Fundraising: JETAA UK
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Via the JETAA UK website:
Thanks to all who have made our ‘Give a Day for Japan‘ scheme and the pub quiz last Thursday such a fantastic success. We’re all doing that we can in the light of Japan’s terrible losses. We have extended our invitation to the JETAA Ball this year (which is a fund-raising event and is thus not subsidised, as in previous years) to the wider Japan-UK community in London. Help us make this a night to remember!
JETAA May Ball in Aid of the Tohoku Earthquake Appeal
Tickets are going faster than limited edition Kate & Will china teacups – so get yours on the double! Check out the amazing conservatory venue – resplendent with fairy-light trimmed palms…
Hosted at the deluxe 4-star Millennium Gloucester Hotel & Conference Centre in the heart of Kensington, London, this year’s JETAA Ball will be raising funds for the Japan Society’s Tohoku Earthquake Appeal, which JETAA UK is also supporting through our Give a Day for Japan scheme.
Date: Saturday 14th May, 19:00 – 23:00
Tickets: £60 (this includes a 3-course buffet dinner with some drinks, a taiko performance from Kaikyo Taiko, music, dancing and a night of fundraising)
Dress Code: Black Tie and Evening Gown
Nearest Tube: Gloucester Road Underground Station (Piccadilly, Circle and District lines)
Overnight stay: Special rates are available for JETAA guests wishing to stay overnight at the hotel, please e-mail for further details.
To Register: Please fill in our online registration form. Read More
Event: 2nd Japanese Heritage Night at Mets Citifield – Tues, June 21
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Via request of the Consulate General of Japan in New York:
2nd Japanese Heritage Night at Mets Citifield
Please let your members, colleagues, friends and family know that the 2nd Japanese Heritage Night at Mets Citifield will be held on Tuesday June 21st, 2011 when the Mets play the Oakland As with Hideki Matsui in attendance. This is a fundraising event – a portion of each ticket sold through our group will go to Japan relief efforts.
We will be sending out information about Group Sales as soon as the site is set up but this year, seats in three price categories will be grouped together:
- Baseline Box Silver seat =$54.00
- Pepsi Porch seat = $32.00
- Promenade Reserved Infield seat = $19.00
While we understand that not all of you are Mets fans, the Yankees do not provide a Heritage Night and we wanted to have a community event where Japanese and Japanese Americans and all those interested in “things Japanese” could get together and have a good time. We look forward to everyone’s participation again this year.
Last year 400 tickets were purchased. This year, let’s aim for 1,000!
If you are interested in helping out, please contact our organizing committee co-chairs: Ann Harakawa (aharakawa [at] twotwelve.com) or Marianne Yoshioka (mry5 [at] columbia.edu).
Thank you!!
Organizing Committee
Ann Harakawa, Marianne Yoshioka, Gary Moriwaki, Susan J. Onuma, George Hirose
Advisor: Donna Tsufura
WIT Life #164: More notable Nihonjin
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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.
Interesting article in the NYT today profiling the new head of the M.I.T Media Lab, a 44-year old Japanese venture capitalist named Joichi Ito. Ironically enough, Ito attended both Tufts and the University of Chicago in the past, but didn’t graduate from either as he didn’t like their learning styles. However, his accomplishments include serving on the board of the Internet governance organization Icann and the Mozilla Foundation, and along the course of his career he has invested in more than 12 start-ups such as Flickr and Twitter. In Japan, he helped establish Read More
Justin’s Japan: This week’s Nippon in NY events: NY Loves Japan, Japan-a-Mania, Sakura Matsuri
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The Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York joins a superb lineup of peformers at the Sakura Matsuri festival at Brooklyn Botanic Garden this weekend, April 30-May 1. (Jason Gardner)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
After all those April showers, it’s finally starting to feel like spring. And what better way to welcome those May flowers than with these events, capped off with the 30th(!) annual edition of a Brooklyn Botanic Garden classic.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
269 11th Avenue (between 27th and 28th Streets)
Tickets: $100 general admission/$175 VIP (click here for VIP details)
The New York Sake and Japanese Food Community has joined together with non-profit volunteer organization Project by Project to organize a fundraising event to support disaster relief in Japan in the wake of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. New York’s leading Japanese food and sake distributors, chefs, restaurants (including Bao Noodles, owned by JET alum Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95), who also helped organized the event), food writers, public relations companies, and cooking schools have come together to form NY Loves Japan. Help spread the word through their Twitter and Facebook pages as well.
Saturday, April 30, 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Japan-a-Mania
Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City
223 E 30th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
Free to volunteer. RSVP to Katrina Barnas
Back by popular demand! Join fellow members of the JET Program Alumni Association of New York as they teach NYC kids about Japanese culture in partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters and NY de Volunteer. Step up to show off your origami, katakana or kimono-tying skills, or help with crowd control and meet new friends. Last year’s event drew over 60 kids with their bigs, and even more are expected this year. Also welcome are planners and anyone who can provide contacts for or perhaps lead a karate demonstration.
Saturday, April 30-May 1, 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Enter at 900 Washington Avenue (between Crown and Carroll Streets)
Tickets: $10/$15 general admission; free for children under 12 and BBG members
During this season celebrating its historic relationship to Japanese culture and horticulture, the Garden reflects on the recent tragic events in Japan, and invites visitors to find opportunities for contemplation amidst its flowering cherries, Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, the bonsai exhibition Graceful Perseverance, and more. Visitors will be invited to make an origami crane that will eventually join thousands of others sent to Japan as a gesture of support and unity.
Click here to learn more about the events.
Sake and Chefs Tasting to Benefit Relief Efforts in Japan (NYC)
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I believe two JET alum sake experts, John Gauntner and Chris Johnson, are involved with the group that is organizing this event — New York Loves Japan: Sake and Chefs Tasting to Benefit Relief Efforts in Japan — which takes place Wednesday, April 27.
Fundraising event: JETAA Music City to co-host Top Chef Tsunami Relief Sake Dinner – 4/21
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Via JETAA Music City:
JETAA Music City and the Japan-America Society of Tennessee (JAST) will co-host the Top Chef Tsunami Relief Sake Dinner on Thursday, April 21st at Cha Chah in Nashville, TN. Top Chef DC’s Arnold Myint and Top Chef All Star’s Tiffany Derry will be preparing a 5-course meal with sake pairings with proceeds going to the JETAA USA Fund and the Tennessee Tomodachi Fund. The event will also include a Silent Auction.
We are so excited to share that no more reservations are being taken for the event! We are going to have a packed house on this evening for Japan. If you have additional questions, contact Terry Vo at president@mcjetaa.org.
Justin’s Japan: One month after the Tohoku Earthquake, New York offers more Japan benefit events
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Catch the Rock 4 Japan benefit concert at Brooklyn Bowl on April 12. (Cathyland & Packrat Planet)
By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
The massive aftershocks reported in Japan earlier today symbolized the island nation’s continued appreciation of support from around the world one month after the Tohoku Earthquake. Here are some of this week’s benefit and lecture events in New York.
Monday, April 11, 2:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Crisis Relief Exhibition
Featuring artist talk “Dialogue with Mariko Mori and Ingo Günther” moderated by Reiko Tomii and live performances
Gallery 61, New York Institute of Technology, 16 West 61st Street. 11th floor
Donations welcome
Just one month ago, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and aftermath rocked the nation of Japan. The death toll is still climbing, with over 10,000 people who lost their lives, and almost 20,000 people reported missing. Over 300,000 people lost their homes and are now living without adequate food and water. Millions of people are living with anxiety and fear of being exposed to the dangers of raising radioactive levels. And their struggles are far from over.
We Are One features artwork donated by Japanese artists living in New York to support the people in Japan. Their mission is to raise money to help with the relief efforts of the Japan earthquake and nuclear crisis, spread awareness of what has happened, and what we can do among the international community. On display are donations from approximately 100 professional Japanese artists living in New York in painting, drawing, mixed media, prints, and photography. All donated artwork will be sold at a reasonable price of $100-$200. All proceeds will go to Japan Society’s “Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.”
Tuesday, April 12, 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
iNFiNiTY cooperation cross-cultural mass choir performance
Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Center, Lower Auditorium
34 West 134th Street(Between Lenox and Fifth Avenues)
Donations welcome
“Don’t Give Up” is a song written by the American gospel composer Danny Eason. It was recorded by Eason in Japan in 2010 with Japanese blind artist Kohshi with the Japanese choir Gospel Now Japan. For this special charity rehearsal event managed by NY Hallelujah Company LLC, you can join the choir for Japan and sing with the group, raising your voice for Japan and encouraging its people. All voices and all musicians are welcome, prior to an upcoming performance in May with Eason.
According to the Japanese Red Cross, over $223,000,000 in donations were received in just one week from Japan’s friends overseas and from corporations. Over 20,000 people have been rescued by the Japanese Ministry of Defense and they are trying to save even more lives. Over 10,000 lives have been lost, but the number of victims will continue to rise with an additional 18,000 people unaccounted for, and 240,000 people have been forced to leave their homes to stay in temporary shelters. To participate, contact project leader Ms. Kyoko Uchiki at NYHCLLC[at]gmail.com or (212) 996-4302. For additional information, visit www.myspace.com/dont-give-up.
Tuesday, April 12, 8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Featuring The Orion Experience
Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Ave.(between N 11th & N 12th Streets)
$10 suggested donation, 18+ only.
The critics are raving about The Orion Experience’s upcoming EP NYC Girl. USA Today says it “recalls ’70s-era Electric Light Orchestra,” while Time Out New York exclaims “The Orion Experience…impresses with its buoyant, hooky tunes, making awesome use of a coed tag-team vocal approach on a new EP.” The band also recently released their song “Nippon Ga Dai Suki (Japan We Love You)” for the first time in the U.S., with all proceeds from purchases via CDBaby and iTunes going to The Jewish Federations of North America’s Japan Relief Fund.
For a complete listing, click here.
JETwit goes to London!
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I’ll be visiting London this week (with daughter Helen in tow) Wednesday through the following Tuesday, staying with a good friend I originally met studying at Waseda. And while in London I plan to:
- Attend a talk by Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, at The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in London on Thursday, April 14, 4pm on “Pop culture from a Multipolar Japan.”
- Meet up with JETAA International Chair and former JETAA NY Vice-President Shree Kurlekar who now lives in London as well as JapaneseLondon.com‘s Vanessa Villalobos (who is also a JETAA UK officer).
- Jointhe Japanese Conversation Group’s Hanami Picnicon Saturday, April 16 (which I believe will include a number of JET alums).
If you’d like to meet in person just come to one of the events, or feel free to get in touch at jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Toronto Fukushima JET alum fundraising
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Just noticed on Brent Stirling’s (Fukushima) blog ForYourBrentertainment an item about some Toronto JET alums (Jason Ishida and Eric Chan) who worked in Fukushima who have organized a Japan fundraising event for this coming Saturday, April 9 at Orville’s Pub as well as an additional fundraiser on Sunday, April 10 at the Toronto Buddhist Church Social Hall.
Asahi article about JETAA NY Fundraiser
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Thanks to Kyushu-based professional translator Joel Dechant for alerting JEtwit to this article in Japanese on Asahi.com about Tuesday night’s JETAA NY Japan Fundraiser. My Japanese reading ability has weakened over the years, but it looks like I’m quoted at the end of the article. I think the other JET alum quoted is Ayelet Fogel (Sendai City, Miyagi-ken) who is in the photo. (And yes, that’s me in the background of the photo wearing my “JETAANY Nihongo wakaru yo!” t-shirt.)
If anyone would like to translate or summarize in English, please post as a comment or e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
English translation below by Lee-Sean Huang, webmaster of JETAANY and JETwit.
〈世界から被災地へ〉第二の故郷「ガンバ！」 元英語教師奔走
2011年4月7日10時25分
日本の高校や中学に派遣された米国の元英語教師が東日本大震災の被災者支援に奔走している。ニューヨークでは５日夜、義援金集めのパーティーがあり、多くの参加者が「第二の故郷」に思いを寄せた。
ニューヨーク州ロングアイランド出身のアイェレット・フォーゲルさん（３１）は「３・１１」の当日、仙台市の自宅にいた。家具が崩れ落ち外に飛び出した。
日本政府が英語指導の助手として招くＪＥＴプログラムで２００３年８月から宮城県に滞在。３年の任期が終わっても宮城に残り、８年間で県内の七つの学校で教えた。現在は仙台育英学園の講師として働く。
最初の２年を過ごした南三陸町や気仙沼市では津波で家を流された友人も少なくない。釣りやサーフィンをし、親友と何度も通った美しい海岸は、がれきの山になった。宮城県石巻市では、ＪＥＴのテイラー・アンダーソンさん（２４）が犠牲になった。
仲間が大変なときに宮城を離れたくはなかったが、家族の懇願もあり先月１８日に帰国。「米国でも出来ることがあるはず」と、義援金集めに走り回る。４月２０日に学校が始まるのに合わせ、仙台に戻る予定だ。
１９８７年に始まったＪＥＴプログラムは、経験者が５万人を超える。
ニューヨークのパーティーには約３００人が駆けつけ、約９０万円が集まった。９０年代に愛知県刈谷市に滞在したスティーブン・ホロウィッツさんによる と、米国各地で同様の動きがある。「私たちはどこにいても心の中では日本人。日本で過ごした日々への恩返しをしたいのです」（ニューヨーク＝田中光）
<International responses to the Tohoku Earthquake>
Former English Teachers support their 2nd hometowns
April 12, 2011, 10:25
Former American English teachers who worked in Japanese junior high and high schools are organizing to support the victims of the recent eastern Japan earthquake. There was a fundraiser party in New York on the evening of April 5, where many participants came out in support of their “second hometowns.”
Ayelet Fogel (31 yrs/old), from New York’s Long Island, was at her home in Sendai City on the day of the “3/11” quake. She ran outside to safety as items in her home came crashing down.
Fogel has lived in Miyagi Prefecture since August 2003 when she was invited by the Japanese government to serve as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) on the JET Programme. After finishing her 3 year term, she remained in Miyagi and taught for 8 years at 7 schools in the prefecture. She is currently employed as an instructor at the Sendai Ikuei Gakuen.
In Minamisanriku Village and Kesennuma City, where Fogel spent her first 2 years in Japan, she has many friends whose houses were washed away by the tsunami. The beautiful coastline where she went fishing and surfing many times in the past with her friends has been turned into a mountain of rubble. JET participant Taylor Anderson, who was based in Miyagi Prefecture’s Ishinomaki City, died in the disaster.
Fogel did not want to leave her friends in Miyagi in a time of distress, but upon the request of her family, she returned to the US on March 18th. “I should be able to do something to help from the US as well,” she thought, and so began to collect donations for the disaster relief effort. She plans to return to Sendai in time for the beginning of the new school year on April 20th.
Founded in 1987, the JET Programme now has over 50,000 alumni.
The fundraiser party in New York attracted about 300 guests and raised over 10,000 dollars (~90,000 yen). According to Steven Horowitz, who lived in Aichi Prefecture’s Kariya City in the 1990s, similar fundraising events are taking place across the United States. “Wherever we are, we are all Japanese in our hearts. We want to do something to give back for the time we spent in Japan,” Horowitz said.
Tanaka Akira, New York
NHK video of JETAA NY Fundraiser
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Thanks to Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) for sharing the link to this NHK video on Tuesday night’s JETAANY Japan Fundraiser:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/jishin0311/movie/chapter_66.html
Roland Kelts helps launch debut issue of “MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan” with April/May events in NYC
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Via Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica and the contributing editor for MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan:
A Letter from A Public Space (Brooklyn-based literary publication):
A Public Space Literary Projects announces the debut issue of MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan, with April/May launch events in New York City.
New York City, New York, April 4, 2011—A Public Space (APS) announces publication of the first annual English language edition of Monkey Business: New Voices from Japan (MB), supported by a generous grant from the Nippon Foundation. Three launch programs in New York City in late April and early May will bring together authors, translators and editors from Japan and the US for this first-of-its-kind trans-cultural literary event. Twenty-five percent of all MB sales will go toward the Nippon Foundation/CANPAN Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.
Monkey Business is a Tokyo-based Japanese literary magazine founded in 2008 by award-winning translator, scholar, editor and author Motoyuki Shibata. One of Japan’s best known and most highly regarded translators of American fiction, Shibata has won numerous accolades, most recently the 2010 Japan Translation Cultural Prize for his translation of Thomas Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon, and has introduced to Japanese readers works by Paul Auster, Steven Millhauser, Rebecca Brown, Stuart Dybek and Steve Erickson, among others.
Shibata, who was interviewed in the first issue of APS, modeled MB in part on the Brooklyn literary journal. Founded in 2006 by editor Brigid Hughes, A Public Space is devoted to cutting-edge literature—not just from American contributors, but by writers and artists spanning the globe. Each issue presents a portfolio that explores an international literary scene. The debut issue of APS featured a portfolio from Japan, curated and edited by author Roland Kelts (Japanamerica) and MB founder Shibata, and featuring contributions from Haruki Murakami, Yoko Ogawa, Kazushige Abe and others. Issue 1 was praised by readers in the US and Japan and has long been sold out.”
Read More
Update: Here’s a clip from NHK TV about the JETAANY Fundraiser including some interviews with JET alums.
JETAA NY’s Fundraiser for Japan was held last night at Slate (50 W. 21st St) and drew over 300 people while raising over $10,000 for the JETAA USA Fund. The event also drew significant Japanese media coverage and included a table run by NY-based Japanese volunteer organization NY de Volunteer to give people an opportunity to write messages of support back to Japan.
Photos to come.
Did your JETAA chapter hold a fundraiser or engage in earthquake/tsunami relief activities? Email jetwit [at] jetwit.com with details and photos.
Event: JET alum author Roland Kelts to speak in London April 14
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Attention JETAA UK! Join Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, at The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in London on Thursday, April 14 for a talk on “Pop culture from a Multipolar Japan.” Talk is 4-5 pm followed by drinks reception to 6pm.
Note: If you plan on attending, please register for the event at http://www.dajf.org.uk/events/booking-form
Anthony Bianchi back in Brooklyn for “Xaverian High School Japan Benefit Concert” tonight
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Just heard from JET alum, Brooklyn native and current Inuyama City Councilman Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, Inuyama-shi) that he’s back in New York for a very short stay in order to attend his alma mater Xaverian High School‘s “Japan Benefit Concert” tonight (Thursday, March 31).
Anthony notes that any JET alums around are welcome to come. [Ed. Note: Sorry for the short notice. I wasn’t able to post this until 4:21 pm and it starts at 7:00 pm.]
Start time: 7:00 pm
Location: Xaverian High School, 71st St & Shore Road in Brooklyn
Cost: $10
