Job: Digital Communications Specialist/Manager – U.S.-Japan Council (DC)
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Via Idealist. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Digital Communications Specialist/Manager
Posted by: U.S.-Japan Council
Location: Washington, DC
Type: Full-time
Overview:
Job: Executive and Program Assistant – Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (DC)
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Via Idealist. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Executive and Program Assistant
Posted by: Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA
Location: Washington, DC
Type: Full-time
Overview:
Life After JET: Of Legal Discourse and Family Ties
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Re-published after its first appearance from the JETAA NSW site: Our next Life After JET alumni is Shino Hamada (CIR Fukuoka-shi 2006-2011), a legal practitioner for a Sydney-based subsidiary for a major Japanese trading firm, whose life experiences show that you should always grab opportunities as they come by.
There is a tiny coastal town in the Southern part of Nagasaki Prefecture called Kazusa-machi. Besides a few holiday makers who visit its somewhat white sandy beaches in the summer, Kazusa-machi is usually a town which people merely drive through on their way from Nagasaki City to Shimabara City or vice versa. I was born there and spent the first eight years of my life running around on the beach behind our house with my three older siblings and speaking in the thickest Nagasaki dialect, until my hippie parents decided to uproot the whole family to live in New Zealand.
We continued to speak Japanese at home in West Auckland for four years, until my parents divorced and mum left us and returned to Japan. In order for us to overcome this incident, my dad forbade us to speak Japanese to each other and ordered us to discard everything that was Japanese, including our beloved Doraemon comic books and anything that reminded us of mum. My dad often spoke of his negative feelings towards Japan which rubbed off on me to the extent that I refused to speak Japanese at all for the next six years.
Still, Japan was always in the back of my mind and I was always a tiny bit curious about it. I also had not seen mum since she left us, so when I finished high school, I decided that I might as well go live with her in Nagasaki for a year. I arrived in Japan with a very low expectation and an extremely rusty tongue for the language, but what I found there was something beautiful, what I can only describe as ‘comfortable’ and I quickly fell in love with the culture and the people. I worked at a local supermarket fulltime and also taught English to primary school children in the evenings and weekends and loved every minute of it. At the supermarket, there would be regular customers who would always come and happily chat with me about their grandchildren or their pet dog and give me pumpkins from their garden. At the English school, the kids were always happy to see me and eager to learn.
Once the year was over, I returned to New Zealand to start university and decided to study Linguistics and Language Teaching. In my second year, a friend suggested that a Bachelor Arts would merely make me employable at McDonalds, which I gullibly believed and decided that I would study law to complement my Bachelor of Arts. In my last year, I decided to apply for the JET Programme as a CIR so that I could spend a couple of years living near mum and gain some experience working in a Japanese office. I did not really intend on becoming a lawyer after I graduated, but since I had eight months between the end of university and my departure for Japan on the JET Programme, I thought I might as well complete my professional legal studies course and I became admitted as a lawyer in New Zealand a couple of month before I left for Fukuoka.
In Fukuoka, I worked for the International Affairs Department in the city hall along with two CIR’s from non-English speaking countries. At first, people were curious about my background but they soon accepted that I was just a New Zealander who happens to look Japanese and speaks Japanese with an odd mix of a Nagasaki – New Zealand accent. My duties included translating and proofreading documents, interpreting for visitors from abroad, acting as a liaison between Fukuoka and a few of our sister cities, conducting monthly lectures for volunteer interpreters, judging speech contests, and conducting job interviews in English. I loved my job and I loved Fukuoka even more, to the extent that my initial intention to stay a maximum of two years was quickly disregarded and I ended up staying the JET maximum of five years.
At the returners’ conference in Tokyo in my fifth year, I still had not yet decided what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be after Fukuoka. I had vaguely toyed with the idea of combining my Japanese language skills with law in Japan previously, but when I spoke with a recruiter in my fourth year on JET, he advised that there are no opportunities for an inexperienced lawyer in Tokyo and that I should return to New Zealand and practice law for at least a couple of years before exploring the legal market in Tokyo. Nevertheless, by chance, I met a legal recruiter at the returners’ conference career fair, who heard of my law qualifications and my experience in a Japanese office and arranged an interview for the next day with the Tokyo office of a British law firm who was looking for a bilingual paralegal. I thought it would be a good practice job interview and thought I might as well try it. I went to an internet café that night and abruptly typed up my CV both in English and Japanese and I was lucky enough to be hired as a paralegal with a possibility of being promoted to a lawyer down the line.
I moved to Tokyo a couple of weeks after I bid farewell to my sweet home for five years and to my coworkers at the city hall who had become my beloved extended family. Once in Tokyo, I worked the hardest I had ever worked in my life, logged in long hours and hardly refused any work that came my way. The five year gap between my law degree and this job was somewhat filled by my experience working in a Japanese office and my understanding of the Japanese business culture which I shared with the foreign lawyers in the office. An Australian partner at my firm liked my work, took me under his wing and I had the privilege to be one of the core team members for a major acquisition of a multinational coal joint venture. It was a laborious few months and at times it felt as though I hardly slept, but the sense of satisfaction I felt once it was over was well worth it. I decided then that I quite liked law, continued to work hard and I was made an associate lawyer a year after I joined the firm.
However, after a year as an associate lawyer, I started to become restless in Tokyo. I had been in Japan for seven years at that point and was ready for something new. I also felt that I had been immersed in the Japanese culture for a bit too long and even starting to forget some English words. Luckily, the Australian partner who pushed me to become a lawyer had returned to Sydney and was keen for me to join him in Sydney and had an interesting secondment opportunity at the Australian subsidiary of a major Japanese trading house.
I joined the Sydney office a year ago, and have ever since been seconded to the infrastructure team of the Japanese trading house where I like to think I am maximising my Japanese language skills, understanding of Japanese business culture and my legal knowledge. I assist the company on its investments in infrastructure public-private partnerships in Australia from the pre-bid consortium discussion stage through to the actual bid or financial close, as well as identifying and analysing new opportunities for our counterparts in the Tokyo head office.
I do not think anyone is ever sure if the path they have taken is the right one, but if I had not had an open, ‘might as well’ attitude towards learning more about Japan after high school, studying law, obtaining my legal qualifications, staying five years in Fukuoka immersing myself in the Japanese office culture, taking the opportunity to interview at the Tokyo office of my law firm and taking the secondment opportunity in Sydney, I would never have experienced all the things I was able to experience, been able to come to terms with my bicultural upbringing or found a way to combine all my skills.
If you are a returning JET and you do not yet know what you want to do or where you want to be and an opportunity which slightly piques your interest pops up your way, why not shrug your shoulders and think ‘might as well’? It might take you down a route you had never dreamt of, but which may end up being one of the right paths for you.
Job: Sales Rep – Japanese Prestigious 商社’s subsidiary- NYC
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Via Actus Consulting. If you apply, please make sure to indicate that you learned of the listing via JETwit. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Sales Rep
Location: Midtown, NYC
Type: Full-time
Overview:
- A subsidiary of Japanese prestigious trading firm specializes in non-ferrous material trading.
- The company acts as a Sales Rep for oversea manufacturers.
- Products include: aluminum, copper, zinc, and rare metals.
- The company appreciates it’s employees — excellent benefit, paid vacations, tuition support etc.
This is an excellent and rare opportunity to start your career at one of the most prestigious Japanese firms. There will be an excellent chance to learn the business and network with big players in the industry. The company offers an excellent benefit including tuition support. Read More
Job: Senior Accountant – U.S.-Japan Council (DC)
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Via Idealist. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Senior Accountant
Posted by: U.S.-Japan Council
Location: Washington, DC
Type: Full-time
Overview:
Job: Teaching Japanese in High School (D.C.)
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Via JETAADC. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Japanese Language Teacher
Posted by: JETAADC
Location: Washington D.C.
Type: Full-time
Overview:
Are you interested in possibly teaching Japanese language classes at the high school level? There is currently a shortage of Japanese high school teachers in the DC area, so JETAADC has been approached to help find possible teachers. Someone with JET experience could teach as a substitute teacher without a teaching license, and become a full teacher as they work on receiving their license. Work is also being done on finding funding so that JET alumni could get assistance in paying for the costs of getting a license, as long as they commit to teaching in the DC metropolitan area. The beginning salary for a teacher in Montgomery country is attached; other local districts have comparable salaries.
Job: Program Coordinator for Events – Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University (NYC)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Program Coordinator for Events – Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University (NYC)
Via Idealist. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Program Coordinator for Events
Posted by: Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Location: New York, NY
Type: Full-time
Overview:
Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — ‘Big Hero 6,’ Babymetal, Richie Kotzen, Asa Akira, Perfume
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Babymetal brings their unique brand of “kawaii metal” to Hammerstein Ballroom Nov. 4. (Courtesy of WME Entertainment)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
From Disney to heavy metal to J-pop, November is just as colorful as the leaves tumbling through the air. Add to that a cutting-edge kimono exhibition, a Shakespearean samurai epic, and the largest event in the USA dedicated to love and sex, and you’ve got an irresistibly epic rundown.
This month’s highlights include:
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 7:00 p.m.
Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street
$49.50
Formed in 2010, Babymetal brings a kawaii blend of traditional schoolgirl J-pop and death metal. Hot off the heels of their debut album released in the U.S. earlier this year, the band has been burning up the charts in Japan, where their live video for “Gimmie Choco!!” (lensed at the legendary Nipon Budokan in Tokyo) has racked up over 17 million views on YouTube to date. Endorsed by shredders like Marty Friedman (Megadeth) and Jeff Walker (Carcass) alike, Babymetal are prepared for a whole new audience on the eve of their Hammerstein debut.
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m.
B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, 237 West 42nd Street
$28-$32
With guitar styles ranging from rock, blues, jazz and fusion to pop and soul, Richie Kotzen has built a remarkably diverse 25-year career as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. A veteran of numerous groups including the Winery Dogs, Kotzen’s Japan cred is extensive: He wrote the number one song “Shine” as a member of Mr. Big, which was used as the ending theme for the anime series Hellsing, has recorded an entirealbum of music from the anime series Gundam, and toured as the opening act on the Japanese leg of the Rolling Stones’ 2006 tour. The Kotzen Telecaster guitar has repeatedly been the #1 selling signature model guitar for Fender Japan. This special solo show will include selections from The Essential Richie Kotzen, the artist’s latest release, which caps a career of highlights in anticipation for his next studio album coming next year.
Nov. 6-12
Nippon Club Gallery, 145 West 57th Street
Free
Kiyomi Kitagawa, a popular fashion designer and a representative of Atelier Bi-no-Sei, revives stylish and practical design dresses in harmony with modern lifestyle from traditional craftwork, a microcosm of Japanese sensibility that has been shaped by the passing of the “four seasons” since ancient times. These dresses show not only the “craftsman’s spirit” by seasoned artisans, but also her knowledge and experience as a textile garment designer. At this exhibition, 30 pieces of kimono dresses—some using fabric no longer produced—will be displayed with luxurious embroidery and a variety of techniques.
For the complete story, click here.
Job: Colgate University – Off Campus Study Coordinator (NY)
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Posted by Sean Pavlik (Fukui-ken, 2010-12), International Programs Officer for the DC-based Congressional Study Group on Japan. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Job Description: Reporting to the Director of International Programs, the Off-Campus Study Coordinator is responsible for administering semester-long and short-term faculty-led off-campus study programs. The position is also responsible for advising students throughout all stages of the off-campus study cycle.
Essential Functions:
– Administers a portfolio of international and domestic study groups and extended study programs, ensuring compliance with university travel policies and professional standards of good practice for education abroad.
– Assists in the development, implementation and evaluation of faculty-led programs in collaboration with faculty members, which includes such duties as: travel, visa and lodging coordination, communications with partner universities and organizations;expense management; and coordination of pre-departure programs and re-entry activities.
– Advises students throughout the study abroad process through individual and/or group meetings; assists students with the selection of off-campus study programs, identification of learning objectives, and application process; refers students to appropriate departments and resources for further assistance.
– Responds to student, faculty, parent, staff inquires regarding Colgate-sponsored and approved off-campus study programs, policies and procedures.
– Manages assigned projects and leads team members to meet established goals.-Performs other duties as assigned.
Qualifications: – Bachelor’s degree plus two years’ experience in education abroad or a combination of education and experience from which comparable skills are acquired.
Job: Barnard College – Coordinator, International Programms & Special Projects
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Posted by Sean Pavlik (Fukui-ken, 2010-12), International Programs Officer for the DC-based Congressional Study Group on Japan. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Reporting to the Dean of International and Global Strategy, and working closely with the Office Manager, the Coordinator, International Programs and Special Projects will coordinate the activities of Barnard’s international and global initiatives, including the College’s annual Global Symposium. The Coordinator will serve as the Provost’s Office liaison with the General Counsel’s Office regarding work visas and work closely with faculty on opportunities for international research and travel with students.
Essential Duties:
- Assist in all aspects of planning and running the College’s annual Global Symposium and related programming, including communication, correspondence, event planning, financial transactions, and travel arrangements.
- Serve as the liaison with the Office of the General Counsel on requirements and timing of visa filing procedures; maintain records related to faculty work eligibility and other confidential matters; and assist with training and orientation of faculty who are not U.S. citizens. Advise faculty and research associates with the preparation of documents relating to work visas.
- Conduct research concerning funding opportunities for international initiatives/partnerships and for academic research/programs.
- Create and maintain a database of international faculty travel, including faculty-student trips abroad. Coordinate with faculty on faculty-student research trips, including organizing funding application reviews, trip budgeting and reimbursements.
- Assist in development of protocols for faculty and provide pre-departure orientations for faculty/student travel.
- Serve as a liaison between the Provost’s Office and the Dean of the College office.
- Create, update and maintain websites and social media publications related to international and global programs at Barnard including, but not limited to, Facebook page and YouTube channel.
- Create, update and maintain publications (print and online) related to international and global programs at Barnard, e.g., faculty newsletter
- Compile data, create reports, and maintain records regarding the College’s international education programs, global initiatives, related agreements and memoranda, and other College programs.
- Assist with the budgetary planning and administration of operating and grant-based funds for international and global initiatives. Maintain budgets, bills and expense reports.
- Participate in special projects for the Provost’s Office.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Job: Global Programs Coordinator at Ohio University
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Posted by Sean Pavlik (Fukui-ken, 2010-12), International Programs Officer for the DC-based Congressional Study Group on Japan. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Ohio University is hiring a Global Programs Coordinator within the Office of Education Abroad. We seek a candidate with a commitment to working effectively with students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. The Program Coordinator serves as an integral part of efforts to increase participation in global programs, both domestically and abroad.
The Office of Education Abroad is currently undergoing an expansion that includes a broader mission of facilitating transformative learning experiences in the US. Consequently, the Program Coordinator will work with faculty directors on the preparation, management, and execution of programs both in the US and abroad. S/he will also work closely with students preparing for a global program from the beginning stages of choosing a program and pre-departure preparation, to providing on-site support and reintegration programming.
Essential Functions:
1. Manage a portfolio of global opportunities that take place both in the US and abroad. These could include domestic off-campus and on-campus experiences as well as education abroad programs. The Program Coordinator will be responsible for initiating programming that furthers the internationalization plan of the University with regard to student mobility.
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Job: Study Abroad Adviser, Georgia State University
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| Posted by Sean Pavlik (Fukui-ken, 2010-12), International Programs Officer for the DC-based Congressional Study Group on Japan. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email. |
Georgia State University is looking to recruit two Study Abroad Advisors. The Study Abroad Advisors will provide hands-on experience working with students, staff, and faculty on various projects that are integral to the mission of the Study Abroad Programs office. The Advisors will assist with the operations and services of the Study Abroad Programs office including advising (primarily), outreach, and program development.
- Works closely with the Director of Study Abroad Programs with the operation and services of Study Abroad Programs, including student advising, outreach and marketing, and scholarship processing
- Serves as campus advisor for Boren Scholarship, in addition to other national scholarship programs and applications, such as Gilman and Affiliate Scholarships
- Serves as an advisor to students interested in studying abroad
- Coordinates the IEF/Foundation Scholarship processes, including the coordination of IEF acceptance forms and the dissemination of recipient lists to Financial Aid and the Foundation
- Works with assigned college or colleges and University units to coordinate college-specific outreach, marketing, advising and curriculum integration projects
- Conducts walk-in advising sessions and all aspects of student advising for study abroad
- Coordinates annual Study Abroad Fair
- Serves as back-up with Global Experience Scholarship processing
- Works with Terra Dotta software to update and maintain student applications and program pages
- Coordinates and edits the office newsletter with the Study Abroad Squad
- Coordinates Student Panels for International Education Week
- Investigates and resolves ongoing student issues before, during and after study abroad
- Maintains statistical information for students abroad
JQ Magazine: Book Review — ‘Starting Point: 1979-1996’ by Hayao Miyazaki
Article/Journalism, Books, Celebrity, Film, JQ Magazine, Reviews Comments Off on JQ Magazine: Book Review — ‘Starting Point: 1979-1996’ by Hayao Miyazaki
“For those who enjoy the process and precision behind an art, Starting Point is a rare glimpse into an often-times enigmatic industry.” (VIZ Media LLC)
By Alexis Agliano Sanborn (Shimane-ken, 2009-11) for JQ magazine. Alexis is a graduate student of Harvard University’s Regional Studies—East Asia (RSEA) program, and currently works as an executive assistant at Asia Society in New York City.
Starting Point: 1979-1996, translated by Beth Cary and Frederik L. Schodt, is quite unlike its sequel, Turning Point: 1997-2008 (read JQ’s review here). Technical rather than creative, Starting Point shares renowned director Hayao Miyazaki’s recollections of his early days as an animator. The essays and interviews follow anime through production development, touching on the intricacies of character design, layout, and story adaptation. For those who enjoy the process and precision behind an art, Starting Point is a rare glimpse into an often-times enigmatic industry.
The first half of the work features essays on Miyazaki’s long hours in the studio, culture, and nature of Japan’s animation industry in the 1960s and 1970s. As Miyazaki notes, even then, anime was tied to media mix marketing. You didn’t just have manga; you had manga, then an anime, toys, merchandise, and spin-offs all fueling off each other. Says Miyazaki in a 1982 interview: “The world of anime makes its business out of themes like departing for new horizons or love, while pretending not to be conscious of [the] commercial reality.” In hindsight, these remarks prove ironic; the auteur’s Studio Ghibli having similarly succumbed to commercialization.
It isn’t just media mix that remains the same today: professional frustrations were high and work-life balance poor. Miyazaki, over the course of several essays, recounts the life of a young professional. He states: “When young, nearly all of us want to be taken seriously, as soon as possible….In fact, many of those who have not yet taken the plunge into the professional world…tend to speak endlessly about techniques, or concentrate on gaining as much knowledge as possible….In reality, however, once you enter this industry, the techniques required can be mastered very quickly.”
Job: Program Officer, Fulbright Student Services – Institute of International Education (SF)
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Via Idealist. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Program Officer, Fulbright Student Services
Posted by: Institute of International Education
Location: San Francisco, CA
Type: Full-time
Overview:
Job: Bilingual J-E Assistant for financial advisor (NYC)
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Thanks to New England JETAA’s Tim Ogino for passing this on. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-2014), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Bilingual J-E Assistant
Posted by: financial advisor company
Location: New York, NY
Type: part-time/internship
Overview:
Bilingual (Japanese-English) Assistant
The primary role is to provide administrative support in general to a financial advisor. It is a part time/intern position. Read More
