Academic, Article/Journalism, Blogs, Books, Celebrity, Japan Trends, Roland Kelts, Uncategorized, Writers 
Comments Off on Update: Roland Kelts
Here’s the latest update on JET alum Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica and professor at Tokyo University:
ADBUSTERS: A feature story, co-written with Leo Lewis of the Times of London, about signs of socialism and unrest among Japanese youth and the Kanikosen phenomenon is now online:
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/81/big_in_japan.html (On a related topic, Stacy Smith comments on recent political unrest following the closing of an auto manufacturing plant in Japan in WITLife #7-Totyota Shock (Part 2).)
DAILY YOMIURI: In his latest Soft Power/Hard Truths column in the Daily Yomiuri, Roland revisits Michael Arias, the only American to have directed a feature anime film in Japan–Tekkonkinkreet—(which, incidentally, premiered in the US at MOMA in 2007). Arias’s forthcoming film is the live action Heaven’s Door (opens 2/7/09 in Japan), which Roland attended at a private screening last week. Link to the column: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20081212TDY13004.htm
Seikai University Talk: Roland’s blog (japanamerica.blogspot.com) has a post about his recent talk at Seikei University in western Tokyo about Japanamerica where he introduced both the ideas examined in the book and the latest happenings in the trans-cultural exchange between Japan and the U.S.
Art, Blogs, Food & Drink, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on JET alum Rosie de Fremery launches new blog and website
Former JETAA NY Vice-Prez Rosie de Fremery (Shizuoka-ken, 1998-2001) recently launched a new blog about food (working with a couple friends) and also a new Etsy store website. In Rosie’s own words…
Nosh Pit is a group food blog I’ve started with two friends who are as passionate about food as I am. We launched it on Sunday and have already put up several recipes and restaurant views, with discussions beginning in the comments section. So far I’ve posted a friend’s recipe for maple bourbon sweet potato pie and a review of a French patisserie I discovered this week. Please check it out at http://noshpit.wordpress.com/
The second is Shining Flower Productions, an Etsy store where I am selling hand-painted greeting cards for the upcoming holidays. For now I’m just selling two designs, one of an angel for Christmas and one of a Chanukiah for Chanukah, but I do plan to offer more watercolor card designs and some original Japanese calligraphy in the future. The store can be found at http://shiningflower.etsy.com/
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).
Not to continue the doom and gloom of yesterday’s post, but a good portion of today’s news was again devoted to Toyota Shock. For this company itself, out of 9,200 temporary workers, 3,000 of them will be laid off. In regard to next year’s sales forecast for the whole Toyota group, an estimated 9.5 million cars were anticipated to be sold to the American market, but this forecast has been reduced to 8 million.
The car company Isuzu fired 1,400 workers from its factory in Kanazawa, and those affected took it upon themselves to fight back. Footage was shown of these workers handing out pamphlets to co-workers asking them to join their union and asking executives to retract their dismissal. Evidently these cuts came without notice, causing Read More
Advice, Article/Journalism, Career, Interview/Profile, Writers Comments Off on Career advice from the WSJ’s Elizabeth Garone (Saga-ken, 1993-95)
It turns out there’s a JET alum writing a career advice column for the Wall Street Journal. Check out the latest column from Elizabeth Garone (Saga-ken, Omachi-cho, 1993-95) at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122874945537188153.html#articleTabs_comments.
It also turns out that she is a freelance journalist with more than a decade of writing for publications that have included Business Week, The Washington Post, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Her specialties are technology, education (specifically SAT and test prep), human interest and children.
You can learn more about Elizabeth through her website at www.garone.com or through her LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/lizgarone
I just found about a blog by JET alum Aaron Madlon-Kay (CIR Ehime-ken, 2006-08) that seems to do a good job of addressing translation issues. (e.g., this post on Romanizing Japanese Addresses, this one on Translating Place Names, and this one on an attempt to translate into Japanese from English.)
Definitely a resource that other JET alums, especially other translators and those of you interested in getting into translation, might want to check out. Wish I had found it sooner, but glad to have it the JetWit orbit now.
Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life, Writers Comments Off on WITLife #6 – Toyota Shock
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).
In my previous post I mentioned that in Japan they use “Lehman shock” to refer to the crumbling of our financial institutions, and it seems like they are seeing the same phenomenon at home.
On the news yesterday morning the buzzword “Toyota shock” was used, referring to the economic woes Japan’s most famous and successful brand is having and its repercussions. (I’m waiting to see what they come up with for other countries. Is “Samsung shock” for Korea next?).
Factories are being closed in Aichi Prefecture where Toyota headquarters is located, as well as in more far-flung locations such as Oita Prefecture in Kyushu. There they have laid off 1,000 employees, who lose Read More
Blogs, Cartoon/Illustration, Humor, Writers Comments Off on Bankruptcy Bill – Haiku #6
From structured finance
Quietly I transfer to
The bankruptcy group
***************
(Mug with haiku available for purchase here.)
Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. To see more strips as well as bankruptcy haiku, go to bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
Career, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers Comments Off on WITLife #5 – Keeping up on the Japanese news
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).
Starting with this post I thought I’d introduce a more behind the scenes aspect of WIT life, that being the preparation and work that takes place when I am not traveling or working on an assignment.
In order to keep my Japanese skills sharp, besides conversing with native speakers (don’t be afraid to ask to be corrected!) I enjoy the daily programming of Fujisankei. In particular, the news airing at 7 a.m. (rebroadcast at 10) every weekday morning is especially insightful for keeping up to date on what’s going on in Japan and beyond, and how certain concepts would be expressed in Japanese.
An essential part of being a translator/interpreter is knowing the correct vocabulary for recent phenomenon, as these are words that change with the times and require constant updating of your brain. For example, in Japan the collapse of our economic institutions is referred to as Read More
Career, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers Comments Off on WIT Life #4 – Airport security and death row
WITLife is a series by Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03).
My most recent assignment with the State Department had me doing simultaneous interpreting for a group of six officials from Japan’s central government.
They all came from different ministries ranging from Justice to Finance to Health (one of whose former officials was just murdered along with his wife in a recent high profile case). It was neat to talk to the participant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (aka MEXT), who met his wife in the workplace (when she was a tantousha for the JET Programme) and to hear stories from her experience traveling to promote it.
The trip was a success but was book-ended by two harrowing experiences. When the group arrived the day Read More
Blogs, Food & Drink, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Traveling Tastebuds: The Ambassador of Japanese Food – by Devon Brown
Devon Brown (Tokyo-to, 2002-04) is a freelance writer with a focus on food. You can read more of her writing at TravelingTastebuds.blogspot.com.Is there anyone out there that doesn’t love Japanese curry rice?
Ok, it lacks the sophistication of sashimi and the artisanship of kaiseki, but of all the school lunches that were put in front of me those first few weeks living in Japan, curry rice was the only thing that made me feel like I might not wither away in a world of seaweed wrapped rice balls and soups brimming with tiny dried fish with tiny black eyes.
Even lukewarm (as almost every Japanese school lunch is served lukewarm) it still tasted good. As a matter Read More
Peter Weber (Saitama-ken, Gyoda-shi, 2004-07) is the JET Coordinator at the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco.
Here is how I remember it… My tolerance for food has changed over the years. When I was a child I was they referred to as “picky”. Although exposed to many foreign and exotic foods (at least for Ohio) by my mother I would usually abstain from the meal. The perfect meal for me was alternating days between hamburgers and pizza with an occasional mac and cheese with hotdogs dinner. This changed a bit when I got older, but not by much.
When I was living in Japan I found one of the biggest challenges for me was the diet. Upon my arrival in Japan the difference in types of food people ate was apparent very quickly as I realized that foreign country and foreign food went hand in hand. Luckily there was always an abundance of rice that I could fill myself with until I could hunt down something familiar to my senses. Grocery shopping was also a major challenge trying to find foods that look appetizing. A typical purchase of mine consisted of peanut cream & jelly sandwiches (not peanut butter like I was used to) and potato chips. They were safe and quenched my appetite.
Career, Humor, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Tadaima #4 – Put it all on Black!
My name is Rick Ambrosio (Ibaraki-ken, 2006-08). And whether readjusting to post-JET life is something you’re facing now, will deal with in the future or if you just enjoy reconnecting with that awkwardly uncertain feeling you had when you got back from Japan, come along with me as I look for a new job, a new apartment, and yes, mow the lawn of my parent’s house. Tadaima!
“WHEEL…. OF…… FORTUNE!!!!” I yelled in a haze of alcohol and bright flashing lights. A small crowd gathered around my cousin and I as we played “The Wheel of Fortune” slot machine.
We were in Atlantic City for my cousin’s girlfriend’s birthday, and since mine was a couple days away, sure, mine too. I know I know, here I am, unemployed, in a place people go to burn money, when I could be sending out more resumes and following more leads, but instead I’m down 60 bucks, four drinks in the hole, and hitting on my cousin’s girlfriend’s sister. I suppose I really should be… WHEEL….. OF….. FORTUNE!!!! Okay, down 48 bucks now.
It’s sort of funny when I try to draw parallels between gambling in America and the Pachinko parlors of Read More
Art, Article/Journalism, Blogs, Books, Celebrity, Japan Trends, Roland Kelts, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Roland Kelts Update: Studio360 in Japan and Interview in Brooklyn Rail
Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, has a few new things going on since we last checked in with him.
Studio360 – See some photos and read about Roland working with the Studio360 folks in Japan on an upcoming radio program. (Studio360 is a great show that runs on NPR and explores cultures via their artists.)
Brooklyn Rail — Roland has an interview in Brooklyn Rail with David Hadju, A Columbia Journalism School professor and author of Lush Life, Positively 4th Street, and now Ten Cent Plague, a record of America’s pre-code comic book auteurs.
Food & Drink, Translating/Interpreting, Writers Comments Off on Kia’s Homemade Bake Sale!
Professional translator, interpreter and writer Kia Cheleen (CIR, Aichi-ken 1996-98, ALT 1998-1999) is making homemade sweets and baked goods for pick-up or delivery in NYC and Jersey City right out of her home for the holiday season.
Go to www.homemadebakesale.com to place an order.
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She has just started an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits chronicles her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
As part of my internship, I’ve been entrusted with reading what we like to call “slush”-unsolicited manuscripts that, almost 99% of the time, come to find an impersonal rejection letter folder in a neat and hopeful self-addressed stamped envelope. Now, normally I like to consider myself a very fair, open-minded, and kind individual; I especially love being introduced to new books, authors, genres, etc. However, when it comes to reading “slush,” I feel a demonic, elitist monster overtaking my body.
That said, this is not the first time I’ve been asked to read through various query letters, synopses, and sample chapters. At an internship I held at Cream City Review literary magazine in Milwaukee, WI I also read short story manuscripts and about half of the time, I passed the manuscript on to a fiction editor for their feedback. So I don’t know if the frustrations with not being able to find a permanent publishing job in the so-called “Mecca” of publishing (a.k.a. NYC) or my need to assert some pent-up dominance over Read More
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