By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for JQ magazine. Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here. 

Mamoru Oshii’s Angel’s Egg is one of those films that people talk about in a lowered voice, as if it were a mystery that might vanish if confronted too directly. It is a film of austere beauty and radical quiet—70-odd minutes of shadowed corridors, abandoned cathedrals, fossilized leviathans, and two nameless travelers: a girl who cradles a giant egg as if it were her entire future, and a boy who cannot stop asking what’s inside.

Released in 1985 and long unavailable through official channels in North America, Angel’s Egg has gathered its legend through bootleg tapes, festival whispers, and the occasional late-night screening. Now, four decades on, it returns today (Nov. 19) in theaters nationwide in a new 4K restoration supervised by Oshii and presented nationwide by GKIDS, which included Dolby Cinema early access engagements before the general theatrical rollout. For a film that has lived so much of its life in the margins, the chance to experience it in a calibrated premium room with Dolby Vision and Atmos support feels almost paradoxical—and absolutely right.

This anniversary run isn’t just a new coat of paint. The restoration—which debuted on the 2025 festival circuit and now arrives coast to coast—was reconstructed from the original 35mm materials, with a Dolby Cinema version created alongside a rebuilt soundtrack that expands the original mono presentation into 5.1 and Dolby Atmos options. That last detail may raise eyebrows for purists, but in practice the approach respects the film’s fundamental quietude; it simply gives the silence more dimensions.

To remember Angel’s Egg in the context of anime history is to remember how unstandardized the medium felt in the mid-1980s. It premiered in a decade when the OVA market was exploding and when directors like Oshii and artists like Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D) were testing the boundaries of animation’s visual grammar. The film’s surface—textured stone, dripping water, the faint pulse of bio-mechanical curiosities—speaks in symbols rather than exposition. There is barely any dialogue. The camera (or rather, Oshii’s implied lens) prefers long lateral moves, as if pacing the nave of an endless church, and the compositions are arranged like prints: light carved out of darkness, characters dwarfed by architecture, the egg always nestled in white cloth at the frame’s center.

When viewers call the film “obscure,” they don’t just mean it’s hard to find; they mean it resists the usual ways we talk about plots. If Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (1995) became the textbook for cyber-philosophy in animation, Angel’s Egg is the poem scrawled in the margins. The imagery anticipates later techno-gothic strains of anime, but without the anchor of a conventional narrative. In this sense, its return to theaters matters historically: one rarely sees repertory engagements for 1980s anime outside of a handful of well-known titles, and the film’s own distributors underscore how rarely screened it’s been in any official capacity. Seeing it at scale isn’t a curiosity; it’s an act of historical restoration.

Oshii’s collaboration with Amano yields a film that looks simultaneously medieval and futuristic. Statues of saints are strapped to rolling platforms and carted through fog-wet streets; hunters hurl harpoons at shadow-fish that pass across stone facades like projected ghosts; the girl and the boy ride a gargantuan, half-submerged machine that could be a cathedral or a vessel or a fossilized beast. The film’s religious aura—crosses, chalices, a literal ark—threads through its central question: does faith require the egg to remain closed, or the courage to break it? The boy, carrying a rifle and speaking in riddles, keeps needling: “What’s inside?” The girl maintains her vigil.

What’s remarkable, especially on a big screen, is how the movie makes time feel tactile. Shots hold until your breathing matches the drip of water; the rhythm of footsteps through an empty hall becomes as musical as Kenji Kawai’s glassy, ascetic score. And then, at intervals, Oshii punctures the stillness with kinetic episodes: a barrage of thrown spears; a dissolve-drunk montage of monuments and bones; an unforgettable nocturne of the boy swinging the egg like a hammer. These moments carry a kind of moral vertigo that’s hard to feel at home; they need the dark, the scale, the sense that the film surrounds you.

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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Travel Experience Specialist
Posted by: Inside Travel Group
Location: Remote-Optional
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to Madeline Bradshaw with Inside Travel Group for passing along the following job opening.

Your role as a Travel Experience Specialist is twofold: proactively seeking opportunities to improve clients’ travel experience and reactively assisting in resolving inbound customer issues, concerns, or requests. As a key member of the Customer Experience team, you’ll play a pivotal role in delivering exceptional customer service while monitoring the day-to-day travel landscape. This includes surveying air and rail services, weather events, and public health risks to keep our travelers informed of any potential disruptions.

No two days are the same for our Customer Experience team, as you’ll manage itinerary-related inquiries, provide assistance with missed transfers, and fulfill requests for additional guides or unique travel experiences. You’ll also support clients in more challenging situations such as lost items, medical emergencies, or unexpected delays. This is a multitasking role that involves managing the customer support phone line, inbox, and TESS (our customer support ticketing system) to calmly, efficiently, and effectively deliver solutions.

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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Temporary/Part-Time Program Coordinator
Posted by: INCO
Location: Japan/Remote
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to INCO for passing along the following job opening.

About You:

Are you passionate about empowering young women to enter the tech industry or pursue further education in tech? Do you want to contribute to closing the skills and employment gap in Japan? If you are tech-savvy, enthusiastic about education, and eager to support learners in their journey from basic digital literacy to specialised tech knowledge, this role is for you!

Join INCO’s groundbreaking Get into Tech (GiT) program, an orientation and pre-specialization training initiative aimed at helping those who face barriers to employment to secure jobs in the tech sector or advance their education in this field.

Your missions will include the following:

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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Economic Development Associate and Researcher
Posted by: JETRO New York
Location: New York, NY, USA/Hybrid
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to JETRO New York for passing along the following job opening.

Description:
(Job Summary／業務内容)
• Under the supervision of the Executive Director and Director, assist in the implementation of activities, programs, and services aimed at promoting bilateral economic relations between Japan and the U.S., in collaboration with federal, state, and local governments, organizations, companies, and institutions.
ディレクターの監督の下、米国の連邦、州、地方の政府や組織、企業、機関とともに、日米二国間経済関係促進のための各種活動、プログラム、サービスの実施を補佐する。

• Conduct research and analysis on U.S. federal and state government policies related to workforce development—including visa and immigration issues—as well as industrial strategies and disseminate accurate and relevant information to stakeholders in Japan and the U.S.
米国における連邦・州政府の人材関連政策、産業政策などに関する調査や分析を行い、正確で関連性の高い情報を日本向け、米国向けの双方に発信する。

• Collect and disseminate up-to-date information on Japan’s investment trends in the United States. In addition, manage the progress of quantitative surveys related to the actual business activities of Japanese companies in the U.S., coordinate communications, and share findings.
日本の対米投資動向に関する最新情報の収集・発信を行う。加えて、日本企業の米国における活動実態に関わる定量調査の進捗管理、連絡調整、発信を行う。

sparrosd@gmail.com

Dan Lowe is the founder of Boston Intercultural Consulting, LLC, including its Japanese learning arm, japanesecircle.com. The following is the conclusion of a five-part series covering the “Big Five Common Enemies” Japanese language learners must confront to maximize their Japanese learning effectiveness: 

1. The Passive Kraken(受け身クラーケン)
2. The Binge Beast(ドカ食いビースト)
3. The Isolation Ghost（孤独ゴースト)
4. The Friction Goblin（摩擦ゴブリン)
5. The Slow-Mo Swamp（スローモー沼).

Finally, we confront the Slow‑Mo Swamp. This marsh makes your progress feel so slow and invisible that quitting seems logical. You think, “After all this effort, why am I not fluent yet?” Without proof of improvement, the Swamp drags you down until you abandon your journey.

When I Slogged Through the Swamp

Around mid‑2022, I was studying regularly but felt stuck. I couldn’t see my progress and assumed I wasn’t improving. Only after finding an old marked up JLPT practice test, with all my unknown words highlighted, did I realize how far I’d come. I just hadn’t been measuring it.

Research shows that monitoring progress is critical for translating goals into action. A 2016 meta‑analysis of 138 studies (nearly 20,000 participants) found that interventions prompting people to monitor their progress significantly increased both the frequency of monitoring (effect size and goal attainment. Progress monitoring was even more effective when outcomes were made public or physically recorded. Put simply: what gets measured gets done.

Tracking isn’t just about numbers: it also changes how you think. Psychology researchers note that self‑monitoring (keeping logs, journals, or diaries) makes us more aware, focused, and motivated. Without tracking, we rely on flawed memories and heuristics, making us underestimate progress and give up too soon.

Spotting the Slow‑Mo Swamp

• Symptom #1: You feel like you’re not improving, even after weeks of study.
• Symptom #2: You don’t keep records of what you’ve learned. There’s no “before” and “after” to compare.
• Symptom #3: You frequently relearn words or grammar because you forget what you mastered.

Why the Swamp Wins

Our brains are wired to notice big wins and quick feedback. Language learning, by contrast, is incremental. Without clear markers, you misinterpret slow progress as no progress and conclude your efforts are futile. The Slow‑Mo Swamp thrives on this perception. Tracking creates an external scoreboard, giving your brain the hits of achievement it craves. Meta‑analysis data confirm that physically recording and sharing progress dramatically boosts goal success.

How to Escape the Slow‑Mo Swamp: Make Progress Visible

1. Establish Baselines. Pick a topic you enjoy. Read an article about it and highlight all the words, kanji, and grammar patterns you’re unfamiliar with. Date it.
2. Pick Your Metrics. Decide on 2–3 upstream metrics to track weekly: new words used, minutes of output (speaking/writing), or number of conversations attempted. Then, choose a downstream metric to track success, such as number of unknown vocab across similar readings. (e.g. reading the sports section or weather each day). 
3. Create a Scoreboard. Use a spreadsheet, journal, or japanesecircle.com’s “Wins & Learnings” space to log your metrics each week. Public recording increases accountability and success.
4. Schedule Review Points. Every four weeks, review your trends. Celebrate improvements, no matter how small. Seeing progress fuels motivation. If you’re results are trending in the wrong direction, evaluate your input metrics and see if you are following the plan you set before tearing it down entirely. 

Mini‑Quest: This Month’s Challenge

1. Pick a topic of interest and share on japanesecircle.com.
2. Set up a simple progress tracker (spreadsheet, journal, or community post) with your chosen metrics.
3. Update it weekly for four weeks. At the end of the month, review your progress

Share one metric or a before‑and‑after insight in your study group or on japanesecircle.com. Remember: what you measure moves. Let’s drain the Slow‑Mo Swamp and watch our Japanese journey accelerate!

Special Thank You

I’d like to express my appreciation to everyone who has read part or all of this series. I’d love to chat over text or over a call and hear what you gained from the experience. You can reach me directly on Japanesecircle.com. 

Dan Lowe is the founder of Boston Intercultural Consulting, LLC, including its Japanese learning arm, japanesecircle.com. The following is part of a five-part series covering the “Big Five Common Enemies” Japanese language learners must confront to maximize their Japanese learning effectiveness: 

1. The Passive Kraken(受け身クラーケン)
2. The Binge Beast(ドカ食いビースト)
3. The Isolation Ghost（孤独ゴースト)
4. The Friction Goblin（摩擦ゴブリン)
5. The Slow-Mo Swamp（スローモー沼).

Introducing the Goblin

Together, we’ve escaped the Passive Kraken, resisted the Binge Beast, and busted the Isolation Ghost. The next monster waiting to derail your Japanese is the Friction Goblin. This sneaky creature hides your tools, adds tiny hassles, and makes starting feel like slogging through knee‑deep mud. Every second you waste choosing a review deck, selecting a JLPT book from your stack, or deciding which shiny new grammar app to use fuels the Goblin.

photo credit: Vikram Singh@unsplash.com

My Run‑In With the Friction Goblin

In early 2019, my Japanese habit hit a wall. I’d open my laptop only to find 10 tabs open with various Japanese resources and study tools. My Anki deck alone had 12 different decks running. 

By the time I was “ready,” my motivation had evaporated, and I’d convince myself to tackle one task at a time. While that strategy sounds responsible, I felt distracted and overwhelmed by what awaited at the end of each task. 

Even with the best of intentions, I had chased too many shiny objects. These little points of friction piled up until my study effectiveness approached near zero.

Psychologists liken this resistance to activation energy: a burst of mental effort is required to start a task. Neuroscientists find that complex, deliberate tasks engage our prefrontal cortex (System 2 thinking), requiring more energy, while automatic habits rely on the basal ganglia (System 1) and feel effortless.

In other words, it isn’t Japanese that’s exhausting: it’s the mental “startup” cost of hunting for materials and making choices.

Spotting the Friction Goblin

• Symptom #1: “Where is that deck again?” You waste time locating your flashcards, app, or notebook every session.
• Symptom #2: Decision fatigue. You keep switching between different resources (“Should I watch a video or review grammar?”), and end up doing nothing.
• Symptom #3: Stalled starts. You tell yourself you’ll study later because prepping feels like more work than learning itself.

Why the Goblin Wins

Humans have a natural status quo bias. We prefer inaction because it requires less energy. When the default option is to do nothing, we tend to stick with it.

Starting a study session means pushing against that inertia and every bit of friction. Opening multiple tabs, hunting for the right lesson raises the “activation energy” required to begin.

Implementation‑intention research shows that forming if‑then plans (“If it’s 9 AM, I open my Japanese doc”) links a cue to an action, making the behavior more automatic. In short, the Friction Goblin feeds on unspecific plans and cluttered environments.

How to Defeat the Friction Goblin: Make the Right Thing the Easy Thing

1. One‑Tap Start. Put everything you need in a single folder or bookmark called “Start Here.” When it’s study time, there should be zero hunting -> open the folder and go. Pro tip: Most browsers’ bookmark tabs have an “open all” option or shortcut.
2. Create a Japanese “kit.” Keep your flashcards, notebook, pens, and headphones in a dedicated pouch or bag. The kit should live wherever you usually study: on your desk, in your bag, or on your nightstand.
3. Use If‑Then Triggers. Write one or two if‑then statements that link your study to an existing routine: “If I finish breakfast, then I open my flashcard deck.” These implementation intentions have been shown to close the gap between intention and action by making the cue highly accessible.
4. Two-Minute Rule. When you’re tired, commit to just two minutes of study. Often, the most challenging part is starting; once you begin, momentum carries you forward. That said, I’ve fallen into the trap of lying to myself. If after 2 minutes the momentum isn’t there, move on to something easier to build momentum, then make another 2-minute promise.

Mini‑Quest: Today’s Challenge

1. Assemble your Japanese kit and create a “Start Here” bookmark/folder with tomorrow’s lesson.
2. Write one if‑then plan (e.g., “If I brush my teeth tonight, then I will practice five kanji”).
3. For your next session, open your kit and begin immediately. No additional clicks allowed.
4. We can do anything, but we can’t do everything. Commit to 1-3 resources at a time. 
5. Consider adding japanesecircle.com to these bookmarks, as it pairs well with other resources and helps build momentum.

That’s it! We have just one more enemy to tackle in our next and final post of the series: The Slow-Mo Swamp

Dan Lowe is the founder of Boston Intercultural Consulting, LLC, including its Japanese learning arm, japanesecircle.com. The following is part of a five-part series covering the “Big Five Common Enemies” Japanese language learners must confront to maximize their Japanese learning effectiveness: 

1. The Passive Kraken(受け身クラーケン)
2. The Binge Beast(ドカ食いビースト)
3. The Isolation Ghost（孤独ゴースト)
4. The Friction Goblin（摩擦ゴブリン)
5. The Slow-Mo Swamp（スローモー沼).

The Passive Kraken lulls you into inactive study, and the Binge Beast tempts you with marathon sessions. The Isolation Ghost, meanwhile, presents a nefarious opportunity cost. It’s a sneaky phantom that convinces you that to get better faster, you should prioritize isolated study time.

Yet, before you know it, weeks have passed without speaking a single Japanese sentence to another human. Further, you’ll find your progress stunted or studying in circles without positive role models to surround yourself with. 

When I Let the Isolation Ghost In

Early on, I convinced myself that I had to “get good” before talking to anyone, especially in my professional life. I spent months with JLPT books, refusing invitations to practice with a friend because I was embarrassed by my mistakes, or because I mistook feeling for consistency.

My vocabulary grew to a point, but my confidence shrank. Without feedback or camaraderie, my motivation dried up.

Looking back, I see how that solitude slowed my progress. Research shows that language learning is fundamentally social.

Children learn language through back‑and‑forth interactions with caregivers, and “language learning takes place within the framework of social interaction”(ilabs.uw.edu).

Even babies exposed to a second language via live tutors discriminate sounds better than those exposed through recordings. More recent neuroimaging studies on adults confirm this: learners trained with mutual communication had faster reaction times for vocabulary and grammar and showed interbrain synchronization linked to better performance (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

In short, our brains are wired to learn language from others.

Spotting the Isolation Ghost

Symptom #1: You tell yourself you’ll start speaking “after you finish this textbook,” but you never reach out to anyone.

Symptom #2: You re‑Google the same grammar questions instead of asking a teacher or peer.

Symptom #3: You feel anxious and burnt out, even though you’re studying regularly. Without peer support, language‑learning anxiety and burnout rise; studies show that students with greater peer support experience less anxiety and perform better (frontiersin.org).

Why the Ghost Wins

The Isolation Ghost preys on fear and perfectionism. It feels safer to practice alone than risk embarrassment.

Yet isolation deprives you of the social cues, feedback, and motivation that make learning stick. Cognitive psychologists like Lev Vygotsky argued that learning first occurs between people and is only later internalized; the “Zone of Proximal Development” is reached when a more knowledgeable other scaffolds your learning (simplypsychology.org).

Peer support not only reduces anxiety but also creates a favorable emotional climate that improves performance and lowers burnout (frontiersin.org).

Social interaction even “gates” language learning by activating attention and motivation mechanisms in the brain. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).

How to Exorcise the Isolation Ghost: Build Community & Accountability

You don’t need to live in Japan to practice with others. Here’s how to invite connection into your routine:

1. Find your learning tribe. Join a small online study group, a language exchange, or a forum like japanesecircle.com. Commit to sharing one “win” and one question each week. Knowing others are waiting for your update keeps you engaged.
2. Schedule micro‑interactions. Book a chat with a tutor or buddy. Japanesecircle.com makes scheduling these chats easy. Even short conversations activate the social‑learning mechanisms that help you remember words and phrases (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
3. Ask before you’re stuck. Instead of silently struggling, post your question in a community space or message a friend. Peer support not only answers your question, but it also reduces anxiety and builds group identity (frontiersin.org).
4. Offer help. Teaching or explaining a concept to someone else deepens your own understanding and strengthens social bonds.

Mini‑Quest: This Week’s Challenge

1. Join or form a group of at least two other learners (try japanesecircle.com or a local meetup).
2. Share one thing you learned today and ask one question, no matter how basic.
3. Schedule a short call or chat with a partner to practice a dialogue or exchange voice notes.

Remember: language is a team sport. Exorcise the Isolation Ghost by stepping into the conversation.

P.S. In our next post, we’ll confront the Friction Goblin（摩擦ゴブリン）, the sneaky creature that hides your tools and adds tiny hassles until you quit. Stay tuned!

Photo credit Sindy Süßengut, Unsplash.com

Dan Lowe is the founder of Boston Intercultural Consulting, LLC, including its Japanese learning arm, japanesecircle.com. The following is part of a five-part series covering the “Big Five Common Enemies” Japanese language learners must confront to maximize their Japanese learning effectiveness: 

1. The Passive Kraken(受け身クラーケン)
2. The Binge Beast(ドカ食いビースト)
3. The Isolation Ghost（孤独ゴースト)
4. The Friction Goblin（摩擦ゴブリン)
5. The Slow-Mo Swamp（スローモー沼).

You’ve met the Passive Kraken. Now it’s time to face its gluttonous cousin: the Binge Beast. This monster coaxes you into weekend study marathons and prolonged midweek droughts.

If you’ve ever thought, “I’ll catch up on Sunday,” only to abandon Japanese entirely by Tuesday, you’ve already encountered it.

My Brush With the Binge Beast

Early [and sometimes later] in my Japanese journey, I’d regularly binge‑study on Saturdays. I’d blaze through grammar guides, watch hours of content, and cram hundreds of flashcards in one sitting.

I’d finish the day exhausted yet oddly proud. Then I’d feel so scarred from the experience that I’d skip the next three or four days, telling myself the weekend “should count for something.”

It didn’t. By Thursday, most of what I’d “learned” had evaporated.

Research shows this isn’t just my imagination: massed practice (cramming all study into one session) produces short‑lived gains but poor long‑term retention. Even when you hold constant total study time, spacing the same material across several sessions leads to significantly better memory.

Even worse, batching our study into binge days encourages stress and procrastination. In the days leading up to the session, our imaginations feed the task at hand, and what might have been a kitten on Monday is a sabertooth tiger by Saturday.

Spotting the Binge Beast

Symptom #1: “I’ll make up for it later.” You regularly skip midweek study because you plan to compensate with a big session on the weekend.

Symptom #2: Boom‑and‑bust cycles. Some weeks you study ten hours; other weeks, nothing. This practice leads to guilt and burnout.

Symptom #3: Forgetting. Despite long sessions, you find yourself relearning the exact words and grammar because massed practice doesn’t allow information to consolidate into long‑term memory.

Why the Binge Beast Wins

Intensity is seductive. A marathon study session feels productive, and finishing an extended assignment in one sitting gives a temporary sense of accomplishment.

But our brains aren’t wired that way. Memory researchers have known since Ebbinghaus’s 19th‑century experiments that spaced practice, not cramming, leads to durable learning.

When we cram, the material stays in short‑term working memory, which breeds familiarity and lowers attention. Spaced sessions break this familiarity, so each return to the material feels slightly new, prompting you to allocate more attention and encode it more deeply.

Studies on second‑language learners show they remember vocabulary better when they space out repetitions rather than cramming them.

The science is precise: the spacing effect is one of the most robust findings in psychology, with hundreds of studies confirming that long‑term memory improves when you space apart learning events rather than massing them together.

Yet we gravitate toward binge sessions because we underestimate how quickly we forget and overestimate the effectiveness of cramming.

How to Slay the Binge Beast: Build a Non‑Zero Daily Habit

Think of beating the Binge Beast like training for a marathon: consistent daily runs beat occasional all‑night sprints.

1. Set a “Minimum Effective Dose.” Decide on a daily minimum: three, five, or ten minutes; that’s so small you can’t skip it. The goal is not to do as much as possible but to avoid doing nothing.
2. Schedule Micro‑Sessions. Break your study into mini‑blocks across the day (e.g., morning flashcards, lunchtime grammar, evening conversation). Research shows that spreading sessions even a day apart improves retention.
3. Stack and Trigger. Attach your Japanese habit to an existing routine. For example, review two flashcards right after brushing your teeth or listen to a podcast while making coffee. The easier it is to start, the less the beast can tempt you to delay.

Consistency need not be perfect. If you miss a day, get back on track the next. What matters is that binge sessions become the exception, not the rule.

Mini‑Quest: This Week’s Challenge

1. Set your daily minimum time (5–10 minutes) for the next seven days.
2. Break it into two or three short sessions if you can: morning, afternoon, and evening.
3. At the end of each day, jot down one new word or phrase you learned and post it in a journal, or in the free Wins & Learnings space on japanesecircle.com.

Remember: consistency beats intensity when intensity isn’t consistent. Let’s starve the Binge Beast together and build habits that last!

Next time, we’ll challenge Japanese Learning Enemy #3: The Isolation Ghost（孤独ゴースト).

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: JET Program USA, Temporary Processing Staff
Posted by: Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.
Location: Washington, D.C., USA
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. for passing along the following job opening.

The JET Program Office at the Embassy of Japan is seeking Processing Staff for the 2026 JET Application processing season. Processing staff will have the opportunity to learn more about the JET Program from an administrative perspective. This is a temporary position from November 5, 2025 (Wednesday) to December 19, 2025 (Friday) with the possibility of some flexibility in start and end dates. This is an in-person position based out of our office at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C.

Deadline:
Applicants are strongly encouraged to send their materials as soon as possible and before the priority deadline of Friday, October 24, 2025, at 5:00PM Eastern Time. For applications who submit materials by October 24 and are accepted past the first stage, phone interviews will be offered between Tuesday, October 28 to Wednesday, October 29. For those who do not meet the priority deadline, the final deadline is Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 5:00PM Eastern Time.

sparrosd@gmail.com

Dan Lowe is the founder of Boston Intercultural Consulting, LLC, including its Japanese learning arm, japanesecircle.com. The following is part of a five-part series covering the “Big Five Common Enemies” Japanese language learners must confront to maximize their Japanese learning effectiveness: 

1. The Passive Kraken(受け身クラーケン)
2. The Binge Beast(ドカ食いビースト)
3. The Isolation Ghost（孤独ゴースト)
4. The Friction Goblin（摩擦ゴブリン)
5. The Slow-Mo Swamp（スローモー沼).

Sailing in Dangerous Waters

I remember sitting at my desk in October 2020, feeling defeated. The world had shut down months earlier, and I had just hit a six‑month Japanese learning streak with my Anki flashcards.

I should have felt proud, but I couldn’t tell you what I’d studied that morning, and day after day of clicking the space bar had become an empty habit. Six months at 30 minutes a day. How much time had I wasted?

It turns out I was losing to the Passive Kraken, the monster that convinces you that passive study is “good enough.”

Spotting the Passive Kraken

Symptom #1: You can recite the days of your streak, but can’t recall yesterday’s learning concepts without peeking.

Symptom #2: “Study” looks like mindlessly flipping flashcards or Duolingo with no output.

Symptom #3: You dread doing anything beyond your comfort zone, because repeating the familiar feels like progress.

I realized I wasn’t learning Japanese; I was perfecting a routine. Consistency is essential, but only if what you repeat actually stretches you.

Why the Kraken Wins

Passive learning feels safe, much like sailing in familiar waters close to the coast. Input is addictive because it tricks you into believing you’re moving forward without the risk of making mistakes. There’s no embarrassment, no fumbling through a sentence.

Unfortunately, you’re not building any fundamental skills. As long as we keep the Kraken happy with easy tasks, it will lull us into stagnation.

How to Fight Back (10‑Minute Active Learning Workout)

Think of active learning like a workout, whether that be for health or to battle krakens: warm up, heavy lifting, cool down. You don’t need to move to Japan or re-enroll in university to make it effective.

Warm‑up (3–5 min): Do a bit of passive input: flip through a few flashcards, read a short article, or listen to a song. Get your brain in “Japanese mode.”

Heavy lifting (4–5 min): Without looking back at the material, open a blank document and record everything you can recall. Shadow a sentence out loud, jot down new words in a sentence, or summarize what you read. It will feel uncomfortable. That’s the point.

Cool‑down (1–2 min): Share your notes in a community space like a language circle or with a study buddy. Saying it out loud or posting it turns recall into real use. If you’re looking for a safe place to post, japanesecircle.com has a designated space explicitly for this purpose.

For tricky concepts, attach them to an emotional memory: the embarrassment of mispronouncing a word in front of a native speaker or the joy of understanding a lyric. Emotional hooks make memories stick.

Mini‑Quest: Today’s Challenge

1. Do your usual passive study for five minutes.
2. Immediately afterwards, recall everything you can. Speak or write, no peeking.
3. Share your recall (or a summary of it) with someone else. A quick community post on japanesecircle.com, a voice memo to a friend, or even talking to yourself in the mirror counts!

P.S. In my next post, I’ll introduce the Binge Beast (ドカ食いビースト), the monster that pushes weekend marathons and weekday droughts. Stay tuned!

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Study Abroad Advisor
Posted by: Kansas State University
Location: Manhattan, KS, USA
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to Savannah Maynard (Nara, 2022-2025) for passing along the following job opening.

The Study Abroad Advisor provides guidance and outstanding professional service to students before, during, and after their educational experience abroad. The Advisor informs students, parents, faculty, and staff about various study, internship, service, and research opportunities abroad, and coordinates with relevant academic and administrative offices. The Advisor also assists with coordinating program and application processes and participates in campus recruitment and promotion, as well as participant selection.

The Study Abroad Advisor works with overseas partners to obtain information regarding application processes, course selection, arrival information, accommodation, and other relevant information. Some national and international travel is expected.

Application Process: For more information and to apply, please click here –  https://forumea.mcjobboard.net/jobs/202430

BBy JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here. 

As the summer days fade into fall colors, the weeks ahead are shaping up with these exciting events, ready to be enjoyed all through Halloween.

This month’s highlights include:

Wednesday, October 8, 7:00 p.m.

100 Meters Premiere with Director Kenji Iwaisawa

Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street

$20-$26

East Coast premiere! 100 Meters follows Togashi, a track star who is born to run. As a kid, he is naturally gifted and wins every 100-meter race without effort. But in sixth grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. In teaching him, Togashi gives Komiya a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves. Helmed by director Kenji Iwaisawa, who quickly rose to prominence for his debut film, ON-GAKU: Our Sound, 100 Meters is a heart-pounding adaptation of the beloved manga by Uoto. The film is written by Yasuyuki Muto (Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway, Tokyo Revengers), with a score by Hiroaki Tsutsumi (Jujutsu Kaisen, Tokyo Revengers, Dr. Stone).

Oct. 9-12

New York Comic Con

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 Eleventh Avenue

$90 (daily), $280 (4-day pass)

Breaking attendance records each year, the East Coast’s biggest gathering for fans of comics, film, anime and manga returns with its biggest roster of Hollywood talent to date, featuring exclusive screenings, gaming, cosplay photo ops, and more! Enjoy interactive panels and content from brands like Viz, Atsuko and Bandai Namco, and check out exclusive booths and artists alley to pick up con-exclusive merch and pre-release titles. Special anime-related events presented by Crunchyroll this year include Ghosts, Aliens, and Supernatural Shenanigans! Starring the English Voice Cast of DAN DA DAN, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill Season 2 – Special Premiere Screening, and TRIGUN STARGAZE Special Premiere ft. Author Yasuhiro Nightow! Also check out signings by The Legend of Zelda manga duo Akira Himekawa, and Scholastic’s Graphix works including Unico: Awakening and The Baby-Sitters Club!

Wednesday, October 8, 7:00 p.m.

Author Talk: Jake Adelstein and The Devil Takes Bitcoin

Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street

$20-$25

Japan Society is honored to welcome bestselling author Jake Adelstein for a special talk and signing in celebration of the release of his newest book,The Devil Takes Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency Crimes and the Japanese Connection. From the author of Tokyo Vice comes the wild, true story of cyber-era commerce, crime, cold-hard cash, and one of the greatest heists in history. The Devil Takes Bitcoin tells the true story of the humble-to-hot commodity, from the former geek website that launched the boom to an inside world of absent-minded CEOs, hucksters, hackers, cybercrooks, drug dealers, corrupt federal agents, evangelical libertarians, and clueless techies. Attendees of this talk and signing will be able to purchase copies of The Devil Takes Bitcoin, Tokyo Vice, and Adelstein’s other books at the event or bring books from home for a signing session following the author’s talk.

Read More

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Economic Affairs Analyst
Posted by: Consulate-General of Japan in Houston
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to Matthew Klein (Niigata-ken, Nagaoka-shi, 2014-2019) for passing along the following job opening.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
○Set appointments and arrange meetings for diplomatic officials.
○Participate in and assist with hosting various events.
(Please note that (1) this includes but is not limited to tasks like, coordinating business lunches or dinners, preparing invitations and name cards, preparing guest lists of invitees to the Consulate-General’s receptions, working as an assistant staffer at political, economic and PR/cultural events held outside the Consulate, taking notes during conferences or panel discussions, working in close cooperation with the secretary to the Consul General, and that (2) the employee may be instructed to assist with events and projects that do not directly fall under the responsibilities of the political/economic section, but instead fall under the responsibilities of other sections, if such events and projects carry significant importance to the functioning of the Consulate-General as a whole.)

sparrosd@gmail.com

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: University Scholarship Coordinator
Posted by: Temple University, Japan Campus
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to Temple University, Japan Campus for passing along the following job opening.

Overview of Position
Starting Fall 2025, TUJ Tokyo will expand the Office of Student Services and Engagement team to include the University Scholarship Coordinator. This person will manage the administration of university scholarship programs for both new and continuing students and will be the point person for students to consult on both internal and external scholarships. The University Scholarship Coordinator will work with the director and senior management to develop a centralized system to manage scholarships across the university and to streamline the application and selection processes. The University Scholarship Coordinator will be responsible for researching external scholarship opportunities that match the varying backgrounds of students at TUJ and marketing those opportunities to the students.

About the Office of Students Services and Engagement (OSSE), our office provides high-quality services to TUJ’s diverse student population to support their success and well-being as they become members of the university community. OSSE assists incoming students with student visa applications, financial aid, housing, and organizes orientations to help students adapt to the academic and social life at TUJ. OSSE also oversees student activities and events both on and off campus and works with various student groups to encourage social interaction among students. As a member of the Office of Student Services and Engagement, you will have the opportunity to support off-campus student activities and excursions.

sparrosd@gmail.com

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Japanese Language Immersion K-3 Teacher
Posted by:John Stanford International Elementary School
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Contract: Full-Time

Thanks to Seattle Public Schools – John Stanford International Elementary School for passing along the following job opening.

Overview of Position
A classroom teacher fosters and enhances an effective learning environment; facilitates the development or revision of curriculum and instructional materials; establishes learning objectives and standards based upon general District guidelines; provides instruction; counsels, disciplines, and supervises to meet the individual needs of assigned students, and evaluates student performance and progress.

This position is in a Japanese dual language immersion program. Students receive instruction in English and Japanese. Teachers must have an Elementary Education endorsement and be able to read, write, speak, and listen in Japanese.

Essential Functions
Fosters an educational environment conducive to the learning and maturation process of assigned students; plans an instructional program designed to meet individual student needs and whole groups which may include at risk or special needs youth; prepares lesson plans.

sparrosd@gmail.com