan stay in Japan in the face of job losses and factory closures. There seems to be increasing acceptance by Japan’s policy makers that significantly increased immigration is the solution to the potential future economic crisis likely to result from Jaan’s diminshing youth population.
From a JET alumni perspective, it’s worth paying attention to this issue. How will this affect Japan in the future? What opportunities will be available? In some ways, the JET Program along with the laws in the early 1990s that allowed South Americans of Japanese descent to work in Japan are smaller version experiments with immigration. Perhaps JET alumni have some perspectives to offer and/or roles to play in the future of Japan.
Reuters: Japan’s Obama Town Parties for Inauguration
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Obama-shi in Fukui-ken, Japan is partying hardy to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Here’s today’s report from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50J4AQ20090120
And here’s the video of their Obama-uta to get you in the mood. “La…la-la-la-la O-ba-ma!…”
WIT Life #20: 買わない生活
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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 the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
The above title Kawanai Seikatsu, or purchase-free lifestyle, describes a money-saving phenomenon taking over Japan. In the midst of the economic doldrums, people are looking for creative solutions to maintain the lifestyles they are used to without spending as much money. What they have found to be indispensible in this pursuit are a variety of websites accessible by keitai (cell phone) and computer that allow them to access goods and services through a system of sharing. 
One such site is ShareMo (shmo.jp) whose catchphrase is “With just one keitai, you can share anything.” This site has a variety of offerings, from frying pans to Halloween decorations to video games, which are lent out among members. No money exchange takes place, but members receive points for carrying out transactions and can then use this currency to borrow items listed on the site. A Tokyo customer profiled showed the items throughout her house that she had rented from ShareMo. They ranged from a tea whisk to Read More
JetWit’s first media hit! An interview by Kinue Imai Weinstein in the January 9 edition of Yomitime, the free Japanese weekly publication, with me as well as with JETAA NY Magazine Editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02).
Ozawa and Obama: Michael Auslin comments in WSJ Asia
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JET alum Michael Auslin (Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, former Professor of Japanese History at Yale University and one-time judge on Iron Chef America) has a new article in today’s Wall Street Journal Asia titled Ozawa and Obama that analyzes the state of Japan’s economy and political situation and discusses the ways that Japan and the U.S. need to work together.
JETAA NY webmaster and NYU ITP grad student Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) was pleased to see his ITP presentation from Wednesday and Thursday written up and photographed in a post today on Gizmodo (the gadget blog).
Lee-Sean used an accelerometer to create headphones that change the music depending on your head movements.
Roland Kelts on NPR’s The World
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Listen to Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) being interviewed on NPR’s “The World.” http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/23341 Summary below:
As a global power, Japan is fading, but increasing numbers of people outside the country are opting to learn Japanese. What’s fueling the new interest is a growing obsession with Japanese Manga comics and Japanese animation. The World’s Patrick Cox has the story.
JET alum Roland Kelts quoted in The New Yorker
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, was quoted or mentioned this week in articles in:
- The New Yorker magazine, in the “Letter from Japan” article by Dan Goodyear on cellphone novelists (subscription required)
- Asahi Shimbun – Roland’s contribution to the Japanese literary journal, MONKEY BUSINESS, is highlighted in this article featuring editor and literary translator Motoyuki Shibata.
- The Christian Science Monitor in
- Japan Cracking U.S. Pop-culture Hegemony – Japan is quietly emerging as a global trendsetter in pop culture, as well as in green technology and environmental practices.
- Mieko Kawakami: From blogger to global novelist – Her latest novel won Japan’s top prize for new fiction writers. Kawakami is one of an emerging group of young Japanese women writers.
Update: Roland Kelts
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Here’s the latest update on JET alum Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica and professor at Tokyo University:
ADBUSTERS: A feature story, co-written with Leo Lewis of the Times of London, about signs of socialism and unrest among Japanese youth and the Kanikosen phenomenon is now online:
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/81/big_in_japan.html (On a related topic, Stacy Smith comments on recent political unrest following the closing of an auto manufacturing plant in Japan in WITLife #7-Totyota Shock (Part 2).)
DAILY YOMIURI: In his latest Soft Power/Hard Truths column in the Daily Yomiuri, Roland revisits Michael Arias, the only American to have directed a feature anime film in Japan–Tekkonkinkreet—(which, incidentally, premiered in the US at MOMA in 2007). Arias’s forthcoming film is the live action Heaven’s Door (opens 2/7/09 in Japan), which Roland attended at a private screening last week. Link to the column: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20081212TDY13004.htm
Seikai University Talk: Roland’s blog (japanamerica.blogspot.com) has a post about his recent talk at Seikei University in western Tokyo about Japanamerica where he introduced both the ideas examined in the book and the latest happenings in the trans-cultural exchange between Japan and the U.S.
Career advice from the WSJ’s Elizabeth Garone (Saga-ken, 1993-95)
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It turns out there’s a JET alum writing a career advice column for the Wall Street Journal. Check out the latest column from Elizabeth Garone (Saga-ken, Omachi-cho, 1993-95) at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122874945537188153.html#articleTabs_comments.
It also turns out that she is a freelance journalist with more than a decade of writing for publications that have included Business Week, The Washington Post, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Her specialties are technology, education (specifically SAT and test prep), human interest and children.
You can learn more about Elizabeth through her website at www.garone.com or through her LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/lizgarone
