Dec 16

“Big In Japan: A Ghost Story” Reading Tour Starts This Week (NY, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Vancouver)

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Chin Music Press, the Seattle-based publisher owned and run by Bruce Rutledge (MEF Program Chiba-ken, 1985-87) is excited to host several reading events this upcoming week in New York and Philadelphia for their newest release, Big in Japan: A Ghost Story. The tour continues this January to Seattle and Vancouver.

BIJCover

The debut novel from Hawaii-based author M. Thomas Gammarino is a deadly funny story of haunted progressive rock composer Brain Tedesco. The book has already received rave reviews; PF Kluge says it’s “seductive and devastating” and Ron Currie Jr. calls Brain “the perfect hero for the Age of Anxiety.”

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Catch Tom at one of these events:

East Coast:

12/16 “I Had It Bad” Reading Series. Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome Street, New York, NY, 8pm

12/17 St. Joseph’s University, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 3pm

12/21 “Asia In The Age of Anxiety” with Xiaoda XiaoKGB Lit Bar, 85 East Fourth Street, New York, NY, 7pm

12/23 Rocky Sullivan’s, 34 Van Dyke Street, Brooklyn, NY, 7pm

1/2 Chester County Book and Music Co., 975 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA, 7pm

West Coast:

1/6 Third Place Books Ravenna, 6504 20th Ave NE, Seattle, WA, 7pm

1/7 Sophia Books, 450 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, 6:30pm

1/8 Big in Japan: A Celebration with Pilot Books. Little Red Bistro, 400 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA, 6pm

Big in Japan is designed by JET alum Joshua Powell (Saitama-ken 2005-07). The book is available through the Chin Music Press website with promotional free shipping to the U.S. and Canada or at major booksellers.

For book reviews and more information, visit Big in Japan’s website. Check out previous JetWit posts about Bruce Rutledge and Chin Music Press here.


Dec 8

JET-Popp: Yokohama Children`s Book 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.)

Hello again!  This week I would like to report on the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference in Yokohama.  It actually occurred on November 14th, but, alas, I have been ill with swine flu and other “opportunistic infections” so I was unable to report.  But now you get to hear all about it!

For those of you who don`t know, SCBWI is a great group to get involved with if you write for kids.  They have lots of events, critique groups, contests, and resources.  Here is their website: http://www.scbwi.jp/

A note on transportation. There are many events for writers and translators in Japan, but most are confined to the big cities. For those of you who live in a small town like me, you may be wondering how you will ever get to this wonderful career-building opportunities and still stay within your tight school-teacher budget.  Fear not!

There is a wonderful, often overlooked form of transportation in Japan called the night bus.  It may seem like a pain, but the bus I took from my home in Nabari to Yokohama was very comfortable.  The bus ride was about eight hours, so if I were more accustomed to sleeping on a bus, I probably could have been well rested when we arrived very early in the morning.  The earliness gave me plenty of time for sightseeing before the conference, and since my bus home didn`t leave until 11:00pm.  Plus it cost less than half than taking the shinkansen, and there`s no need to pay for a hotel!

That said, I was very tired when I arrived back in Nabari at 7:00am.  Fortunately it was Sunday, but I would not recommend taking the night bus if you have to go to work the next day.  Also, be warned, not all night buses are created equal. Check to see if the bus you want to ride has reclining seats or not, and if there is a bathroom on board or if they stop ever few hours, turn on the lights, and have people jostling past you trying to get in and out constantly.  If you are interested in taking a night bus somewhere, I would recommend contacting the main bus station in your town.  Most of them don’t speak English, but a Japanese friend helped me get the information and make reservations over the phone.  You may be surprised how many places offer night buses to common destinations such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, etc.

(FYI, Yokohama is famous for its Read More


Nov 18

JET alum David Kowalsky reviews “Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods”

twitterbuttonJET alum and technical writer David Kowalsky has a nice book review on the book Twitterville:  How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods in the latest edition of Sound Views, the newsletter for the Puget Sound Chapter of the Society for Technical Writers.

Here’s the link:  http://bit.ly/3hix5A.

Have a look and feel free to share your thoughts on Twitter as well.  Also, you can follow JetWit via Twitter at http://twitter.com/jetwit.


Nov 17

New JET alum book: “People of the 21st Century: A Portrait of Japanese Society” by Taylor Chapman

TaylorChapman

Thanks to a post on the JETAA Texoma (Chapter 9) yahoogroup, just found out about JET alum Taylor Chapman, a professional photographer who has a new book out titled People of the 21st Century:  A Portrait of Japanese Society.  Additionally, Taylor has a book signing coming up in Houston, TX.  (Details below.)  Meanwhile, if you know of any other JET alums out there with published books, by all means let JetWit know and we’ll post about it here to let everyone know.

Here’s the info from JETAA Texoma:

Hi All,

I am excited to let you know about a book signing by photographer and JET alumnus Taylor Chapman that will take place at the River Oaks Bookstore on Friday, November 27 from 5pm-7pm. Taylor would love to have folks stop by to say hello, even if you haven’t bought his book.

Taylor Chapman spent the last two years living in Kumamoto, Japan with the JET Program, teaching English at a local high school. As his Japanese proficiency grew, he became increasingly fascinated by Japan’s distinctive culture, and decided to embark on a unique photographic project to document Japanese society.

Having pursued photography for ten years now, including extensive study at Yale University, Chapman developed a specific methodology, adapted from a 1930’s German photographer’ s approach. He classified all members of Japanese society by their occupations and societal roles, and set out to create a portrait of Japanese society as a whole by photographing as many of its component parts–in other words, these individuals- – as possible in their natural environments.

In his last six months in Japan, Chapman went out shooting almost every single day, ending up with an archive of thousands of pictures spanning hundreds of individuals and social roles. Included are bakers and butchers, salarymen and snack bar girls, farmers and fishermen, teachers and students.

In July, he held an exhibition of his work in Japan; this Thanksgiving, he’ll be having a book release/signing party at the River Oaks Bookstore in Houston (across the street from Lamar High School, next to Baskin Robbins). Please come! There will be wine and hors d’oeuvres from 5 to 7.

The book (there are mini and deluxe editions available in-store and online:  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/950612 makes a great Christmas present.  But please feel free to just drop by, say hi, and have a glass of wine– the author is happy just to share his work and his love of Japan, and there’s no need to buy anything.

If you’d like to get a feel for the work in the book, here are some of the images posted online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31959446@N07/sets/72157622321556815/

Finally, for any comments or questions, feel free to contact the author at taylor.c.chapman [/at/] gmail [/dot/] com.


Nov 16

Roland Kelts radio interview with Tyler Brule of Monocle Magazine on manga and Japanamerica

RolandKeltsMonocle***********

Here’s a radio interview Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, did in Tokyo this past weekend with Tyler Brule, founder and editor of the UK-based Monocle magazine, about manga in Japan and overseas, and Japanamerica:

http://www.monocle.com/The-Monocle-Weekly

The Japanamerica segment is introduced at 1:00 and starts at 22:00


Nov 10

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Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, was interviewed by Japan Society of New York at the New York Anime Festival 2009 which was held September 25-27 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.  Let’s go to the video tape:

Part 1 of the interview:

Part 2 of the interview:


Nov 9

Art opportunity: JET alum author James Kennedy seeks “Odd-Fish” art submissions for Chicago gallery show in Spring 2010!

Buildings

chapter27_Rampage_by_supacrazy

James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish, is seeking art submissions from JET alumni for his Chicago gallery show in Spring 2010.

To get a sense of James’ aesthetic and sensibilities (or if you just like reading extremely funny and dramatic stories), by all means read The Order of Odd-Fish.  Or watch clips of his over-the-top “speech” to the American Librarians Association as well as his audience-gripping reading performed at the JET Alumni Author Showcase last March.

In JetWit’s humble opinion, if James Kennedy is putting an event together, you will benefit greatly on many levels and attain new levels of happiness by participating in it in any way you can.  Keep reading and you’ll understand.

Exciting news!

For about a year now I’ve been receiving stupendous fan art for my novel “The Order of Odd-Fish.” Artists like these deserve broader recognition. So this spring I’m planning a gallery show / extravaganza of “Odd-Fish” art in Chicago!

Are you an artist? Do you want to make something for the show? Everyone’s invited. Learn more here:

http://jameskennedy.com/2009/11/03/call-for-submissions-odd-fish-art-show/

I’m working with award-winning Chicago theater group Collaboraction to pull this off. It won’t be just an art show — we’re going to convert their space into Eldritch City and throw a Dome of Doom costumed dance party! We’re going to be bringing schools in for performances and writing workshops as well.

Will there be troupes of foppish dancing cockroaches? Will you be able to venture into the very maw of the All-Devouring Mother itself? You’ll have to come and see!

The opening will be sometime in late March or early April, to celebrate the debut of the “Odd-Fish” paperback. The deadline for submission of art is March 1.

I’ve already received lots of great art! Check out Max Pitchkites’ marvelous cut-paper illustrations — he’s doing one for every chapter:

http://jameskennedy.com/2009/10/29/the-odd-fish-art-of-max-pitchkites/

Feel free to pass this on to whomever you think might be interested in doing art for the show. And don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions!

Click here to read more about the show:

http://www.facebook.com/l/c93ba;tinyurl.com/yl5tjlk

Thanks,

James


Nov 2

“Big in Japan: A Ghost Story” Now Available from Chin Music Press

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Chin Music Press, the Seattle-based publisher owned and run by Bruce Rutledge (MEF Program Chiba-ken, 1985-87) has just released its newest title, Big in Japan: A Ghost Story.

BIJCover

The debut novel from Hawaii-based author M. Thomas Gammarino is a deadly funny story of haunted progressive rock composer Brain Tedesco. The book has already received rave reviews; PF Kluge says it’s “seductive and devastating” and Ron Currie Jr. calls Brain “the perfect hero for the Age of Anxiety.”

Here’s the blurb from Big in Japan’s cover:

While playing to lackluster crowds in their hometown of Philadelphia, progressive rock band Agenbite clings to the comforting half-truth that they’re doing better in Japan. When their manager agrees to send them on a shoestring tour of that country, however, they’re swiftly forced to give up their illusions and return Stateside.

All but one of them, that is.

Brain Tedesco, the band’s variously haunted chief composer, has fallen in love with a part-time sex worker—the first woman ever to have touched him—and his illusions have only just begun. What ensues is a Dantesque coming-of-age tale in which Brain must navigate the borderlands between fantasy and reality, past and present, sex and death—even as forces beyond his control conspire to undo him.

By turns compassionate and ruthless, erotic and grotesque, riotously serious and deadly funny, Big in Japan: A Ghost Story is a sparkling, gut-wrenching, face-melting debut novel.

Big in Japan is designed by JET alum Joshua Powell (Saitama-ken 2005-07). The book is available through the Chin Music Press website with promotional free shipping to the U.S. and Canada or at major booksellers.

For book reviews and more information, visit Big in Japan’s website. Check out previous JetWit posts about Bruce Rutledge and Chin Music Press here.


Nov 2

fuji-1

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Writers and blogger Liz Sheffield (Hokkaio-ken, Sapporo-shi, 1993-95) has a great post on her blog Motherlogue about a new book out titled America Fuji by Sara Backer along with a separate post in which she interviews Backer.

A few weeks ago I finished reading American Fuji by Sara Backer.  From the moment I saw this book on the shelf of my local, independent bookstore, I knew I had to read it. It’s about an American woman, Gaby Stanton, who is living in Shizuoka, Japan and teaching university-level English…that is until she gets fired and begins working for a fantasy funeral company, Gone With the Wind. Stanton meets Alex Thorn, a father who comes to Japan to answer questions about his son’s death while he was a student at the university where Gaby was employed.  Gaby and Alex are just two of the wonderful, creative cast of characters that Backer weaves into this compelling story.

Liz has also written the following essays:

and short fiction:


Oct 27

JET-Popp: Osaka Critique Group and Kyoto Writers’ Conference

Popp, Laura (Mie-ken, 2008-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.livejournal.com. (And check out the Authors/Books section of the JetWit Library for a list of more writers in the JET-o-sphere.)

Hello, everyone!  I`m new to Japan and the JetWit blog, so allow me to introduce myself!  I`m a sci-fi/fantasy young adult writer from Oklahoma in the U.S.  I love to travel, as you can probably tell from my blog, so most of my posts will be about my wonderful adventures all over Asia and any writing news I learn about.

This week I`ll be reporting on two writers` events I attended last weekend,  a critique meeting in Osaka and a conference in Kyoto! For those of you who don`t know, there is an excellent group called English Writers and Readers that meets every Saturday in Osaka from 2:30 to however long people want to stay.  It’s not just for writers; if you love to read there is also a book club and various other discussion boards and events.  But if you are a writer, of any genre or form, you can email your work to group members and have it critiqued the following Saturday.  For me it was very productive. They tore apart (figuratively) my story “Tapestry of Time,” but now I know how to make it better.  I will warn you that the turnout for meetings tends to be very low (there were only four of us), so if it`s quite a trek for you, I suggest getting a general idea of how many will be there before you go all that way.

One of the girls in the writers` club, Rianna, was really sweet and let me stay with her Saturday night. On Sunday morning, I headed off to the writers’ conference in Kyoto. I was a little disappointed.  Good luck trying to publish an English fiction book in Japan, they said, because no publishers here accept them. There are English printers here, however, and a strong potential market of foreign readers.  So if you have a book already published elsewhere and would like to promote it in Japan, there are several resources available to you, including Printed Matter Press.  Here is their website: http://www.printedmatterpress.com/.   And of course, if you want to go the self-publishing route, these guys can help with that too.

Other than that, the “Revising Your Novel” seminar, presented by Holly Thompson, was most helpful.   Her basic strategy was to systematically go through your novel and create a detailed spreadsheet of necessary revisions in character, setting, theme, etc. and mark these various “threads” wherever they appear with colored sticky notes.  Then, read through the novel with only one of these threads in mind.  That way you can stay focused and not get bogged down by the sheer size of the project.  Here’s a picture of her session:

During lunch, I happened to run into the right people at the right time. I was looking for a place to eat my bento and sat with three ladies outside.  We got to talking, and one of the three happened to be Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) who I`d been trying to get a hold of for some time. She’s an American published young adult writer living in Japan who’s involved in the SCBWI (Society of Children`s Book Writers and Illustrators). She invited me to go to their major conference in Yokohama on November 28th that`s going to host Alvina Ling, a Senior Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.  What an amazing opportunity!  For those who are interested, the registration deadline is November 4th.  You can sign up at their website, http://www.scbwi.jp/.

To hear more about the Kyoto conference and my other adventures in Japan, visit my full blog at laurajanepopp.livejournal.com!


Oct 21

Event: Suzanne Kamata to present Educational Workshop for Families of Children with Learning Differences (Tokyo)

Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) who also serves as the Publicity Assistant for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, shared the following:

TELL Exceptional Parenting Program: Educational Workshop for Families of Children with Learning Differences/Diverse Needs by Tokyo English Life Child and Family Services

We welcome you to our Writing workshop: Parenting kids with special needs presented by Suzanne Kamata, writer, poet, and mother.

Suzanne will give a presentation on Reading and Writing Our Special Children. She will discuss the importance of writing about children with special needs and share examples of literature current and past about parenting children with special needs. She will also conduct brief writing exercises, which may be used in journaling, or creative writing for pleasure or publication.

Friday, November 13, 2009
Registration
: 2:30pm to 2:45pm; Workshop: 2:45pm to 4:15pm; Information sharing: 4:15pm to 5:00pm
Admission
: Donations accepted
RSVP to tellparentgroup@hotmail.com
Location: Minami Aoyama Conference Room next to TELL office
Address: 5-4-22 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062 Phone: 03-3498-0231

Suzanne Kamata was born and raised in Grand Haven, Michigan. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English, she came to Japan in 1988 on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program.  During her second year in Japan, she met the man who would become her husband and has lived in Tokushima Prefecture ever since. She now lives with her husband and ten-year old twins in Aizumi and teaches part-time at Naruto Educational University.

Suzanne is also the author of a novel, Losing Kei (Leapfrog Press, 2008), editor of several anthologies, among them Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs (Beacon Press, 2008) and Call Me Okaasan:  Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2009), and fiction editor of literarymama.com.

If you would like to have more information on the Exceptional Parenting Program or would like to attend the workshops, please contact Birgit Zorb-Serizawa at tellparentgroup@hotmail.com.


Oct 20

Roland Kelts article in Adbusters: Private Worlds

Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, has a good article out in Adbusters magazine.

Private Worlds:  Lives spent lurking too long in the shadows of the virtual

https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/86/private-worlds.html

Also, Roland is traveling to Korea soon to do give some talks there.  If you’re a JET alum living in Korea and you go, make sure to go up and introduce yourself and invite him out for some sho-chu.


Oct 19

“Two Authors Send Readers on Mysterious Journeys Through Japan:”Chin Music Press Book Reading at Capitola Book Café- Oct 20 (Santa Cruz, CA)

Chin Music Press, the Seattle-based publisher owned and run by Bruce Rutledge (MEF Program Chiba-ken, 1985-87) is headed to Northern California as author Todd Shimoda reads from his latest novel, Oh! A mystery of mono no aware, at the Capitola Book Café (1475 41st Avenue in Capitola) on Tuesday, October 20th at 7:30pm. Shimoda joins anthropologist and writer Liza Dalby, who will be reading from Hidden Buddhas: A Novel of Karma and Chaos. This event is free to the public.

The Capitola Book Café hosts Shimoda and Dalby under the title of “Mysterious Journeys Through Japan” with discussion of their usage of Japan as a setting for emotional paths towards moments of enlightenment. Here’s a blurb about both books from the event webpage:

Oh! by Todd Shimoda was selected as an NPR Summer Reading pick and combines visual artistry with patient and brilliant storytelling. Zack Hara is a technical writer trudging through life in LA until he leaves everything to travel to Japan. There, searching for an emotional life, Zack becomes entwined with a tragic poet, a sensual but disillusioned woman, and young people form suicide clubs— all propelling him down a dangerous path. “A triumphant kick in the pants for anyone who doubts the future of paper-and-ink books.” — Lucia Silva

Liza Dalby returns to Book Café with a novel that Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of A Geisha, describes as “…(her) best work yet; with its fascinating story of characters caught up in a world they themselves don’t understand.” Hidden Buddhas explores the karmic connections between Japanese fashion, pilgrimage, dying honeybees, murder by blowfish, and the Buddhist apocalypse. Something of a Buddhist Da Vinci Code, Dalby’s stunning new novel travels to the unknown corners of Japan and through time to expose a mystery you will never forget!

Check out previous JetWit posts about Bruce Rutledge here and a Japan Times review of Oh! here.

On a related note, Bruce is joined at Chin Music Press by two other JET alums: designer Joshua Powell (Saitama-ken, 2005-07) and PR intern Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken, 2007-08).


Oct 12

JetWit BlogBeat 10.11.09 by Crystal Wong

JetWit Blog Beat by Crystal Wong (Iwate-ken, 2002-04) is a recurring item featuring posts from the blogs of various JET alumni.  Crystal is a former English-language writer for Kyodo News. She is now working as a freelance strategist and writer in New York and relishes her constant hunt for the best cheap(ish) eats in the city.

Happy October, everyone. It’s been awhile, so let’s take a look and make sure you have a chance to catch up on some posts you might’ve missed in September:

Interesting post from Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) over at Gaijin Mama about her son’s Japanese education – this should be enlightening for former JETs since we’ve had a chance to work on the other side of the teaching equation, but likely never had a chance to interact with parents.

Over at Chin Music Press, exciting things are happening as they get set to ship their latest publication. The book will literally be hot off the presses shortly, so be sure to check back for updates!

James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06) visits his teen fans at the Schaumburg Library, and it looks like some funny stuff went down.

We also covered JET alum Janice Momoko Chow (Saitama, 2005-2006) here a few posts back, and wanted to make sure that you all knew about her recent blog move to this site.

Finally, if you’re looking for a culinary reason to celebrate autumn while conveniently warding off any pesky autumn germs all at the same time, Elizabeth White (Toyama-ken, 1995-98) has the recipe for you. Looks delicious! Spicy+Chicken+Soup


Oct 7

Event: The World of Children’s Book Publishing with Alvina Ling (Yokohama)

Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) who also serves as the Publicity Assistant for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, shared the following, which she mentioned is, “a great opportunity for writers in Japan to meet one of the top editors in the world of children’s books.”

The World of Children’s Book Publishing

with

Alvina Ling, Senior Editor

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Saturday, November 14, 2009, 10:30 am – 5:00 pm

Manuscript critiques 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Place:      Yokohama International School, Middle Building Cafeteria, Yokohama

For access information and maps, visit www.yis.ac.jp

Fee:         Advance Registration 4,000 yen SCBWI members; 7,000 yen nonmembers (contact info@scbwi.jp by November 5)

At the Door 5,000 yen SCBWI members; 8,000 yen nonmembers

Reservations: Required! Contact info@scbwi.jp to reserve your place.

This event will be in English.

SCHEDULE

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