CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” Series: Yuri Lowenthal (Shiga)
LifeAfterJET, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment 
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Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The May 2014 edition includes an article by JET alumnus Yuri Lowenthal. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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Yuri Lowenthal (Shiga-ken, 1993-96), grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, but moved all around the world because his father was in the Foreign Service, so he went to elementary school in Nashville, Junior High in Niamey, Niger, and then college back in Williamsburg, Virginia at the College of William and Mary. His hobbies are mostly entertainment related, and he’s managed to make a living at it! He joined the JET Programme because it joined his love for Japan and adventure, and had no idea that it would prepare him for one of the most difficult yet rewarding professions, acting.
My JET Programme Experience: How Do You Prepare for the Unknown?
Yuri speaking at Comic Con International, San Diego 2013
Photographer: Adam Rose
Who knows what the future will bring? I guess we all have an idea. I thought I knew what was going to happen. Surely I would continue work as a CIR in Shiga Prefecture as long as they would let me, then find another job in international relations, just like my father. I was having a blast working in Shiga prefectural office doing everything from helping ALTs troubleshoot issues in their schools or in their lives, keeping the ALT community informed with newsletters, teaching English to cadets at the local police academy, translating, interpreting and fielding the occasional letter to the Governor from a man who believed that aliens were working with the Japanese government on time-travel experiments and mind-control. I had been in love with Japan since I was a kid, and this was the perfect life for me. Now I am an actor, writer and producer living in Los Angeles. What happened? Life, I suppose. We all change, and the best experiences change a person greatly. My experience in Japan constantly forced me to question my preconceived notions of things and stay open to many different kinds of ideas. It is what made me stay in love with Japan. Because of my father’s work, I had visited many countries all over the world, but there was something different about Japan. Every day gifted me with something new, excited me with mysteries, and kept me interested.
While working in Japan I was also able to explore my love of the arts. I studied Butoh dance in Kyoto, Kabuki, Bunraku and Kyogen in Osaka, and made short films with my friends (often, much to the confusion of the people around us.) One day I realized that, as much as I loved living and working in Japan, I had to try my hand at acting for a living, much in the same way I took a big chance and came to live and work in Japan because I loved that so much. But I did not leave Japan behind when I returned to the US. I came home with a confidence that I did not have before my experience with JET: the confidence I built as a CIR, working with all different kinds of people, both from Japan and other countries; learning to solve problems creatively and on-the-fly; developing and maintaining relationships with people, both personal and business; teaching and allowing myself to be taught. And because you never know how what you learn at any given time will come in handy later, I had no idea that when I came back to the States that I would use the Japanese language I had honed to work with Japanese clients in TV and film production in New York City.
The money I had saved during my time in the JET Programme gave me the time and space to create the relationships that led to actual work that would employ what I learned working for the local government in Shiga Prefecture. These skills would allow me to work with Brad Pitt for a Japanese jeans commercial, produce an episode of Beat Takeshi’s nature program in the Bahamas, and get into a harrowing altercation with an angry chimpanzee for a show about two Japanese comedians visiting the US. And then, when I got married and moved to Los Angeles, I began working in the anime-dubbing business. While knowledge of Japanese is not essential to the work, it has been one very important skill that has set me apart from most of my other colleagues. Many of the characters I have played have been Japanese. And because so much of my work is voice acting, I have been able to play the roles because of my experiences and the skills I developed in Japan despite the obvious fact that I do not look Japanese! In the competitive world of acting, an advantage like this is hugely empowering. Read More
Job: Assistant for Intergovernmental Affairs at Japanese Consulate in SF
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Thanks to SF Consulate JET Coordinator (and newly elected JETAA USA Country Rep) Xander Peterson for passing on this opening. And Xander asked that the below be pointed out:
Important: All applications have to be sent via snail mail. No emails or phone calls accepted.
Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
The Consulate seeks a staff member to assist the Intergovernmental Affairs Section. This section is responsible for, but not limited to, the following activities within the states of California and Nevada. Read More
Job: Study Abroad Coordinator at Northeastern University (Boston)
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Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
The Office of International Study Programs seeks a qualified candidate to organize and promote its programs and to advise NU students throughout the study abroad process. The Coordinator advises students on study abroad opportunities (faculty led and traditional), the application process, and assists with coordinating program logistics at home and abroad. The position also assists with developing and organizing information sessions, orientations, re-entry workshops, and other study abroad-related events for prospective applicants and study abroad alumni. Read More
Sydney Career Forum
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Just saw on the JETAA New South Wales email newsletter that there will be a career forum in Sydney for Japan-related jobs. More details below. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
Partner Event – Careers in Japan – Sydney Career Forum 2014
Start: 10 May 2014 10:00am
End: 11 May 2014 5:30pm Read More
Job: English Teacher for Japanese Students at ISpeakYouSpeak (Online)
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ISUS is seeking online English teachers for Japanese students. They’ve posted to JETwit previously and found good candidates, so they’re posting again. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
ISUS: ISpeakYouSpeak is a language training company that specializes in language training solutions for business professionals. We currently employ over 200 teachers from all over the world who provide online sessions to more than 30,000 students worldwide. Read More
Job: Program Officer for JICA USA (DC)
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Just saw this posted to the JETAA DC google group by the JET Program Office. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) USA Office based in DC is seeking an individual who is self-motivated, flexibleand a team player for the position of program officer.JICA is the Japanese government’s bilateral aid agency, whose mission isto promote international cooperation and inclusive development. The JICA USA Office functions as a liaison, informationgathering and outreach arm for our agency to engage with the international development community. Read More
Job: Presbyterian College Graduate Internship – International Programs (SC)
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Via JET alum Carleen Ben. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-Present), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai, seeking work opportunities in NYC starting in August 2014.
Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Graduate Internship
Posted by: Presbyterian College, International Programs
Location: Clinton, SC
Type: full-time
Overview:
Presbyterian College is seeking an enthusiastic, globally-minded individual to assist with Carol International House (CIH), an international living-learning community. CIH is home to 30 residents on two floors and features classroom and community spaces as well as a fully-equipped kitchen and computer lab. The international house seeks to engage the college community of 1,300 students with internationally-themed programs planned and presented by residents of the house. Presbyterian College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in a small-town setting in upstate South Carolina. Many students live out the College motto Dum Vivimus Servimus or “While we live, we serve” by engaging in service and volunteer projects locally, domestically, and internationally. Read More
Job: Education Abroad Advisor – UNC Charlotte (NC)
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Via JET alum Carleen Ben. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-Present), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai, seeking work opportunities in NYC starting in August 2014.
Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Education Abroad Advisor
Posted by: UNC Charlotte
Location: Charlotte, NC
Type: full-time
Overview:
The Office of Education Abroad at UNC Charlotte is pleased to announce that we are now hiring for the position of Education Abroad Advisor.The Education Abroad Advisor will serve as an advisor for various UNC Charlotte Education Abroad programs and support the Coordinator of Short Term Programs in the implementation of short term faculty-led programs. This position reports to the Assistant Director of the Office of Education Abroad. UNC Charlotte is a growing, urban campus of more than 26,300 students. Read More
Job: Associate Provost and Director – International Students and Scholars Office, Columbia University (NYC)
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Via JET alum Carleen Ben. Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse (Kyoto-fu, 2013-Present), organizer of Cross-Cultural Kansai, seeking work opportunities in NYC starting in August 2014.
Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Position: Associate Provost and Director
Posted by: International Students and Scholars Office, Columbia University
Location: New York, NY
Type: full-time
Overview:
Reporting to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Administration, the Associate Provost and Director provides leadership for the office responsible for assisting the University’s international students and scholars with their immigration needs and for ensuring that the University meets the immigration regulatory requirements of the federal government. Read More
Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — Asa Akira, ‘Monkey Business,’ Jero @ Japan Day, Peelander-Z
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Insatiable New Yorker Asa Akira’s literary debut is available May 6. (Grove Press)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
As spring continues and the weather continues to warm, New Yorkers can enjoy activities all over the city both indoors and out.
May 2-3, 7:30 p.m.
Veggetti, Kato and Nakamura Project IX – Pleiades
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
$30, $24 Japan Society members
Two Japanese tour de force artists, acclaimed musician Kuniko Kato, praised by Steve Reich as a “first rate percussionist,” and dancer Megumi Nakamura, internationally known since her days with Jiří Kylián’s Netherlands Dance Theater, explore the mesmerizing scores of legendary 20th century composer Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001). Project IX – Pleiades, which features one of Xenakis’ most complex and ambitious pieces, Pléiades, is a multimedia work delivered through live performance and a state-of-the-art sound/projection installation. Directed by Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti, one of the featured artists in the 2014 NY PHIL BIENNIAL. The Friday, May 2 performance is followed by a MetLife Meet the Artists Reception.
Saturday, May 3, 2:00 p.m.
Monkey Business: Japan/America Writers’ Dialogue
Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue
$15, $12 seniors/students, $10 Asia Society and PEN members
In conjunction with PEN World Voice Festival 2014! For the past three years PEN World Voices and Asia Society have provided a place for dialogues between established and upcoming writers in the United States and Japan. This year Laird Hunt and Matthew Sharpe join Toh EnJoe and Hideo Furukawa for another exciting and provocative cross-cultural literary encounter between Japanese and American writers. Moderated by Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen, editors/translators of Monkey Business, the English-language anthology of newly translated Japanese writing, now celebrating its fourth edition.Ticket price includes a copy of the book and signing following the program. For additional free readings taking place in Manhattan and Brooklyn, click here.
Tuesday, May 6
Insatiable: Porn—A Love Story by Asa Akira
$25 MSRP
At age 28, Asa Akira has already led an extremely unusual life. Born in New York and raised in Japan as a pre-teen, then coming of age at the prestigious United Nations International School in Manhattan, she eschewed the academic aspirations of her classmates and soon was earning a good living by stripping and working as a dominatrix at a sex dungeon. Akira has now built up a reputation for being one of the most popular, hardworking, and extreme actors in the adult entertainment industry, winning dozens of awards and appearing in nearly 400 films to date and the popular DVDASA podcast. In her debut book, Akira provides an inimitable voice from the inside in a world where porn is increasingly becoming part of the mainstream.
For the complete story, click here.
Job: Project Manager at Japan-America Society of Kentucky (Frankfort, KY)
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Thanks to JET alum Josh Moore (Kagoshima-ken, 2010-12), who’s departure to go on to grad school is creating this opening, for passing this on. Ideal for a JET alum. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
Japan/America Society of Kentucky is hiring a full-time project manager.
The position has a start date of June 15, 2014. Read More
Jobs: Cross-cultural/language jobs at CSI (Japan & US)
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Additional background: CSI is owned by JET alum Thad Johnson (Hyogo-ken, 2000-01). The company works with Japanese firms looking to strengthen their positions and capabilities in the North American market. They consult in three fields: language training, translation, and technical support. See this JETwit article for more info about CSI: http://jetwit.com/wordpress/2011/02/21/jet-alums-run-thriving-translationconsulting-business-in-kentucky/
Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Overview:
Four openings:
- Electrical Engineers/PLC Programmers
- Japanese Language and Cultural Instructor
- Japanese/English Interpreter/Admin
- Japanese Online Curriculum Development
- Japanese/English Document Translator
Job: English Teacher PT and FT at Keio Academy (White Plains, NY)
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Just saw this on the Hunter College MA TESOL listserve. Two English teacher positions opening at Keio Academy, a Japanese-English bilingual school in White Plains. Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: English Teacher
Location: White Plains, NY
Type: Full-Time/Part-Time
Overview:
The English department at Keio Academy is seeking an energetic English teacher who has a strong literature background and who: Read More
JETAA UK Careers Seminar May 20 with Ex-JET British Consul General Western Japan and Japan Related Companies
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Posted by blogger and podcaster Jon Dao (Toyama-ken, 2009-12). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
[Steve’s Note: Not a job listing, but part of an ongoing effort by JETAA UK to help with the job search for those in the UK.
Note on US-UK translation: “JET alum” in the US = “Ex-JET” in the UK. I’ve been told that using the word “alumni” in the UK is associated more with universities and sounds strange in the context of something like the JET Program(me). Well, as the Japanese saying goes, “Ten people. Ten colo(u)rs.” ;-]
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Overview:
JQ Magazine: Book Review—‘Monkey Business Volume 4’
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“In part, this collection is a quest. And it is a quest into questions, many of which straddle the thin lines of life, all the while hurling us through time and space, water and air, pain and pleasure, and beginnings and ends.” (A Public Space)
By Brett Rawson (Akita-ken, 2007-09) for JQ magazine. Brett is a writer, translator, and volunteer. He currently lives in New York, where he is pursuing an MFA in creative writing at The New School and is the professional development chair for the JET Alumni Association of New York. If you have job opportunities for JET alums, an interest in presenting at JETAANY’s annual Career Forum, or want to collaborate on professional endeavors, contact him at career@jetaany.org.
Meet Volume 4 of Monkey Business International: New Writings from Japan, a collection of 23 works that will take you on a wild ride through the literary landscape of Japan. In fact, it goes beyond the boundaries of Japan—as summed up by co-founders Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen in the preface, Monkey Business International is “60 percent contemporary Japan, 20 percent contemporary American and British, and 20 percent modern classic Japan,” though of course not every hybrid has a categorical home.
In part, this collection is a quest. And it is a quest into questions, many of which straddle the thin lines of life, all the while hurling us through time and space, water and air, pain and pleasure, and beginnings and ends. Take for example the short story “The Man Who Turned into a Buoy” by Masatsugu Ono. The title itself seems to whisper, loosen your grip, encouraging us to suspend our disbelief and simply enjoy as our perspective gets gently nudged out of ordinary orbit.
The tale transports us to a tiny town nestled between the shoreline and the hills, which is overrun with frolicking monkeys who descend to steal food left on graves, but have been known at times to talk with villagers, and sometimes in the voice of the deceased. This town also observes the tradition of the body as a buoy—a single man tasked with the job of nakedly floating at the edge of the inlet during the day, issuing warnings to people who exit the bay. The man who turned into the buoy is the narrator’s grandfather, and his story is recounted through the grandmother in a dense dialect that is beautifully captured by translator Michael Emmerich.
