JET alum Chris Johnson headlines Megu’s Sake Supper
Events, Food & Drink 
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Uncanny. Just after learning that one of the world’s leading sake experts, John Gauntner, is a JET alum and will be speaking at Japan Society’s upcoming Annual Sake Tasting and Lecture, it turns out that Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95) will be leading the Megu Sake Supper on June 3. It also turns out that John and Chris know each other well. (Thanks to Su May and Megan for bringing this to JetWit’s attention.)
Megu Sake Supper Let Delta take you on a sake tour at Japanese hot spot Megu. Join sake expert Chris Johnson on a virtual trip to Japan via a five-course menu at this theatrical TriBeCan gem where the fish is flown in daily and the atmosphere is as authentic as the dishes it serves. Johnson will explain the art of sake pairings for each course, with dishes ranging from sushi to Kobe beef – you’ll be sure to go home with the knowledge to impress at your next Japanese dinner. And if you want to go visit the original Megu in Tokyo, Delta has a new flight launching to Narita on June 4.
Event Details: $100 for five courses with sake, tax and tip not included.
To Reserve: Call Asleigh Eaves at 917-306-2934 and mention “Zagat Presents.”
Date: June 3, 2009, 6:30 PM
Megu – 62 Thomas St. (bet. Church St. & W. B’way)
Felissimo House: Japan Brand – Pop Up Shop – May 18-30
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Thanks to Tara Hohenberger (Nara-ken, 2001-03) (PR & Events Coordinator for Felissimo Design House) for sharing information about some cool upcoming events:
| Shop at the Japan Brand Pop Up Shop May 18th – May 30thAll freshly picked for spring and available in every price range! Shop from our exceptional array of Japanese artisan products – from unique home décor accessories, stationery, one-of-a-kind textiles, cookware, beautiful fashion pieces and lacquer ware products in every shape and color . Come and see the regional spirit of Japan in specialized craft traditions that have been passed down through generations. Now these centuries-old skills are finding a fresh new expression in these contemporary products. Felissimo Design House is open to the public Sign up now at www.felissimo.com for our exciting and informative public events series. May 21: An evening of Sushi & Sake – Kanpai!
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Learning to Blog Workshop #3
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We just did the third JETAA NY Learning to Blog Workshop on Tuesday night, again at the Cosi cafe on 31st & Park Ave. and again it was successful and a lot of fun.
JET alum attendees included a financial journalist, a music producer, an editor in the publishing world, a junior high school art teacher, and a scholarship program director. We even had a cameo from my younger brother Greg, who has his own blog called TheDigitialists.com that I occasionally post from on JetWit.
By 8:00 p.m., everyone had their own blog and knew things like:
- the difference between WordPress, Blogspot, Blogger and Typepad
- the difference between a post and a page
- how to change themes
- how to add widgets, like RSS feeds
- what an RSS feed is and how to take advantage of it
- how to create pages and sub-pages
and lots of other useful things for getting their blogs set up for career development and other purposes.
Adren Hart, the guy behind JETAA Ongaku Connection, e-mailed afterwards to say:
I feel like I have a better sense of the basics of WordPress and would be able to create and manage my own blog. I found the background info on the differences between WP and Blogspot, etc. quite useful as well as how to use widgets for specific tasks (e.g., embedding rss feeds from other sites).
Stay tuned for future workshop dates. If interested, e-mail me at jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com.
Japanese culture trends in NYC
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Many of us are now aware that modern Japanese culture has essentially turned New York City into New York-ku, with Pocky and Pretz widely available, new ramen shops and izakayas popping up every week and Japanese hair salons throughout the city. And of course you can’t swing a Kinokuniya bag without hitting a Japanese style karaoke bar.
But yesterday alone I noticed yet three more examples of Japanese culture–perceived as so impentrable by much of the world–penetrating further into New York-ku:
- City Bakery’s (3 W. 18th St) baked goods now all seem to have Japanese subtitles on the little signs sticking out from the muffins and other items.
- Opening of the Japanese Culinary Center (the “Other JCC,” as New York Magazine calls it) on 711 Third Ave. (entrance on 45th St. between Second and Third aves.) nymtc.com
- Gamar Jobat, a Japanese silent comedy duo (i.e, manzai) currently performing at the New Victory Theater (https://secure.newvictory.org/newvictory/tickets/production.aspx?PID=767&emailsource=GAMAR1212)
Have other examples to share? Post a comment or send an e-mail to jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com.
JET alum sake expert John Gauntner at Japan Society May 19
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Just saw a Japan Times article on JET alum sake expert John Gauntner, and then this popped into my inbox:
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LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!
Annual Sake Tasting & Lecture
Koji-making is the heart of the sake brewing process. Koji is steamed rice onto which a special mold has been grown with great precision and skill that converts starches to sugars, which in turn are fermented to yield alcohol. Making good koji requires precise regulation of temperature and moisture, and nothing has a greater impact on the final flavors and aromas of sake. Like much of sake brewing, koji-making is more art than science. Sake expert John Gauntner discusses the art and science of making koji, what it is, the myriad ways it can be accomplished, and how tiny changes to koji can result in major differences in sake flavor. Followed by a sake tasting. Co-sponsored by the Sake Export Association. Tickets: Purchase tickets online or call the box office at 212.715.1258 |
JETAA Florida Tampa Natsumatsuri – July 11
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JETAA Florida’s Tampa Kumi is gearing up for the Tampa Natsumatsuri which it’s organizing together with the Consulate General of Japan in Miami (where former JETAA DC Newsletter editor Abby McBain now works). They still could use some volunteers, so please contact John if interested, willing and able. (FYI, to get on the Tampa Kumi’s Google group list, go to http://sites.google.com/site/tampagumi/.)
According to JETAA Ongaku Connection, Hikaru Utada is back in the U.S. and will be making the below store appearances. Meanwhile, stay tuned for the JQ (JETAA NY Quarterly) Magazine exclusive interview with Utada, coming out in two weeks!
UTADA IN STORE APPEARANCES
Tuesday, 5.12 @ 7:00 PM
Best Buy
529 5th Ave
New York, NY 10017-4608
For more info call: 212-808-0309
Wednesday, 5.13 @ 6:00 PM
Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood & FYE
1000 Universal Studios Blvd
Ste. 99
Universal City, CA 91608
For more info call 818.622.ROCK (7625) or 310.641.7170
Thursday, 5.14 @ 6:00 PM
Best Buy
1717 Harrison
San Francisco, CA 94103-4272
For more info call 415.626.9682
Friday, 5.15 @ 6:00 PM
FYE @ Southcenter Mall
2636 Southcenter Mall
Ste. 2110
Seattle, WA 98188-2823
For more info call 206.439.3636
Saturday, 5.16 @ 3:00 PM
Sam Goody
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Ste. 1049
Honolulu, HI 96814-4607
For more info call: 808.945.9027
JETAA NY: Sake tasting at JET alum Chris Johnson’s Bao Noodles restaurant
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Thanks to JETAA NY and JetWit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) for posting about the event on his blog (http://leesean.net):
I attended a sake tasting and dinner organized by JETAANY on Monday night at Bao Noodles. Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95), JET-alum, sommelier, and owner of Bao Noodles, presented a tasting of his restaurant’s Vietnamese specialties paired with Momokawa and Murai Family sake. Chris is extremely knowledgeable about sake; he explained the different (…continued)
Music: Hanami Taiko tonight at Drom (NYC)
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JET alum Ariel Shearman (a member of the the Soh Daiko taiko group) shared the following (FYI, Ariel studies under Kaoru Watanabe, a longtime member of KODO, based in Brooklyn, and Kaoru is in the group performing tonight):
http://dromnyc.com/home/index.php?option=com_gigcal&task=details&gigcal_gigs_id=736
Thursday May 7th 2009 (TONIGHT)
Naka Naka Series presents:
HANAMI DAIKO!
Yoshikazu and Yoko Fujimoto
(founding members of KODO)
and Special Guests
7:30pm
$15 Advanced Tickets, $20 at the Door
SWET Kansai Presents: Three poets in Japan (Kyoto)
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The Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators (Kansai) presents:
Three Poets in Japan
Time: Sunday 17th May 2009 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Place: Venture Dream Office 2nd Floor Meeting Room (2 minutes from Hankyu Karasuma Station and Shijo Subway Station)
Fee: 500 yen for members and 1,000 yen for non-members
Reservations can be made through e-mail.
Yoko Danno, Jane Joritz-Nakagawa, and Keiji Minato will discuss writing in both English and Japanese, translating and publishing poetry, and will also read their poetry.
Yoko will talk about why she started writing poetry in English more than forty years ago, and how she became interested in the roots and beginnings of Japanese culture and literature, especially the customs, imagery, thoughts and feelings of the folklore recorded in the Fudoki and the Kojiki compiled in the 8th century. Yoko will read some of her poems and translations.
SWET Presents: Writing Multicultural Families (Tokyo)
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The Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators presents:
Writing Multicultural Families
Time: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Place: Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Fee:
Panel discussion and dinner: 5,000 yen (includes makunouchi bento meal) – Reservations required by May 12; email SWET Events or SCBWI Events, or fax 03-3430-1740
Panel discussion only: 2,000 yen, no reservations required, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Suzanne Kamata, editor of the literary anthology Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, May 2009), will be accompanied by Leza Lowitz, Holly Thompson and Angela Turzynski-Azimi in reading from and discussing contributions to the book. Call Me Okaasan comprises twenty essays by women writers around the world on the joys and challenges of raising children across two or more cultures. A panel Q&A with all four writers will wrap up the event. Copies of the book will be on sale at the event.
See the URL below for additional details:
http://www.swet.jp/index.php/events/
SWET Presents: Behind Cloistered Walls: On Translating the Memoirs of an Imperial Convent Abbess (Tokyo)
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The Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators presents:
Behind Cloistered Walls: On Translating the Memoirs of an Imperial Convent Abbess
Time: Saturday, May 23, 2009, 3:00 – 8:00 pm
Place: Tankiro Hanten
Fee: 5,000 yen (includes dinner)
RSVP by May 16 (indicate if you require a vegetarian meal)
Bringing to English readers a story of life in the imperial convents of Kyoto long hidden behind cloister walls, this event introduces the just-published bilingual publication, In Iris Fields (Tankosha, 2009). Author Kasanoin Jikun’s story evokes a world where the past-of Heian (Tale of Genji) splendor, imperial dynasties (daughters of emperors were trained to become abbesses), the upheaval of the Meiji Restoration and the wrenching move of the capital to Tokyo (when the very livelihood of Imperial convents and monasteries was in jeopardy)-as if it were yesteryear.
SWET Presents: Writing News on Japan: With Journalist Elaine Lies (Tokyo)
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The Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators presents:
Writing News on Japan: With Journalist Elaine Lies
Time: Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Place: Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Fee: 5,000 yen (to include evening meal)
Reservations required by June 19; email SWET events, or fax 03-3430-1740
Whether geisha or anime, samurai or electronics, Japan still remains a fascinating place for much of the world, and papers will pay for stories. As a 20-year resident of Japan who has been writing about the country for most of that time, both freelance and as a reporter for Reuters news agency, Elaine Lies has a few ideas about what kinds of stories will work, as well as those that might not.
Elaine Lies studied Asian Studies at Cornell and UC Berkeley before coming to Japan, where she has lived in the rural north as well as in Tokyo. With experience as a general news reporter covering earthquakes, prime ministers, anime, whaling, and just about anything else you can imagine, she has stories to tell and perspectives to share.
See URL below for more details:
http://www.swet.jp/index.php/events/
Thanks to author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) for sharing this:
The 3rd Annual Japan Writer’s Conference will be held October 17-18, 2009 at Doshisha Women’s College, Imadegawa Campus, Kyoto, Japan. Organizers are now seeking proposals from poets and writers for presentations. First call deadline is May 15, 2009. For more information, see http://www.japanwritersconference.org.
JETAA NY sake tasting with JET alum sake sommelier Chris Johnson
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SAKE TASTING AT BAO NOODLES
When: Monday, May 4 at 7pm Where: Bao Noodles http://www.baonoodles.com/ 391 2nd Ave. between 22nd and 23rd St. (map) Price: $25/person (Originally $35) Limited to 25 people!!
JET Alum and Owner of Bao Noodles Chris Johnson has agreed to host this year’s JETAANY sake tasting. Bring your favorite sake glass and enjoy wonderful varieties of sake while snacking on Bao’s delicious Vietnamese creations. It will be a family style dinner with tastings of 6 different sakes from Japan as well as from the United States including, the very rare Champion Daiginjo which was honored at the 2008 Nanbu Toji Annual Competition and was a Gold Medalist at the 2008 Japan National New Saké Competition. For more information contact secretary [at] jetaany [at] org.
