Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine (October 2011)
Cultural Outreach, Events 
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Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine round-up via Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.
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Featured Article:
Exclusive interview with Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP
Other articles this month:
Tsunami Appeal: exhibition by British artists
Rescuing Archaeology and Culture: assessing the impact of the March 2011 disaster on cultural heritage
Films at the Embassy of Japan: My Secret Cache
JAPAN-UK Events Calendar
Great Grand Master of the Urasenke School of Tea visits the UK
Dr Nicole Rousmaniere honoured for her promotion of Japan and its arts in the UK
UK students brew sake in Tohoku
A sporting spectacle in Wales
25 years of JET: looking back and looking forward
Geoffrey Bownas – the man I knew
Embassy honour for Japanese students
The mystery organiser behind the Quakebook project
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To subscribe to the Embassy of Japan in the UK webmagazine, please email webmagazine@ld.mofa.go.jp with the subject ‘subscribe’.
PNW JETAA’s meeting with Hyogo Governor Ido and Ryan Hart’s speech
Cultural Outreach, Earthquake Tsunami, Events, Fundraising, Japan Local, JETAA Chapters, Local Government, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment, Volunteer, Writers Comments Off on PNW JETAA’s meeting with Hyogo Governor Ido and Ryan Hart’s speech
On Friday August 26, we had the great honor of giving a presentation about the Pacific Northwest JET Alumni Association at the Hyogo Seminar, which was hosted by Hyogo Prefecture (coordinated by theHyogo Business and Cultural Center) and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). The Governor of Hyogo Prefecture, Toshizo Ido, gave a comprehensive presentation on the many great qualities of Hyogo. Consul General Kiyokazu Ota, Masaaki Akagi, the Executive Director of The Japan Local Government Center (CLAIR New York), and Ginn Kitaoka, the Executive Director of the Hyogo Business and Cultural Center all gave warm opening remarks.
During our presentation, we highlighted the great things our chapter does. Ryan Hart (Chiba-ken, Ichihara-shi, 1998-99) (former PNW JETAA President, JETAA USA Country Representative and JETAA International Vice-Chair) shared what JETAA and current JETs are doing on the national and international level, Karin Zaugg-Black shared how her JET experiences shaped her career and her personal involvement with Japan, and Erin Erickson explained how we have supported Japan Relief efforts. Leela Bilow, Jana Yamada, and Casey Mochel shared their memories of Japan and how they continue to be involved with the Japanese community after JET.
Ryan Hart very generously allowed us to share his speech with you. Below is a brief excerpt, and his full speech is below the cut.
From its inception, the JET Alumni Association has helped former participants of the JET Program “Bring Japan Back Home.” What does this mean? We help former participants network, make new friends and transition their careers. We help the JET Program by recruiting, interviewing and training new teachers for their journey. We also help our communities we live in to support Japanese culture and raise awareness of the strong ties between our countries.
On March 11, 2011, like so many other things in our lives, this changed. Instead of “Bringing Japan Back Home”, our chapters and membership have rallied not only to raise money for immediate earthquake and tsunami relief, but also to strengthen the value of our relationship with local communities and organizations in Japan.
The JET Program, since 1987, has grown into the largest and most successful work exchange program in the world. Each year, the program brings thousands of teachers to Japan to promote language education and to strengthen Japan’s relationship with a number of countries. Since 1989, our Alumni Association of former program participants, has mirrored that growth and has steadily grown as a true grassroots organization, built from our individual members up. JETAA is now 53 chapters in 18 countries. As a former chapter president here in Seattle, a former Country Representative for JETAA USA’s 19 chapters and as former Vice Chair for JETAA International, I have been truly blessed to have had the chance to work and be a part of this growth.
From its inception, the JET Alumni Association has helped former participants of the JET Program “Bring Japan Back Home.” What does this mean? We help former participants network, make new friends and transition their careers. We help the JET Program by recruiting, interviewing and training new teachers for their journey. We also help our communities we live in to support Japanese culture and raise awareness of the strong ties between our countries.
On March 11, 2011, like so many other things in our lives, this changed. Instead of “Bringing Japan Back Home”, our chapters and membership have rallied not only to raise money for immediate earthquake and tsunami relief, but also to strengthen the value of our relationship with local communities and organizations in Japan.
- Immediately following the earthquake and tsunami, JETAA USA started raised money as a national organization and chapters voted to allocate this money directly to the affected local communities. We have formed a national advisory committee for the relief fund, of which I am proudly serving as a member. To date, the JET alumni have raised over $60k in funds and we are exploring continued fundraising efforts to make an even bigger impact.
- AJET, as an organization of current JETs living and teaching in Japan, has been partnering with organizations such as Peace Boat, Second Harvest, Foreign Buyers Club and 5toSurvive to raise money and awareness of recovery efforts. The Osaka AJET Chapter has worked on food drives with Kozmoz International of Kyoto, and have driven food and supplies themselves to Tohoku from Osaka.
- Mike Maher-King, a Fukui JET, formed Smile Kids Japan, a program of visiting orphanages throughout Japan. After March 11, he partnered with an organization in Tokyo called Living Dreams to start the Smile & Dreams project for Tohoku children to make sure the needs of the orphanages and the needs of the children who rely on them are met. He recently presented at TED Talks in Tokyo.
- Paul Yoo, an Akita JET, founded the Fruit Tree Project (delivering $23,571 worth and 38,612 items of fresh fruit to Tohoku) and VolunteerAkita, which was the backbone of the BIG CLEAN project that was directly involved in the cleanup of Kessenuma. He is now working as the Home Communication Manager for two orphanages in Sendai to ensure their needs are communicated with organizations involved with relief efforts.
- Hotdogs and Hugs was an aid organization of JETs from Saga-ken, who traveled from Saga Prefecture in western Kyushu, all the way to Tohoku, raising awareness and funds for relief efforts along the way.
- Save Miyagi was founded by Canon Purdy, a JET Alumni who was in Miyagi-ken.
- Billy McMicheal, a CIR in Fukushima, has formed Hearts for Haragama, which is raising funds for the Haragama Youchien Kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima.
- Kat Geeraert, an alumnus who also lived in Soma, has started Friends of Soma to raise money for relief efforts.
These are just a few examples of the direct impact JETs and JET alumni have had. Given the number of teachers who have taught in Japan since 1985, there probably are many more individual efforts out there that we don’t know about.
What we do know is that, in light of what happened on March 11, JET alumni around the world are not only focused on “Bringing Japan Home”, but also “Bringing Home to Japan.” Collectively, we have a renewed focus not only on strengthening US/Japan relations, but also the ties with the communities we once lived, worked, and taught in. We know that our contracts we were given to us by local governments and boards of education throughout Japan, weren’t just annual contracts, they were invitations to a legacy. It should be very clear to the many communities across Japan who have invested in the JET Program since 1987 that there is a long-term value in the relationships that have been formed with the many JET Program participants that have come and gone. Whether it be through media campaigns, tourism promotion, school exchange programs, or relief and fundraising efforts, JETAA is now looking to continue our legacy in “Bringing Home Back to Japan.”
Thank you.
Ryan Hart, Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, 1998-99
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Thanks to Matt Gillam, Senior Researcher at CLAIR-NY (aka Japan Local Government Center), who attended the recent Sister Cities International Conference in Riverside, CA, for writing up a little something about the conference and noting how JETs were present in several ways.
A little context: Back in July, several JET alum reps including Mike Shu, Jessyca Wilcox and myself along with Matt met up with Sister Cities International when we were in D.C. for the JETAA USA National Conference to talk about potential collaboration. The topic was subsequently discussed with JETAA chapter reps in a session at the JETAA USA National Conference.
“I just got back from the Sister Cities Pan-Pacific conference in Riverside, where we had a chance to gauge interest in the idea of making alumni available to cities to help out with their sister city relationships. The reaction I got was that there is definitely interest, and not just limited to sister cities matters. There seems to be quite a need for help with other visitors from Japan as well, where cities lack people with knowledge of not just language, but also cultural and social norms.
Mark Juloya and Russell Iriye, from JETAA Southern California, came for the conference and Russell participated in a session on “Best Practices in Youth Programming”, where he talked about JET & JETAA. In the Q&A after his presentation, I had a chance to mention the alumni as an available resource for cities and a couple of people were quite interested. Overall, as I said, the response was positive, and Mark and Russell were also great exemplars of the kind of talent JETAA has to offer.
On Sunday, Sendai City put on a display at the most popular spot in town (the Mission Inn) to talk about how the city is recovering and to thank Riverside for all its support ($584,000 in donations, plus the area dispatched USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) teams etc. to the region immediately following the disasters). Audrey Shiomi, a former CIR in Sendai City, also came out to help for the day. Audrey is one of those former JETs who have taken advantage of the program to revisit their former communities in Tohoku, and another great example of how valuable alumni can be to their former employers.
And one more person to mention is Renay Loper, who’s with the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership now. She was there with a Japanese colleague to attend the conference, since CGP was helping to fund it.
JETs are everywhere.”
Matt Gillam
JLGC, New York
Return on JET-vestment: JETAA NY joins Kyushu Battenkai for Fall Gathering
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Via JETAA New York. A great example of JETAA providing Return on JET-vestment at the local government level:
Terrific Turnout for Kyushu Battenkai’s Fall Gathering
“With over 60 people in attendance from both JETAANY and the Kyushu BattenKai, we enjoyed another successful joint event with the Kyushu expat organization (see the picture from the end of the evening above). We look forward to working with them again.”
JETAA Music City to host it’s first Nihongo Dake Dinner!
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Thanks to JETAA Music City President (and Arkansas Cherry Blossom Princess) Terry Vo (Kumamoto-ken, 2007-09) for the heads up:
Join us for a Japanese-Style Potluck on October 4, 2011. Come mingle, eat, drink, and be merry! This event is open to our Friends of JET Alum as well so please feel free to invite your family and friends! Please bring either your favorite Dish, Dessert or Beverage!
RSVP DEADLINE: September 30 to Leah atvp@jetaamc.org
Location: 1812 Cahal Avenue, Nashville TN 37206″
JQ Magazine: Japan Society Launches Beer Revolution
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Green Tea IPA, one of over 20 beers ready for tasting at Japan Society's Beer Revolution event Oct. 5. (Courtesy Baird Brewery)
By Vlad Baranenko (Saitama-ken, 2000-02) for JQ magazine. Vlad is an avid photographer.
With an exploding market for craft beer here in the U.S., Japan’s contribution to the industry, known domestically as ji bīru (地ビール), has seen tremendous growth over the past 17 years.
On Oct. 5, beer buffs and those who simply enjoy an occasional cold pint alike will get an opportunity to sample from at least 20 kinds of beer at New York’s Japan Society‘s “Japan’s Beer Revolution: The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Japanese Craft Brewing.”
While previously held back by government regulation, Japan’s microbreweries took off in 1994, and have since been experimenting with a variety of traditional ingredients such as ginger and oysters to create rich and complex flavors to replace the standard lagers in order to satisfy local taste palettes. Since many of the beers are produced in age old sake breweries, the Japanese had no trouble adapting Western methods to manufacture a product whose quality would no doubt impress even the pickiest connoisseurs of Belgian brew.
JET alum band Monkey Majik to play Sendai charity concert
Celebrity, Earthquake Tsunami, Events, Fundraising, Japan Local, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment Comments Off on JET alum band Monkey Majik to play Sendai charity concert
Members of Monkey Majik with Deputy Minister Len Edwards
Here’s info on a charity concert (“charity live”) by JET alum Maynard Plant’s (Aomori-ken, 1997-2000) hit band Monkey Majik in Sendai on October 16th, as part of their ongoing effort to support rebuilding and recovery in Tohoku, in their capacity as Tohoku Tourism Ambassadors.
東北観光親善大使「モンキーマジック」がチャリティライブを開催します！
2011年9月12日
震災から６ヶ月が経過してもなお、復興までのプロセスには数多くの方の継続的なご支援が必要であるとあらためて実感すると同時に、活動を通じて人間一人一人の助け合いの力強さ、素晴らしさに日々感動を憶えてきました。
そしてこの出来事を全国の皆様に伝え続けて行かなくてはならないという強い想いから、プロジェクト第３弾となるチャリティライブを故郷 被災地 仙台で開催することを決断しました。
「音楽」の力を通じて、参加してくれた方々、さらに被災地の方々の一歩前へ踏み出す気持ちへの後押しとなり、心の早期復興への一助となるような１日を共に作り上げたいと強く願っております。
本公演に於ける売上金の一部を義援金、寄付金として、再び公的機関を通じて被災地へ送ります。
〈公演概要〉
東日本大震災復興支援プロジェクト
ＭＯＮＫＥＹ ＭＡＪＩＫチャリティライブ「ＳＥＮＤ愛」
～ＭＯＮＫＥＹ ＭＡＪＩＫがゲストを迎えてのチャリティライブ～
日程：２０１１年１０月１６日（日）開場１３：００開演１４：００
会場：セキスイハイムスーパーアリーナ（グランディ２１）
出演：ＭＯＮＫＥＹ ＭＡＪＩＫ/ＬＯＶＥ ＰＳＹＣＨＥＤＥＬＩＣＯ/Ｒａｋｅ and more・・・
チケット一般発売：９月１７日（土）１０：００～
チケット料金：前売り５，０００円（税込）
お問い合わせ：
ＴＢＣ事業部 ＴＥＬ０２２－２２７－２７１５
ニュース・プロモーション ＴＥＬ０２２－２６６－７５５５
詳しくは こちら へアクセス願います。
Justin’s Japan: Japan Society Remixes a Greek Masterpiece with ‘Medea’
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Micari stars in Satoshi Miyagi's production of 'Medea,' running Sept. 23-25 at New York's Japan Society.
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here for related stories.
Looking for an Eastern take on a Western classic? Japan Society kicks off its fall 2011/spring 2012 performing arts season with the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC)’s production of Medea with a three-performance engagement from Sept. 23-25.
Directed by SPAC artistic director Satoshi Miyagi, the performance makes its North American premiere as a visual feast on the scale of a kabuki play. Set in 19th century Japan among the nation’s imperialist, gender-divided late Meiji era, this bold reinterpretation of Euripides’ evergreen features a company of 19 presented in Miyagi’s distinct bunraku puppet theater-inspired style accompanied on stage by live music.
Performed in Japanese with English subtitles, this stunning and internationally acclaimed production has traveled to 20 cities and 11 countries since its premiere in 1999. It also marks the return of SPAC to Japan Society, where the troupe mounted productions of Electra and Oedipus Rex during national tours for both.
For the complete story, click here.
JET Prefecture Round-Up 09.16.11
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Emily Lemmon, (Hyogo-ken, Shiso-shi, 2009-present), PSG volunteer, organizer of Hyogo-ken’s PEPY Ride, student of Shorinji Kempo, and editor of the Hyogo Times, gives a little taste of what JETs are doing around Japan. To submit items for future JET Prefecture Round-up posts, e-mail Emily at jetinfogather [at] gmail.com.
Events by Region
- Aomori AJET Welcome Party was September 10th at Shichinohe Campground.
- Iwate AJET will be climbing Mt. Iwate on October 8th on the Umagaeshi trail.
- MAJET Bandai Trip is September 17th-19th , a camping adventure at Mount Bandai in Northwest Fukushima.
- Connect 2011 is happening October 8th-10th at Kurosawa in Oguni, Yamagata.
- The Aizu Festival 2011 is September 22nd-24th in Aizu Wakamatsu City.
- Halloween SHINE is October 22nd in Aizu Wakamatsu City.
- The 2011 International Festival Aizu is October 29th!
- Fukushima ALTs are doing a Home Visit Program in Aizu on November 5th.
- Fukushima JETs attended Volunteer Day at a Children’s Home on September 3rd at Iris Gakuen in Fukushima City.
Kantou Region
- Chiba AJET Baseball Game trip goes to see the Chiba Marines on October 1st.
- Chiba JETs are prepping for the Tokyo Yamathon 2011.
- Gunma JETs join the football tourney in Nagano on October 1st.
Chubu Region
- Shizuoka JETs go to Costume Karaoke on October 1st!
- Shizuoka AJET makes an excursion to Fuji-Q Highland on October 15th.
- Cricket Game: Nagano vs. Hakuba, October 19th.
- October 16th, the Ina English Guide Club will present Zazen Meditation.
- Toyama AJET is holding a Cheesecake Bakeoff on Sunday, October 16th, in Nanto city.
Kansai Region
Over the weekend of September 2nd, Typhoon Talas crossed through Japan, dumping massive amounts of rain especially on the prefectures of Wakayama, Nara, and Mie. There are volunteer opportunities available to JETs in and around the Kansai area to help the victims of this typhoon.
- Kyoto AJET takes part in the Mikoshi Challenge, October 9th.
- The Nara AJET Halloween Party will be at the Wormwood Café on October 29th.
- Hyogo AJET leads a hike through the Fukuchiyama abandoned railroad on September 24th in the Takarazuka area.
- Hyogo JETs Rant and Rave at the Lock Up in Kobe, September 30th.
- There will be an art event (dance, music, theater, visual arts, performance art, sculpture, installation, etc.) in the Fukuchiyama abandoned train tunnel on October 1st.
- Hyogo JETs go rafting and canyoning in Shikoku, October 9th and 10th.
- Osaka Smile Kids Japan group makes its next visit on September 25th.
- Wakayama JETs are going camping on Friend Island, October 15th.
Chugoku Region
- Bound in Japan comes to Okayama! Workshops will be in Okayama City on September 17th and 18th, in Maniwa September 24th, and in Tsuyama September 25th.
- Beerfest Daisen 2011 will take place at Mt. Daisen in Tottori, September 23rd, featuring craft brews.
- Shikoku Field Day will be held in Shikoku Saburo no Sato, in Mima City, Tokushima on November 5th.
- October 1st-2nd is the Niihama Welcome Party, held on the beach in Niihama.
- October 15th Ehime JETs will climb Mt. Ishizuchi, tallest mountain on Shikoku.
- October 22nd is the Matsuyama Orphanage Visit.
- November 12th is the Ehime AJET Dinner in Matsuyama.
- Beer, Sake, Baseball, and BBQ will be September 17th at Hagi Park.
- Kochi JETs will make an excursion to Nahari Hotel Beer Garden on Friday 30th September.
- October 8th-10th is Surf Camp in Kuroshio-cho for Kochi JETs.
- Kochi-JETs are helping with Halloween Party in an abandoned school building on October 28th.
- The Annual Oita AJET Sumo Trip is coming up on Saturday, November 26th!
- The Amakusa Waterwheel event is September 23rd in Amakusa, Kumamoto!
- Kumamoto JETs are helping out with the 5th annual Nagasu Ferry Event on September 25th, Sunday!
- KumAJET and DiscSports Japan present Ichi Kyuu Bee on October 1st, featuring 4 ALT Teams (Saga, Oita, Miyazaki, and Kumamoto) and 9 Japanese Teams (Shakaijin and college students from all over Kyushu).
- Kumamoto JETs will be rafting down the Kuma River on Saturday, 15th October with LandEarth.
- JETs are invited to the O’hana Cafe’s 8th Anniversary Party on September 16th.
- On 23rd September, JETs will check out the wild boar races in Kawatana.
- On 1st October, Nagasaki JETs will take a walk through Hasami. The attractions include tiered rice fields, crazy scarecrows, pottery, and pretty temples.
Event: Akari Lantern Project (London)
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Via Embassy of Japan in the UK. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.
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The Akari Lantern Project has been organised by a group of people, both Japanese and non-Japanese, to raise money for the JAPAN SOCIETY TOHOKU RELIEF FUND which is helping local communities affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
As part of the Mayor of London’s Thames Festival, on the 10th &11th September, they will hold a lantern making workshop and other Japanese craft activities on the grass outside the Tate Modern.
This will culminate in a Lantern Parade as part of the Night Carnival. The lantern parade will be accompanied by Japanese drumming by the JOJI HIROTA TAIKO DRUMMERS.
People can take part by making lanterns out of recycled bottles, creating their own pin badges, origami cranes and stop-frame animation.
For more details, please click on the following link:
http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/japanuk150/events/andmore/Akari_Project2011.html
Embassy of Japan in the UK (September 2011)
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Embassy of Japan in the UK Webmagazine round-up via Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London as is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.
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Featured Article:
Japanese FA receive trophy at Wembley to mark 90th year
Other articles this month:
Japan Matsuri 2011
A taste of Japan in Colchester
“Approaches to facilitating effective global participation in action on climate change” A lecture by Professor Hironori Hamanaka
Films at the Embassy of Japan: Children on the Island
“KANPA+i London!” Ikebana, Sake & Food Charity Event
Beyond Words Beyond Borders: Messages to Tohoku
Akari Lantern Project – lantern carriers wanted!
UK-Japan Young Scientist Workshop in Cambridge
Tanabata Festival lifts spirits in Sendai
Reconciliation Service at Canterbury Cathedral
Spotlight On: Lorna Maud
Subscribe:
To subscribe to the Embassy of Japan in the UK webmagazine, please email webmagazine@ld.mofa.go.jp with the subject ‘subscribe’.
Video: JETAA Ottawa Prez promotes “JETAA dogs” and Japan Festival on morning tv show
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JETAA Ottawa President Lisa Mallin (Chiba-ken, 2006-08) does a great job on Ottawa’s Channel A morning show of promoting “JETAA dogs” (Japan-inspired hotdogs) along with the entire Ottawa Japanese Summer Festival. Make sure to watch to the end where Lisa also helpfully informs the host that Sendai-based band Monkey Majik was started by JET alum Maynard Plant (Aomori-ken, 1997-2000) and his brother.
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James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of the acclaimed young adult novel The Order of Odd-Fish, will be curating the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival with the New York Public Library around November 5 and with the Harold Washington Library in Chicago around November 16. And he has a special request for JET alumni who are into film making:
There are some Newberry award winners that are about Japan and the Japanese, and nobody has done a 90-Second Newbery film of them yet!
Off the top of my head, I can think of:
(1) Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, which is about John Manjiro (2011 Honor Winner)
(2) Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata, which is about WWII Japanese-American experience (2005 Medal Winner).
(3) Commodore Perry In the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg. (1986 Honor Winner)
So, as for JET alumni:
(1) I’d love to put the call out to the JET alumni community, which surely must include filmmakers, to make 90-second films based on those books for the film festival. (It would be even better if they were totally in Japanese, with subtitles!)
(2) The film festival at the NYPL on November 5 will be not only films, but also live acts between the films — a kind of cabaret atmosphere — live 90-second Newbery reenactments, or songs, etc. So this is also a call out to any arts groups / comedy teams / bands / etc. who would be interested in doing something as a between-film live segment for the 90-Second Newbery film festival?
Here’s a little more info from James about the 90-Second Newbery Festival: Read More
JET Programme 25th Anniversary Symposium to be held by Japanese government
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FYI, this is a big deal and something to pay attention to, especially in terms of the future of JET. One of the speakers, notably, will be Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94), Executive Director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA). I believe AJET President Matthew Cook (Osaka, 2007-12) may also be in attendance.
Here’s the official info via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) website:
Holding of the Symposium and a Reception Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the JET Programme
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2011/8/0816_01.html
August 16, 2011
Japanese
- On Thursday, September 8, the Symposium Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the JET Programme (Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) will be held at U Thant International Conference Hall, United Nations University. The symposium will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR).
- The JET Programme aims to enhance foreign language education and promote international exchange at the local level. The symposium will be held to reflect on the results of the Programme’s efforts during the past 25 years, and contribute to the Programme’s further development, as well as to widely publicize the Programme to all walks of life.
- On the occasion of the holding of the Symposium Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the JET Programme, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to hold a reception at the Iikura Guesthouse in the evening of the same day, with a view to deepening the understanding of the relevant parties in Japan and abroad on the significance and results of the Programme, among others, and seeking further coordination with parties related to the Programme including those from local governments and in the education field, and the diplomatic corps in Tokyo.
Additional information
Symposium Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the JET Programme (Overview)
1. Time and date:
12:30 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, 2011
2. Venue:
U Thant International Conference Hall, United Nations University
(5-53-70, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)
3. Co-organizers:
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology,
Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR)
4. Supporters:
National Governors’ Association,
Japan Association of City Mayors,
National Association of Towns and Villages
5. Scheduled programs and participants:
(a) Greetings by co-organizers:
Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications,
Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
(b) Greetings by guests:
Ambassador of the United States to Japan (to be confirmed),
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan (to be confirmed),
Ambassador of the ROK to Japan
(c) Commemorative lecture:
Mr. James Gannon,
Executive Director, Japan Center for International Exchange
(d) Activity reports:
Dr. Angus Lockyer,
Chair, Japan Research Centre, University of London
Mr. Kim Jin Ah,
Director of International Cooperation Department,
Governors Association of Korea
(e) Panel discussion:
Panelists:
Dr. Akira Nakamura, Professor, Meiji University
Dr. Angus Lockyer,
Chair, Japan Research Centre, University of London
Mr. Kim Jin Ah,
Director of International Cooperation Department,
Governors Association of Korea
Mr. Keiji Yamada, Governor, Kyoto Prefecture
Mr. Masao Niisato, Professor, Tokyo International University
Ms. Yoko Kimura, Chairperson, Board of Directors, CLAIR
— Participants: Approximately 350 people including those from local governments and in the education field, and the diplomatic corps in Tokyo.
— Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.
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- (*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)
Tampa Natsumatsuri a success thank to JETAA Florida’s Tampa subchapter
Cultural Outreach, Events, JETAA Chapters, Return on JET-vestment, Volunteer Comments Off on Tampa Natsumatsuri a success thank to JETAA Florida’s Tampa subchapter
Via the JETAA Tampa (aka Tampa Kumi) email list:
“We made it through another year of Tampa Natsumatsuri. We had over 300 people attend. It was the biggest event we’ve done yet. A huge thank you to everyone who participated. You truly make this event happen. Also thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the event. And lastly, the biggest thanks to the coordination committee who helped me tremendously this year! It would not have been possible to do an event this big alone. And these people gave significant portions of their time and personal resources to coordinate everything that went on.”
Tampa JET alumni are also known for their Tampa Tsudoi, a monthly “nihongo-dake” gathering at a Panera where JET alums and other Japanese-speaking members of the community (both American and Japanese) gather for Japanese practice and friendship.
