Japanese Heritage Night at Citi Field, Friday, Aug. 27.
By JQ Magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
Move over, Matsui.
The New York Mets will hold its first-ever Japanese Heritage Night at Citi Field on Friday, Aug. 27 against the Houston Astros, with discounted ticket rates available for all family and friends of the Japanese community.
Pre-game entertainment includes taiko drumming by acclaimed troupe Soh Daiko; a traditional Obon dance led by the Japanese Folk Institute of New York featuring dance participants from the Japanese heritage community and friends; the Spirit Award ceremony honoring those in baseball, the military and community service; and the national anthem sung by Japanese Hispanic American Kurt Sanchez Kanazawa.
Donna Tsufura, cofounder of Japanese Americans and Japanese in America (JAJA) and one of the organizers of Friday’s event, has contacted groups like the JET Alumni Association of New York to recruit volunteers to help publicize, assist with and participate in this special night, including the ancestor-honoring Tanko Bushi dance itself in center field. Tsufura said that this helps to fulfill JETAA NY’s mission to increase the understanding and appreciation of Japan and its people in the U.S.
Read the complete story here.
The organizers of the First Annual Japanese Heritage Night are looking for JETAANY volunteers.
Email Donna Tsufura at thedayako@gmail.com for more details (use “JETAANY” as the subject line).
Volunteers are needed for:
1) Information Tables: setting up and manning two tables with info on Japanese and Japanese Americans
2) Pre-Game performance: coordiinating taiko and bon dance participants
3) Mets Spirit Awards: coodinating Award participants
4) Transportation: JET members w/cars driving Award participants &others to & from Citi Field
5) Partnership outreach: generating ticket donations/ funding / services from companies & individuals
6) Program: assisting with writing & production for printed program
7) Outreach: reaching communities who are not yet aware of Japanese Heritage Night
8) Press/media: assisting with media needs, individual interviews
9) Documenting:video, photo & reporting coverage of the event
A general timetable of events:
SCHEDULE FOR JAPANESE HERITAGE NIGHT
Friday, August 27, 2010
(draft as of 8/23, 2:30pm)- subject to change
4:15 Material for Information tables can be dropped off at Mets office
4:40 Information tables set up
5:40 Performers enter Bullpen Plaza Gate, escorted by Mets staff
6:30 Pre-game entertainment begins (20 min)
Taiko drumming by Soh Daiko “Hachidan Uchi” (10 min piece)
Obon dance “Tanko Bushi” led by Japanese Folk Institute of New York (3 min piece)
dance participants include people from the Japanese heritage community and friends
6:50 Spirit Award Ceremony (5 min)
Awards given to the following communities and received by members of those communities.
Baseball – received by Satoru Tsufura (Nisei ballplayer) and Shuji Kato (JAA baseball league)
Military Service – Kaz Yamagushi (WWII vet) and Lt. Janelle Kuroda (Navy, active duty in Iraq)
Community Service – Suki Terada Ports and Sam Kiyomi Turner (activists, HIV AIDS, Ninth Ward)
In attendance: Ambassador Nishimiya
6:58 National Anthem sung by Kurt Sanchez Kanazawa
7:10 Game starts
5th inning Information Tables broken down
Also, for our pre-game event, JET alumni are invited to dance the Tanko Bushi on the Mets centerfield! It is a simple and fun bon dance honoring one’s ancestors. Here are the online instructions for the dance and an an mp3 of the song for you to practice.
TICKETS: All JET alumni volunteering and/or dancing at Citi Field must have a ticket to the game. The Mets have made available discounted tickets in specific areas of the stadium. I believe your website has a draft of the flyer with outdated information saying that the ticket purchase cutoff was August 5. Please inform your members that discount tickets are now available until Thurs, August 26. Regular tickets can be bought on the day of the game.
JetWit job poster Stephen Palanik (Fukushima Ken, 2004-08) learned of the following translator’s conference through the Japan Association of Translators, and thought it might be of interest to current and former JETs in the Tokyo area (or those that can get to Tokyo relatively easily). Stephen is a translator based in Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka Ken, and he occasionally posts job listings and event information for JET alumni.
PROJECT Tokyo 2010 is the third in a series of one-day conferences on translation and interpreting organized by the Japan Association of Translators (JAT; 日本翻訳者協会) for participants to build skills and exchange information about their professions.
Theme: Tools and Workshops: Better, Faster, Richer
Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010
Time: 9:30 to 17:00
Registration opens at 9:00
Venue: TKP Shinagawa Conference Center
3F Takanawa Court, 3-13-1 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Approx. 5 minutes’ walk from Shinagawa Station (Takanawa Exit)
Admission:
Students: ¥4,000
JAT Members: ¥5,000
Non-Members: ¥6,000
Post-conference networking event: ¥5,000
Two-hour buffet meal and open bar
* Registration for the conference and post-conference networking event closes at midday on September 4, 2010. Registration is via the conference website only.
The program will consist of introductions to translation tools, workshops to improve practical skills, and informative sessions from industry specialists.
* Visit the conference website for more details.
Come to PROJECT Tokyo 2010 and find out how you can change the way you work!
JET ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK (JETAA NY)
with support from the Consulate General of Japan in New York
Presents
A Special Play Reading of critically acclaimed Off Broadway Play
SAKE WITH THE HAIKU GEISHA
Graphic by JET alum Amber Liang
The JET Alumni Association of New York is pleased to present a limited one-night reading of the critically acclaimed play “Sake with the Haiku Geisha,” written by JET alumnus and playwright, Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93).
Date: Friday, August 13
Start time: 8:30 p.m.
Location: Tinker Auditorium (between Park & Madison Aves.) 22 E 60th St, New York, NY 10065, (212) 355-6100
Cost:
- $5 in advance ($10 at the door) for JET alumni
- $10 in advance ($15 at the door) for Friends of JET
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS ON-LINE VIA PAYPAL
“Sake with the Haiku Geisha” premiered Off-Broadway in 2006 and was based on the collective experiences of three JETs who were placed in Fukui-ken from 1991-1993: an American from South Carolina, a Canadian from Nova Scotia and an English woman from Devon. The structure of the play is inspired by the classic Noh play: an opening ceremony, five acts (each of which uses a different speaker and a spirit or ghost), and a closing ceremony. The show starts on at a farewell party for the visiting JETS, and first three acts are told from the perspective of the visiting JETs, and then the tables turn, and the final two acts are told from the perspective of two Japanese: the supervisor of the Canadian JET, and the geisha’s story, which closes out the play.
The first act, “Sushi and Scones” was a finalist in five major festivals in the USA and England, won the “Best Play” award at the Southeastern Playwrights Conference and was taped and broadcast by as a BBC radio play in late 2005. See a full review of the play in the New York Times.
This event is being organized in cooperation with the Consulate General of Japan in New York.
Thanks to JETAA Chicago President Robert Corder (who also works for JETRO) for letting JetWit know about this interesting upcoming event:
Skoop on Somebody (S.O.S.) Charity Concert in Chicago
The Japanese R&B group Skoop on Somebody (S.O.S.) will play a charity concert in Chicago on Saturday, August 21.
This is the duo’s first live performance in North America. The concert will be held at the Harper College Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, Palatine, Illinois. Doors open at 4:30 pm, with the show scheduled from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Seating is first come, first served and limited to 420 seats. Tickets are $40, with all proceeds going to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago (JCCC) Foundation. The JCCC Foundation supports Japan-related education, cultural and community organizations though out the Chicago area.
To purchase tickets, fill out the application form (http://www.jccc-chi.org/docs/SOS_Event_8.21.pdf) and send it to JCCC Foundation along with the admission check (payable to JCCC Foundation)!
Questions? Contact the JCCC Secretariat at 312-245-8344 or jccc@jccc-chi.org.
- Skoop on Somebody official website: www.skoop.jp
- Wikipedia entry (Japanese): http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skoop_On_Somebody
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
At Japan Society on Friday night I saw what has been my favorite movie of the Japan Cuts festival so far, Parade. A special treat was the attendance of the director, Isao Yukisada, to introduce the movie and take questions after. He presented the movie as a “slice of the dark side of Tokyo,” and expressed his nervousness and excitement at having his work screened here in New York for the first time. The movie explores the relationships between four young people sharing an apartment in Tokyo, as they deal with their respective troubles as well as the danger of an assailant who has been attacking women in the area. The title refers to Read More
By JQ Magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
July is here, and that means hot dogs, fireworks, and a horde of Japanese films served up by New York’s Japan Society for their annual JAPAN CUTS contemporary Japanese cinema festival. Launched at the tail end of the New York Asian Film Festival, Japan Society and NYAFF have teamed to co-present a whopping 24 films from July 1-16.
“JAPAN CUTS presents the roughest, sharpest, and smoothest of today’s cutting-edge Japanese film scene,” notes Japan Society’s chief film curator Samuel Jamier. “This year the lineup includes psycho dramas, thrillers, period pieces, bizarre comedies, refined melodramas, artistically adventurous indies, j-horror, and even anime. But when the lineup came together, I realized a number of these great films were made by female directors or featured a large number of prominent women’s roles and powerful performances by women–a reflection of industry trends in the last ten years, and the impact women have been making in Japan’s film industry. Overall, I like to think this year’s festival is exemplary of where Japanese cinema is today.”
For this week’s list, see the full article here.
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Last night I had the chance to preview the Samurai in New York: The First Japanese Delegation, 1860 exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. There was a reception to celebrate its opening hosted by Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya and those affiliated with the museum. In his opening remarks, he detailed how descendants of members of the original 70-plus person delegation were in attendance. One was a woman who currently makes her home in New York, and another was a Buddhist monk who had traveled from Japan. It was a wonderful tribute to the original delegation to have these representatives present.
The exhibit itself, though limited in scope, contains some interesting artifacts. Evidently they had been Read More
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.
Here is a practical list of organizations, market guides, and networking opportunities for jump starting your writing career. My apologies that it is heavy on the America and Speculative Fiction side, but that is who I am and what I write, so that is what I know best. But hopefully everyone can find something useful from this list:
By JQ Magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
It’s the return of a modern tradition as Japan Day @ Central Park 2010 hits the East Meadow Sunday. With an array of free family-friendly and traditional activities, samplings of popular cuisine and powerful stage performances featuring entertainers from Tokyo and New York, this year’s festivities are expected to top the estimated 45,000 New Yorkers drawn to last year’s Japan Day.
Continuing in the custom of previous years, the day kicks off with the four-mile Japan Run mini-marathon at 8 a.m., followed by the Japanese Day Festival in the East Meadow at 10 a.m. with the unveiling of all activity tents and the main stage show. The year 2010 is especially promising—it marks the 150th anniversary of the first Japanese diplomatic mission to New York—and there will be special activities to celebrate this historic milestone.
Click here to read the rest of the article.
Theatre de Moon is casting for ”Kutsukake Tokijiro ～a Makaroni Western～”, Benefit Staged Reading Performance.
We are seeking actors who are interested in our newly translated Japanese play.
As we had a success of the studio performance in June, 2009, we are keep on going this production to make a Off-Off-Broadway theatre.
To make it possible, we’ll have a Benefit Staged Reading Performance on July 31st.
The play by both in Japanese and English.
Please bring your monologue for audition.
This is for the Benefit Performance, however, there might be a chance for casting for the Off-Off-Broadway production in near future.
To make your reservation for audition. Please send us email:kurotama@cybercap.com
- Date:Thursday, June 3rd
- Time:6pm-10pm
- Place:CRS- 123 4th Ave., 2nd FL(between 12th&13th St.)
- New York, NY10003
- Play:Kutsukake Tokijiro
- Playwright:Shin Hasegawa
- Director:Jun Kim
- Translator:Keiko Tsuneda
- Music:Ryo Yoshimata
- Choreography:Kayoko Sakoh
- Benefit Staged Reading Performance:July 31st, 6pm-10pm
- Rehearsal Schedule:starts from June, weekends in June and July. Additional rehearsals in mid July.
- Tech & Dress rehearsal:July 30th, 5pm-10pm
- No pay
- www.kurotamakikaku.com
By JQ Magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
Nahoko Sugiyama discovered her niche at an early age. As a little girl growing up in Tokyo, she imitated the moves of the Japanese idols she saw on TV. As a teenager, a penchant for clubbing set the foundation to become a dancer, and in her twenties she took up Oriental (belly) dance, Quickly becoming a popular draw through professional appearances, she decided to make a career out of this exotic form of expression.
Moving to New York in 2006 for more in-depth training, Sugiyama joined the Mosaic Dance Theater Company a year later. “One of my teachers in here is a choreographer for this company, therefore I joined it,” she explains. “We have a wide range of Middle Eastern dance numbers, not only Oriental dance, which makes us unique. We focus on theater shows, [and] have big theater shows both in New Jersey and New York every year.”
This Friday, she will perform at Manhattan’s Arena Event Space with six other dancers as part of the Alternative Belly Dance Show.
By JQ Magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
Contrary to its most popular form, miso is not a soup, but a seasoning (usually resembling a paste) made with soybeans and rice or barley fermented for a period of time. It’s also right up there with rice as a Japanese diet staple—in Nippon’s olden days, miso was the fundamental currency exchanged in the market. Now, New Yorkers can treat themselves to a free cooking demonstration and tasting courtesy of Marukome Miso (one of the oldest miso manufactures in Japan) at the French Culinary Institute on Tuesday, May 11.
Presented as part of the Gohan Society and FCI Lecture series with Marukome USA, the demo and tasting is hosted by Chef Noriyuki Kobayashi of MEGU Midtown and Chef Katsuhisa Inoue of MEGU Downtown. The Zagat rated restaurant maestros will apply their Japanese cooking techniques to prepare Western-style dishes, all featuring Marukome Miso. (Insert your own Iron Chef zinger here.)
On the menu for the two-hour showcase: traditional grilled miso onigiri (rice ball); thickly sliced toasted white bread with miso garlic butter; cream cheese and miso egg roll; miso bagna cauda blue cheese and miso paste on baguette with honey; miso minestrone; and washu-gyu steak with miso fond de veau sauce.
Participants will learn how miso enhances foods and flavors, gleaning tips and creative ways to boost its versatility and umami (deliciousness) appeal. And just to be clear: this is good-for-you deliciousness, since miso is made from protein-rich soybeans containing amino acids, boasts a surprisingly low salt content, contains fiber, can aid in lowering cholesterol and preventing arterial blockage, and (smokers take note) is renowned for its mouth-cleansing properties.
Learn the secrets of miso at the French Culinary Institute, 462 Broadway (at Grand Street), on Tuesday, May 11, 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Admission is free. To RSVP, contact Sarah Marino or Amy Krakow at (212) 710-0529, or by e-mail at sarah.marino@agitproppr.com or amy.krakow@agitproppr.com.
Thanks to former JETAA NY President Jennifer Olayon of the Center on Japanese Economy & Business at Columbia Business School:
Entrepreneurship in Japan — The 11th Annual Mitsui USA Symposium
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/entrepreneurship/events/entrepinjapan
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 6:00-7:30 pm (reception to follow)
Uris 301, Columbia Business School
Speakers include:
- Ernest Higa, MBA ’76, Chairman and CEO of Higa International Co., Ltd.
- Atsushi Imuta, Founder and CEO of RISA Partners
- Kohei Nishiyama, Founder and CEO of elephant design co., ltd.
RSVP: http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/entrepreneurship/events/entrepinjapan
Hey JETAA New England! Join Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, at Anime Boston this coming weekend for a Japanamerica talk and book-signing session Saturday, April 3, @ 1:30 p.m. in the Hynes Convention Center in downtown Boston.
After a quick jaunt back to Tokyo, Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, is back in the U.S. and on the road this week for a short stint for the Association of Asian Studies’ (AAS) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, where he will appear on Friday, March 26 for a discussion panel called “The Japan Knowledge Industry Outside the Academy“ with fellow author and JET Alum Karl Taro Greenfeld (Kanagawa-ken, 1988-89) (Speed Tribes: Days and Nights With Japan’s Next Generation), author William M. Tsutsui (Godzilla on my Mind), journalist Misako Hida (The Wall Street Journal Japan), and Professor Laura Miller (Bad Girls of Japan).
The discussion takes place this Friday, March 26, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel. More info can be found under “# 69″ here: http://www.aasianst.org/annual-meeting/2010/Friday.pdf
Philly-area JET alums are encouraged to swing by and say hello.
More details here: http://japanamerica.blogspot.com/2010/03/tokyo-otaku-talk-temple-this-thursday.html
Yoshiko Chuma returns to the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival March 19 to 21 with the New York premiere of Hold the Clock, the latest installment of her ten-year project, Page Out of Order. To celebrate the 92nd Street Y’s 75th anniversary theme, Past-Future-Now, Chuma, who has appeared at the Harkness Dance Festival in 1995 and 2001, invited three artists she admires to create a 7-minute piece to be integrated into the final presentation of the work: Ursula Eagly, Jon Kinzel, and Rie Ono. Chuma will appear in each of these artists’ new works. The evening will also feature performers Mina Nishimura, Jun Kim, Catherine Galasso, Yuko Mitsuishi, and Ryuji Yamaguchi, singer Sizzle Ohtaka, and sound designer Kohji Setoh. For more info click here.
March 19-21, 2010
Fri & Sat, 8 pm; Sun 3pm
Tickets: $15
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JET alum Beth Hillman reports that last month’s Joshikai author event gathered 40 people. This month they’re doing a happy hour! See below:
女子会3月会! Next Joshikai – Thursday, March 18
For the next Joshikai gathering, we’ll be meeting for an evening of networking and girl talk at Postrio, a unique and stylish downtown bar. Mingle, chat and share stories with other women in English and/or Japanese. Any skill level of Japanese is welcome, and this will be a great opportunity to practice your Japanese and connect with women who have similar interests. They’ve extended the happy hour for us until 7 pm; specials include cocktails, beers and wine, as well as yakitori, pork belly and other bar appetizers — all starting at $4! We’ve reserved the mezzanine lounge area, so we’ll have a comfortable place to relax. Feel free to join us whenever is convenient, and bring friends!
女子会の皆さん、
2月11日のイベントは沢山の方に参加していただきました。ありがとうございました。3月の会合は18日にダウンタンのおとなバーPostrioで行います。日本人女性のJunさんがマネージャーを勤められているPrescott Hotel内にある落ち着いた雰囲気のバーです。Postrioに頼んでバーのMEZZANINEのラウンジを確保してありますのでゆっくり皆さん座って話せると思います。ＨＡＰＰＹＨＯＵＲは7時まで延長です！
今回は特にゲストスピーカーの方はいません。みんなでリラックスしながらおしゃべり、情報交換、ネットワークに花を咲かせましょう！皆様お誘いあわせの上どしどしお越し下さい。（やっぱり今回も男子禁制です。）
Date: 3/18, Thursday
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm (With happy hour prices until 7 pm!) - Please come and leave at whatever time works best for you!
Location: Postrio, 545 Post Street (on Post between Mason and Taylor, just 5 blocks from Powell BART), (415) 776-7825,
http://www.postrio.com
http://www.mychoyce.com/postrio/search
There’s no need to RSVP, but feel free to send us any questions or comments.
We’re also on Twitter (http://twitter.com/joshikaisf)!
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:
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators presents
Friday, April 2, 2010
Details, Details: The Snap, Crackle, and Pop of Good Writing with author Jane Kurtz
Time: Friday, April 2, 2010, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Place: Tokyo Women’s Plaza, Conference Room 1 (5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo;
by the Children’s Castle and United Nations University. For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm
Fee: 1,000 yen SCBWI members; 1,500 yen nonmembers
Reservations: Contact info@scbwi.jp by Thursday, April 1, 2010
This event will be in English.
American novelist John Gardner called details the lifeblood of fiction. Many an editor has said the absolute key to a piece of writing she fell in love with was its voice…but what creates the “voice” of a piece other than its distinct details? Award-winning author Jane Kurtz will give ten keys for coaxing vivid, shimmering, gripping details into our drafts and will show why certain mistakes around details are the kiss of death for any piece of writing. Q&A will follow the talk.
Jane Kurtz spent most of her childhood in Ethiopia—and now travels the world talking about writing, reading, and the magic of books. Her recent speaking has taken her to all but eleven of the U.S. states, Europe, the Persian Gulf, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Romania, and East and West Africa. School Library Journal called Jane Kurtz a “superb storyteller.” Her books have gathered accolades, starred reviews, and awards. Since 1994, she has published twenty-nine books: nonfiction books, professional books for teachers, picture books, and novels for young readers that draw on her own childhood memories of growing up in Ethiopia as well as surviving the Red River flood of 1997. Jane has taught writing at the elementary, secondary, and university levels and is currently on the faculty of the MFA in children’s and young adult literature out of Vermont College. Her passion for books and reading and her love of Ethiopia came together in Ethiopia Reads, an organization that is establishing the free libraries for children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with Yohannes Gebregeorgis, one of CNN’s Top Ten Heroes (www.ethiopiareads.org). For more on Jane Kurtz visit www.janekurtz.com.
JETAA NY’s annual Meishi Exchange is this Thursday, March 11. See the slick flyer designed by the wonderful and talented JETAA NY Secretary Amber Liang:
Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, will be speaking at Kinokuniya in NYC as part of “Ponyo Day.” The event is this Saturday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, and Roland will be speaking at 4:00 pm. (This appearance hot on the heels of his Atlanta book signing on March 4!)
All the JETAA Southeast alums will have a chance to meet and hear Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, speak at Keenesaw State University in Atlanta, GA on Thursday, March 4 from 6:30-8:00 pm. If you happen to go and say hi, let him know you heard about the event on JetWit. Also, email JetWit (jetwit [at] jetwit.com) to let us know how the event was so we can share it with the rest of the JET alum community.
Here’s the flyer with all the relevant info for the event:
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I received a wonderful request from author Solmaz Sharif, Managing Director of The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, regarding an event that she thought might be of interest to the JET alumni community:
Matchmaker:
Speed dating hosted by Kavita Ramdya and Jen Kwok
Saturday, March 6, 7-9 PM
- Location: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop16 W 32nd Street, Suite 10A btwn 5th Avenue and Broadway
- Cost: $20 for members / $30 for non-members
- Purchase your tickets here before March 5, 2010 and give us an idea who we should set you up with. For more information you can also visit aaww.org or call 212.494.0061.
Tired of making eyes at readings and not approaching the hottie next to you? Wondering how you can meet people that’ll compliment your bookcase? Interested in hearing more about love in Asian America? Keep it in the family and let the Workshop help you find the one at our first ever speed dating event. The Asian American Writers’ Workshop presents MATCHMAKER, a special event about how we meet, mingle, and marry in Asian America.
Kavita Ramdya, author of Bollywood Weddings: Dating, Engagement, and Marriage in Hindu America, discusses how second-generation Indian Americans get hitched, a tricky negotiation involving arranged meeting, Mom and Dad, and, of course, lots of dancing.
The event will be hosted by stand-up comedian Jen Kwok, the hilarious mastermind behind Date an Asian, her self-described comic ode to “the awesomeness of dating an asian guy.”
You will receive the following premiums:
- A month’s worth of dates squeezed into one night as you move table to table closer to the one
- Finger foods to keep the attention where it counts
- A signature Workshop cocktail
- A horoscope reading to predict your compatibility
Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91) is a staff writer for The Daily Yomiuri. A big part of his beat is the Pop Culture page, which covers manga, anime and video games. You can follow Tom’s blog at tokyotombaker.wordpress.com.
He also writes about food. Here is a recent article about a food science exhibition currently running at Tokyo’s Miraikan museum. The latter half of the story focuses in on the scientific-culinary concept of umami, often called the“fifth taste”:
How many calories are there in a 500-milliliter bottle of a zero-calorie soft drink? If you guessed zero, you might be right. But the correct answer could be as high as 24. This is one of the many fun facts visitors can learn at “It’s a Tasty World–Food Science Now,” an exhibition running through March 22 at the Miraikan science museum in Odaiba, Tokyo. Under Japanese law, according to a display debunking food myths at the show, a drink is “zero calorie” as long as it has less than five calories per 100 milliliters. (A note on vocabulary: A “calorie” and a “kilocalorie” are the same thing.)
Other displays include sniffable containers of food scents, which you can mix to create new aromas; videos of food processing factories, where plump onions comically pirouette on industrial peelers; and a glowing green tank of euglena, a photosynthetic microorganism seen as a promising future food source. Too bad its Japanese name, midori mushi–green bug–isn’t exactly appetizing….
Read the rest of the article here.
New England JETAA Career Workshop: “Marketing Yourself in a Tough Economy”
Make sure to RSVP to president [at] nejetaa.com!
When: Tuesday, March 02, 3:00PM – 6:00PM (This coming week!)
Where: Downtown Crossing, Borders Bookstore, Robert M. Morgan Conference Room
Map: Borders Boston Map (near Downtown Crossing T station): http://bit.ly/%20BordersDTX
Cost: Free! (There will also be some free food)
Highlights:
We will get a pep talk from Professor Ian Condry of MIT about how to use your JET experience to further your career.
We will have a discussion with people in several different industries in which you may have interest:
*Translation
*Academia
*Teaching
*Entrepreneurial/ Non-profit
*Biotechnology
There will be a resume workshop. Bring some copies of your resume to trade with others and help each other out! The more eyes you have looking at your resume, the more ways you’ll be able to improve it. We will also have a discussion on resume dos and don’ts.
We will adjourn to a nearby bar/restaurant afterward for informal networking and relaxing. This is a great way to meet new people and
discuss your career.
Finally, for those who cannot attend the event but have some career-related wisdom/advice they would like to pass on, please send an email to webmaster [at] nejetaa.com. We’ll make sure to share your comments with our attendees at the end of the workshop.
Here’s your chance to get some JET-specific advice in your quest to career-up!
Thanks for your attention, and we look forward to seeing you there!
The JETAA Toronto photo exhibit, entitled ‘shin‘ for the Japanese symbol for “new,” is our way of marking the start of a decade.
What symbolizes shin?
Perhaps it’s a picture that sums up the way everything felt new to you in Japan when you first arrived. A festival, a ritual, a small cultural difference. Or perhaps it’s a Japan-inspired photo taken back home in Canada that shows the old in a new light.
Selected works will be exhibited March 6 at the Gladstone Art Bar, where we will also have a deejay spinning tracks throughout the night.
Come join us as we celebrate the memories of our time in Japan and enjoy the good music. Drinks will be available on site.
Date: Saturday March 6, 2010
Event: Shin Photo Exhibit: Japan-inspired works by former JET’s
Location: Gladstone Art Bar, 1214 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON, Canada See map
Website: Toronto JETAA Homepage http://toronto.jetaa.ca/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
Time: 7 p.m. until the bar’s closing time Cost: $5 entrance fee
Hills Learning, a language school in New York City, is sponsoring an “Asian Networking Event” this Thursday at 7pm. It should be a great opportunity to network and practice your language skills! The event is being run by Jetaany’s Nihongo Dake Guru, Jon Hills. Free admission. More information can be found at the below link:
Click here for more information!
Please RSVP to events@hillslearning.com or email jon@hillslearning.com with any questions.
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Joshikai SF: A new meet-up for Japanese women and women connected to Japan
女子力アップ！「女子会サンフランシスコ」
Next meeting: Thursday, 2/11
For February’s Joshikai, the author of Shortchanged: A Japanese Women’s Guide to International Romance（www.sonsuru-japan.com), Mieko Mochizuki Swartz will give advice about international relationships and romance, addressing differences in communication styles and cultural expectations. The talk will be followed by time for networking, chatting and drinking.
(See full details below)
JetWit Note: Apparently the first event they held was wonderful–they had about 35 women in attendance, with a good mix of Japanese and American women including a number of JET alums!
About Joshikai SF
Are you a Japanese woman or a woman with an interest in Japan? Maybe you just moved here from Tokyo this summer and want to make new friends… Maybe you taught English in Osaka a few years ago and want to revive your rusty Japanese… Whether you are a native Japanese woman or an American (or other nationality) woman with an interest in Japan, Joshikai may be for you!
女子による女子のための女子限定ネットワークイベント「女子会サンフランシスコ」を始動しました。女子同士ならではのよさ、赤裸々な本音トークなどを楽しんで、一緒に女子力アップを目指しませんか？
We are creating a community of Japanese women and women with an interest in Japan, gathering for a monthly meet-up to make friends, share stories and learn from each other. On the second Thursday of each month, we’ll meet at a location that is chic, reasonably priced, and conveniently located (near a BART station and other public transportation) for an evening of drinks and girl talk, where our members can connect and relax over a cocktail.
Why women only? We want to create a relaxed atmosphere, with the opportunity to speak freely and connect with each other in a supportive environment.
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Here is the information about our February event (in Japanese then English): Read More
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Chin Music Press, the Seattle-based publisher owned and run by Bruce Rutledge (MEF Program Chiba-ken, 1985-87) is thrilled to host several reading events this week in Seattle and Vancouver for their newest release, Big in Japan: A Ghost Story.
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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If you’re near Seattle or Vancouver, catch Tom and the Chin Music Press team at one of these events:
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: Bold In Seattle. Little Red Bistro, 400 Dexter Ave. N, Seattle, WA, 6pm
Big in Japan: A Ghost Story is designed by JET alum Joshua Powell (Saitama-ken 2005-07) and marketed by fellow alum Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken 2007-2008). 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.
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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.
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 Xiao. KGB 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.
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The following is posted at the request of San Francisco-based JET alum Beth Hillman, who has come up with a great idea for a group:
女子力アップ！「女子会サンフランシスコ」決起集会
Are you a Japanese woman or a woman with an interest in Japan? Maybe you just moved here from Tokyo this summer and want to make new friends… Maybe you taught English in Osaka a few years ago and want to revive your rusty Japanese… Whether you are a native Japanese woman or an American (or other nationality) woman with an interest in Japan, Joshikai may be for you!
女子による女子のための女子限定ネットワークイベント「女子会サンフランシスコ」を始動しました。女子同士ならではのよさ、赤裸々な本音トークなどを楽しんで、一緒に女子力アップを目指しませんか？
We are creating a community of Japanese women and women with an interest in Japan, gathering for a monthly meet-up to make friends, share stories and learn from each other. On the second Thursday of each month, we’ll meet at a location that is chic, reasonably priced, and conveniently located (near a BART station and other public transportation) for an evening of drinks and girl talk, where our members can connect and relax over a cocktail. We’ll also have a monthly guest speaker or theme, so that we can share knowledge and empower each other.
You can visit our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199208063212&ref=nf
We’re also on Twitter! Follow us at: @joshikaisf
Meeting: Joshikai San Francisco: The Japan-Connected Women’s Group
Goal: To relax, have a drink and make connections with other women who are Japanese or interested in Japan
Date: Thursday, January 14th (the second Thursday of each month)
Time: 6 pm – 8:30 pm. Come and leave any time — and enjoy happy hour specials for the entire event!
Location: Amber India Restaurant, 25 Yerba Buena Lane, San Francisco, 94103
/www.amber-india.com/SanFrancisco/
日時：１月14日木曜日午後６時-８時半
場所：Amber India Restaurant(ご好意により、イベント中はドリンク&アペタイザーがハッピーアワーの価格です。Tejiさんナマステ！）
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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
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The JET alumni community already has a great reputation for writers such as Bruce Feiler, Roland Kelts and James Kennedy among others. And now we’re starting to make our mark on the world of film as well.
JET alum Aaron Woolfolk‘s film The Harimaya Bridge, starring starring Ben Guillory, Saki Takaoka, Misa Shimizu, and Danny Glover (who is also the Executive Producer), is making its New York debut on Sunday December 6 (with Q&A and cocktail reception to follow) and Sunday December 13 as part of the African Diaspora Film Festival.
(Editor’s Note: I already bought my ticket for the Dec 6 date!)
The film had a nationwide theatrical release in Japan beginning in June, and the response from audiences and critics was fantastic. (There was also a showing in Los Angeles back in June that a number of JETAA Southern California JET alums attended.)
The film will be showing in New York:
- Sunday, December 6 @ 5:30PM – Thalia Cinema, Symphony Space (95th & Bway) – GALA SCREENING. Followed by a Q&A with director and catered reception
- Sunday, Dec. 13 @ 7:30PM- Thalia Cinema, Symphony Space (95th & Bway)
This looks to be a big event for the JET alum community, so get your tickets now and hope to see you there.
Here’s the trailer for the film:
Via Marc Hitzig (Niigata-ken, 1992-95) of the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. is seeking volunteers to help with the planning of their 50th Anniversary Sakura Matsuri:
Dear JETs & Friends of JET (FOJs),
Next year marks the 50th Anniversary of Japan-America Society’s Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival to be held on Saturday, April 10, 2010. We have already started to prepare for the largest Japanese street festival outside of Japan. We are looking for people who are interested in helping us make it all happen and willing to commit a little time for us.
The festival is broken up into different committees led by a Committee Chair. We have several Committees that still have Sub-chair positions that need to be filled. Sub-chairs work under the Committee Chair to facilitate any help they need before or during the festival.
If you have experience in event planning or like taking managerial roles, please contact Marc Hitzig (mhitzig [at] us-japan. org) or Ms. Nobu Iwata (iwata [at] us-japan. org) at JASW for more information.
If you are interested in volunteering and getting involved but cannot commit the time to become a sub-chair, we still need many people to help us on the day of the festival! We will start recruiting for “Day-of volunteers” in December.
Thank you,
Marc Hitzig (Niigata-ken, 1992-95
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.
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Translator/Interpreter/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 20 00-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own obser
vations.
Last night I attended the world premiere of Talk Like Singing, the first-ever original Japanese musical to premiere in the U.S. I had high hopes for this production due to the involvement of several big names in Japan. The star of the show, Shingo Katori, is a member of the ubiquitous boy band SMAP, and though he is less well-known than heartthrob Kimutaku or recently headline-making Kusanagi he holds his own thanks to his eccentricity. Back in my JET days, he adopted the persona of “Shingo Mama,” and sang of his cooking skills, eating breakfast together and properly greeting everyone with a genki “oha!” This abbreviation for ohayou or “good morning” and its accompanying hand motion became all the rage at the workplace and beyond.
This song was composed by Yasuharu Konishi, who is in charge of the show’s music and musical direction. He was Read More
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
Just because JetWit is a big fan of HappyFunSmile. Also because the flyer is pretty cool.
The following event info was shared with JetWit by JET alum Laura Sethney, Program Coordinator at the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Ft Worth:
Join us for a private gallery viewing and cocktail party for Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth members and friends.
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Sponsored by Conduit Gallery
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JASDFW members and friends are invited to a special viewing of the intriguing works of three emerging artists, including Japanese photographer, Mimi Kato. Spend an evening mingling with fellow JASDFW members while sipping on wine and sampling hors d’oeuvres. We encourage members to invite guests in order to share this unique opportunity and learn more about the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth.
Date: Friday, November 13, 2009
Time: 6:00 – 8:00pm
Location: Conduit Gallery
1626 C Hi Line Drive
Dallas, Texas 75207
RSVP to Lauren Sethney by Tuesday, November 10th
Email: lauren@jasdfw.org / Phone: 214-342-2022
***Exhibiting Artists’ Information***
Mimi Kato
Website: www.mimikato.com
This exhibit marks the first time for Japanese photographer Mimi Kato to showcase her work in Dallas. The large scale photographic series depicts each of the four seasons. Read More
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Thanks to Richard Sadowsky of the Japan Association of Translators (JAT) (日本翻訳者協会) for passing this on:
PROJECT Osaka: Professional Japanese-English Conference for Translators
Sat. 28th November 2009
Admission: Students: 4000 Yen, JAT Members: 5000 Yen, Non-Members: 6000 Yen
PROJECT Osaka is a one-day conference on translation organized by the Japan Association of Translators (JAT) (日本翻訳者協会) for experienced translators to share knowledge about the profession of translation with aspiring translators or those at the beginning stages of their careers.
PROJECT Osaka is the second in a series of one-day events for translators, following upon a successful PROJECT Tokyo held on Nov. 22, 2008, which attracted a full-capacity 250 participants.
The PROJECT Osaka theme is “Starting Out and Moving Up” and the format consists of mostly panel sessions with several speakers and a moderator who welcomes questions and comments from the audience.
More details about the content will be made available on this website.
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.
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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!
We know there are some JET alums running in the NYC Marathon this coming Sunday, November 1. If you’re one of them, or if you know a JET alum who is running, please post your name in the comments section of this post (or e-mail jetwit at jetwit dot com.
Just thought it would be nice to have a list of all of the JET alums who will be participating so we can oen suru for you.
Yoroshiku and minasan ganbatte kudasai!
Via JETAA Florida:
Hello everyone. Here are two upcoming JETAA events I’d like you all to be aware of.
- This week Sunday, the 25th at 7:00 pm I will host our monthly meeting at Stardust Coffee in north Orlando. If this is too late for you please give me a shout as I am willing to start a little bit earlier if this would accommodate more people. The address of Stardust is: 842 E Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL
- On Sunday, November 8th from 12:00 to 5:00 pm the Orlando Japan Festival will take place in Hunters Creek village in south Orlando. This is a great festival, that attracts big crowds, and has a ton of stuff to see, as well as eat. I’d like to make this our o-kaeri-kai for the recent returnees. Afterwards I was thinking of renting out the karaoke room at Aki restaurant in Orlando. Please reply back if you are interested so I can look into making a reservation. http://www.orlandojapanfestival.com
- Finally, I’m requesting contributions for our chapter newsletter. I am going to write a couple of articles myself, but it would be great to have some more input from the rest of our members. If you would like to promote something Japan related here in Florida, or submit a Japan related article please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.
Thanks
Tom Gregorich
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.
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).
Professional translator Terry Gallagher shared another good event for translators with JetWit, this one via the honyaku Google Group:
As part of its ongoing efforts to develop an international presence, foster new talent, and connect with peer organizations, the Japan Association of Translators (JAT) will be sponsoring a mixer in Manhattan on Friday, October 30, 2009, for veteran and aspiring translators/interpreters alike. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to network, find out more about JAT, and socialize with other translators/interpreters in the big city….Non-members are most welcome. Cash bar, with partial subsidy from JAT.
WHEN: Friday, October 30
Starting: 10:30 PM (after the traditional Friday night JLD dinner
[http://groups.google.com/group/honyaku/browse_thread/thread/c153d891486ac1c8])
Ending: During ATA’s Annual Conference (?)
[https://www.atanet.org/conf/2009/sessionschedule.php#5]
WHERE: Press Box (932 Second Ave., between 49th and 50th Streets)
[http://www.thepressboxnyc.com/index2.html]
Signup (by 10/26; and for last-minute notices/updates):
http://jat.org/2009/10/16/jat-new-york-mixer-oct-30-2009/
Feel free to pass the word on, and hope to see you there!
ニューヨークでJATネットワークパーティを実施します。 会員・非会員を問わず、翻訳に興味のある方ならどなたでもご参加いただけます。 翻訳未経験者の方にとってはベテラン翻訳者と交流する絶好の機会です。
日時: １０月３０日（金） 10:30pm～
場所: The Press Box (http://www.thepressboxnyc.com/index2.html)
参加費: 一部JATが負担。追加分はキャッシュバー。
参加希望者は、１０月２６日（月） までに
[http://jat.org/2009/10/16/jat-new-york-mixer-oct-30-2009/]
へご予約お願いいたします。
Professional translator Terry Gallagher shared the following with JetWit:
The American Translators Association holds its annual conference in NYC at the end of this month. It includes a dinner for the Japanese language division, which will be on Friday, Oct. 30 at IL Punto Ristorante, 507 Ninth Ave.
Contact person is Mina Seat, minaseat [/at/] gmail [/dot/] com More info here: https://www.atanet.org/conf/2009/
Cost is $53. It might be late to sign up, but it was an open invitation, and you might still be able to talk your way in. There will be lots and lots of working translators/interpreters there, and you might be able to pick up a bunch of new ideas.
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