The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators presents

Friday, April 2, 2010

Details, Details: The Snap, Crackle, and Pop of Good Writing with author Jane Kurtz

Time:    Friday, April 2, 2010, 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Place:                 Tokyo Women’s Plaza, Conference Room 1 (5-53-67 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo;

by the Children’s Castle and United Nations University. For a map see www.scbwi.jp/map.htm

Fee:                    1,000 yen SCBWI members; 1,500 yen nonmembers

Reservations:  Contact info@scbwi.jp by Thursday, April 1, 2010

This event will be in English.

American novelist John Gardner called details the lifeblood of fiction. Many an editor has said the absolute key to a piece of writing she fell in love with was its voice…but what creates the “voice” of a piece other than its distinct details? Award-winning author Jane Kurtz will give ten keys for coaxing vivid, shimmering, gripping details into our drafts and will show why certain mistakes around details are the kiss of death for any piece of writing. Q&A will follow the talk.

Jane Kurtz spent most of her childhood in Ethiopia—and now travels the world talking about writing, reading, and the magic of books. Her recent speaking has taken her to all but eleven of the U.S. states, Europe, the Persian Gulf, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Romania, and East and West Africa. School Library Journal called Jane Kurtz a “superb storyteller.” Her books have gathered accolades, starred reviews, and awards. Since 1994, she has published twenty-nine books: nonfiction books, professional books for teachers, picture books, and novels for young readers that draw on her own childhood memories of growing up in Ethiopia as well as surviving the Red River flood of 1997. Jane has taught writing at the elementary, secondary, and university levels and is currently on the faculty of the MFA in children’s and young adult literature out of Vermont College. Her passion for books and reading and her love of Ethiopia came together in Ethiopia Reads, an organization that is establishing the free libraries for children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with Yohannes Gebregeorgis, one of CNN’s Top Ten Heroes (www.ethiopiareads.org). For more on Jane Kurtz visit www.janekurtz.com.

www.scbwi.jp    info@scbwi.jp

Here’s the flyer with all the relevant info for the event:

I received a wonderful request from author Solmaz Sharif, Managing Director of The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, regarding an event that she thought might be of interest to the JET alumni community:

Matchmaker:
Speed dating hosted by Kavita Ramdya and Jen Kwok

Saturday, March 6, 7-9 PM

• Location: The Asian American Writers’ Workshop16 W 32nd Street, Suite 10A btwn 5th Avenue and Broadway
• Cost: $20 for members / $30 for non-members
• Purchase your tickets here before March 5, 2010 and give us an idea who we should set you up with. For more information you can also visit aaww.org or call 212.494.0061.

Tired of making eyes at readings and not approaching the hottie next to you? Wondering how you can meet people that’ll compliment your bookcase? Interested in hearing more about love in Asian America? Keep it in the family and let the Workshop help you find the one at our first ever speed dating event. The Asian American Writers’ Workshop presents MATCHMAKER, a special event about how we meet, mingle, and marry in Asian America.

Kavita Ramdya, author of Bollywood Weddings: Dating, Engagement, and Marriage in Hindu America, discusses how second-generation Indian Americans get hitched, a tricky negotiation involving arranged meeting, Mom and Dad, and, of course, lots of dancing.

The event will be hosted by stand-up comedian Jen Kwok, the hilarious mastermind behind Date an Asian, her self-described comic ode to “the awesomeness of dating an asian guy.”

You will receive the following premiums:

• A month’s worth of dates squeezed into one night as you move table to table closer to the one
• Finger foods to keep the attention where it counts
• A signature Workshop cocktail
• A horoscope reading to predict your compatibility

Do you work in bankruptcy or restructuring?  Now you can join the JET Alumni Restructuring & Bankruptcy Group on LinkedIn.

Additionally, if anyone would like to take a stab at translating the cartoon into Japanese for JetWit’s Japanese fans out there, feel free to post in the comments section of this post.  Some cultural explanation might be helpful as well, given that Japanese bankruptcy laws are very different than the U.S.

WHEN: Sunday, March, 7 2010 – 3:00~5:00 p.m.

WHERE: Kobe Centre Plaza Nishi-kan, 6F, Room 11 / http://www.kscp.co.jp/map/map.html

FEE: SWET & JAT members 1,000 yen/non-members 1,500 yen

RESERVE: kansai@swet.jp

ABOUT:
Translating literature related to Japanese art presents unique challenges.  Not only are there issues of origin, as in the case of Buddhist deities, but
the presentation of traditional Japanese art has been targeted at a specific audience up to now, namely one that is educated and Japanese. Since the
language used to describe art can be difficult to read—as can the exhibition title itself at times—an English translation may be helpful not only to English readers but also to some native Japanese. Seen in this light, English translation in the art field can be invaluable tool to reach
new audiences, both domestic and international. This presentation will focus on technical issues related to translation, as well as the wider social
implications surrounding them.

Eric Luong is a full-time instructor at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, teaching English, art, and comparative culture. Originally from
Toronto, Canada, he works as a translator for the Hosomi Museum in Kyoto and as a freelancer specializing in Japanese art history.

He also writes about food. Here is a recent article about a food science exhibition currently running at Tokyo’s Miraikan museum. The latter half of the story focuses in on the scientific-culinary concept of umami, often called the“fifth taste”:

How many calories are there in a 500-milliliter bottle of a zero-calorie soft drink? If you guessed zero, you might be right. But the correct answer could be as high as 24. This is one of the many fun facts visitors can learn at “It’s a Tasty World–Food Science Now,” an exhibition running through March 22 at the Miraikan science museum in Odaiba, Tokyo. Under Japanese law, according to a display debunking food myths at the show, a drink is “zero calorie” as long as it has less than five calories per 100 milliliters. (A note on vocabulary: A “calorie” and a “kilocalorie” are the same thing.)

Other displays include sniffable containers of food scents, which you can mix to create new aromas; videos of food processing factories, where plump onions comically pirouette on industrial peelers; and a glowing green tank of euglena, a photosynthetic microorganism seen as a promising future food source. Too bad its Japanese name, midori mushi–green bug–isn’t exactly appetizing….

Read the rest of the article here.

He also writes about movies. Here is his interview with stop-motion animator Henry Selick, whose film “Coraline” is a nominee for best animated feature in the Academy Awards to be presented on March 7:

When the nominees for best animated feature film are read out at the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood next month, there will be one computer-graphic animated film (Up), two traditional 2-D animated films (The Princess and the Frog and The Secret of Kells) and two stop-motion films (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline).

“I feel very lucky to have lived long enough to still be making films in this era,” Coraline director Henry Selick told The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo last week. His two previous features, Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and James and the Giant Peach (1996) came out before the Oscars introduced an animated feature category in 2001.

Coraline has already won several other prizes, including an Annie animation award for Japanese production designer Tadahiro Uesugi.

Coraline, based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, is the story of a young girl who discovers a secret passage to an alternate universe where all the things that annoy her in the real world have been changed. But like a gingerbread house in a fairy tale, this seemingly delightful place turns out to be a trap from which she must escape.

Read the rest of the article here.

Here is his latest video game review, of “Uncharted” and “Uncharted 2” which Sony recently released as a box set in Japan:

My pal Nate is such a great guy that he keeps hanging out with me despite the fact that I’ve gotten him killed hundreds of times, usually by explosions, gunfire or plunges from cliffs. It’s a good thing he’s made out of pixels, or this relationship would be a lot harder on both of us.

Digital though he may be, Nathan Drake, the lead character in the Sony PlayStation 3 video games Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007) and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009), is so lifelike and likeable that it is not unusual for players to think of him as someone who really exists.

The two games, re-released Feb. 18 as a 7,980 yen box set, are swashbuckling adventures from the Indiana Jones school in which our hero and a few friends hunt for treasure in exotic locales while fighting off gangsters and pirates who are also after the loot. And also as in Jones’ world, events take a paranormal turn once the treasure is uncovered…

Read the rest of the review here.

Here is his latest manga review, of Ooku by Fumi Yoshinaga:

With its shrinking population, chronically depressed birthrate and rising average age, Japan is fated for major social changes in the fairly near future. How that will play out remains to be seen, but Fumi Yoshinaga’s manga series Ooku: The Inner Chamber is an example of how popular art can tap into real-world social anxieties.

Ooku is set in an alternate-history Japan that also faces a demographic crisis, but of a different type. In the 1630s, a mysterious epidemic called Redface Pox kills 75 percent of Japan’s men, while leaving women physically unharmed.

The disease lingers, the gender imbalance never rights itself, and Japanese society comes to resemble a colony of bees or ants, in which the large female majority does every kind of work while the male minority are seen as delicate creatures valued only for their “seed.”

With women forced to share the limited supply of men, the institution of marriage largely disappears, as only a rich woman can keep a husband all to herself. The wealthiest and most powerful woman of all is the shogun, who keeps a crowded male harem in the innermost chambers–the Ooku–of Edo Castle…

Read the rest of the review here.

He recently appeared on ABC’s World News Tonight.  And even more recently he was commissioned to write an op-ed for the Christian Science Monitor to clarify some of the vast cultural misreadings evident in the Congressional Toyota/Toyoda hearings.

• Toyota and trust: Was the Akio Toyoda apology lost in translation? Stung by Toyota recalls, Toyoda had to convey sincerity – and bridge the gulf in communication styles between Japan and America. http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/0225/Toyota-and-trust-Was-the-Akio-Toyoda-apology-lost-in-translation

• Roland is also quoted in this AP article on Toyota:  “Toyota President Battles Crisis in Family Company“ http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/02/19/toyota_president_battles_crisis_in_family_company/?page=full

And addressed the topic of Toyota in an interesting way in his recent Daily Yomiuri column on The Super Bowl, Toyota, Anime and Hollywood:

• SOFT POWER, HARD TRUTHS / Anime must eventually transcend Japan ‘national’ brand http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20100219TDY11003.htm

And if you’re looking for commentary on non-Toyota topics, then you can listen to Roland’s recent appearance on NPR discussing a wild relic of Japanese popular culture, a viral video of Japanese ‘Jazz Opera,’ produced in 1986 by Tamori, the great comedian:

• http://www.theworld.org/2010/02/17/japanese-jazz-opera/

The Art of Usagi Yojimbo

“There was the old movie theater down the street from where I lived that showed the old samurai movies, those chambara movies, every Saturday. I’d go to see the old Toshiro Mifune movies. Get-in-for-a-quarter, stay-all-day type of thing,” Stan Sakai, 56, said, recalling his childhood in Hawaii.

Sakai grew up to become a comic-book artist, and in 1984, he launched a samurai epic of his own. Its main character is a wandering ronin with dazzling sword skills, a fierce sense of honor and a network of friends and enemies across Japan. Miyamoto Usagi is one formidable rabbit.

A fluffy bunny wielding a katana sword may sound silly, but Sakai makes it work. His ongoing Usagi Yojimbo series is filled with drama, pathos and well-developed characters. There are also abundant allusions to Japanese culture. The most obvious of these is that Usagi’s long ears are tied together to form a chonmage samurai hairstyle, but others are more subtle, such as a gourd flask that resembles mangaka Osamu Tezuka’s signature Hyotan-Tsugi character.

In Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai (Dark Horse, 63 pp, 14.95 dollars), a full-color hardback graphic novel released in November to mark the character’s 25th anniversary last year, Usagi confronts a grotesque army of Japanese supernatural beings.

“I love the old ghost stories about Japan. That was fun to research,” Sakai told The Daily Yomiuri by phone from California, where he lives. “For a country that’s so small, there’s so much [in the way of] ghosts and goblins and monsters around. The folklore of Japan is so rich. And not only the really horrific stuff, but also the really goofy stuff. It’s fun to draw.”

To read the full story, click here.

1. Special Confusion
2. Did you know?  Moto methodology
3. New section:  Sake basics – daiginjo
4. Sake professional course
5. New!  Japanese for sake lovers
6. New!  iPhone app:  The Sake Dictionary
7. Odds-n-Ends

Additional links:

• Sake World Website
• More About Us
• Archive

By Ann Chow (ALT, Hyogo-ken, 2007-2009), a New York City-based JET alum currently seeking copy editing/proofreading/production editing jobs in news or book publishing.  Email jetwit [at] jetwit.com if you would like to get in touch with her.

E is for Elementary School

E is for elementary school.

Elementary school in Japan is for students between the ages of 6-12, and they are easily spotted by the backpacks, called randoseru, that they carry. Sometimes, they wear sailor uniforms. Sometimes, they don’t. My students didn’t.

When I first arrived in Japan, the BoE I worked for told me I would be working at 2 junior high schools and 3 elementary schools. It was pretty standard for the ALTs working in my town, and I had no complaints except that one of my elementary schools was clear across town, 35 minutes or so by bike, and I wasn’t the ALT who lived closest to it.

Sometime in December of my first year there, I was told I would have to visit another elementary school. There was already another ALT who visited, but the teachers wanted extra lessons, so they added me on to the roster. On my first visit to that school, I was running late because I realized the main entrance to the school wasn’t on the main road, but on a back street behind the sports field and a construction site for new housing. It really didn’t help that they were fixing the roads too, which meant extra gaijin traps. Aside from the near lateness and overall anxiety I was experiencing from almost falling into an unexpectedly large gaijin trap (doubled in size from road renovations), nothing special happened. I taught my usual number of classes (complete with jikoshokai), some of the teachers offered me tea/coffee during breaks, I ate with the students during kyushoku, and some students thought it was strange I was this “Japanese” girl who spoke English but didn’t have any real command of Japanese.  It was a normal day.

My next visit was the following day. On a rather sunny, but cold December morning, I managed to get myself to this school for the second day in a row, and well beyond on-time. However, at that hour of the morning, I still preferred to sit in my corner at my gray metal desk, surrounded by the dirty gray and crumbling walls of the school, blending in with (or being ignored by) the other Asians in the room. It’s really easy when one is a stealth gaijin. (Too easy. By the time I rotated out of working at that school, I had only talked to four or five teachers and a very, very nosy school aide.)

My day proceeded normally and after my lessons, I went to a classroom to eat lunch with the students. Afterwards, while the students cleaned up, I went back to the staff room like usual. As I walked down the hall, a teacher followed me. I didn’t think she was following me specifically, just that she, like me, was going back to the staff room after lunch.

Within five seconds of entering the room, she started asking me “Doushitan? Doushitan?” in a concerned tone. I could understand she was asking “What’s the matter?” but I wasn’t quite sure how to answer her because, one, my Japanese was not good enough and, two, there was nothing wrong. I stared up at her blankly and repeated “Doushitan?” Then she asked if I was the new ALT.  She went from looking concerned to looking embarrassed as I answered “Hai…” and realized I was NOT a student.  This conjecture was confirmed about five minutes after the mishap when she told another teacher about it in front of me.

I have to say, they don’t look that great, but sometimes, I’m all for the sailor suits on those kids just so they don’t think I’m one!

While the teacher was asking me what was wrong for the third time, the faint thought of, “I was stopped by cops once when I was in college because they thought I was a high school student cutting school,” did cross my mind. The thought of being mistaken for an actual 12-year old did not.

Looking like a 12-year old even though I’m well out of college is probably me being optimistic about the situation. Don’t forget the under-12 crowd! ^_~

Hope everyone had an excellent Super Bowl weekend – I’m sure it was a good one for those rooting for the Saints. Without further ado, let’s get to the much belated first Blog Beat round up of 2010!

- In need of a winter pick me up that you can easily whip up in the kitchen with a few staples? Check out Elizabeth White’s (Toyama-ken, 1995-98), delicious Sausage & Tortellini soup recipe, inspired by her grandma Mary.

- After participating in the JETAA Regional Technology Conference, JETAA NY and JetWit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) reports from Portland, Oregon on what he calls some of the “best Thai food I’ve ever had outside of Thailand.”

- Check in on Kevin Kajitani (Kyogo-ken, 2006-07) and his experiences with New Year’s traditions in Japan.

- Learn how Robert Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) deals with writer’s block and his obscure novel recommendations in his online interview with WriterGirl.

- Snow in Japan is a very different affair than it is in New York, as you can see in enviable fashion on JET alum Toby Weymiller’s blog.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20100122TDY11003.htm

Also, fyi, Roland is now down in Miami for the Super Bowl (his sister works for the NFL!) hanging out with his pal Pete Townsend of The Who which will be providing the halftime entertainment.  Here’s the post from Roland’s blog:  http://japanamerica.blogspot.com/2010/02/super-bowl-in-south-beach.html

Benjamin Davis (ALT Chiba-ken, 2006-07, CIR/PA Chiba Kencho, 2007-09) is a freelance writer/researcher, translator, renaissance man and jack-of-all-trades based in rural Chiba-ken.  He can be contacted at davis.benjamin.j@gmail.com and is always on the lookout for new and interesting projects.

“Setsubun, Bean-tossing, and the Old Japanese Calendar”

This February 3rd, when he gets home from work, my friend Mr. Watanabe will be chased out of his own house, by his own children, who will shout at him and throw dried beans in his face.

No, this is not some clever new trick on the children’s part to get back at him for enforcing their bedtimes. On the contrary, it will be something he planned in concert with them days earlier. He himself will be wearing a demon mask, his wife will be encouraging the children on in the background, and the shouts in question will be repeated cries of “Demons out, fortune in!”

You see, this bean-throwing and shouting is actually an ancient Japanese tradition called “Setsubun” (節分). It is a ritual whose objective is to chase out the malevolent spirits that may have built up like dust bunnies in the dark corners of the house over the year and invite in good fortune for the coming year.

To make the experience more symbolically tangible, a male member of the house may dress up as a demon and volunteer to be an object of expulsion-by-legume. Depending on regional taste and individual enthusiasm, severed sardine heads may be hung from the door to keep said spirits – and perhaps nosey neighbors as well – from being tempted to wander back in again when the dust settles. (Apparently ghosts don’t like bad smells.) Then once all the freeloading malevolent spirits have been kicked to the curb, each member of the household eats their age in beans in hopes of having good luck and health until the next Setsubun rolls around. Also, depending on the family, they may face the predetermined “auspicious direction of the year” and eat a special kind of rolled sushi called ehomaki.

Mr. Watanabe, whose children have reached ages 2 and 5 respectively, believes that their youth is an important chance to transmit traditional aspects of Japanese culture (especially the fun ones). Indeed, the festival enjoys most popularity across Japan with families with young children, in a way that is not so terribly different from traditions of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

Well, that’s all well and good and jolly cultural, you might say, but why the beans? And why pick some random day in February for a spiritual house cleaning?

Let’s talk about the latter question first. The old Japanese calendar system is complicated to the extent of perhaps warranting a grad school thesis or three, but Setsubun is as good an excuse as any to talk about a few of its more interesting points.

Generally, when you are talking about months and dates in old Japan, e.g. the 15th day of the 7th month (that’s Obon, for the curious), you’re talking about a lunar calendar with months based on the phases on the moon. The problem with a purely lunar calendar is that with moon cycles lasting 29.5 days or so – and thus a lunar year having either 354(ish) days or 384(ish) days depending on the year – the calendar doesn’t line up very consistently with seasonal phenomena, and therefore isn’t terribly useful as an agricultural guide (for determining harvest and planting times, etc.).

So the ancient Japanese kept track of solar events as well. In addition to the solstices and equinoxes that our Gregorian calendar considers to be the break points between the seasons, they also kept track of the halfway points between those markers, sometimes called “cross-quarter days”, and of even more markers between those as well. In fact, they broke the year down into 24 different solar terms of about 15 days each (more technically, 15 degrees of solar longitude each), with individual names reflecting seasonal events expected around that time of year, such as “Rain Water” (雨水), “Insects Awaken” (啓蟄), “Grain Fills” (小満), “Frost Descends” (霜降), “Light Snow” (小雪), and “Heavy Snow” (大雪).

(If you are interested in a complete list and more explanation of these solar terms, check out:

http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/images/uploads/EOS070511Lb.pdf and http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/calendar.htm#terms

Another interesting fact to note is that, while the Gregorian calendar views the equinoxes and solstices as the breaks between seasons, the old Japanese calendar viewed them to be the midpoints of seasons. This makes sense in a way – then the longest night of the year is in the dead middle of winter (whereas for us, for different reasons, the same day is considered only to be the first day of winter). Thus the break points between seasons for the ancient Japanese would instead be those cross-quarter days mentioned before.

Coming back to Setsubun, if you’ve been doing a lot of mental math along the way, you might have guessed that February 3rd falls suspiciously close to the cross-quarter day between the winter solstice and the spring equinox (somewhere between Feb 2-7 depending on the year), in other words, according to the ancient Japanese, the beginning of spring.

Actually, the word “setsubun” (節分) simply means “division of parts” and originally referred to any break between any of the seasons, but over time came to specifically refer to the last day before Risshun (立春), the solar term marking the beginning of spring. So it’s not just any old random day after all – it’s the eve of spring.

But wait, you might say, it’s all well and good that Setsubun turns out to be the eve of spring and all, but doesn’t the actual content of the ritual sound more like something you’d expect around the run up to the Japanese New Year? You know, a sort of spiritual house cleaning to go along with the customary physical house scrubbing that most Japanese families do around that time in order to start the new year with a fresh slate?

If your thoughts turned in this direction, well, bingo – award yourself some mytho-anthropological sleuthing points. The Japanese New Year has only lined up with the Gregorian New Year (January 1st) since around the time of the Meiji Restoration. Before that, it lined up with Chinese lunar calendar. If you’ve ever paid much attention to Chinatown and its festivities, you may have noticed the bustle of Chinese New Year usually happens sometime in February – i.e. in the (ancient Japanese) spring, not in midwinter. So, while Setsubun is a solar calendar event and New Years was a lunar calendar event, Setsubun still usually fell sometime in the days before New Years and was therefore considered not just the eve of spring, but a sort of New Years Eve as well.

To sum it all up, “Setsubun” is just one part of a broad New Year’s cleaning (in other words, “spring cleaning”) package. It’s just that at some point New Year’s moved and left poor, lonely Setsubun behind.

…And the beans?

Interestingly enough, the ancient Romans actually had an in-some-ways similar exorcism rite, called the Feast of the Lemures, where they would throw beans to repel the spectres of the restless dead. So maybe there is just something about beans that malevolent spirits don’t like. Or maybe beans, along with seeds and eggs and the like, are just fairly obvious symbols of new life and the power therein (a power which might reasonably be assumed to be effective against the unruly dead and moldy), and this is just a case of parallel evolution of symbolism. You decide.

Post Script: If you find yourself in Japan on a February 3rd (or sometimes 4th, but not this year) and you are interested in Setsubun but don’t have a host family to enjoy the holiday with, try wandering down to your local Shinto shrine. If you time it right (best to ask a local), you may just find scores of people congregating there waiting for the priests and/or local dignitaries to rain beans upon them. Watch out for harder, heavier, non-bean objects like coins and snack foods that are sometimes mixed in for fun, however. And for unstoppable grannies diving for the free stuff and rare prize vouchers. Happy Setsubun-ing!

Sources:

• Kokugakuin University, The Encyclopedia of Shinto. http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/

• S. Renshaw and S. Ihara, “Setsubun in Japan”. http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/setsubun.htm

• ibid., “The Lunar Calendar in Japan”. http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/calendar.htm

• Leonhard Schmitz, “The Lemuralia”. From A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0687.html

• My coursework as a religious studies major at Cornell University

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and shared under public license: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ )

Hi, Brainstorm Crew!

Hope everyone’s enjoying the start of the new year (a link to JQ’s current issue is here in case you haven’t seen it yet, thanks always for your contributions and ideas and feel to link the new issue to your own sites/blogs to promote us). Below are the story ideas needing takers for our March 2010 issue and beyond. De wa…

Deadlines are as follows:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5: Registering a story assignment with me at magazine@jetaany.org, or pitching an idea of your own for approval. All suggestions are welcome. We’ve been picking up more new writers with each issue, and I encourage all first-timers whether you consider yourself a seasoned writer or not. (Just mind the deadlines!)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14: Deadline for submitting a final draft of your story. Extensions will be granted on a case-by-case basis, less so for new writers.

I would also greatly appreciate added assistance with the following:

AD SALES CALLS: More sales means more JETAANY-sponsored events.  It takes under two minutes to get an answer in most cases.  Write for more info.

COPY EDITING/PROOFREADING: For those of you who like reading this thing cover to cover. Multiple times.

YOUR OWN STORY IDEAS: Anything’s fair game! Some of our most interesting material comes from suggestions from our more dedicated readers.

Now the fun stuff. Below are the story ideas. Thanks for reading and providing your support, and e-mail at magazine@jetaany.org with any other questions/ideas.

**************************************

CONSULATE GENERAL JAPAN CARAVAN

This is a decade-plus program run by New York’s Consulate General of Japan that sends consulate staff (American and Japanese) to New York high schools and junior high schools to introduce students to Japanese culture. Earlier this month, I participated as a volunteer and enjoyed taking part in a Q&A with a very enthusiastic anime/manga club and faculty. The purpose of this article will be to increase awareness of the program so more JETAA members can get involved.

ASIA SOCIETY

Earlier this month NYC’s Asia Society held a concert called “Hogaku,” or Japanese folk instruments played with modern flair. We’ve never profiled Asia Society, so this would be a great time to find out more about how they select their Japanese attractions and exhibitions. www.asiasociety.org

TENRI CULTURAL INSTITUTE

Tenri Cultural Institute is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote the study of Japanese language and the appreciation of international art forms. Based in Greenwich Village, it also houses the Tenrikyo Church, which has its own interesting history. http://www.tenri.org/

Japan Nite 2010 at Bowery Ballroom

Annual concert featuring indie acts from Japan. This year’s edition will be held Sunday, 3/21 at Bowery Ballroom. I’m looking for a preview piece con the history of the festival with quotes from either members of one of the groups or the promoters. (Info for all acts at ticket homepage below.

Lineup: Red Bacteria Vacuum / Omodaka / JinnnyOops! / Okamato’s

http://www.boweryballroom.com/event/4053

Japan Society’s Spring 2010 Performing Arts Schedule

This season features kyogen, live theater and music. Am open to profiles/reviews of any of the following listed at the page below.

http://www.japansociety.org/performingarts

Exhibit: Kuniyoshi Monster Prints‏ at Japan Society – PREVIEW OR REVIEW

Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection, March 12-June 13, 2010, at Japan Society Gallery

Thrashing sea creatures, samurai warriors, and a giant, looming skeleton are among the distinguishing subjects of the brashest of Japan’s Ukiyo-e masters, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), whose populist oeuvre is to be presented by Japan Society Gallery from March 12 to June 13, 2010.

Fresh from its spring 2009 showing at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, where it was the surprise smash hit of the season, Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Arthur R. Miller Collection marks the first major exhibition of Kuniyoshi’s work in the United States in nearly 30 years.  The exhibition has been organized by the Royal Academy in collaboration with Arthur R. Miller and The British Museum.  The vast majority of the 150 color woodblock prints on display are from the Arthur R. Miller Collection, New York, generously loaned to Japan Society by the American Friends of the British Museum.

ISSHONI LONDON – JET Alum Vanessa Villalobos

London JET alum’s blog: events, news, review and interviews. I met her back in December and this would be a good Q&A piece for any JETs wanting to learn more about how our alumni groups operate overseas.

http://www.isshonilondon.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Isshoni-London/119415767689

http://twitter.com/IsshoniVanessa

SAMURAI BEAT RADIO

This site deals with J-pop and culture in the U.S. They hosted this neat event at Kinokuniya in December. Profile.

Rate J-Pop Christmas Songs at Kinokuniya: Sat. Dec 19th!

Samurai Beat Radio will be participating in Kinokuniya Bookstore’s big Christmas Raffle event on Sat. Dec 19 starting 1pm.

Vote online now! Find and hear the selections here on SBR blog!!

http://blog.samuraibeatradio.com

info@samuraibeatradio.com

JAPANESE HIP-HOP IN NY

Anyone know of Japanese hip-hop groups or amateur dancers here in New York? I’d like to do a profile on this growing scene.

SUPERGLORIOUS

Superglorious is an NYC based event producer that produced the FETES ’09 rock concert following last September’s New York Anime Festival.  They live events with music lovers in mind with a Japanese twist.  From their homepage: Music is energy, music is spiritual.  Our goal is simply to push the limits of what is being done live and blow minds…

Hayden Brereton

http://www.superglorious.com/

BAND: THE HEIZ (ERIC BRESLER, TOKYO NO RECORDS)

Hayden’s friend runs a label, and he’s doing a tour for a Japanese punk band called the Heiz: http://www.myspace.com/theheiz. Open to a profile.

A CRITICAL JAPANESE ASSESSMENT OF ‘HEROES’

I’ve never seen the hit show, but I understand that it’s featured several prominent Japanese and Japanese American actors who speak plenty of Nihongo as the scenes call for it. Any fans of the show out there who care to do a commentary of whether or not it’s authentic and/or a good example of “cool Japan”’s soft power in the American mainstream?

STUDYLINK

From Australian JET Josh Flannery:

Hi. I have actually been including Japanese universities and language schools in our e-newsletter each month. This is actually in line with part my own business (StudyLink) where we promote universities from around the world – including Japan.

For example:
http://studylink.com/display/provider/provider-info.html?pid=pid-mm-01-iujapn

Professors can be helpful however they are often not always the decision makers and most universities large enough to offer quality programs targeting foreigners have their own advertising/marketing offices. Its a case of knocking on alot of doors and talking to alot of people.

Is your idea to sell some form of advertising and promotion to Japan based universities?

About StudyLink:

- established in Australia in 1991
- now in the US, UK, India and Japan (I set up the StudyLink K.K. in Osaka in 2005) but real reach is in its network of 150+ education agent companies world wide
- StudyLink powers a suite of websites which are the most used resource for students during the decision making process
- Besides the web portals which offer a research tool to students, we have developed a online application system specifically for students, student recruitment companies and universities/colleges to use

JETLOG: LAURA POP (PROFILE)

Laura is a current JET (Mie-ken 2008-) who writes fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults, and is an occasional playwright/film maker.

Here’s one of her short stories titled “In theShadow Realm” – http://www.viatouch.com/learn/Storystation/Stories/in_shadow_realm.jsp

Here’s a documentary she made in Malawi (on YouTube):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApdQpfi4i7E

To read about her amazing adventures all over Japan, check out her her blog:  http://laurajanepopp.livejournal.com

JET ALUM IN JAPAN STEPHEN PALANIK

Stephen (Fukushima-ken, 2004-08) is currently living in Japan post-JET, and has helped JetWit.com honcho Steven Horowitz in posting jobs that are currently up for grabs in Japan. Would make a nice JETlog profile.

MATT SCHLECHT, EDITOR OF NYABlog

Matt (Akita-ken, ‘98-’99) is the editor of online art listings and reviews site NY Art Beat (www.NYArtBeat.com). Even though it covers the NYC art world, it has a strong connection to Tokyo. Profile.

TEAMTEACHERS.COM

An innovative telecommunications site for Team Teaching, founded by a JET. http://www.teamteachers.com

JOB PROSPECTS FOR JETS, CIRCA 2010

I’m interested in a piece that talks about the challenges new returnee JETs face after coming home and looking for work in this economy, as well as other JET alums considering new jobs or just looking for work.  This could be as simple as anecdotes (along the lines of our “How’s the Economy Treating You?” feature from fall 2008), but I’d like to turn this into an actual feature story, with at least three volunteers providing the details. And if you happened to have found a job in this economic climate, share the joy to give the rest of us some hope!

JETSET – CANADIAN JETS IN JAPAN

Melissa C. runs JETset, a site for Canadian JETs in Japan and the number one Web site for JET participants. Site profile. http://www.jetsetjapan.com/

JET ALUM KIRK AKAHOSHI / QUARTERLIFE CRISIS

Kirk Akahoshi is a life coach and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) pracitioner who is also currently pursuing a marriage and family therapy license. He leads the “Quarterlife Crisis Workshop” and would make an interesting subject for the self-employed/entrepreneur JET alum angle.  www.QuarterlifeCrisisCoach.com

JETlog: DAN DOOHER

Dan is a prefectural advisor in Akita-ken.  Would make a good profile (to learn just what a PA does) or JETlog piece.