Actor/ Director, Jun Kim (Heavenly Bento) brings his Tokyo based theatre workshop to New York.
For more info click here.
- Date: 2/20, 2/28, 3/6, 3/13
- Time: 1pm-4pm
- Place: Center StageNY Studio A 2/20, 3/6, 3/13 (SAT)
Rod Rodgers Dance Co Studio 2/28 (SUN)
- Fee: $120
- Limited to 15 participants
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There’s a short article in the New York Times titled “Healthcare Abroad: Japan” which is part of a series that looks at healthcare systems in other countries. It briefly gets at what works well, what the weak points are and why it’s that way.
How do JETs and JET alums feel about Japanese healthcare and the points in this article? Share your thoughts by posting a comment.
See this recent post on JetWit (“JET alumni and healthcare“) for additional discussion of JET alumni and their experiences and concerns with healthcare.
Update: Turns out PBS’ Frontline did a documentary called “Sick Around the World“ which examined the healthcare systems in five countries, including Japan, which you can watch on their website here.
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Enjoy Drink Specials, Raffles, and Prizes
http://www.nydevolunteer.org/activities/2009/2009.09.25_e.html
Location:
Slattery’s Pub
8 E 36th St. (btwn. 5th and Madison Ave.)
100% of cash tips will support to
NY de Volunteer’s
“Explore Japanese After School Program”
@ New York City Parks and Recreation Center
For more information regarding the FUNdRaiser please visit:
http://www.nydevolunteer.org/activities/2009/2009.09.25_e.html
Future JETs?
Thanks to the hard work of JET alum Abigail MacBain, current JET Program Coordinator for the Consulate General of Japan in Miami (and former JETAA DC Newsletter Editor), the Miami Consulate has a wonderfully updated JET Program page.
Have a look at Abigail’s handiwork at http://www.miami.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jet/jetprogram.html
Abigail also reports two big JET Program policy changes as of Monday, August 17:
1. JET alumni can now reapply for JET after 3 years instead of 10
2. The previous requirement used to be that you couldn’t have lived 3 or more years in Japan in the past 8 years. Now it’s 6 or more years years in the past 10.
********************
(Originally posted on April 28, 2009.)
Here’s your chance to help JetWit. Just share a comment on this post saying what you like about JetWit. (Or email your comment to jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com and I’ll post it.)
Thanks for your help and yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Update: Thanks to everyone who has posted comments so far!
Via JETAA Pacific Northwest. Mark Smith, the Executive Director of the Japan America Society of the State of Washington, is seeking feedback from JET alums and Friends of JET who, when they were younger, may have participated in the organization’s education programs in schools throughout the state of Washington. Please contact Mark directly to offer feedback.
Dear JET Alumni and current JET Program Participants:
My name is Mark Smith and I am Executive Director of the Japan America Society of the State of Washington. As some of you may already know, one of our core programs here at the Society is our Japan in the Schools program. This is an educational program driven by volunteers who visit elementary schools and high schools.
In the elementary classroom, a day in the life of Kentaro is brought to life through a large format photo presentation that engages the students in exploring similarities and differences between American and Japanese children’s lives. Students are also taught some Japanese words and they have trying to pick up mini erasers (which they get to keep) with chopsticks. Read More
Just stumbled into “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow” again, halfway into the program. One team is learning how to be samurai and participating in a samurai parade. The other group learned how to cut down bamboo and then take the bamboo and carve it into chopsticks.
Two things occurred to me as I watch this:
- This might be the best tourism promotion for Japan they could possibly hope for. It gives people a real sense of Japan and a connection to it.
- What the hell do samurai parades and chopstick making have to do with the gameshow?
Thus far, the show seems to be a greater enigma than Japan ever was.
With healthcare legislation front and center in the U.S. and many JETs set to leave the womb of JET life, not to mention the tough job market and high unemployment rate, I thought this might be a good time to ask the JET and JET alum community (and not just the U.S.):
How are you feeling about health insurance and healthcare these days?
Do you have it?
Are you worried about it?
What are your options?
What challenges or problems have you faced or do you expect to face?
Post your comments here for the benefit of the JET alumni and Friend of JET community.
Yoroshiku.
On the July 22 episode of “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow,” the contestants have been sent to sumo houses to where they’ll work as cooks and cleaners. What’s not clear is why they keep blurring over the wrestler’s oshiris, even from the side! It’s not like anything’s hanging out. And they’ve been showing full butts on network tv ever since “NYPD Blue.” Can anyone explain what’s with the blurring in this instance?
I don’t know how other JET alumni chapters deal with this issue, but in JETAA NY we refer to members of our community who are not officially JET alums as “Friends of JET” or “FOJs” (pronounced fahjz).
Additionally, the term “WOJ” (i.e., “Wife of JET”) occasionally comes up.
And lastly, while it hasn’t caught on yet, I propose increased use of the term “SOJ” (i.e., “Significant Other of JET”) for those vague and undefined relationships that require a category in the JET context. (Though I suppose FOJ could also apply to “Fiancee of JET” as well.)
How you do deal with this issue in your chapter or JET-vironment? Share comments on this post, or send JetWit an email.
Note: This is the first in what JetWit hopes will become a series of “Japan Fix” articles. Each article can be a simple guide for where to go to get a Japan fix in your neck of the woods, or a more personal account of how you get your Japan fix. (Or in Kirsten’s case below, both of those and more.) The goal is to use the collective brain of the JET alumni community for the benefit of the JET alumni community.
Japan Fix: New York City
By Kirsten Phillips (Niigata-ken, 2005-08), writer of the Kirsten’s World columns on JetWit
There are thousands of different angles to approach a story like this, particularly in a metropolitan city such as New York. But I’d really love to expand this topic and hear about Japan Fixes in other parts of the country, preferably those without a coast! Yes, I’m talking to you Wyoming! Hi there, Kansas City! Since Japan means something different for everyone who walks away from it, I’d really like to hear about where and how you find Japan. Whether its building a raft and fording rivers to reach that one Kaiten Sushi bar, renting your favorite Japanese language film, or simply chatting with your Japanese neighbor down the hall, tell us all about it!
Now let’s get one thing straight. I earned an admirable jones before I even lived in Japan.
I have my buddy Reiko to thank for the multitude of pre-JET Japanese obsessions I harbored before marching knee-deep into the trenches. In Nueva York, karaoke was only something I did when I was too drunk to care about the lyrics and the only songs I knew then were by Shiina Ringo. Tarako-spaghetti was novelty, not survival. I entered without ceremony. Tips were important. The sole purpose of a handkerchief was for gagging. Vending machines only offered one thing.
Although prior knowledge of Japanese custom, popular wastes of time and cuisine-abuses was a reasonably applicable methadone for the harder edges of culture shock, nothing can fully prepare you for the experience of living on Japanese soil. Everyone gets shocked in one way or another. However, once you get used to the vibe and start running with the pack, untangling yourself from that mentality can be equally as harsh. Three years of opening important doors with 失礼しますand public transportation that runs on time can really leave a mark. Also, it’s hard to say goodbye to your favorite onsen, izakaya, chuugakkou and depaato. A majority of these are difficult to revive even in facsimile here in the States unless you wanna fork over your rent check.
But for those who are blessed enough to live in or around Nueva York, Read More
JetWit went over 400 hits for the day again yesterday as traffic continues to consistently grow on the site. Chotto jiman, I know. Just wanted to share that.
A.J., the official mascot of JetWit (designed by Zi Mei (Saitama-ken, 2002-05))
Big news: Just learned that JetWit.com has been added to the JET Programme website’s Links page in the “After JET” section. http://jetprogramme.org/e/links/index.html#after
Needless to say, A.J. is beside himself with shiawase.
Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) contacted me to let me know that poet Craig Arnold is missing in Japan. There is an effort underway to draw more attention to Craig’s disappearance to help pressure Japanese and U.S. authorities to take action.
For more information about the effort, please visit http://findcraigarnold.blogspot.com/
For more information on Craig Arnold, you can see his Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Arnold
Latest update from findcraigarnold.blogspot.com:
News
4/30 at 2:00 am EST: According to Christopher Blasdel of The International House of Japan, two US helicopters have landed on the island to assist in the search. The prefectural police have added another helicopter to make a total of four helicopters. The island has deep vegetation which might make it difficult to see anything from the air, but we have our fingers crossed!
Saw this on the JETAA Pacific Northwest yahoogroup list and thought it was worth sharing. I’m sure there are plenty of other JET alum actors/performers out there, so feel free to share any upcoming performances via e-mail to jetwit at jetwit dot com and perhaps we can do a periodic update of what various folks are up to.
Just wanted to pass this on from Nate Maddox (Kagawa-ken 2003-2005), and (disclaimer!) good friend of mine. I saw The Underpants on Sunday, and I’ll vouch for the hilarity. All the characters are absurd, and there are some killer lines.
Yes, there are underpants in this play. No, they are not Nate’s. (And no, you probably don’t want to bring kids under 14.) But I highly recommend it, especially if you’d like to see Nate prance about in a ridiculous hat and cape.
Please go enjoy The Underpants!
-Sandra
———– (more info below) Read More
NY de Volunteer will be starting up its Japanese after school program again on March 6th and would like to invite JET alumni volunteers to come and speak to the kids about Japan. More information here: http://www.nydevolunteer.org/activities/afterschool/index_e.html
The next program will be:
J. Hood Wright Recreation Center, 351 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, NY 10033, Located in J Hood Wright Park
Cross Streets: West 174th Street & Fort Washington Avenue
Subway: A line “175th Street Station”
Map: http://www.nydevolunteer.org/activities/afterschool/images/map_jhoodwright.jpg
Date: June 12th
Time: 3:30-5:30Speech time: about 20 minutes, between 4:00-4:40.
Most of the kids over there are from Dominican Republic, so we’d love to have any Spanish speakers.
If interested, contact Noriko Hino at noriko /at/ nydevolunteer /dot/ org
JET Alum Suzette Brown (Tochigi-ken), a casting producer, shared the following two casting calls:
1. PURSUIT OF HEALTH
Currently seeking men and women from a variety of ethnicities, ages and Tri-State area locations for a health series for the web for a major online provider. This is not scripted. Casting for real stories.
The topic is staying healthy and the series is hosted by two health experts. We’re looking to feature people with 2 types of health stories – inspirations and interventions. With interventions, we’re looking for people with a real life health issue (nothing major) that our host helps to resolve. With inspirations, we will showcase various people who will share their tips and show us how they remain healthy (e.g. a dancer who has to nurse her aches and pains so she can dance her next show, a singer tells how she nurses a sore throat, etc).
I’d love to find someone who uses Japanese remedies to stay healthy.
Compensation is $200 for a half day shoot to tell your story. Must be available on March 7 to audition. Please respond with a blurb on your own unique strategy for staying well or tell us what your health issue is. You can email: Read More
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
For those of you who didn’t tune in to the Academy Awards last night, Japan cleaned up in all the categories in which it received nominations. Going against heavily favored Waltzing with Bashir from Israel, Director Yojiro Takita’s Okuribito (Departures) took the award for Best Foreign Language Film. Since the establishment of this award in 
1957, Japan Read More
Via the JETAA DC email grouplist:
April 2009 Volunteer Opportunity in India with Building Communities
Join us in “Building Communities” with the Dalit (Untouchables) of India. We are dedicated to providing the means and resources to build communities, both the physical structures and the support and compassion necessary for a community to thrive.
- April 2009. See: www.golongitude. org/www/JET_ April_2009. html.
- Contact: Volunteer Group Leader, Emma Parfey (emmaparfey /at/ mac /dot/ com) for details.
- Exact dates: March 26 – April 6, 2009.
- Cost: US$575.00 / JPY52,500.
Thank you, or in the Telugu language of the Dalit villagers we are helping, WANDANAMURU!
Rick Mickelson, Longitude Director of International Volunteering
——-
This request is from Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06), webmaster for both JETAA NY and JetWit. He is currently a masters candidate at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University.
Hi JetWit’ers,
I am working on a research and design project targeting the self-employed, freelancers, entrepreneurs and others who work at home, in coffeeshops, or in a co-working space (basically anywhere that is not a traditional office environment). If any of the above describes the way you do your work, I would love to ask you a few questions about your physical work space and professional networking needs.
Please email me at leesean /atto/ nyu /dotto/ edu if you are interested in helping out. I could meet in person over coffee, schedule a quick interview over the phone or we could just have a conversation over email, whatever works for you. Thanks!
Thanks to JETAA Pacific Northwest for sharing this link to an amazing Obama sushi spread. Also make sure to check out the second page for the full behind-the-scenes view.
Come on, everyone had at least one class like this when they were on JET.
(Special prize to the first person who can post a translation of (1) what he answers at that one part where he wakes up after nearly falling asleep on the microphone, and (2) what’s written on that reporter’s notepad.)
An in-house counsel job (i.e., NY licensed attorneys only) that pays up to $250K. Contact Meg Seki Director, Japanese Bilingual Division
Access Staffing 360 Lexington Ave., 8th fl. New York, NY 10017 www.accessstaffing.com
Title: In House Counsel
Required Skills:
- Licensed Attorney (NY)
- Experience with a Japanese Company or Japanese Clients.
- Knowledge of Japanese culture
- Japanese skills are not required.
Job Description: Read More
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Just received this announcement/press release from Shannon Jowett, Director of Communications for Japan Society (NY). Ambassador Sakurai has been very supportive of JETAA, plus he’s a real nice guy, so JetWit is a big fan:
Japan Society is pleased to announce that Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai will be president effective Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Full details are below.
Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai Named Japan Society President
Ambassador Sakurai with his wife
First Japanese-born president to head non-profit, non-political organization
New York, NY — February 7, 2009 — Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai will be the new president of Japan Society. The Society’s Board of Directors announced this morning that the Ambassador assumes his new leadership role April 7, 2009. Ambassador Sakurai is the Consul General of Japan in New York and is the former president of Mitsubishi International Corporation, USA. He will be the first Japanese-born president of Japan Society, now a 102-year old non-profit, non-political organization. Read More
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Following up on the Tsukiji auction controversy I discussed here recently, one segment of the news took the pulse of different Japanese attitudes towards foreigners visiting the country. All of the respondents seemed to attribute any trouble they have experienced to cultural differences and not poor manners on the part of gaijin. 
The first spot was the discount store Daiso in Asakusa, where several signs clearly spell out what is not acceptable behavior in the store. For example, a comfortable looking low counter was a place many foreigners had been resting their weary legs. As this is not what Daiso intended the space for, it had to create a sign reading “Don’t sit on the counter.” Another problem the management encountered was Read More
If you’re looking at this site using Internet Explorer as your browser (as opposed to Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Chrome), then you most likely can’t see the interesting and helpful items along the sidebar. Also, some posts might look incomplete or just plain weird.
To see the sidebar items you can
1) click on any post (such as this one),
2) scroll all the way down to the bottom of this homepage where the sidebars have been pushed for fushigi na reasons, or
3) Use a different browser to view JetWit.com. (Firefox, Safari and Chrome are much better browsers than anything created by Microsoft , in terms of speed, security and functionality. So a good long term move as well to download a new browser if you can.)
Via Therese Stephens, former JETAA Philly subchapter rep:
Japanese House and Garden
Site Manager
Position Profile
Overview
The Site Manager is a full time seasonal position, March through October 15, at the Japanese House and Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Japanese House and Garden is a 17th century style Japanese house in the west section of Fairmount Park. This position is an integral part of the museum’s day-to-day operations and serves an important role in interacting with the public and as a liaison with other professional staff members. This position is ideal for a person who has earned a college degree or has significant life experience. The successful candidate must also have a strong interest in and/or knowledge of Japan, Asian studies, museum studies, education or the hospitality industry. Read More
I just saw this on Craigslist NY Writing Jobs. I’ve become rather skeptical of a lot of Craigslist postings. Does anyone want to check it out and report back as to whether it’s actually legit? Just an fun project for a snowy day if you have time.
Conversational Partners (Japanese)
Reply to: gigs-987035626@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2009-01-09, 10:47PM EST
Two female college student’s looking for some people who are fluent in English and Japanese to speak with. Serious inquiries only.
- it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
- Compensation: Two great friends !
Via JETAA UK:
Hello JETAA members,
Below is an email from Joe Johnson from Plum Pictures:
‘I work as a researcher for Plum Pictures, an independent television production company, and we are currently making a documentary film for the BBC about festivals and food in Japan, specifically the Inazawa Hadaka Matsuri (Naked man festival) and the Nakizumo (baby sumo wrestlers). I am currently trying to find out as much as I can about the history, meaning and significance of these festivals and about Japanese foods from Nagasaki and Inazawa. I am also interested in finding out more about the conflict between the ancient and the modern in contemporary Japan and where we can visualise this for the purpose of the film.’
If anyone has relevant experiences of either of these festivals, places or foods and would like to help Joe then please email him before Fri 16th of Jan joej@ hattrick. com.
Thanks,
Anne Grieve
JETAA Chair
JetWit will be on hiatus during the Christmas/New Year’s break. But we’ll be back posting in the New Year.
明けましておめでとうございます!
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!
Happy New Year!
You can now get JetWit email updates by signing up for the JetWit yahoogroup (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JetWit/).
Noriko Furuhata, the JET Coordinator at the Consulate General of Japan in New York, recently explained to me the term shiwasu, which literally means “teachers run around” and refers to December being an extremely busy month as everyone tries to finish up everything they need to do before year’s end.
Feel free to post comments if you have additional perspective on this term.
I’m just wondering how I made it through 3+ years in Japan and 7 years of JET alumni involvement without ever previously hearing about this. :-)
The below posting was from Craigslist Cincinnati, yet it has no connection to Cincinnati. Odds are it’s a variation of a common scam. The London connection and the writing style are clues, plus I’ve seen scams with similar feels in other contexts. Just something to be aware of since the same listing may likely pop up at some point in connection with a Japanese translation gig.
language translator needed
Reply to: goodlordaka@yahoo.com [?]
Date: 2008-11-25, 11:39AM EST
I am an amrican but I am presently in london and will be going to work soon in italy and i will need some one who can help me translate from italian to english and this is a work that can be done by emails with not much of stress or qualification.and i am willing to pay per word.
JetWit is seeking sponsors (or other forms of support). Here’s how you can help:
- E-mail me at stevenwaseda /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com with contact information and a contact person for any potential sponsors.
- Contact potential advertisers yourself and encourage them to get in touch to discuss advertising.
- Be an ad sales rep for JetWit. Contact me to discuss if interested.
The reasons a company might want to advertise on JetWit:
- A unique centralized channel for reaching a national audience of JET alums and other people with a connection to Japan along with current JETs and prospective JETs. (FYI, there are approximately 20,000 JET alums in the US.) (Not that all of them read JetWit. :-)
- Positive publicity and good karma from showing support for JET alumni
- JetWit’s ability to provide creative advertising solutions.
- Benefit from my 7 years of experience communicating with and supporting the JET alumni network in my role as the JETAA NY Newsletter Editor.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, and thanks for your help.
Steven (Aichi-ken, 1992-94)
If you’re looking at this site using Internet Explorer as your browser (as opposed to Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Chrome), then you most likely can’t see the interesting and helpful items along the sidebar. Not sure why this is happening but hopefully we’ll figure it out at some point.
To see the sidebar items you can
1) click on any post (such as this one),
2) scroll all the way down to the bottom of this homepage where the sidebars have been pushed for fushigi na reasons, or
3) Use a different browser to view JetWit.com. (Firefox, Safari and Chrome are much better browsers than anything created by Microsoft , in terms of speed, security and functionality. So a good long term move as well to download a new browser if you can.)
If you’re looking at this site using Internet Explorer as your browser (as opposed to Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Chrome), then you most likely can’t see the interesting and helpful items along the sidebar. Not sure why this is happening but hopefully we’ll have it fixed soon.
To see the sidebar items you can
1) click on any post (such as this one),
2) scroll all the way down to the bottom of this homepage, or
3) Use a different browser to view JetWit.com. (Firefox, Safari and Chrome are much better browsers than anything created by Microsoft , in terms of speed, security and functionality. So a good long term move as well to download a new browser if you can.)
This is a little off-topic, but I suppose I can justify it on the basis that celebrities doing commercials in Japan are cultural ambassadors just like JETs.
I had no idea that Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Ben Stiller and some of the others had ever done commercials in Japan. Click here to see the Top 21 from The Popcorn Trick. Thanks to Alexei Esikoff (Fukushima-ken, 2001-02) for making me aware of the existence of this vital site.
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