Here are two videos recently released by JETAA International, and put together by JETAA-I Webmaster Bob Schnyder of JETAA Portland and JETAA-I Secretary Kay Dunkley of JETAA Jamaica.

“What is JETAA International?”

“Because of JET”

Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.

Remember to check out a listing of JETAA Chapter Events related to the Anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.

JETAA Philadelphia Subchapter (part of JETAANY)

• Tohoku Disaster One Year Anniversary and Film Screening – Sunday, March 11th, 2:00 to 4:30 at the Bellevue. The Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia is screening NHK and MindTV’s short documentary “Radiation – Fighting the Invisible Enemy” as part of a fundraising and informational event. The program also includes a talk by the Honorary Consul of Japan in Philadelphia’s Dennis Morikawa, a bake sale, and reception.
• Cooking and Movie Afternoon – Sunday, March 11th, 12:00. The group in Philly is getting together to watch Japanese movies and socialize this Sunday. Bring your own dish and cook it up for a relaxing day of food, fun, and friends.

JETAA Southern California

• Nihongo Dake Cooking Lesson – Saturday, March 10th, in Torrance. Learn how to cook authentic Japanese cuisine and practice your Nihongo at the same time as this month’s event.
• Career Mixer – Thursday, March 22nd, 5:00 to 8:00 at Perch. Make connections, grow your network and get together with your friends in JETAASC.
• JETAASC Charity for the 2011 Earthquake - Saturday, March 31st. More details coming soon.

JETAA Canberra

• O-Shaberikai – Wednesday, March 7th, 6:00 at Coo Izakaya in Civic. Join in and meet Japanese people living in Canberra and other locals interested in Japan.
• Tohoku Earthquake Memorial Service – Sunday, March 11th, 4:00 at the Nara Peace Park. A memorial service will be held at Nara Peace Park to commemorate the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami and remember those who died as well as those who continue to be affected by the tragedy.

JETAA Pacific Northwest

• March Monthly Meeting – Wednesday, March 7th, 6:30 at the Panama Cafe. Meet the new board members and find out about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

 

Thank you to JETAA Auckland Liaison Officer Jo McCarthy for sharing the following:

This video, made by JETAA Auckland, is a message of support for the town of  Tomioka (in Fukushima Prefecture) with which Auckland has a friendship agreement.

Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.

This week’s Chapter-Beat segment is highlighting JETAA and other Japan-related events remembering the March 11, 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami in Tohoku.

JETAA Pacific Northwest

• 3/11 Great East Japan Earthquake Memorial at Seattle Center -  Sunday, March 11th, 10:00 to 3:00 at the Seattle Center. SeattleJapanRelief.org and the Consulate General of Japan in Seattle will hold a special community event on the one-year anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, with a focus on the themes of remembrance, preparedness, and rebuilding. More information can be found here and here.

JETAA D.C.

• A Shinto Response to the March 2011 Disasters in Japan - Wednesday, February 20th, 11:00 at the Berkley Center. A panel discussion will be held at Georgetown University to talk about Shinto in Japanese history and the Shinto response to the 2011 disasters, and will also include a Shinto ritual in remembrance of the victims of March 2011.

JETAA Sydney

• Tohoku: Rebuilding for a Better Tomorrow Photo Exhibit – Running March 8th through April 29th, the Consulate General of Japan in Sydney is holding a photo exhibit that highlights the strength of the people of Tohoku as they work to rebuild Japan. The exhibit will be held at Customs House, Circular Quay, weekdays from 10:00 to 7:00, weekends 11:00 to 4:00.
• Big Bento Lunch – To commemorate the disaster and raise much-needed funds for UNICEF’s ongoing recovery work in the affected regions of Tohoku, the Big Bento Lunch encourages people to get together for a Japanese-style lunch and collect donations. For more information about how you can get involved, visit the website.

JETAA Northern California

• Presentation: Eco-tourism and the Ancient Kumano Pilgrimage Routes – Thursday, March 15th, 5:30 at the Japan Information Center. Directors from the Kumano Kodo Ancient Road UNESCO World Cultural Heritage area are giving a talk about eco-tourism in an effort to promote tourism in Japan after the devastation of the Tohoku earthquake. Come out and learn more about this little known region and support Japan.

JETAA Portland

• Remembering Tohoku: Looking Toward a Brighter Future – Sunday, March 11th, 2:00 to 4:00 at the Portland Japanese Garden Pavilion and Grounds. Members and visitors to the Portland Japanese Garden will gather in the Pavilion on the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami to remember the victims of this terrible disaster. The event includes Koto music, a memorial book, and a community building project led by textile artist Hiroshi Sato.

JETAA Chicago

• Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Photography Exhibit: Chicago Sister Cities International is current developing an exhibit of photographs chronicling the devastation and recovery efforts from The Nikkei, the leading Japanese business newspaper. These photos will be on display March 12th through 16th at the Illinois Thompson Center and March 21st through 31st at Block 37.

 

New England JETAA’s Jason Currier (Fukui-ken, 2007-09) recently attended the Japan Society of Boston’s welcome reception for Bobby Valentine at Fenway Park and was kind enough to write a little something for JETwit about the experience:

A few things I learned about new Boston Red Sox  (and former Lotte Marines) manager Bobby Valentine last week at a Japan Society of Boston reception welcoming him to Boston:

• He had a shrine built in his honor called Bobby Jinja.
• He prefers the Olympics over the World Baseball Classic as the international venue for baseball, but believes it should be played in a dome during the Winter Olympics, so it won’t conflict with the baseball season.
• He wants Japanese-style baseball fight songs to catch on in Boston. Read More

 

Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.

JETAA Singapore

• Oshaberi Cafe – Sunday, February 12th, 2:00 at Once Upon a Milkshake. Oshaberi Cafe is an effort to foster interaction between JETAA members and the Japanese community in Singapore. Bring your Japanese speaking friends, and share in the conversation and games

JETAA Northern California

• Norwegian Wood Movie Night – Tuesday, February 7th, 6:45 at Kabuki Theater in Japantown. Based on Haruki Marukami’s novel, Norwegian Wood will be showing at Kabuki from now until the 9th. JETAANC is getting a group together to see it this Tuesday, so don’t miss your chance.
• Kabuki on Film: The 47 Ronin Project – This is a year long exploration of the original Kabuki version of the popular tale. Beginning last Sunday, the JETAANC and San Mateo Kabuki clubs are teaming up to bring you two different celebrated productions of the complete epic on film. Screenings begin at 1:30 at the San Mateo Japanese American Community Center.
• Joshikai Pre-Valentine’s Day Networking Event – Thursday, February 9th, 6:00 at Muka. Joshikai is a networking group for Japanese women and women with connections to Japan. Migle, chat, and share stories with other women in English and Japanese over snacks and wine.

JETAA D.C.

• JBook Meeting – Monday, February 27th, 6:30 at the Japan-America Society of Washington, DC. This month’s selection will be Roshomon and the Seventeen Other, but Ryunosuke Akutagawa. As this is a collection of short stories, this is a perfect chance to see what JBook is all about without having to read everything.

JETAA Western Australia

• Kaiwa – Thursday, February 9th and 23rd, 5:30 at 43 Below. Join in and practice your Japanese skills with friends and alumni.

JETAA Music City

• Cooking Class with Nashville Top Chef Toshihiro Nishimoto –  Saturday, February 11th, 5:00. Learn how to make Japanese cuisine from a true master at this fun and educational event.

Thanks to Rocky Mountain JETAA for hosting a wonderful and extremely productive Regional Tech Conference.

Honto ni otsukare sama deshita.

 

 

Just a quick post to say hi from the JETAA Regional Tech Conference being hosted by Rocky Mountain JETAA in Estes Park, Colorado.

-Steven

Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.

JETAA New York

• JET Alumni Survey – JETAANY is asking members and friends of JET to fill out a brief survey requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as part of the “Return of JET-vestment.” The survey asked about what people have been doing following their time on JET and the data will be kept confidential, so take 5 minutes and help out. The survey can be found here
• Carnegie Hall Flower Exhibit – Thursday, January 26th, 8:00 at Carnegie Hall. JETAANY is headed to a Japanese style bouquet arrangement exhibit at Carnegie Hall.
• Shinnenkai - Saturday, January 28th, 1:00 at Restaurant Riki. Celebrate 2012 Year of the Dragon with your fellow JET Alumni at this year’s shinnenkai. Izakaya style dishes and all you can drink fun.

 

New JETAA Minnesota Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/JETAAMN

And accompanying message from JETAA MN’s Liz Brailford:

Hi all!

Some exciting news is going on for JETAA Minnesota early this 2012 – we’ve got a new Facebook page! The link for it is: https://www.facebook.com/JETAAMN ……COME JOIN US!

We will be closing our previous JETAAMN Facebook group page in a few weeks, so be sure to join the new page to get all the latest and greatest news, job listings, event links, and all other things JETAAMN.

Also, please look out for the JETAAMN February 1 Newsletter…..we’ve had some reorganization and are pumped up and meeting 2012 with a POW! All the exciting details to come soon……

See you on the new Facebook page!

Warm regards,

Liz Brailsford

Thanks to JETAA BC Newsletter Editor Thomas Law for sharing the latest issue of the JETAA BC Newsletter.  If you haven’t seen their newsletter, they do a really nice one so take a look.

• PDF:  http://www.jetaabc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/NewsletterV16N3.pdf
• Online viewer version on Issuu.com at http://issuu.com/jetaabc/docs/newsletterv16n3

JETAANY Secretary Pam Kavalam just set up an informal “Queens JET Alums” Facebook group for anyone living in the Borough of Queens, with a connection to Queens or perhaps even just aspiring to live there.  With a gazillion cultures and ethnic groups in Queens (along with gazillion types of great food), it’s fair to say that Queens is indeed the new Brooklyn.  (FYI, here’s the informal Brooklyn JET Alums Facebook group.)  And with a large population of young Japanese ex-pats and more and more JET alums, there are even parts of Queens (e.g., Astoria) that are starting to look like Harajuku!

Ok, JETAANYers, whose going to get the Bronx and Staten Island JET alum Facebook groups going?  Oh, and Manhattan.  (Does anyone still live there anymore?)

Via the JETAA UK mailshot:

 

Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.

Announcing the return of JETAA Chapter Beat! After a long hiatus, Chapter Beat returns to regular bi-monthly updates about what’s happening in JET Alumni chapters around the world. Check it out to see what events are taking place near you in the JETAA community.

JETAA Chicago

• Shinnenkai Culture Festival – Saturday, January 21st, 4-7 P.M. at the Japan Information Center. Celebrate Japanese culture and the new year with snacks, games, and trivia. Fun for all ages.
• Indoor Volleyball League – Starts today, Tuesday, January 10th, 7:15-10:15 at St. Andrews Gym.
• 2012-13 JET Program Interview Volunteers – The next round of JET Program interviews is coming up and the Japan Information Center is looking for JET Alumni to help out with the interview process in February and March.

JETAA Pacific Northwest

• Shinnenkai – Saturday, February 4th, 6:00 at the Nagomi Tea House. Eat, drink, and celebrate the arrival of 2012 with your friends at PNWJETAA

JETAA Northern California

• Volunteer to Staff a Japanese Craft Table – Saturday, February 4th, 11-4 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center’s Lunar New Year Festival. Come out and share some Japanese culture by helping organize activities related to Japan like origami, janken-pon contests, and more.
• Kabuki Club – Sunday, January 22nd, 2:00 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. This month’s selection is a special screening of Ranpei Goes Insane (Ranpei Monogurui), a mix of action, comedy and historical drama.

JETAA Hawaii

• 2012-13 JET Program Interview Volunteers needed – February 21-24, JETAA Hawaii is looking for JET Alumni interested in helping out with upcoming interviews for the next group of potential JETs. Help out, share your experience, and be a part of the future of the JET Program

JETAA Southern California

• Shinnenkai and Winery Tour – Saturday, January 14th. Tour begins at 4:00, dinner at 5:00 at the San Antonio Winery. Celebrate the new year over a glass of wine with your friends and fellow alumni.
• 2012-13 JET Program Interview Volunteers needed – February 21-24, JETAASC is looking for volunteers interested in helping out with upcoming interviews for this year’s JET hopefuls.

JETAA Sydney

• Beach BBQ – Sunday, January 29th, 1:00 at Shelley Beach in Manly. Get outside for some sun and good eats, including yakisoba and suikawari.

JETAA Portland

• Shinnenkai – Saturday, January 14th, 6-8 at D.J.K. in Beaverton.  Celebrate 2012 with new and old friends alike with the group at JETAA Portland.

What happened at your chapter’s event? If you attend(ed) any of these exciting events, JetWit would love to hear about them. Just contact Jonathan Trace with any info, stories or comments.

 

Thanks to Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94) for forwarding the below photos of the  ”Youth Empowerment Iwate“ Rikuzentakata tutoring project that received $25,000 in support from the JETAA USA Earthquake Relief Fund. These photos are from a November 10 visit to one of the several middle schools in town where the project is operating three times a week. These photos are of three rooms, one where individual students can study quietly on their own, a second dedicated to group study (and relaxing, too…which is important), and a third that is tutoring for the entire group. The tutors you see are university student volunteers, who are the ones running things.

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