Job: Real Estate Development Firm seeks a highly organized assistant who is FLUENT IN JAPANESE (LA)
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Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Executive Assistant
Posted by: Real Estate Development Firm
Type: Full-time
Location: LA
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
Real Estate Development Firm seeks a highly organized assistant who is FLUENT IN JAPANESE. We are looking for someone who enjoys being an assistant and will be dependable and capable.
This is a small firm who works with big names in this arena.
It is a small group in the office so must have a “team” minded way, and OK with wearing multiple hats.
This is Monday to Friday (9am – 6pm) but must be willing to be on call as needed with Iphone/Blackberry. Read More
Job: Professional Driver/Administrative Support Specialist The Consulate-General of Japan (Seattle, WA)
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Via PNW JETAA. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Professional Driver/Administrative Support Specialist
Posted by: The Consulate-General of Japan
Type: Full-time
Location: Seattle, WA
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
The Consulate-General of Japan is currently seeking a Professional Driver/Administrative Support Specialist. A professional driver who will also provide logistical, administrative and clerical support. The ideal candidate is both an excellent driver and a good communicator.
The Requirements for this position are:
1. Clean Driving Record (No serious Offenses) 2. Fluency in English (Japanese language ability preferred) 3. Experience driving in the Northwest region 4. Must be eligible for employment in the US Read More
Job: Executive Director at Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (BC)
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Via The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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**Note: If you apply, please indicate you learned of the job through JETwit.**
Position: Executive Director
Posted by: Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre
Type: Full-time
Location: Burnaby, BC
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
The Organization
The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (NNMCC) is a leading Japanese Canadian organization providing public and educational programs, museum and archival services, as well as a community meeting ground to British Columbians and Canadians. The NNMCC is a non-governmental organization with a small and dedicated team of professional staff that run the day-to-day operations of the organization. Volunteers play an important role, and include the Board, an active Auxiliary Committee, and several board/volunteer committees. Read More
JETAA USA Disaster Relief Fund Update – 06.01.13
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Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94), Executive Director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA) and a member of the JETAA USA Disaster Relief Fund Committee, was recently in Tohoku for work and shared the following update regarding one of the projects that JETAA USA helped fund:
Jim says he met with Kodomo no Empowerment Iwate (click here for their Facebook page) and also had a chance to talk with two representatives of the Rikuzentakata Board of Education and learned:
- The BOE and many people in the prefecture see the Manabi-no-heya project we supported as a crucial element of the town’s recovery, and the Ministry of Education has selected it as a model project for introduction around the country.
- They currently have 206 students enrolled in Rikuzentakata alone, and have expanded to Kamaishi, Ofunato, Miyako, and other affected cities, adjusting the program to fit local circumstances.
- The big news they were happy about was that one of the students from the tutoring program was just ranked #1 out of 600 on the Rikuzentakata high school entrance exams.
- The Ministry of Education and private source have provided funding for the project that is many multiples of JETAA USA’s, but the organizers and the city officials all credit JETAA-USA as providing the seed money to help get this off the ground.
Here’s a news video about the project (in Japanese – if someone wants to post a summary in some form that would be great, btw):
Photo #1: From Kodomo no Empowerment’s gathering of their Rikuzentakata program managers (senior tutors), on Saturday. They got together to discuss how to improve the program, discuss student management issues, etc. The fact that they were sacrificing an entire Saturday for this shows just how committed they are. The person standing is Iwate Prefectural University Professor Katsuhiko Yamamoto, who heads Kodomo no Empowerment.
Photo #2: A student named Masako who was a student in the Otsuchi program, which is held in a temporary housing unit. She is showing off her desk where she had been studying English. She just enrolled in Nagoya College of Foreign Languages, an extraordinary triumph for a student from a small town like this. She seems to be taking some time to volunteer now with a development NGO in the Philippines in order to give back and also to brush up her English.
JET alum Roland Kelts column in Time Magazine on Japan’s Identity Crisis and Right-Wing Rhetoric
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A thought provoking article by JET alum author and writer Roland Kelts(Osaka-shi, 1998-99) from the current issue of Time Magazine.
The Identity Crisis That Lurks Behind Japan’s Right-Wing Rhetoric
Here’s a quote:
“Japan is a country whose identity has been bowdlerized, hollowed out by a dream of Western dominance that no longer exists. It may make sense to see its recent surge in nationalism as a dumbed-down version of Japanese adolescence. This is a country spun around by its own single-minded pursuit of progress, and it has no idea who it’s supposed to be today.”
Here’s a link to the full article: http://world.time.com/2013/05/31/the-identity-crisis-that-lurks-behind-japans-right-wing-rhetoric/
CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: David Namisato (Aomori)
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Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The June 2013 edition includes an article by JET alumn David Namisato. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“I went on the JET Programme because I had quit art, but I returned to art because I went on the JET Programme, and thanks to that, here I am, over a decade later, an illustrator and comic book creator, with my JET experience influencing many of my works.”
David Namisato (Aomori-ken, Ajigasawa Town, 2002-04), is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He came to Japan on the JET Programme looking for a different career path after animation school, and spent two years in a rural town of Aomori as a CIR. Back in Canada, he started a comic series about the JET Programme experience for the JETAA Toronto Newsletter. Life After the B.O.E. quickly gained popularity inside and outside the JET community, to become a book in 2011. David is now a professional illustrator and has just released his new fantasy comic The Long Kingdom #1.
My Long Journey to the Beginning
In October of 2001, having become disillusioned with art, I decided to drop out of animation school, and to try something completely different and applied to the JET Programme.
Fluent in Japanese and looking for translation and interpretation experience as well as to transition in to a more planning and administrative career, I thought the position of Coordinator of International Relations (CIR) would be a good fit.
I was admitted to the JET Programme in 2002 as a CIR, and went to Japan. However, my contracting organization, Ajigasawa Town in Aomori Prefecture, used CIRs as elementary school English instructors. I had no planning or administrative duties beyond curriculum design and lesson planning, nor did I have translation or interpretation work. Rather, I was entrusted to teach English to children grades one through six at six of the town’s elementary schools.
As an elementary school English instructor, my art skills that I had abandoned were quickly resurrected and came in quite handy as I would use drawings to explain difficult vocabulary and grammar to my students. Slowly my joy of drawing returned, and as it returned, I also began contributing covers to the Aomori AJET newsletter.
In the spring of 2005, six months after my two years as a CIR ended, I decided to give art another try, and I started work as an illustrator creating illustrations and comics for children’s science, and history magazines in Canada. Read More
Job: IELTS Preparation Course Teacher (Charlton, Greenwich)
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Via JETAA UK. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: EFL Teacher
Posted by: The Institute of International Education
Type: N/A
Location: Charlton, Greenwich (UK)
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
The Institute of International Education in London is urgently seeking an EFL teacher for the IELTS preparation course at their small and friendly Japanese teacher training college in Greenwich.
The successful candidate will have a CELTA qualification or equivalent and experience in teaching students preparing to take the IELTS exam.
The times of classes are Monday to Friday 0900 until 1215, with a 15 minute break.
Their students and the majority of our staff are Japanese, so you would have many opportunities to practice any Japanese skills you may have. If you are interested in this position, please do not hesitate to get in touch on the email address given.
Application Requirements: IELTS experience, CELTA or equivalent
Contact Name: Jacob Andrews
Contact Email: enquiries@iiel.org.uk
Job: Executive Associate for the Asia Society (NY)
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Via Philanthropy News Digest. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Executive Associate Faculty
Posted by: Asia Society
Type: N/A
Location: New York, New York
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
Asia Society, a prestigious, global, cultural and educational non-profit seeks an Executive Associate to support the Vice President, External Affairs by managing schedule and the Vice President’s office; establishing systems to manage the flow of administrative work in the External Affairs Department and developing and directing the department’s office policies and procedures.
Responsibilities:
•Answering telephone calls from a wide array of individuals in the U.S. and Asia, including trustees, high-level donors and staff; Read More
Job: ESL teaching Positions at SIU Carbondale (IL)
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Via Hunter College MA TESOL listserve. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: Faculty and international student advisor – various openings
Posted by: Center for English as a Second Language (CESL)
Type: N/A
Location: Carbondale, Illinois
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) at Southern Illinois University is hiring faculty and international student advisors.
Faculty: Positions COLA 703 and 707
http://affact.siuc.edu/faculty.php
Advisors: Positions COLA 706-PN
http://affact.siuc.edu/ap.php
*These are security-sensitive positions. Before any offer of employment is made, the University will conduct a pre-employment background investigation, which includes a criminal background check.
**Applicants may be subject to background check via RAPIDGate for military site access.
A copy of the Jeanne Clery Annual Report can be found at http://www.dps.siu.edu/Documents/2008SafetyReport_FINAL.pdf. For a paper copy, contact the Department of Public Safety, MC 6713.
Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
The Public Relations Office of the Government of Japan published an article on the JET Programme in their monthly publication that aims to 
promote a better understanding of Japan in the world. They interviewed Bryan Darr (Saitama-ken, Tokorozawa-shi, 2008-13), current JET participant in Tokorozawa Shogyo High School in Saitama Prefecture. Bryan’s contributions to the JET community include being the Education and Professional Development Coordinator for National AJET in 2011-12, a regular speaker at Saitama Skill Development Conferences and an active member of Peer Support Group (PSG), a listening and referral service administered by AJET.
Click here to see the article “Young Pioneers of the JET Age.”
I’ll Make It Myself!: Malga Gelato
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A writer, web administrator, and translator, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan; curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan; and admins The JET Alumni Culinary Group in LinkedIn.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Malga Gelato (マルガジェラート）
Locations (3): Noto-cho, Nonoichi, Kanazawa
UK JET alum a finalist for Pearson National Teaching award
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Via the JETAA UK website:
An ex-JET, Crispin Chambers (Hyogo-ken, Awaji-shima), who now teaches Japanese at Tavistock College in Devon has won a teaching award for the South West of England. He is now a finalist for the Pearson National Teaching awards 2013. This is the first time a teacher of Japanese, and an ex-JET has been nominated, and JETAA would like to extend our warmest congratulations!!
Crispin was originally a JET on Awaji Island for 2 years and then became JET programme co-ordinator for a year at CLAIR in Tokyo. After returning to the UK, Crispin gained an MA in Japanese at Sheffield University followed by a PGCE at Nottingham University. He has been teaching Japanese and French at Tavistock since 1996, and has trained several other teachers of Japanese. His lessons are inspiring and fun, and were described by the Teaching Awards judges as “a joy to watch”. You can see his entry and leave him a message here:
You can learn more about Crispin’s fantastic Japanese lessons on a case study of the school written by the Japan Foundation in 2011. Click here orhere to read it.
There are currently two former Tavistock College students on the JET Programme in Saga and Sendai, so Crispin has gone on to inspire the next generation of JETs.
Job: Postings from Idealist.org 5.29.13
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Via Idealist.org. Posted by Geneva Marie (Niigata-ken 2008-09) Geneva is a contributor to both JETwit and JETAANY. Geneva is on a continuous (epic) search for Japanese-related jobs in the United States. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Programming Associate
Posted by: NY Int’l Children’s Film Fest
Type: Full-time
Location: New York, NY
Salary: Not Specified
Application Deadline: June 30, 2013
New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) is seeking a Programming Associate. This is a full time position with significant growth potential, working directly with the Artistic Director to program the annual film festival, manage filmmaker and studio relations, coordinate selection committee screenings, and oversee programming interns for this world-renowned organization. Fluency in French or Japanese a plus.
http://www.idealist.org/view/job/FfszwDkSSW8d/
International Program Coordinator: Japan and International Programs
Posted by: NorthWest Student Exchange
Type: Full-time
Location: Seattle, WA
Salary: DOE
Application Deadline: Not Specified
NorthWest Student Exchange is seeking an International Program Coordinator who will coordinate programs of participants from Japan and other countries in East Asia, as well as from other parts of the world. Strong Japanese language skills (equivalent to JLPT level N2 preferred) Two+ years in an administrative function with experience in customer service, MS office applications and databases, OR equivalent combination of education and experience. Four-year university degree, preferably related to Japanese languages and cultures.
http://www.idealist.org/view/job/GHhf3m3swxNp/
Fellow/Senior Fellow, Program on China and the Pacific
Posted by: Center for the National Interest
Type: Full-time
Location: Washington, DC
Salary: DOE
Application Deadline: Not Specified
The Center for the National Interest is accepting applications for a fellow or senior fellow in U.S.-China relations to manage its programs related to China and Asia. Ph.D. or M.A. in a related discipline and Chinese (Mandarin) language ability are required.
http://www.idealist.org/view/job/kpXf7FHjk6W4/
Tom Baker samples Kagawa Pref. olive curry
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Tom Baker (Chiba, 1989-91) has begun a 47-part weekly series of posts on his Tokyo Tom Baker blog, in which he will sample and comment on a curry from a different prefecture each week. Here’s his second installment, about Kagawa Prefecture:
Kagawa is the smallest of Japan’s 47 prefectures. It has a total land area of about 1,870 square kilometers, making it about half the size of Long Island, New York. Most of Kagawa occupies the northeastern corner of Shikoku, but much of it is scattered across more than a dozen islands in the Seto Inland Sea. The 13-kilometer Seto Ohashi bridge hopscotches across a couple of the smaller islands to connect Kagawa with Okayama Prefecture, on the main island of Honshu.
The largest of Kagawa’s islands is Shodoshima, which boasts two major products: soy sauce and olives. Lots of places in Japan are proud of their local soy sauce, but olives are unusual. In 1908, this island became the first place in Japan to successfully cultivate them. The prefecture even has a local professional baseball team called the Kagawa Olive Guyners.
Ingredients in the olive curry I’ve picked to represent Kagawa include olives, olive oil, and olive leaf tea…
Kinjo Town Road
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Posted by Benjamin Martin, a 5th year JET on Kume Island in Okinawa, publisher of the blog MoreThingsJapanese.com and author of the award-winning YA fantasy series Samurai Awakening (Tuttle).
Kinjo Town surrounds the Shuri Castle area in Okinawa. While Shuri is impressive in its own right, there is much to see outside the Castle grounds. During this past Golden Week, I took a trip to the Okinawan Mainland, and a friend was kind enough to show me a few out-of-the-way spots. Through Kinjo Town runs the ‘Ishidatami’ or Rock Road, a walkway paved in history and adorned with interesting and beautiful flowers along the way. Follow along for a taste of Kinjo Town.
On the way to to our start, we passed one of Shuri Castle’s side gates. The area is full of steep roads and interesting places.
We also stopped at a nearby soba shop for lunch before beginning our walk. This Shisa is a traditional statue on Okinawan homes used to protect against evil spirits and bad luck.
The place we ate was very busy so we sat outside in an almost garden-like area where I found this purple flower.
For Lunch, I had soki soba, or noodles in broth topped with rib meat. It is another traditional Okinawan food.
Right at the start of our walk, we found these Hanging Heliconias. Conveniently there was a nearby sign that labeled the flowers along the route in English and Japanese.
This is the first of two springs we saw along the route. These were used for drinking and washing by the people of Kinjo Town. Spots like these were marked by small tiles with maps of the area.
These white and pink flowers were labeled as Sokei-Nozen, and hung above a wall.
Here is an old style gate with clay tiles of the same kind of construction seen at the Udun Palace.
The second spring was below the road level and had a pool in which crabs lived. In the second photo you can see where the water flows out at times.
About half-way along the path, right before a rather steep slope (or just after if you go the other way) there is a small rest house with tatami mats where you can take a load off.
Here’s a map of the area in Japanese with the various sites around Shuri marked. Check out part 2 for the walk north through the grounds along the rock road to the pond above Shuri. This article was originally posted on More Things Japanese.
