Interview with Roland Kelts in Consulate e-Newsletter
Interview/Profile, Roland Kelts, Writers 
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I get the Consulate of Japan’s (NY) monthly e-newsletter, and in the October issue I noticed they have a nice interview with Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) about Japanese pop culture and his book Japanamerica.
Published by the Consulate General of Japan in New York / Japan Information Center
Japanese Pop Culture
Japanese pop culture, such as manga (comic books) and anime (animation), is attracting more and more people outside of Japan. In the following interview, Mr. Roland Kelts, half-Japanese American writer and lecturer, tells us about his observation on this phenomenon as well as his teaching experience in Japan.
JIC (Japan Information Center) : Your position as a resident of Tokyo and New York is unique. What do you see happening now from your vantage?
Mr. Kelts : I think both countries are undergoing severe transitions. America is losing its central place in the world’s imagination. And Japan is finding its current position, as America’s ‘little brother,’ to borrow Takashi Murakami’s term, untenable. A lot of people are looking to Japan for guidance, and Asia is rising fast. Japan needs to understand and accept its own unique strengths.
JIC : But you also teach Japanese students about their own culture-as a half-Japanese American. What do they tell you?
Mr. Kelts : In Japan, a lot of my students are stunned to learn that foreigners care about their cultural products. They (my students), know they’re cool-but they don’t care that much, because they are sincerely worried about their futures. They think that Japan is over, finished, and they are amazed to find that young Americans think they are the hottest culture in the world. Read More
Essay Request: Alone in the Kitchen with a Rice Cooker
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I’m looking for people interested in writing essays on the theme: Alone in the Kitchen with a Rice Cooker
The idea is to write an essay (any length or “shortness” is ok) about cooking for yourself (or could be eating by yourself) when you lived in Japan. The focus, however, is intended to be on the theme of being alone in Japan viewed through the prism of cooking/eating. It’s just about whatever you liked to do (or found yourself doing) cooking-wise when you were alone and how that ties into the rest of your experience in Japan. Feel free to focus exclusively on the food, or feel free to use the food as a jumping-off point for other things. If you want to include a recipe for whatever food you describe, that would be a nice touch as well.
The idea is derived from book of published essays entitled Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant (a good read in itself). I think the essays on this topic will offer some very interesting and readable perspectives on the JET Program, on Japan, on cooking and on the theme of being alone.
Deadline is open. Just send an email to express your intent to write an essay.
Contact: Steven Horowitz at stevenwaseda ,at, jetwit , com
Update 10/20/08: This position has been filled. Please do not contact or send resume information.
I’m looking for a bilingual cookbook researcher and hope you can help. Read More
JET Alum Conversation with Haruki Murakami
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) will be having a conversation with Haruki Murakami tonight at a UC Berkeley event following a reading by Murakami-san. Roland is a lecturer at Tokyo University and the author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. (Roland explains on his blog that the photo of him with Murakami on the right was taken several years ago.)
Writing opportunity: How’s the economy treating you?
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I’d like to put together an article about how the current economic situation is affecting or will affect JET alumni. So please feel free to email me one paragraph (long or short) about how you think the current economic situation will affect you and why. Include your prefecture and years on JET, or feel free to request anonymity.
Email responses to: Steven Horowitz at stevenwaseda [at] jetwit [dot-] com
If anyone is looking for some help with their resume, Clara Solomon (CIR Tottori-ken, 1999-2001), who is now the Director of Career Services at NYU Law School, put together a great JETAA Resume Guide for the recent JETAA NY Career Forum. It was passed out to all the attendees in conjunction with her presentation, and she agreed to let Jetwit.com post a copy.
Particularly helpful are a range of suggested ways to characterize JET experience.
Michael Auslin: A “Third Neighbor” Strategy for Asia
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The latest article from JET alum Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and previously a professor of Japanese History at Yale.
A “Third Neighbor” Strategy for Asia, Posted Date: Monday, October 6, 2008
“By serving as a disinterested “third neighbor” to put-upon allies in East Asia, the United States can strengthen liberalism and democracy in the region.” http://www.aei.org/publication28731
JET Alum article on new Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso
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JET alum Michael Auslin (formerly a professor of Japanese history at Yale and currently a researcher for the American Enterprise Institute) has a new article about the new Japanese prime minister Taro Aso entitled Can This Man Save the LDP?
Roland Kelts Column in Daily Yomiuri
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-1999), author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Culture Has Invaded the U.S., has an article in this weekend’s Daily Yomiuri entitled Soft Power, Hard Truths: Japan’s Global Power: Soft or Wilted? You can keep up on Roland on his blog at http://japanamerica.blogspot.com.
JET Alum Article in The Guardian
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See JET alum Julie Ferry’s article entitled The Knowledge Gap which ran in The Guardian on 9/26/08 and which references her experience on JET in a discussion of the evolution of the “gap year”. To learn more about Julie, you can visit her website at http://www.julieferry.co.uk/.
