Via GaijinPot.com. I’ve never heard of this job fair myself, so if anyone has any perspectives or additional info, please feel free to add in the comment section. (The only Akiba I’m aware of, actually, is a rabbi who gets mentioned in the Passover hagadah.)
The first annual Akiba International Job Fair, presented by Vein Carry Japan Inc., will be held this year on February 28th in Umeda, Osaka and on March 7th in Akihabara, Tokyo.
http://www.gaijinpot.com/job_view.php?jid=23079
Read More
I recently returned from a trip to China, and it occurred to me that China felt in many ways like Japan felt to me when I was there in the early 90s: Modernized, but also somewhat untamed and pregnant with opportunity. A good amount of structure, but also a sense that it’s not all figured out yet either.
With that in mind, I was wondering if some segment of the JET alumni community is now turning to China for job opportunities? If so, let me know or post a comment below on your thoughts or experience.
Meanwhile, I noticed a China jobs site called China Splash (http://www.chinasplash.com/index.html). I’m sure there are others, but figured I’d at least share the one I’m aware of.
The following are from the Chronicle of Higher Ed’s job site:
1/5/2009
I just found out there’s actually a LinkedIn group called “Translations agencies bad practices.” A JET alum with whom I’m linked recently joined it, according to one of those LinkedIn updates you get that tells you who has done what recently.
In its own words:
“If you had or have non payment issues, or other bad experience, with a translation agency, use this group to tell us about, as it is useful information for all freelances in this sector.”
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1536857&trk=nus_grp
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
The phenomenon of “net café refugees” became a hot topic in Japan last year, when it was estimated by the Health Ministry that 5,400 people with no fixed addresses, mostly those in their 20s, slept at 24-hour Internet cafes for as little as 1,000-2,000 yen per night. These legendary facilities house small cubicles equipped with reclining chairs, computers and TVs, and many cafés allow free soft drink refills. Some even have showers.
In this dismal economy, usage of net cafés has been on the increase. A café profiled in this morning’s news said that it offers a rate of 59,520 yen per month for those staying longer than 30 days, and that out of its 58 rooms, 50 were occupied long-term.
One such resident who volunteered for an interview said that he had been there for over six months. After losing his real estate job two years ago when his company went bankrupt, he has been struggling to make ends meet as a day laborer. However, being 39 prevents him Read More
JET alum Lars Martinson creatively updates readers on the progress on his graphic novel Tonoharu: Part 2 in a recent post on his blog (larsmartinson.com):
Progress Bar Key
Scripting/Page Layout: Self-explanatory
Artwork: The Drawing, Inking, and Computer Work for the comic
Final Edits/Incidentals: Post-Production Edits, Designing the Cover, Preparing for Press, etc.
****
When I wrote the first progress report for Tonoharu: Part Two back in mid-July, I was a quarter of the way through the artwork. I concluded the entry saying I’d update on my progress again when the artwork was halfway done. I estimated/hoped that that update would come in “three or four months”,–>Click here to continue reading the post.
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
It looks like Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will be getting a lump of coal in his stocking. The Cabinet approval rate is currently at 16.7%, down 22 points from last month, and the disapproval rate is up 30 points to 64.7%. Further probing into sources of dissatisfaction revealed that 40% had no hope in the government, 27.6% criticized its bad policy, 26.5% faulted its lack of leadership and 26.4% said it could not be trusted. In addition, in response to the question “Who is more suited to being a politician?” 23.9% picked Aso but 34.8% picked Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) leader Ichiro Ozawa.
As a result of the “New Year’s Nesting” phenomenon, expensive osechi are a hot item for Japanese department stores. Whereas in previous years osechi selling at 10,000 yen or more were popular, this year meals in the 30,000-50,000 range are the best sellers. A customer shopping for osechi said she had planned to go to Hawaii for the holidays, but with the high fuel surcharge could no longer afford it. After deciding to spend New Year’s at home, she will put her plane fare/trip money toward a deluxe osechi. I guess you could call this practical pampering? Another factor is that prices of fish and other osechi ingredients went up this month, so the one-stop shopping that osechi packages offer seems like a deal compared to having to purchase all the necessary items yourself.
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
This morning’s news profiled how the faltering economy has affected couples and their date courses. They carried out two surveys, one on how date spots have changed and one on how much money is spent per date. For the first survey, the top three answers were:
Stay at home
“Zero yen” spots
Window shopping
Many couples are seeking ways to spend time together without spending a lot of money, and as might be expected relaxing at home is the most popular method. They profiled a couple who hung out in the girl’s room while she surfed the internet and he Read More
I just heard from a JET alum who lost their relatively senior level job with a non-profit that has funding issues. I also heard from a JET alum who seems to be keeping their job but at the expense of a colleague who is being let go.
How are you doing with your job situation or your job search? E-mail jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com with your story (which will be posted anonymously).
On December 12 JetWit asked the question: Do you have a favorite translator?
Here are two responses received so far. Feel free to post additional comments or e-mail them to jetwit /att/ jetwit /dotto/ com:
Cheleen, Kia (CIR, Aichi-ken 1996-98, ALT 1998-1999) says:
Linda Hoaglund is one of my favorites. She is famous for doing subtitles for Japanese movies (like Kurosawa films) and she is an AMAZING interpreter as well. She has a massive vocabulary and everything she does sounds so natural. Linda doesn’t just do big-name projects — she does a lot of translation & interpreting for the arts/artists as well. Even though she grew up in Japan (to which some would say, “of COURSE she can read/write/speak Japanese”), I still think that her interpreting and translation skills are extremely polished and give the rest of us translators/ interpreters something to strive for.
Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04) says:
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
While watching the Japanese news this morning, the story that headlined hit a bit close to home. It profiled a recent scandal regarding takenoko (bamboo shoots) that took place in Kumamoto City, where I served as CIR for three years.
This vegetable was being marked as “Made in Kumamoto,” when in fact supplies had come from China. Even worse, when representatives of the parent company came to visit the local supplier, Kumamoto Cannery, they made three employees pose as farmers and had them take a commemorative photo in a bamboo grove. This picture was then used on the packaging with the caption “Kumamoto Prefecture Bamboo Grove Farmers,” creating a wholesome image for a product that was different than what was being advertised. They claim that their bamboo shoots were selling so well that they had to resort to other sources as their own production couldn’t keep pace.
Food safety is a topic of immense concern in Japan, though in the beginning of the year the threat was largely from abroad. Now that the scandals are domestic in origin it will be interesting Read More
Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06), JETAA NY’s webmaster and a grad student in NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, will be presenting his interactive music interface, the head(banger)
phones, at the Interactive Telecommunications Winter Show at NYU this
Wednesday and Thursday nights (tonight and tomorrow night). So drop in to take a look. (721 Broadway, 4th Fl – just east of Washington Sq Park)
The show features a variety of interactive sights, sounds and physical
objects created by student artists. The show is FREE and open to the
public. No need to RSVP. Just show up any time during the 2 nights.
http://itp.nyu.edu/shows/winter2008/
Dec. 17th & 18th from 5pm to 9pm
@ 721 Broadway, 4th Fl
Lee-Sean AKA JETAANY.org Webmaster
http://leesean.net
From Shun Endo, PNW’s Treasurer & Web Guy, who posted the notes on the JETAA PNW website:
Career Day was a very successful event, bringing in many motivated participants, solid speakers, and even vendors from several companies. Many people stayed until the end, and went afterwards for drinks and comradery. The content of the speeches was very helpful, and it covered a broad range of topics. As promised, we have the notes to the speeches, as well as resources to the information given!
Thanks again to Steven Pascal-Joiner of Idealist.org , and Rob Uy from Microsoft HR, and the panel speakers for their respective insights. They were: Amy Fenning , Amanda Wolfman , Keith Nitta , David Sandler , Megan Bernard , Rob Uy , Matt Austin , Steven Pascal-Joiner. Thanks to Ben for moderating the discussion.
Here are the links:
Rob Uy Speech Notes
Steven Pascal Joiner Speech Notes
Idealist.org Presentation by Steven (PDF of E-book, and links to different topics covered by Steven)
Panel Speaker Notes
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).
My posts from last week were largely doom and gloom about the current economic woes, so I thought I’d start this week with something lighter from recent Japanese TV news—the topic of Christmas cake! Definitely a big deal in Japan.
(For those unfamiliar, Japanese Christmas focused primarily on Christmas Eve. The actual holiday is a regular workday, to the dismay of many an English teacher. It is a secular celebration where couples and families get together to eat typical Christmas fare such as Kentucky fried chicken and strawberry shortcake.)
The TV news this past Friday profiled the major department store Matsuya in Ginza, which sells 25 million cakes during the three day period from the 23rd until Christmas. The cakes that are selected to be featured in its seasonal catalog basically determine how the year’s profits will turn out.
An essential part of the selection process are the taste-testers who decide on certain ingredients. This year’s hot commodity was Read More
Elizabeth Bass (Kochi 2002-2004) reports that she finally got a job (YEAH!). However, that means that she is now looking for a replacement intern at the literary agency where she works. The position is unpaid, but because it’s a small office there is a ton of opportunity to get some invaluable hands-on experience in the industry. We are looking for someone to fill the position ASAP, if possible.
We are currently accepting applications for an intern at a small literary agency.
The intern will read and recommend submissions, answer the telephone, draft emails and help in various ways around the office, including filing and restocking office supplies. Because it is a small office (myself and an assistant) the intern will have an opportunity to see close up how a literary agency works and become familiar with the book publishing industry.
QUALIFICATIONS: I am looking for someone with computer skills and some office experience to work 5-6 hours per week. (The days are flexible.) I would hope that the intern was fairly well-read and interested in books.
Please submit a short cover letter and your resume to:
Regina Ryan reginaryanbooks @ rcn . com
DURATION: 5-6 hours per week
COMPENSATION: None
