Soft Power, Hard Truths: From Akihabara to Katsucon
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The latest Soft Power, Hard Truths Daily Yomiuri column from Roland Kelts (author of Japanamerica) in which he describes taking his Tokyo U. students on a field trip to Akihabara (i.e., the heart of otaku culture) reflecting on their reactions.
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=03
Kinokuniya BookWeb USA Announces New Upgraded Service
Book Web USA has been upgraded and combined into one to serve both West and East Coasts.
*You can now search for a title in all eight US Kinokuniya locations at one time.
*Items which are not currently available through our Web service will receive faster back order delivery response.
*Orders totaling $100 or more will receive free shipping.
For more details please refer to the help function in the Bookweb information section.
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BookWeb U.S.A.リニューアル・オープン
米国紀伊國屋書店BookWebがひとつになってリニューアルしました。
*お探しの本を北米紀伊國屋8店舗の在庫から一発検索
*ＷＥＢ取り寄せサービスにて在庫の無い商品も素早く入手
*$100以上まとめてご注文いただくと送料無料に
詳しくはヘルプ機能のBookwebご利用案内をご覧ください。
JETAA Book Clubs: D.C. Re-born
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The JETAA book clubs continue to make a comeback. JETAA DC is the most recent chapter to revive its book club, following in the footsteps of New York, Northern California and Portland.
What is your chapter’s book club reading? And did I leave any chapters out? Let us know in the comments section of this post.
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First Meeting of the Reincarnated Book Club
Hi All,
I know it is rather short notice, but I finally ironed out the details for the first meeting of the Japan themed book club.
Book: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami– This is a collection of 24 short stories. Even if you only get chance to read a few of the stories, please join us. Read More
Rose Symotiuk was a JET in Akan, Hokkaido from 2003-2005. She works in publishing in New York City. You can follow her blog at http://roseinnewyork.wordpress.com/.
Repeat After Me is the first fiction book by Rachel DeWoskin. DeWoskin went to Beijing in 1994 to work as a public-relations consultant and was quickly recruited to star in a Chinese nighttime soap opera, titled Foreign Babes in Beijing, which was watched by approximately 600 million viewers. At the time, she was one of the few foreign actresses working in mainland China and was considered a sex symbol. You can pick up her popular book about her experiences, titled Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China, here.
Repeat After Me follows the lead character, Aysha, a young New Yorker, after a mental breakdown causes her to drop out of Columbia and start teaching at an English school. There she meets Da Ge, a young Chinese man with his own problems. The story starts somewhere in the middle and unfolds in wonderous ways: from Aysha’s parents’ divorce, to her life in Beijing years later with a stunning surprise, always returning to her tragic, vivid romance with Da Ge.
Splashed across this story in bright color is China, in mouth watering Read More
JetWit BlogBeat: Winter Tomatoes and Blasts from the Past
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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 now works as a media planner in Chelsea and sorely misses all her favorite midtown ramen joints.
Devon Brown (Tokyo-to, 2002-04) shares her thoughts on making do without quality tomatoes during the winter season (although the jarringly springlike weather this past week would seem to indicate that summer might not be as far off as we think).
James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish, shares his charmingly illustrated experience of visiting an old friend while meeting some new fans.
JetWit Blog Beat: Crazy cats, spectral sounds, and Belgian conceptual art
Blogs, Books, Cartoon/Illustration, Humor, Writers Comments Off on JetWit Blog Beat: Crazy cats, spectral sounds, and Belgian conceptual art
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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 now works as a media planner in Chelsea and sorely misses all her favorite midtown ramen joints.
JET alum Lars Martinson ,author of the graphic novel Tonoharu, shares his latest conbini discoveries:
Meanwhile, NY webmaster and NYU ITP grad student Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) shares his spectral music piece from his visual music class.
And if you find yourself in Montreal between now and Valentine’s Day, check out the tongue-in-cheek art from Belgian artist Wim Delvoye that Rob P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04), author of the rhyming novel Zorgamazoo, shares on his blog.
Audio: Robert P. Weston Reads from Zorgamazoo
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Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) has just posted an audio file of his reading from Chapter 1 of his rhyming novel Zorgamazoo on his blog wayofthewest.wordpress.com.
Have a listen! It’s fun, and you’ll feel younger too.
When you’ve finished hearing ’bout Zorgamazoo!
(Sorry, Rob. I couldn’t resist. :-)
Video: Roland Kelts on Studio360 with Kurt Anderson
Article/Journalism, Audio, Blogs, Books, Celebrity, Interview/Profile, Japan Trends, Roland Kelts, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Video: Roland Kelts on Studio360 with Kurt Anderson
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A sampling of what’s to air on NPR’s Studio 360 Goes to Japan on Saturday at 10 am, featuring Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99):
Roland Kelts special on NPR’s Studio360 to air Saturday morning
Article/Journalism, Audio, Blogs, Books, Celebrity, Japan Trends, Roland Kelts, Translating/Interpreting, Writers Comments Off on Roland Kelts special on NPR’s Studio360 to air Saturday morning
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JetWit just received the official press release from WNYC’s Studio 360 regarding their exclusive Studio 360 Goes to Japan program, featuring a segment written and hosted by Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), which will air this Saturday on NPR stations nationwide. Content, including video, will go live on the Studio 360 web site (http://www.studio360.org/) starting at 6 p.m. today (See the full press release below.)
The segment Roland wrote and hosted is focused on Japan’s Youth Culture and its various pathologies, especially the struggles of haken, or temporary workers, amid the imploding global economy.
Additionally, JetWit has learned that Roland is booked for an interview tomorrow afternoon with Nippon Television for their nightly news and entertainment program, News Zero. He will be interviewed by pop idol and actor Sho Sakurai of the band Arashi, and director Takashi Miike, both of whom are in town to promote the latter’s forthcoming live action film version of the 70s anime series, Yatterman. The interview will be about the Japanese pop culture juggernaut. Read More
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 now works as a media planner in Chelsea and sorely misses all her favorite midtown ramen joints.
In his latest post on his blog (wayofthewest.wordpress.com), Rob Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04), author of the rhyming novel Zorgamazoo, recommends M.T. Anderson’s Feed, an intriguing look into a not so unimaginable future where hybrid Internet-television content, and the ads that go along with them, are fed directly into our brains from birth.
Weston calls it a book “with deep resonance for the digital age.” Read the rest of his review here.
Roland Kelts in Boston for “Grave of Fireflies” Event Feb. 11
Academic, Article/Journalism, Audio, Blogs, Books, Celebrity, Events, Interview/Profile, Japan Trends, Reviews, Roland Kelts, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Roland Kelts in Boston for “Grave of Fireflies” Event Feb. 11
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, will be at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on Wednesday, February 11 for a screening + discussion of the animated film Grave of the Fireflies. More details here. (Side note: Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02) wrote an excellent and succinct review of Grave of the Fireflies for the Spring 2008 JETAAA NY Newsletter.)
BONUS: Roland’s story on Japanese Youth Pathologies for WNYC’s Studio 360 will air on NPR nationwide as part of this coming weekend’s special Japan edition of the show. (See the recent JetWit post on last week’s Studio360 Japan feature.)
Correction: This post previously listed the date of the MFA event as February 9, but it has now been corrected to February 11. Apologies for any confusion.
James Kennedy Interviewed by Teens at the Evanston Library
Article/Journalism, Blogs, Books, Interview/Profile, Uncategorized, Video, Writers Comments Off on James Kennedy Interviewed by Teens at the Evanston Library
James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish, was recently interviewed at the Evanston Library by some wonderful teenagers. Watch a video of the interview below.
From James’ blog: “This Saturday (2/7) I’m going to be appearing at the Fantasy Festival at the Evanston Public Library! There will also be manga drawing, fantasy video gaming, and a screening of the almighty Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. (See the events sidebar, right, for details.)
In preparation, I sat down with Sam, Zoe, Heather and Luke of the Evanston library’s Teen Advisory Board to
READ THE REST OF THE POST HERE
Japan’s Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to U.S. Experience
Academic, Advice, Books, Japan Trends, Uncategorized Comments Off on Japan’s Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to U.S. Experience
Japan’s Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to U.S. Experience, edited by Adam S. Posen and Ryoichi Mikitani
Has anyone out there read this book? If so, care to share your thoughts on the premise by posting a comment?
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
Art, Article/Journalism, Blogs, Books, Cartoon/Illustration, Celebrity, Japan Trends, Roland Kelts, Writers Comments Off on 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
