JetWit Vacation – Akemashite omedetou!
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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!
Omedetou!
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Omedetou gozaimashita to JETAA NY Secretary Meredith Wutz who’s had a rather big week.
- Her fantasy football team, Machine Gun Kelly, defeated Takashi Daito’s Hamamatsu Eel-Dogs by 0.7 points after trailing by 45 points going into the Monday night game to win the first ever JETAA NY Fantasy Football League, consisting of 5 JET alums and 5 football-loving members from CLAIR New York, and…
- She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Kiyora Linda, on December 18. :-)
Me-ri Kurisumasu!
WITLife #13 – Emperors, Towers and More Nesting
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Today (already yesterday in Japan) celebrated the birthday of two of this country’s fixtures, the Emperor and Tokyo Tower. The former turned 75 and the latter 50, and both have been showing slight signs of aging.
In the customary palace visit open to the general public, Emperor Akihito apologized for causing people to worry regarding his health, as he is still fighting a cold. Because of this, many of the usual events surrounding his birthday will be canceled or postponed.
Tokyo Tower has recently undergone renovations such as a new elevator and new illumination, and author Lili Frank was on hand to offer greetings at its 50th anniversary party. He wrote the 2005 best seller Tokyo Tower, later made into drama and movie versions (which I liked so much that I’m now reading the book and enjoying it just as much).
*News of this year’s nesting phenomenon continues, and two trends regarding Christmas cakes are “mini” and “luxurious.” Mini cakes as small as 5-10 cm in diameter are wildly popular, as people would rather be able to try several different kinds instead of just one. On the other hand, high-end Christmas cake is also selling well. Whereas your typical strawberry shortcake goes for 500 yen, these luxury cakes are as much as 2,500 yen each.
As one consumer explained, “This is something I buy only once a year so I might as well go all out!”
Every Situation is Different: Holiday Edition
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To get everyone in the Japanese Christmas spirit, here are a few cartoons from the archive of Earth Bennett’s (Aomori, 2000-03) JET cartoon Every Situation is Different:
Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04), author of Zorgamazoo, has reviewed all haiku submissions containing the designated word “prose“ for Haiku Challenge #2 and has selected a winner to receive a free copy of his book. Read on for his decision and rationale.
Following in the footsteps of James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), I feel obliged to assemble a short-list of honourable mentions. I make no claims, however, as to having any insightfulness when it comes to properly appreciating haiku…
Second runner-up, for its tenderness and topicality (’tis the season, after all), we have Justin Tedaldi’s entry:
The gift was thoughtful
The letter’s prose delightful
Happy holidays
—Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02)
First runner-up, for it’s gritty natural realism, is Alexei Esikoff’s ode to the grim weather of the Midwest:
The temperature drops
Buried under slushy prose
Minneapolis
—Alexei Esikoff (Fukushima-ken, 2001-02)
Finally, the winner this week is Meredith Hodges-Boos (who had an honourable mention in the previous contest, incidentally). Her haiku appeals to my love of word play — and even manages a nifty metaphor in the meantime. Congrats, Meredith!
Take roses with ‘P’s
Mix in the ordinary
Watch word gardens grow
—Meredith Hodges-Boos (Ehime-ken, 2003-05)
Click “Read More” to see the other haiku submitted.
Japan Info Newsletter – Dec. 2008
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The December 2008 edition of JapanInfo is now available. JapanInfo is published by the Consulate General of Japan in New York/Japan Information Center and is a great source of info for Japan-related things going on in New York and the surrounding area.
JETAA Chapter Beat 12.17.08
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Freelance writer/editor Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community…
- Japanese Language Workshops at JASW – Starting Monday, January 12, Japan-America Society’s Japanese Language School Winter Semester begins. Free first year membership for JETAA-DC members.
- Holiday Happy Hour – Friday, December 19th, 7:00 at 5 Seasons Brewing. Join JETAASE for some holiday spirit and spirts.
- Raise funds for Leukemia! – Support Ingrid Garcia-Galinat in her marathon goal to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team on March 29, 2009.
- Yukiko Shimo Exhibition: Today’s Top Woodblock Print Artist in Japan – Dec 2nd – Jan 31, check out woodblock prints at the Roswell Teahouse & Gallery.
- JETAANC Video Volunteers – December 15th – 19th. In preparation for an upcoming Shinenkai video, JETAANC is looking for people to come and talk about their JET experience on camera.
- The Totoro Forest Project (Dec 6 – Jan 18) – Exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum based on Hayao Miyazaki’s most celebrated film Tonari no Totoro.
JETAA Texoma
- Returning JET Reception – Saturday, January 24, join recently returned JET participants at the Consulate for some sushi-rolling and other food oriented activities.
- Chinese Urban Art Show – Dec 12, 2008 – Dec 20, 2009 at the BLVD Gallery in Belltown. Check out some asian art, fascinating and, best of all, free.
- Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association Holiday Party – Sunday, December 21, 4:00 to 8:00 at the Pt Edwards Club House. It’s potluck, so don’t forget the food!
- Christmas Carols – Saturday, December 20th, 5:30 at Cowra Japanese Garden. Celebrate the holiday with song and candlelight.
What happened at your chapter’s event? If you attend(ed) any of these exciting events, JetWit would love to hear about them. Just email Jonathan Trace with any info, stories or comments.
Britney Spears–ALT?
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Watch Britney Spears on Japanese tv in 2008 and on the same tv show back in 1999. I find that celebrity appearances on Japanese tv always help me re-live my own awkward experiences from my days as an ALT, and I think it’s somehow reassuring to know that even celebrities are reduced to the same awkward smiling, laughing and discomfort that most JETs have felt at some point.
JET alum Roland Kelts quoted in The New Yorker
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, was quoted or mentioned this week in articles in:
- The New Yorker magazine, in the “Letter from Japan” article by Dan Goodyear on cellphone novelists (subscription required)
- Asahi Shimbun – Roland’s contribution to the Japanese literary journal, MONKEY BUSINESS, is highlighted in this article featuring editor and literary translator Motoyuki Shibata.
- The Christian Science Monitor in
- Japan Cracking U.S. Pop-culture Hegemony – Japan is quietly emerging as a global trendsetter in pop culture, as well as in green technology and environmental practices.
- Mieko Kawakami: From blogger to global novelist – Her latest novel won Japan’s top prize for new fiction writers. Kawakami is one of an emerging group of young Japanese women writers.
From www.fewmets.net
James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish, has reviewed all haiku submissions containing the designated word “fewmets“ for Haiku Challenge #1 and has selected a winner. Read on for his decision and rationale.
I was blown away by the quality of the fewmets haiku I received. I can state with absolute conviction that these are the best haiku about fewmets that I have ever read!
First, the honorable mentions. Meredith Hodges-Boos (Ehime-ken, Yoshida-cho, 2003-05) wrote an appropriately grim, medieval-epic haiku that ends with a wonderfully forbidding promise of violence:
Fewmets steam on bleak
Frost-covered leaves, hunter stoops
Soon blood will melt ice
Chillingly beautiful! Worthy of Beowulf! I can almost imagine Ms. Hodges-Boos is the kind of woman who makes her own chain mail.
Rick Ambrosio (Ibaraki-ken, 2006-08) put a decidedly modern spin on fewmets:
The fewmets of love;
lipstick wine glass, lost overcoat . . .
painful cotton swab nurse!
Every man who has endured a gonorrhea test will find the last line poignantly evocative. Mr. Ambrosio is clearly a gentleman about town, a chap of wide and varied experiences, a man who almost certainly has chlamydia. He came very close to winning, except that the second and third lines each have one more syllable than a fastidious interpretation of the haiku form allows. As sloppy as a tart’s kiss, Mr. Ambrosio!
Finally, we come to the winner, from the talented Ilya Blokh:
A French truffle, on the
Tongue, melts, but how I was wrong
It was a fewmet
True, the first line might has one more syllable than usual, but Mr. Blokh’s brilliance trumps formal quibbles. The imagination is set giddily free. How did the poet come across this spurious truffle? On what pretext is he eating it? From what beast does this fewmet issue? What does the fewmet taste like? Mr. Blokh creates an entire world for me to inhabit.
And thither shall I now flit, to freely and sportively bombinate among the flowers of his soul.
Click “Read More” to see a couple more haiku submissions.
Update: Roland Kelts
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Here’s the latest update on JET alum Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica and professor at Tokyo University:
ADBUSTERS: A feature story, co-written with Leo Lewis of the Times of London, about signs of socialism and unrest among Japanese youth and the Kanikosen phenomenon is now online:
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/81/big_in_japan.html (On a related topic, Stacy Smith comments on recent political unrest following the closing of an auto manufacturing plant in Japan in WITLife #7-Totyota Shock (Part 2).)
DAILY YOMIURI: In his latest Soft Power/Hard Truths column in the Daily Yomiuri, Roland revisits Michael Arias, the only American to have directed a feature anime film in Japan–Tekkonkinkreet—(which, incidentally, premiered in the US at MOMA in 2007). Arias’s forthcoming film is the live action Heaven’s Door (opens 2/7/09 in Japan), which Roland attended at a private screening last week. Link to the column: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20081212TDY13004.htm
Seikai University Talk: Roland’s blog (japanamerica.blogspot.com) has a post about his recent talk at Seikei University in western Tokyo about Japanamerica where he introduced both the ideas examined in the book and the latest happenings in the trans-cultural exchange between Japan and the U.S.
JET alum Rosie de Fremery launches new blog and website
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Former JETAA NY Vice-Prez Rosie de Fremery (Shizuoka-ken, 1998-2001) recently launched a new blog about food (working with a couple friends) and also a new Etsy store website. In Rosie’s own words…
Nosh Pit is a group food blog I’ve started with two friends who are as passionate about food as I am. We launched it on Sunday and have already put up several recipes and restaurant views, with discussions beginning in the comments section. So far I’ve posted a friend’s recipe for maple bourbon sweet potato pie and a review of a French patisserie I discovered this week. Please check it out at http://noshpit.wordpress.com/
The second is Shining Flower Productions, an Etsy store where I am selling hand-painted greeting cards for the upcoming holidays. For now I’m just selling two designs, one of an angel for Christmas and one of a Chanukiah for Chanukah, but I do plan to offer more watercolor card designs and some original Japanese calligraphy in the future. The store can be found at http://shiningflower.etsy.com/
WITLife #5 – Keeping up on the Japanese news
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).
Starting with this post I thought I’d introduce a more behind the scenes aspect of WIT life, that being the preparation and work that takes place when I am not traveling or working on an assignment.
In order to keep my Japanese skills sharp, besides conversing with native speakers (don’t be afraid to ask to be corrected!) I enjoy the daily programming of Fujisankei. In particular, the news airing at 7 a.m. (rebroadcast at 10) every weekday morning is especially insightful for keeping up to date on what’s going on in Japan and beyond, and how certain concepts would be expressed in Japanese.
An essential part of being a translator/interpreter is knowing the correct vocabulary for recent phenomenon, as these are words that change with the times and require constant updating of your brain. For example, in Japan the collapse of our economic institutions is referred to as Read More
Reuters video article on NY de Volunteer’s recent Spa Day
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Speaking of volunteering, Reuters Japan has a good video article (in Japanese) about NY de Volunteer’s recent Spa Day, where the volunteers go to a nursing home and treat the residents to a day of various beauty spa treatments. (FYI, the segment starts at about 2:55 into the video.)
(For those of you with stronger Japanese skills, please feel free to post summary comments in English so other JetWit readers can get a sense of what’s being said.)
There are few more quintessentially American experiences than volunteering on Thanksgiving. Here’s a nice photo of Fumitake “Fumi” Saijo and Koki Kimoto from the Japan Local Government Center (a/k/a
CLAIR New York) working in the kitchen with Kia Cheleen (CIR, Aichi-ken 1996-98, ALT 1998-1999) (not pictured) to prepare Thanksgiving meals through a project run by the Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Network.
