WIT Life #278: High Speed Rail Plan (via the Onion)
Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers 
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Apropos of nothing, can’t resist sharing this gem from the Onion. I love how they use the actual train names/types. 良い３連休を！
WIT Life #277: Garden of Unearthly Delights
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
As a member of Japan Society, last night I had the chance to preview the new gallery exhibition Garden of Unearthly Delights. It featured works from two artists and the collaboration teamLab that were largely fantastical with a strong dose of social commentary. As a result, it felt like a very dense exhibit that seemed to occupy more space than the gallery’s actual square footage. 
Garden begins with works from Manabu Ikeda, an artist originally from Saga Prefecture who now resides in Madison, Wisconsin after previously living in Vancouver. The focus of his paintings in this show are on disaster art and 311, an event he witnessed from outside the country. You can see many manga and anime-like aspects in them as well. I particularly liked his work Foretoken, which is often compared to Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, displayed nearby in the gallery. Upon close inspection you can see the intricate detail of his infinite brushstrokes, but when you look at it from a distance you get a whole other perspective. Underneath the huge wave that is cresting you can find things like Read More
Getting Unstuck: How To Turn Your Dreaming Into Doing
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Jonathan Bissell (Chiba-ken, 1995-2000) is the author of Dream in Color, Think in Black & White: How to Get Unstuck and Fulfill Your Dreams. He is also the CEO of High Performance Impact, LLC, an executive coaching firm helping proven and emerging leaders to identify and consistently leverage patterns of high performance.
You’re a writer and you have a book inside you, but it doesn’t know how to get out.
Here are 3 simple steps to begin getting your book out of your head and where it belongs, on paper.
3 Simple Steps To Begin Writing Your Book:
- STEP #1: Write Your Introduction. Writing begins with…writing. It sounds silly, but just sitting down to write is the one simple step that many people never take. So take it. Grab a paper and pen, or your laptop, and sit somewhere comfortable. Now imagine we’re sitting there together, and I ask you to tell me about your book. “What’s your book about?” I ask you. Now write or type your answer. That’s it. Just tell me about your book. If it’s helpful, try to answer questions such as Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Once you’re finished, you’ll have created the Introduction to your book! Now on to step #2.
Continue reading here.
Job: Global Education Advisor (Middle East & Africa), Georgetown University
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Posted by Sean Pavlik (Fukui-ken, 2010-12), International Programs Officer for the DC-based Congressional Study Group on Japan. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
The Office of Global Education at Georgetown University in Washington, DC is currently seeking applications for the position of Global Education Advisor.
Position Summary:
The Global Education Advisor (GEA) advises 90-120 students on academically appropriate study abroad opportunities for a portfolio of programs in the Middle East and Africa (non-French-speaking). The GEA assists students with the application and selection process and acts as the primary liaison with exchange and partner institutions in his/her designated region regarding student support and service. The GEA serves as a resource for curricular deans regarding academic questions for universities within his/her region. The GEA maintains responsibility for program management and fiscal oversight of programs in his/her region. The GEA organizes recruitment and cross-cultural programming for overseas programs, communicates with overseas contacts and partner institutions, and resolves curricular issues in cooperation with students and their curricular deans. The GEA coordinates all OGE marketing and outreach, manages the awarding of all OGE scholarship funds for semester study abroad students, and coordinates student diversity and inclusion programming initiatives for OGE with the intention of diversifying GU’s education abroad population.
Read More
AJET Alumni Survey-Open until October 13th
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Did you know that the Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching (AJET) produces several surveys a year?
Two or three times a year we create a survey incorporating issues that the JET community is currently facing. We take data that we receive from those who complete these surveys and create reports. These reports are presented to officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA); the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) to discuss the results these surveys and their implications. An example of what the surveys have achieved so far includes the ban of smoking in staff rooms and the increase in possible JET tenure from three years to five years.
This year we have created an additional survey for Alumni .The more Alumni that answer the survey the better we can represent you to the ministries.
The current survey has been created to gather information from current JETs and Alumni about what they do/have done for Japan, it’s economy, and tourism industry.
Please find the link for the current survey here (which is open until October 13th) . If you are interested in looking at some of our past surveys click here .
For any further questions please feel free to email me.
Ashlie O’Neill
Director of Alumni Relations
AJET National Council 2014-2015
http://www.ajet.net
JETwit Job Hunter Profile: Vanessa Yee
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JETwit Job Hunter is a feature started by Autumn Widdoes (Okinawa-ken 2010-14) where we share the profile of a JET or JET alum currently seeking work and invite JETwit readers to share any advice, suggestions, or perspectives. Autumn is a writer with a focus on performance and film who is actively on the job market. She’d like to put her four years of experience in Japan to good use in future employment.
Job Hunter: Vanessa Yee (Nagano-ken, 2010-14) just completed her JET tenure, having taught two years as an ALT in Shiojiri City and two years as a Prefectural Advisor in Nagano City. She is currently living in Los Angeles, where she is pursuing her MBA part-time at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
Objective: Vanessa is seeking a full-time position in the HR field as either an HR Generalist or HR Specialist in talent development and training or organizational management. On the JET program, she was a Prefectural Advisor and has leadership skills and experience in program management, event organization, administrative and personal counseling, workshop presentations, as well as training and hiring.
Areas of Interest:
- Human Resources
- Talent development and training
- Organizational management
- Entry level positions
Job Hunting Strategies:
- Undergraduate and graduate school career services offices
- Personal contacts in the Los Angeles area
- Japanese recruitment agencies such as PASONA, QuickUSA, and Teruko Weinberg, among others
Challenges: Vanessa is in the process of a career change. While she does not yet have direct experience within the HR field, she has prior work experience that has given her transferable skills aligned with her target industry. While looking for jobs via search engines and websites, she is finding it difficult to determine the level and class of job she wants that will not only match her interests but also her qualifications.
She has also been in contact with Japanese recruiting agencies. She began reaching out to them in May in preparation for her move home, but they required her to wait until August to begin actively searching for her. They did offer to set up Skype interviews for her while she was still located in Japan.
She has also actively reached out to her personal contacts who have helped her secure informational interviews, sent hiring notices to her, and have been very supportive of her job search.
Vanessa would like to continue conducting informational interviews and is seeking contacts with people who have careers in Human Resources. She is also looking for HR related job listings located in the LA/SoCal area. She is determined to find the right job for her and is seeking any leads that will help her reach her goal.
Web Presence:
- To contact Vanessa visit her LinkedIn.
To help this JETwit Job Hunter, post your comments below, or contact Vanessa Yee directly.
If you’d like to be profiled, click here to submit your information through the JETwit Job Hunter Google Form.
Reminder that there are a number of JET Alum professionally oriented LinkedIn groups set up to help you. By joining groups in fields that interest you, you can find and connect with other alums in that field.
Job: Manager of Graphic Design and Production – Japan Society (NYC)
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Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Manager of Graphic Design and Production
Posted by: Japan Society
Location: New York, NY
Type: Full-time
Overview:
The Manager of Graphic Design and Production is responsible for designing and producing all printed materials for Japan Society departments and consulting on all other projects involving the Society’s visual presence (including online) to reinforce and preserve the integrity of the graphic identity of the institution. Read More
WIT Life #275: DC’s Daikaya
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
Thanks to a State Department interpreting assignment starting this past week, I was able to spend some quality time in DC. At the top of the list of restaurants I wanted to try was Daikaya, a ramen shop/izakaya located in Chinatown. It opened last year but I never had a chance to visit, so a friend and I decided to make that our Friday night dinner destination. We had reservations at the osshare second floor izakaya so didn’t get to try the ramen on the first floor, but people were lined up out the door waiting to try the Hokkaido-style salt broth creations.
The offerings on Daikaya’s second floor go beyond classic izakaya fare and are truly inventive. Some Read More
Recent Updates from Andy Anderson
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The Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund Continues to Contribute to Ishinomaki
Here’s a quick update from Andy Anderson on the TAMF’s activities, made possible in part by the generous donations of the JET alumni:
“The Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund had its second board meeting in Tokyo in early July and approved four new reading initiatives in Ishinomaki including a book club and reading groups for local volunteers. We also committed to “Hope for Tomorrow” to support twenty Ishinomaki students who need help to obtain college admission. I met with the Tokyo YMCA to plan the return exchange of seven 2012 Richmond host family students to stay with Ishinomaki host families. We are very grateful to the Tokyo YMCA for planning and paying for the Japan itinerary and ANA for discounted airline tickets! The exchange was very successful and you can see posts on our Facebook page about the trip. I also visited Ishinomaki High School to view the new Taylor Bunko with 541 new books and meet with faculty and former students of Taylor’s. We met with Ishinomaki Senshu University (ISU) to plan for a new Taylor Bunko there. The University is located close to temporary housing and the library is open to all in Ishinomaki. We have begun to plan a unique research exchange program with ISU and Taylor’s alma mater, Randolph-Macon College. We worked with Project Yui and Team Watahoi to bring a Sports Onigokko Tag (www.onigokko.or.jp) day to Watanoha Elementary School on August 19th. We appreciate all of your support and are very grateful to Global Giving for offering to double donations this week! Please continue to check our Facebook page for updates!”
2014 JET Memorial Invitation Program
Andy also let us know about the initial batch of essays that have been posted from the 2014 JET Memorial Invitation Program, which you can access on the Japan Foundation website at http://jflalc.org/pub-breeze83.html. More essays are posted every month, so remember to check regularly. You’ll need to scroll down the page a ways to find the links, but they’re well worth the search.
JETwit Job Hunter Profile: Jonathan Parsons
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JETwit Job Hunter is a feature started by Autumn Widdoes (Okinawa-ken 2010-14) where we share the profile of a JET or JET alum currently seeking work and invite JETwit readers to share any advice, suggestions, or perspectives. Autumn is a writer with a focus on performance and film who is actively on the job market. She’d like to put her four years of experience in Japan to good use in future employment.
Job Hunter: Jonathan Parsons (Akita-ken, 2011-14) is a JET alum who just completed three years teaching in Odate, Akita Prefecture. He is originally from Kentucky but is currently relocating to the West Coast and is seeking job hunting advice for the California, Oregon, and Washington areas.
Objective: Jonathan is seeking a position in international exchange within higher education, a non-profit organization, or within government. Because he has experience as a freelance writer for games, he is also interested in pursuing positions in writing and narrative design/community management in the gaming industry.
Areas of Interest:
- Higher education
- Non-profit and government
- International exchange
- Writing for publications
- Narrative design
- Community Management
Job Hunting Strategies:
- Applications to positions in international education at universities.
- Applications to game companies.
Challenges: Jonathan and his wife are currently living in Kentucky, so he is facing the challenge of searching for jobs on the West Coast while living far from his target region. He feels that “many schools and companies overlook applicants who do not reside nearby or within the state.” In addition to this challenge, he is seeking advice on how to market himself in the US without any major work experience prior to his JET tenure.
He has done extensive research on various cities and industries located on the West Coast, and would like to reach out to fellow JET alumni located in California, Oregon, and Washington for advice on job hunting and leads in the above industries.
Web Presence:
- Resume
- Portfolio
- Website
- To contact Jonathan visit his LinkedIn Profile.
To help this JETwit Job Hunter, post your comments below, or contact Jonathan Parsons directly.
If you’d like to be profiled, click here to submit your information through the JETwit Job Hunter Google Form.
Reminder that there are a number of JET Alum professionally oriented LinkedIn groups set up to help you. By joining groups in fields that interest you, you can find and connect with other alums in that field.
WIT Life #273: Cleveland’s Japanese culture
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I’ve last written here and that we are already welcoming the new school year. I spent a large portion of my summer interpreting for clients on a project in Cleveland, Ohio. I didn’t have high hopes for Japanese connections in this small city, but was determined to find them where they existed. Due to being busy with my job and returning home on weekends, I wasn’t able to explore much outside of the downtown area, but that was enough to find some Japanese influences.
First was the restaurant Noodlecat, said to be “inspired by Tokyo noodle worship and New York City noodle houses.” There is a restaurant downtown as well an outpost at the West Side Market in Ohio City, but I opted for the former to get the full experienc
e. I got the Smoked Tomato Coconut Curry Udon with poached tofu, kohlrabi, potato, scallion and coconut curry kombu broth, as it sounded like a really unique combination of ingredients. Unfortunately, both the udon and its companions were disappointing. The noodles had a strange chewiness and even the texture of the tofu was off. Sure enough, when I told my clients that I was surprised the quality of the food had been so poor, they all agreed and said they had Read More
Let’s Talk Japan, Episode 25 – Making the Most of Your JET Program Experience
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Let’s Talk Japan is a monthly, interview format podcast covering a wide range of Japan-related topics. Host Nick Harling (Mie-ken, 2001-03) lived in Japan from 2001 until 2005, including two great years as a JET Program participant in Mie-Ken. He practices law in Washington, D.C., and lives with his wife who patiently listens to him talk about Japan . . . a lot.
It’s late summer, and that means hundreds of new JET Program participants have recently started their new life in Japan. In this episode, I share my thoughts on what steps they can take to have an enjoyable and memorable Japan experience.
If you have not already done so, be sure to follow the podcast on Twitter @letstalkjapan and leave a positive rating/review in iTunes.
Announcing JETwit Anecdotal Article Series!
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JETwit Anecdotal Article Series is new feature by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014). Jayme is a JETwit Job Manager and organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. She’s starting a new chapter in NYC and excited to explore new career opportunities.
Hi everyone!
Here at JETwit, we love it when JETs share stories of their experiences in Japan. That’s why we’re bringing back the Anecdotal Article Series! This is your chance to share your experiences as a JET participant with the whole JETAA community.
Each month, a new topic will be announced. If the topic sparks a particular memory for you, just fill out our quick Google Form! Stories can be anything related to the monthly topic about your time in Japan as JET.
For our first month, we would like to bring back the topic that has inspired the revival of the Anecdotal Articles, religion. Enjoy the anecdotal stories below compiled by JETwit Founder, Steven Horowitz, for the Spring 2006 issue of the JETAANY Newsletter, then jump over to our Google Form to share a story of your own! Read More
Japan Writers Conference coming up
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The Japan Writers Conference is a free event for English-language writers in a variety of fields—poets, novelists, journalists and even textbook authors. It’s held in a different part of Japan every year, with this year’s event set for Oct. 25-26 in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture.
JETs and JET alumni have been well represented among those attending and also those giving presentations at the previous seven annual events. One of them, Tom Baker (Chiba 1989-91) made the following video about the 2013 Japan Writers Conference, which was held in Okinawa. In it, you’ll also hear from JET alumni Percival Constantine (Kagoshima 2008-13), Todd Jay Leonard (Aomori 1989-1992), Benjamin Martin (Okinawa 2008-13), and Autumn Widdoes (Okinawa 2010-14).
For information on this year’s event, check the official website: http://www.japanwritersconference.org/.
JETwit Job Hunter Profile: Julie Yang
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JETwit Job Hunter is a feature started by Autumn Widdoes (Okinawa-ken 2010-14) where we share the profile of a JET or JET alum currently seeking work and invite JETwit readers to share any advice, suggestions, or perspectives. Autumn is a writer with a focus on performance and film who will soon return to the job market herself. She’d like to put her four years of experience in Japan to good use in future employment.
Job Hunter: Julie Yang (Nagasaki-ken, 2009-14) is a JET based in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. She will return to the USA and is looking for a job in Hawaii.
Objective: To gain employment in Hawaii in an administrative or program assistant job within the non-profit sector or other Japan-related industries. She is also interested in editorial and translation work.
Areas of Interest:
- Japan-related
- Non-profit
- Translation
- Editorial
Job Hunting Strategies:
- Direct contact with various non-profits based in Hawaii
- Skype interviews
Challenges: Because Julie has been living in Japan, she’s faced the challenge of not being based in the local area where she is seeking employment. Without a local address, she is having a difficult time getting companies or organizations to interview her. She is originally from Washington, DC, so she does not have extensive networks in Hawaii to help her and she finds that this makes the job search more competitive. She also feels that interviewing via Skype does not allow you to have the same in-person presence that allows you to present your qualifications, personality, and enthusiasm for the job. Despite all of these challenges, she says, “I’ve been able to get interviews and positive responses…this speaks to the reputation of the JET program.”
She is seeking networking opportunities with JET alumni in Hawaii. She would like to make contact with those working in Japan-related or non-profits there. Any references or advice from any fellow Hawaii-based JETs is appreciated.
Web Presence:
- To contact Julie Yang visit her LinkedIn Profile.
To help this JETwit Job Hunter, post your comments below, or contact Julie Yang directly.
If you’d like to be profiled, click here to submit your information through the JETwit Job Hunter Google Form.
Reminder that there are a number of JET Alum professionally oriented LinkedIn groups set up to help you. By joining groups in fields that interest you, you can find and connect with other alums in that field.
