JET alums in the art world?
Art, Uncategorized 
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Botodesigns by Chen Reichert
If you’re a JET alum and you’re an artist or connected to the art world, e-mail us at jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com and let us know about yourself. And if you know of any JET alums in this category, feel free to get in touch as well.
Here’s the most up-to-date list of JET alum artists and JET alums connected to the art world (which will continue to be updated): http://jetwit.com/wordpress/library/art/
Summer by Dawn Mostow (Gifu-ken, 2003-06)
p.s. Make sure to let us know prefecture and years on JET, current location and any links to your work.
J-News Mini-Roundup: Record High Suicide Rates Suspected in Japan
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J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature 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 language learning options.
The latest victim of economic recession in Japan is people’s lives
Background: During an economic recession news is usually filled with how corporations are posting losses, or how smaller businesses are filing for bankruptcy. On a more personal level news stories are filled with how the unemployed are finding new means of income, and how families might deal with parents having to work night jobs. The social impact as a whole during a recession is rarely commented on, probably mainly because there are no easily interpreted indicators that measure social well being. Deaths could possibly increase, but usually in America this is due to murder rates.
Take a society like Japan, and unfortunately one of the easiest indicators to measure happiness in the country as a whole is the suicide rate. Today the newspapers each reported differently on the news that Japan this year has had record suicide rates.
Nikkei “Suicides break 17,000 in the first half of 2009”
(CLICK HERE for the rest of the article, that includes Japanese News Summaries)
James Scanlon-Canegata returned from JET last year and, in addition to pursuing research on religious studies, he’s also started working as a professional translator. Recently, after taking a freelance job from a large translation company, he learned that he was expected to use translation software to aid his work. This led him to the honyaku Google group to seek advice and perspective on the software issue.
JetWit thought it would be interesting to hear what James has learned so far and share it for the benefit of the JET and JET alum community. Read on for his experience so far:
I was also completely unaware that translators used any kind of translation software when I first started thinking about doing it. I have a friend who does English-Portuguese translation and I first found out from her that this is something most professional translators use. When I did my first paid translation I just worked on Word and excel and it was very slow-going and tedious at some points. That’s when I started to wonder if translation software could help move things along.
I have a Mac and so I tried a couple of free translation programs that I saw recommended on online forums. I ended up feeling mostly confused about, well, everything. But specifically, I had the most trouble with the actual interface of the applications. The program would isolate a small area to be translated automatically and the idea is that you would go along and translate the parts until you’re through. But, with Japanese of course you have to start from the tail-end of the sentence and translate backwards a lot of times and it seemed like the application just wasn’t programmed for that type of translation. The same would go with sets of sentences where the meaning just won’t come out right if it is translated into English word-for-word in its original order. The program also seemed to break sentences up into seemingly random segments without any regard for periods or commas or common sense (on terms of a Japanese-English translation type of common sense).
This may just be because I’m an inexperienced translator, but my theory was that the software was geared Read More
Event: NYC Japan Street Fair – Sunday, August 23
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For a big, 15-block New York street fair coming up, one stretch will be devoted specifically to things Japanese. Further indication of how much Japanese culture has become part of the New York scene. (Rumor has it that New York-ken might even soon have its own ALTs!) Demo majime ni, read the press release below for more info:
The NYC Japan Street Fair Debuts at the Daytop Madison Avenue Festival!
NEW YORK, New York, (July 22, 2009) – On Sunday, August 23, 2009, the NYC Japan Fair will make its debut at the Daytop Madison Avenue Festival, one of New York’s largest street fairs that spans 15 blocks – from 42nd to 57th Streets – and attracts 10 million visitors annually. Hosting a diverse array of companies specializing in distinctly Japanese products and food, the NYC Japan Fair invites New Yorkers to immerse themselves with the rich culture of Japan for a day, while using the event as a test market to introduce new Japanese products to the U.S.
The Fair’s approximately 40 booths offer everything tangible about Japanese culture: food, merchandise, Read More
The Japanese Doctor: Learning Language Effectively – Choose Your Own Goal
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The Japanese Doctor is a recurring feature 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 and Chinese language learning options. Their main service is private one on one language lessons in the NYC area.
The easiest way to measure how effective education is is test scores. When students score high on tests it not only makes teachers look good, but schools overall will be more likely to get government funding with higher test scores. Traditionally tests are the easiest way to measure the abilities of a student, but are they effective when learning a language?
Take the case of Japanese, and for simplicity’s sake we’ll refer to the main test administered by the Japanese government, the JLPT or Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It’s actually a great and simple goal to work towards, passing the JLPT. The benefits are numerous…
(CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article)
Job: Shiseido – Manager, Business Planning (NYC)
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Thanks to JET alum Kendall Murano (who works for Shiseido) for passing along this job listing (which, fyi, does not require Japanese language ability). If you’re a JET alum, feel free to contact Kendall as a reference or if you have any questions (though bear in mind that she’s not involved in the hiring process):
Shiseido – Manager, Business Planning
Division: BPI / Dept.: Sales Admin / Reports to: Abraham Faddoul – Executive Director, Finance & Sales Operations
Apply to: resumes@sac.shiseido.com
Job Responsibilities include, but not limited to:
- Shipment reporting which includes weekly and monthly shipments. Responsible for understanding the distortions between this year’s results against this year plan and last year’s performance.
- Responsible for orchestrating Field Sales and Retail Sales planning fiscal bonus. Includes the calculation as well as the maintenance of the program.
- Creates and Maintains Account P&L’s.
- Assist the VP in maintaining the Corporate Financial Statements. ( Returns monitoring, Demonstration Reporting, POSM Spending)
- Create and maintain all necessary reports to help Marketing in their strategic planning.
- Responsible for creating co-op and freelance budgets on a seasonal basis and ensure proper field spending.
- Liaise between BPI New York office, BPI Paris office and Shiseido Oakland and Customer Service departments when necessary.
Qualifications:
- PowerPoint, Excel, Microsoft Word, Internet Capabilities.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively interface with clients and customers and international staff.
- Ability to work under pressure and fluctuating deadlines.
- Strong knowledge and experience with the fragrance luxury environment and the retail world as a whole.
- Good controlling background.
- Attention to detail and good sense of humor a plus.
JET alums and Triathalons
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Ganbatte to JET alum Carolyn Okabe who will be partaking in the New York City Triathlon (swim, bike and run) this Sunday, July 26th.
Course Map:
http://www.nyctri.com/Assets/Course+Map+$!2706.pdf Course Written Description: http://www.nyctri.com/Event_Information/Course/Course_Description.htmAny other JET alums out there doing triathalons or did a triathalon in the last 6 months? Let us know by posting in the comments section, or by emailing jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com.
J-News Mini-Roundup: Japanese Sumo – Asashoryu Continues to Fall
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Asashoryu from the Yomiuri Shinbun
J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature 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 language learning options. Their main service is private one on one Japanese language lessons in the NYC area, where the student chooses where and when to have lessons. They’ve also recently expanded to include the Korean and Chinese languages.
Background: Maybe fame is finally catching up with Asashoryu. After seeming to be undefeatable in 2007, he became the first Yokozuna ever to be suspended by the Sumo Association of Japan. Asashoryu claimed he was injured and had to return home, later to find out he had participated in a local soccer game in Mongolia. It took quite a while for Asashoryu to return to competition, and so far he’s lost his aura of being undefeatable. Earlier this year he ended the tournament with 2 losses, while his main competitor Hakuhou was undefeated. The newspapers each reported on the recent Sumo Tournament in Nagoya, and how Asashoryu fairs compared with his competition.
Asahi “Asashoryu Continues to Lose, Hakuhou and Shikona Are Able to Protect their Undefeated Titles”
(CLICK HERE for the rest of the article, that includes Japanese News Summaries)
Japanese Language Instructor (Arlington, VA)
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Via Global Language Translation, Inc.
* Position: Japanese Language Instructor
* Location: Arlington, VA
* Job Description: Provide basic, intermediate and advanced language instruction to U.S. government and other personnel. Assist with the evaluation of students and academic counseling. The position is full time (40 hours/week). August 17, 2009 through August 20, 2010.
* Required Experience:
- Native speaker of the target language.
- Educated in target language through secondary school.
- Fully knowledgeable of the target culture and current usage of the language.
- The ideal candidate will have at least three years experience teaching adults coupled with solid experience inlanguage education and methodology and adult education.
- Extensive experience preparing and presenting language platform instruction within a learning center environment is a definite plus.
* Education Experience: Degree in the language, teaching methodology or a related field; or comparable directly-related work experience.
U.S. Citizenship, Green Card or authorization to work in the U.S. required.
To Apply: Please submit your resume identifying language teaching skills and experience along with information regarding earliest availability to dmitchell[at]globalltinc[dot]com
Career Advisor at Temple University, Japan Campus
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Via Human Resources at Temple University:
Temple University, Japan Campus is now hiring a bilingual, innovative, and student-oriented Career Advisor.
Position: Career Advisor
Department: Career Development
Position type: Full-time staff
Report to: Manager, Career Development
Work hours: 9 am to 5:30 pm, Monday to Friday
Salary/Benefits:
Commensurate with experience.
Eleven days paid vacation in the first year, increasing to 20 days after 6 years of employment, plus 5 paid “personal days” each year. In addition, approximately 2 weeks university-wide break over Christmas/New Year. Japanese social insurance and pension, commuting allowance, and tuition benefits for Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) programs. Read More
Personal Assistant in the Home – Japanese-speaker preferred (Midtown, NYC)
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Via GLOCAP:
Successful finance executive seeks motivated and diligent person to work as a full-time Personal Assistant in the home for him and his wife. The candidate should be able to adapt to a constantly changing environment and love a challenge. The Executive and his wife are extremely busy and are looking for a Personal Assistant to help manage their time more efficiently. The ideal candidate will have experience as a Personal Assistant, be resourceful, thoughtful, and have a strong work ethic.
This is the couple’s first time having a dedicated Personal Assistant so they are not accustomed to having a senior level professional Personal Assistant in this role. They are embarking on the next phase of their lives and they are looking for someone who possesses a solid foundation of assistant skills to support them and the role will evolve as their lives do. Read More
Web Designer (Bellevue, WA)
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Via JETAA Pacific Northwest:
We are looking for an entry level or intermediate level web designer to work with a small software company that specializes in Japanese language software, internet applications and web development. This company is based in Bellevue, WA and would be a 6 month contract to permanent role. This position will report to the Technical Services Manager.
Position requirements include:
1) HTML/CSS skills
2) Illustrator / PhotoShop knowledge
3) Ability to document the projects
4) Basic knowledge about Internet and Web
5) Flash, JavaScript
6) Ability to communicate in Japanese
For more information please contact Erik Koch @ 206-384-0299 or erik[at]averro[dot]com.
Internship with the Mainichi Newspaper (NYC)
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Via JETAANY:
The Mainichi Newspaper, a Japanese national daily newspaper headquartered in Tokyo, seeks part-time interns in its New York office. This is an unpaid internship opportunity.
Main Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Research, transcribe interviews, make appointments, and assist in other editorial and clerical works.
- Have to be able to work for 2 to 3 days in a week.
- Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience:
- Must be fluent in English (native-speaker level).
- Have in-depth knowledge of American culture, society and politics.
- Be familiar with international affairs.
- Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Must be energetic, creative, and self-motivated.
How to Apply:
Send a resume with a cover letter explaining why you are interested in Mainichi’s internship position to mainichi[dot]newyork[at]gmail.com by July 22, 2009. Selected candidates will be notified of interview dates.
About the Mainichi Newspaper:
The Mainichi Newspaper was founded in 1872 as the oldest national daily newspaper company in Japan. Mainichi is currently recognized in Japan as one of the leading national daily newspapers, and has garnered a reputation as a provider of unbiased reporting, poignant editorials and other information vital to modern society. Mainichi’s nationwide circulation is 4 million copies.
Its New York office mainly covers the United Nations, American politics and culture, Major League Baseball, and other major events happening mainly in the eastern United States and Canada.
James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish continues to redefine the standard job description for “author.” In his latest adventure, he gave a speech at the American Librarians Association where he forcibly took the Newbery Award from “Neil Gaiman.” And that’s not even the most shocking part.
After watching the video clips below, you may find yourself contemplating the young Japanese students James once taught. What has become of them and how have their lives been affected, or perhaps more appropriately, distorted? Perhaps a film-making member of the JET alum community could set out to produce a documentary on the subject.
Until then, watch and enjoy below. Or watch and read the post on James’ site: “I Win the Newberry”
Video 1: James announces his intention to strip Gaiman of his Newbery.
Video 2: Freya and Erin act out a scene from his novel The Order of Odd-Fish.
Video 3: Neil Gaiman and James fight for the Newbery.
Need a little more James Kennedy? Click here to see video of him reading at the JET Alumni Author Showcase.
A recent question from a fellow JET alum:
“Does anyone know a truly informative, enjoyable way to get a TESL/TEFL/ or CELTA certification? Does anyone have any personal experience they can share.”
If you can help, please post your response in the comment section below, or e-mail jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com.
