WIT Life #102: Learning Disabilities in Japan
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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.
I was very excited to hear from one of my closest college friends that her husband would be having a business trip in Japan. Not only was I happy for him, a fellow classmate as well, to be able experience Japan, but also because of his line of work. Pictured at right, Jonathan Mooney grew up with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia and didn’t learn to read until he was 12. However, he is now an amazing author and public speaker. He has his own non-profit based in California and often travels both domestically and internationally to share his experiences and help children like himself and their families.
Jon has spoken in China before, but this was his first time going to Japan upon the invitation of a professor from Osaka. He will be giving a presentation in Read More
Job: Database Associate, Asia Society (New York)
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Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Via the Foundation Center
The Asia Society seeks a Database Associate to provide development database assistance to the entire Asia Society organization. This person will enable the Database Administrator to execute the technical components of the software by providing strategic implementation, training and general daily support to all users in New York and the Centers, while specifically working with the fundraising team to maximize the software’s capability for individual job functions.
For further details and application instructions, visit http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/jobs/job_item.jhtml?id=150500006.
Job: One-shot Presentation, Japan Country Specialist (Peoria, IL)
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Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Via Ashley Coombs, Aperian Global
Aperian Global is looking for a Japan Country Specialist (CS) to join the Lead Consultant for a cross-cultural training in Peoria, IL on June 18, 2010 from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. The CS is expected to give a personal perspective on what it is like to live and work in Japan. The CS will not be required to prepare a presentation, and simply needs to assist the training program with personal perspectives and experiences. Monetary compensation of $100 will be provided for the half day.
This particular program is for an employee of a global construction manufacturing firm and his wife. They are very interested in learning as much as possible about Japanese business culture. Part of the training session will involve a kid’s “thriving” program, for which the CS is asked to share what it was like growing up in Japan with the participants’ children. The CS role is vital to the family’s smooth transition to their new environment.
Aperian Global delivers a blend of consulting, training, and web tool services that aim to develop the capabilities of individuals, teams, and organizations to work effectively across cultures in order to create a sustainable global future. Aperian Global’s services include organizational consulting , one-on-one coaching , teambuilding , and classroom training.
To apply, send your resume to Ashley Coombs at acoombs@aperianglobal.com.
WIT Life #101: Empire State Turns Japanese!
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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.
In a previous post about the recent Japan Day in Central Park, I mentioned the introduction of a samurai procession. 
This was one aspect of celebrating this year’s 150’s anniversary of the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States and its enthusiastic reception in New York City on June 16, 1860. According to a press release from the Japanese Consulate of New York, “the visit by a group of over 70 samurai was one of the greatest spectacles the city had ever seen: an estimated half-a-million New Yorkers jammed the streets to watch the Japanese parade up Broadway and two weeks of grand balls, celebrations, and non-stop press reports welcomed the visitors from across the sea.” The samurai brought with them instruments of ratification for the 日米修好通商条約 (Nichibei shuukou tsuushou jouyaku) or U.S.-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce.
Another exciting promotional event commemorating this historical occasion is Read More
WIT Life #100: ダーリンは外国人
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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.
Last night I went to see the US premiere of ダーリンは外国人 or My Darling is a Foreigner. This film is based on the manga series with the same title by Saori Oguri. I was introduced to this work by a Japanese friend shortly after it came out in 2002, and I devoured the volumes that were available at the time. It depicted the day to day life of this international couple and the bumps that they encountered along the road of their relationship. They eventually went on to have a child together, and since the first book went on sale this popular series has sold 3 million copies.
Tony is the name of Saori’s husband and he hails from the United States. He is Read More
Job: Online Writer for The U.S.-Japan Council (Washington DC)
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The U.S.-Japan Council (www.usjapancouncil.org) is an educational 501(c)3 non-profit organization that promotes U.S.-Japan relations and is currently seeking a communications associate who can support the Council’s website content editing, online marketing, member communications, program promotions, and design efforts.
As a new non-profit organization, the Council is seeking a candidate who is interested in an exciting opportunity to establish the Council’s communications strategy, establish an online presence, and apply effective push and pull marketing efforts through traditional and new social media.
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Develop editorial content for the website, monthly e-Newsletter, press releases and marketing tools. Prepare drafts of marketing materials (e.g., brochures, program announcements, membership information, etc.)
• Contribute ideas for multimedia and interactive content to increase the reach of the Council and to retain engaged audiences.
• Create graphics and layouts, including e-Newsletter templates, website templates, web content, logos, marketing brochures, fliers, event registration pages, and invitations.
• Maintain and update the Council’s website.
• Provide basic software program training to staff, as needed (e.g. – Salesforce.com, Constant Contact). Read More
Job: Butler/Caretaker, Consulate-General of Japan (Seattle)
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Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The Consulate-General of Japan is seeking an individual for position of Butler/Caretaker for Large Residence.
The Requirements for this position are:
–Must perform a variety of cleaning, meal serving and light household maintenance duties.
–Must be responsible, neat and polite.
Send resume & cover letter by June 11 to:
Consulate-General of Japan, 601 Union St. #500, Seattle, WA. 98101
Attn. Mr. Yukio Motoe
Email: kanri@cgjapansea. org
Tom Baker reviews two books on the game industry
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Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91) is a staff writer for http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/. He usually writes for DYWeekend, the paper’s arts and leisure section. You can follow Tom’s blog at tokyotombaker.wordpress.com.
Recently he rerviewed two books on the video game business, “Fun Inc” and “Nintendo Magic.” Here’s an excerpt:
Even if you aren’t into video games, you may already be into video games. A major theme of two new books on the subject is that game technology is now so omnipresent that even people who don’t consider themselves gamers are using it.
“Games have long been one of the world’s most important engines for computing innovation–along with, more recently, the mobile phone,” writes British journalist Tom Chatfield in Fun Inc.
“It’s largely thanks to the ever-evolving ambitions of game designers that modern computers have a DVD drive, a graphics card, decent sound capability, a staggering amount of RAM, a large colour monitor, and so on.”
User interface is one area in which game developers are especially driven to improve. People may put up with hard-to-use accounting software because they need it for work, but no one has to play a video game.
“For a long time, we’ve made things that are fundamentally useless,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is quoted as saying in Nintendo Magic, by Japanese journalist Osamu Inoue. “People won’t endure inconvenience that they don’t have to endure. They won’t read your instruction manual. If something is hard to understand, it’s entirely the maker’s fault. If they can’t figure out a videogame in five minutes…that’s the end of it.”
Read the rest of the review here.
Job: Translator needed
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NOTE: Kay reports that they have received many capable applicants via JetWit and are no longer accepting applications.
Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Via Kay Ohara, Kodansha Ltd.
Kodansha is seeking a Japanese-to-English translator for the iBook edition of Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s new novel, Shineba Iinoni. The project details are as follows:
-400 pages, much of it is dialogue.
-Deadline: Aug. 10
-Fee: approx. $7,500, rights cannot be retained by the translator
WIT Life #99: Japan Day
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Reception at the residence of Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya (front left), accompanied by his lovely wife Yukiko and the author on her right
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.
The heavens held out for this year’s Japan Day, despite the forecast of impending showers. I was at the residence of Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya on the Friday night before the event, and he assured all the guests that it would not be raining come Sunday. Sure enough, there was a huge amount of humidity but the skies were clear. The Ambassador himself made multiple appearances through the day, initially at the four mile run in Central Park that kicked off the event. I was one of the participants, and was happy to see him dressed as a samurai greeting runners as we began the race. Later in the day he was still in costume and made his way through the throngs of people attending the festivities in the East Meadow.
A new aspect of this year’s event, its fourth holding, was a samurai parade. This procession, led by the band from the NYPD, included Read More
WIT Life #98: 鳩山おろし
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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 morning’s news was buzzing with the announcement that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will be stepping down from his position. This makes him the fourth PM in four years to quit, a statistic that will likely lead to some self-reflection in Japan. The 2 main reasons cited for his resignation were 1) 普天間問題 (Futenma mondai or the fate of the Futenma Marine Corps Air base on Okinawa) and 2) 政府と金 (seifu to kane or government and money, the investigations being carried out regarding Hatoyama’s political financing).
As for the former, Hatoyama directly apologized to Okinawans for his waffling on the matter and the loss of faith he had caused as a result. When on the street interviews were conducted with Okinawa residents, the response was largely one of disappointment and regret that Hatoyama was cutting and running. In terms of the latter, Hatoyama pledged to “return to a DPJ that separates government and money and to deal with the issue properly.”
The title of this post is 鳩山おろし (Hatoyama oroshi or “Down with Hatoyama”), referring to Read More
J-DOC: Japanese Proficiency Exam – What’s Changed, and How to Handle It
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J-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, and Korean language learning options.
Japanese Class listing can be found at: Japanese Classes
Whether you’re a new student for the Japanese Proficiency Exam or have taken it in the past, the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in 2010 has changed. Consequently, how to study and handle the exam has also changed. This article will discuss the history of the exam and why changes were brought about, what’s new about the Japanese Proficiency Test for 2010, and how to best study to pass the JLPT.
The reason why the test was changed in 2010 was test takers and school administrators were complaining…
(Click JLPT 2010 for the rest of the article)
WIT Life #97: Anko obsessed
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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.
For those of you who have been faithful readers of my blog, you probably have a sense of the sweet tooth that I have, especially regarding 和菓子(wagashi). This is something known well by those closest to me, as well as those looking for the fastest way into my heart :) My birthday was this past weekend, and my friends came through with flying colors in terms of satisfying my cravings for something sweet.
I celebrated my birthday with dinner at Koiso, the best Japanese restaurant in NY (and I’m not saying that just because I used to waitress there!). It is a truly authentic family-run joint where regulars dominate the clientele, and there are always multiple conversations taking place in Japanese. Taisho (the sushi chef), gets his supplies from the Freeport Fish Market, and he always lets customers know what fish are the freshest that day. Omakase (leaving it in the hands of the master) is definitely the way to go for the best sushi/sashimi!
Taisho’s wife Kyoko-san is the waitress and all-around life of Koiso, and the warmest woman you will ever want to meet. For my birthday, she had all of my favorites prepared. As you can see in the picture on the right resembling an anko trifecta, she made me a generous portion of Read More
Article about JetWit in CLAIR publication
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There’s a nice article (in Japanese) about JetWit in the June 2010 issue of a CLAIR publication. I believe it was written by Hanzawa-san, who works in the CLAIR-NY office and served for one year as the JETAA USA Lisaison.
http://www.clair.or.jp/j/forum/forum/pdf_248/09_jet.pdf
Job: News reporter/research assistant for Daily Yomiuri (Los Angeles)
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Via Caleb Rabinowitz of the Daily Yomiuri in Los Angeles:
News Reporter/Research Assistant
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Description:
The Los Angeles Bureau of the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest national daily newspaper, seeks a reporter/research assistant. We cover social issues, sports events, national politics and any major breaking news in the Western and Midwestern states of the U.S. This job primarily involves gathering news, tracking newswires, assisting sportswriters, arranging interviews, conducting background research, creating scrapbooks of news clips and transcribing interviews. The office is often fast-paced, and the position will include exciting opportunities to travel to major news events, report on major sporting events, interview high-ranking state and national officials, and cover the entertainment industry. Applicants must be fluent in English and speak conversational or better Japanese. Those who speak Spanish will be preferred. Read More
