WIT Life #145: Manga studies
Art, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers 
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WITLife 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 together with her own observations.
Coming off of yesterday’s post, I was surprised to find an article about manga and animation in this morning’s New York Times. It discusses how over the last decade, various programs that have evolved for formally studying these arts are attracting international students. The courses are offered only in Japanese which presents a bit of a challenge, but dedicated students see them as the key to advancing “their careers in animation, design, computer graphics and the business of promoting them.” The Japanese animation companies interviewed in the article said Read More
J-DOC: This is how Christmas in Japan is Celebrated
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Christmas in JapanJ-DOC, C-DOC, and K-DOC are recurring features written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese, Chinese, English, and Korean language learning options.
Japanese Class listing can be found at: Japanese Courses OR Japanese Classes Online
Being that most Japanese are Buddhist and Shinto, Christmas takes on a very different meaning in Japan. The streets are still decorated with Christmas lights and images of Santa Claus. Christmas music still plays incessantly everywhere you go. And, the shops and department stores still have great sales. But unlike in America and other Western countries, Christmas…
Click here to read the full article – Christmas in Japan
Foxhound87: Monkey Mountain
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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.
Last Saturday, I joined some Nara and Kyoto JETs in climbing Arashiyama, or as I call it, Monkey Mountain.
This mountain in Kyoto is famous for playing host to many feral Macaques. The hike up the mountain was pretty easy. There were only a few hazards. Because it was a bit misty, the rock steps and ramps were a little slippery. We cautiously made our way up Arashiyama.
As we climbed, we came across many signs warning us of the dangers of Monkey Mountain:
1. Do not feed the monkeys
2. Do not look the monkeys in the eyes
3. Do not touch the monkeys
Yeah…lots of do not’s…
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.
http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/
JETAA DC Film Festival: How was it?
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On December 3 and December 5, JETAADC held its first ever JETAA DC Film Festival. And they did it in style at the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute. Here’s a write-up of the event courtesy of JETAADC.
In an attempt to increase awareness of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and to showcase Japanese or Japan-related films to American audiences, the Japan Exchange and Teaching Alumni Association of Washington, DC (JETAADC) partnered with the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution to screen two films from December 3-5, Linda Linda Linda and The Harimaya Bridge.
On Friday, December 3, JETAADC showed Linda Linda Linda, a quirky comedy about a band of four girls and their rehearsals leading up to their talent show performance during school festival. Prior to the film, JETAADC Vice President Nick Harling provided some opening remarks, discussing the JET Program, JETAADC, and adding a bit of context to the film. Approximately 130 people attended the show on December 3, and after the film, about 40 audience members congregated at a local bar to continue discussing the film and Japanese culture.
On Sunday, December 5, JETAADC and the Freer Gallery screened The Harimaya Bridge, written and directed by Aaron Woolfolk, a JET alum from Kochi-ken. The film follows an American man who must travel to rural Japan to claim some important items belonging to his late son, from whom he was estranged. While there, he learns several secrets his son left behind. Mr. Woolfolk attended the screening, which drew over 200 people from the greater DC metro area, including representatives from local media. After the film, Mr. Woolfolk responded to questions from the audience regarding his inspiration for the film, the process of making the film, and what it was like working in Japan, both as a teacher and a filmmaker. About 50% stayed for the Q & A.
Afterwards, Mr. Woolfolk said, “It was a special honor to have the film shown at the Smithsonian Institution, and I am especially grateful to JETAADC for playing a pivotal role in making that happen. Moreover, spending time with the DC alumni before and after the screening reminded me how very fortunate and proud I am to be a part of the JET community.”
JETAADC President Maurice Maloney added, “JETAADC was honored to have Aaron Woolfolk and The Harimaya Bridge as part of our film series. In two and a half hours at the Freer Gallery, the film, along with Aaron’s discussion, conveyed the JET experience to a broader audience than we could have reached in months.”
Maloney added, “In light of discussed budget cuts to the JET Programme and JET Alumni Associations across the globe, it is more important than ever for JET Alumni Associations to showcase the breadth of their alumni and the positive effects they have on their communities.”
Click “Read More” to see photos from the event, courtesy of JETAADC.
National AJET’s “Life After JET”: Teaching English in Japan – Lucas Clarkson
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Lucas poses as Honest Abe.
National AJET shares former JET participants’ experiences – and a little advice – with current JETs in their new monthly interview, Life After JET. Contact lifeafterjet [at] ajet.net to be featured in future posts.
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Lucas Clarkson spent five years on JET as an ALT at high schools and elementary schools and now teaches at a private school in Yokohama. He is currently a social studies instructor at the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) at Chuo University Yokohama Yamate Girl’s School. Lucas told us a little more about his transition from JET to another teaching position in Japan for this month’s “Life After JET.”
National AJET: Why did you decide to continue teaching in Japan after JET? Was that always your plan?
Lucas Clarkson: I figured that I had so much invested in this country in terms of time spent, friendships made, and language (presumably) acquired, that to leave after JET would be a mistake. I always knew that I wanted to teach in some capacity, and I was lucky enough to find the position I did, when I did.
National AJET: Are there any resources you could recommend to someone looking for a teaching job in Japan?
Lucas: As far as resources go, there are the usual suspects: GaijinPot, Ohayo Sensei and Jobs in Japan. These are all helpful if you know exactly what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for International School positions there are a number of online headhunter-type sites where you pay a nominal fee to post your resume and other information online for prospective schools to see.
National AJET: Can you tell me a little bit about the logistics of staying on after JET – moving, getting a new visa, etc? Where there any difficulties that you didn’t expect?
Lucas: No major difficulties at all really, as long as you have a legitimate employer willing to sponsor you. If you decide to take the independent route however, you’re going to run into a host of difficulties. Just be sure to have (a) Japanese friend(s) on hand to help you with visa paperwork and the like.
Click here for the rest of the interview.
JapanInfo e-Newsletter December 2010
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The December 2010 edition of JapanInfo is now available online: http://editor.ne16.com/he/vo.aspx?FileID=569cab53-5818-4cc5-93c0-8d69ff4225b9&m=c084f6d45dcb1543a1f92db467644006&MailID=14668522 *(Click here to subscribe to JapanInfo by email.)
2010 Foreign Minister’s Commendation
Seiji Ozawa to Take the Conductor’s Podium at Carnegie Hall
New Yorkers Discover the Charms of Ishikawa
INSIDE THE ARMOR
The Art of Cut Paper in Philadelphia
VISIT JAPAN: Faster and Further on the Bullet Train
CULTURE CONNECTION: THE JAPANESE PROGRAM AT HUNTER COLLEGE
From the Ambassador’s Desk
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.
Click here to subscribe to JapanInfo by email.
Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.
I recently went to my school’s Bon Enkai to celebrate the end of the fall term! It was amaaaaaaaazing!
A brief preface: The definition of “enkai” is merely “party; banquet” but it is also what greases the wheels of social communication in Japanese culture. The enkai is usually a work party with a lot of drinking.
My school’s enkai was held at a major shrine in the city of Kashihara. Kashihara is the 2nd largest city in Nara, with Nara City being it’s largest.
Given the terrible weather conditions, Storm and I received a ride from S-Sensei to the enkai. After we arrived, we were told to pick a table number out of a box to determine where we would sit for the dinner. I thought I was being funny when I did the ol’ “reach my hand into the mysterious box and pretend like something grabbed it” routine, but apparently my humor doesn’t reach across borders sometimes. Storm and I pulled different table numbers, so we wouldn’t be sitting together. After we pulled our number we were given scratch lottery tickets. We were also told not to scratch them until the enkai starts…
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.
http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/
WIT Life #140: Hibakusha Stories
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WITLife 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 together with her own observations.
This week I had the unique opportunity to work as a volunteer interpreter for a project called Hibakusha Stories. Hibakusha (被爆者) is the official designation for atomic bomb victims, and this is the second time this organization has invited them to come to America to tell about their experiences. The program involves visits to NYC high schools, where groups of students gather to hear what these amazing survivors have to say. I had the honor of working with a beautiful woman from Hiroshima, 72-year old Toshiko Tanaka
, who was generous enough to share her story.
Toshiko was almost 7 when the bomb was dropped and managed to make her way home. Her own mother didn’t recognize her, and she was in a coma for a week but somehow miraculously survived. Besides burns throughout her body, she experienced Read More
This edition of Japan Fix actually happened when I emailed JETAA Florida’s Tampa Subchapter rep John McGee (Nagano-ken, 2004-05) to let him know that I would be visiting family in Tampa over Christmas and asked him for the most authentic Japanese experiences in the Tampa area, i.e., where the JET alums go. What he wrote back was perfect for Japan Fix.
1. Yoko’s Japanese Restaurant is in South Tampa (3217 South McDill Ave.) It’s owned by the mother of a JET from years ago. (http://www.yokosrestaurant.com/Pages/about.htm)
2. Kaisen Sushi in Northdale. (http://kaisensushitampa.com/) (14841 North Dale Mabry Highway) This is owned by a locally famous character…he’s a bit of a rocker and a good sushi chef. He made some waves when Hideki Matsui’s press guy asked if he would rent the place out for Matsui to make an appearance since he’d heard about the place and wanted to try it. But he told them that Matsui was welcome to eat, but he wouldn’t shut out his regulars on one of his best nights because they would keep coming back while Matsui would only be there once.
3. Wasabi Japanese Steak & Sushi in New Tampa. (http://www.japanesesteakandsushi.com/) (19601 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard) This is a Japanese owned steakhouse with sushi. The owner is Fumi Doi. He hosted one of our Tampagumi Pre-Departure Q&A’s for new JETs and is a likely sponsor for Tampa Natsumatsuri in 2011. (Apparently his wife encouraged him to sponsor the matsuri when she saw our sad little hand-cranked kakigori maker.) It’s definitely the fanciest and most expensive of the three I’ve mentioned.
Outside of food, perhaps, the best way to get your Japan Fix in Tampa may be to simply attend the Tampa Tsudoi Japanese language meet-up which meets the first Friday of every month from 7pm to 8pm at the Panera in the Brandon Town Center Mall.
Tell us where JETs should go in your area to get their Japan Fix. E-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Write for JETAA Pacific Northwest e-Newsletter
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JETAA PNW is beginning to put together our first Electronic Newsletter to distribute early next year. As we are now printing with electrons, we have loads of extra pages we can layout for you this year. (Desktop publishing based humor!?! Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? )
We welcome any submissions of pretty much anything related to JET, Japan, your experience on the program or with the alumni group. This can come in many forms, such as pictures, poetry, restaurant reviews for those of missing the taste of home: really the sky is the limit!
Please send any submissions to media [at] pnwjetaa.org. Questions? Send em’ that way too. Written submissions can be up to about 500 words, but we’re pretty flexible.
Submissions prior to December 20th greatly appreciated, but late-arrivals are A-OKAY! (I just can’t guarantee they will get in)
Yours in Electron Printing, Web-site-ing, and Tree-Skiing (VIVA LA NINA!)
–Ben Erickson
PNWJETAA Media Coordinator
Update 5/9/11: CLICK HERE to read “Stories from the JET-Tourist Tally Project“
Update: We’ve set up a Google Form to collect responses as an alternative to doing this via e-mail.
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Thanks to the Japan National Tourism Organization for its help in spreading the word about this project.
The “JET-Tourists Tally Project“
Last updated: 05/09/2011 (Thanks to JETAA UK and JETAA DC for letting its members know about the survey!)
- Tourists brought to Japan by JETs: 2,009
- Visitor Days: 22,574
- Respondents: 347
- Estimated tourism revenue (¥10,000/day): ¥225,740,000 (about $2,687,381 @ US$1=84yen)
- Estimated tourism revenue per JET respondent: ¥650,548 (about $7,745 @ US$1=84yen)
- Conclusion? At a minimum, JETs generate the equivalent of 1/5 to 1/6 of their salary for the Japanese economy. This is in addition to other returns on investment (e.g., diplomatic, financial and cultural) provided to Japan by participants in the JET Program.
(See further below for breakdown by prefecture.)
Here’s a simple way for every JET and JET alum to do their part to support the JET Programme and the JET Alumni Association.
- Just fill out this simple Google Form that we set up: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFFPeW5zdUZjQ3RZbEJJQ2IzNHJCZHc6MQ&ifq
or, if you prefer….
- E-mail visitors [at] jetwit.com and
- Tell us how many people you are personally responsible for causing to visit Japan (both during and since JET).
Please make sure to include:
- Number of tourists (e.g., Mom + Dad + two brothers = 4 people)
- Total number of days they stayed in Japan (e.g., If Mom & Dad + two brothers each stayed for 10 days, that’s 40 total days of tourist travel)
- Your name + position on JET (ALT/CIR/SEA)
- Your Prefecture + city/town and years on JET (e.g., 2006-10) (this is vital info!)
- Any comments, stories or additional info you want to share
Nearly all of us had relatives and friends come and visit us in Japan. Some of us have brought student groups and organized other exchanges. All of this has provided tourism revenue for the Japanese economy. The goal of this project is to determine, at a minimum, the amount of tourism revenue for which JET is directly responsible.
This information is particularly important amidst ongoing discussions of costs associated with the JET Programme and the JET Alumni Association. Many of the short and long term benefits have simply not been factored in. So email visitors@jetwit.com with your responses and let’s make sure this info does get factored in to future discussions.
We will continue to update the numbers in this post. Please check back periodically for updates.
Note: We are assuming a rather conservative estimate of Y10,000 per day (approximately $100) for all tourism expenditures combined (e.g., lodging, travel, food, entertainment and other tourist expenditures). Some people flew Japanese airlines, others did not. Some stayed in hotels, others stayed for free on the couch. All in all, 10,000 yen/day is a very low-end estimate.
Special domo arigatou for their ongoing help with this project to Joe Silvagni (Nagasaki-ken, 2008-10), Mike Shu (Hyogo-ken, 2005-08) and Sam Lederer (Shizuoka-ken, 2005-07).
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JET alums: Help AJET with “Life After JET”
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Share Your Expertise with Current JETs
The National Association of Japan Exchange and Teaching is hoping to make the transition from JET to…whatever comes next just a little less daunting. Our new monthly column, “Life After JET,” will feature former-JETs now working in a wide range of fields and share how they found a job, what they’re doing now and any advice they may have for current JET Programme participants.
Now we just need a few willing former-JETs. ..please contact Kathryn Kovacs at pr@ajet.net if that’s you! You’ll just have to answer a few questions about your JET and work experience via email to be featured in “Life After JET” in the AJET e-Bulletin, website and facebook page.
For more information about National AJET, please check our website: http://ajet. net or follow us on Facebook: www. facebook. com/AJETJapan
Job: Google Tokyo Product Manager
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via The Japan America Society. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
*Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JetWit. Thanks.
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Job Position: Product Manager
Job Details:
You will join Google’s product management team as a talented, ambitious, self-directed technologist and will guide our products from conception to launch. You are eager to improve information access for millions of people and have a proven track record of excellence. As a Google product manager, your responsibilities will include gathering requirements, helping to define a product vision and strategy, and working with world-class engineers to execute that strategy.
Responsibilities:
1. Initiate new products and product enhancements to meet existing or anticipated market needs
2. Engage closely with the engineering team to help determine the best technical implementation methods as well as a reasonable execution schedule, prioritize projects and track development
3. Work with a cross-functional internal team (e.g. sales, client services, marketing, legal, etc) to ensure smooth and successful launches
4. Establish short and long term product goals and strategies
Requirements
1. BS degree preferred with strong academic record (MS or PhD in Computer Science or related field a plus)
2. Demonstrated experience in shipping products (concept to launch).
3. Good understanding of user needs in Japan and an innovative history of addressing them.
4. Market knowledge of Internet-related industries.
5. Excellent organizational skills including the ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues and partners.
6. Fluent English communication skills is a must. (Japanese is desirable but not essential)
About Product Management at Google:
One of the many reasons Google consistently brings innovative, world-changing products to market is because of the collaborative work we do in Product Management. With eyes focused squarely on the future, our team works closely with creative and prolific engineers to help design and develop technologies that improve access to the world’s information. We’re responsible for guiding products throughout the execution cycle, focusing specifically on analyzing, positioning, packaging, promoting and tailoring our solutions to all the markets where Google does business.
Contact:
To apply for this position, please contact Ray Tsuchiyama at rtsuchiyama (at) google.com
Help CLAIR revamp its “After JET” Handbook
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Via JETAA International Secretary Kay Dunkley.
CLAIR is in the process of re-vamping the After JET Handbook. Would you like to see any changes?
Go here to see what the handbook looks like: http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/current/pubs/after.html
Deadline for input: Saturday, December 11, 2010.
Click here to e-mail responses to Kay Dunkley.
Help CLAIR revamp its Newsletter
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Via JETAA International Secretary Kay Dunkley.
CLAIR is ready to revamp JET Streams, it’s annual newsletter. The aim is to make it look good, maximise the readers out there, making sure ALL JET Alums get it, and make it more interesting so more readers will be tuned to what JETAAI and CLAIR are doing.
Here is the list of articles that CLAIR would like to include:
1. Interesting JETAA Chapter activity articles.
2. Articles from 3 JETAA Alums, stories they would like to share about JET and Japan.
3. Articles from 3 JETAA Alums specifically talking about if they are involved in anything now that has kept up with their former contracting organisation, school to school, sister city events, etc. (or prefecture) (this is actually the hottest topic that we can use to promote the JET programme in Japan as well)
Please respond by December 27, 2010.
Click here to e-mail Kay with your input/submissions.
