Let’s Talk Japan Podcast, Episode 11 – Live Your Dream: A conversation with film director Regge Life
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Let’s Talk Japan is a twice monthly, interview format podcast covering a wide range of Japan-related topics. Host Nick Harling (Mie-ken, 2001-03) lived in Japan from 2001 until 2005, including two great years as a JET Program participant in Mie-Ken. He practices law in Washington, D.C., and lives with his wife who patiently listens to him talk about Japan . . . a lot.
In this episode, Nick speaks with film director Regge Life about his documentary Live Your Dream, chronicling the lives of JET Program participants Taylor Anderson and Monty Dickson, who passed away in the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. This is a moving tribute and a must see for anyone who loves Japan and its people. I hope you enjoy it.
Nick
If you have not already done so, be sure to “Like” the podcast on Facebook, and follow the podcast on Twitter @letstalkjapan. Additionally, please consider leaving a positive rating and/or review in iTunes.
Why is Japanese Food so Delicious?
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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).
It’s no secret that Japanese food is popular outside of Japan. Not only is the food in-country highly rated, but there are Japanese restaurants all over the world. A lot of people wonder, why is Japanese food so good? It’s a complex answer. Many will tell you it’s umami, others the care and thought put into food, and yet more that it’s the simplicity of the dishes that highlights natural flavors.
I’m not a food expert, but I think it’s a bit of all the above.
When I lived in the States, I never ate fish. Maybe it was because I lived in the desert and all we got were frozen or river fish. Whatever the reason, I’ve had an aversion to most fish since I was young. Then, 5 years ago, I got dropped on a little island in the Pacific, their second industry being fishing. Their food was fresh, delicious, and amazing.
A week ago I had a shrimp that was still moving a bit. And IT WAS SO GOOD. My family will tell you what large strides my palate has taken over the last five years. So why was that prawn tail I had so much better than any other shrimp I’ve ever had? How did a bit of still moving shrimp overcome 23 years of stubborn dislike?
Simplicity. The shrimp was peeled, and served with a bit of soy sauce. There were no other flavors to get in the way, no cross-contamination from sauce pans, pasta, or other fish.
Umami. The briny flavor combined with the bite of soy and the sweetness of the meat meant create that unique sixth taste that everyone raves about. It’s a balance easily lost when the simplicity is left out.
Quality. Kume Island is known for miso cookies, sugar cane, and white sand beaches, but it’s also home to many kuruma prawn farms. Kuruma Prawns are similar to tiger shrimp, but a slightly different species. They’re the kind of shrimp Jiro’s restaurant used in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
So what makes Kume Island’s shrimp so good? Checkout the video below then head over to Kumeguide.com to learn more about Kume Island Prawns.
**Please note: At least 3 shrimp were harmed in the filming of the video and writing of this post. They were delicious.**
Strawberry 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 an excerpt from his third installment, about Tochigi Prefecture:
Toshogu may be the prefecture’s main historical attraction, but strawberries are its claim to fame in the agricultural field. It is Japan’s top producer of them. According the prefecture’s official tourism website, “Tochiotome, a large, sweet variety of strawberry with a vivid red color, represents Japanese strawberries. This variety is large in size and sweet, juicy and soft in taste.”
So, naturally there is a Tochigi strawberry curry – made with tochiotome strawberrries.
Job: Broadcast Coordinator – TVT Ltd, (London)
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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: Broadcast Coordinator
Posted by: TVT Ltd
Type: Full-time
Location: London, UK
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Duties & Responsibilities
Established in 1994, TVT offers television versioning, localisation and media supply services. Between programme planning and playout, TVT provide all the components to build channels.
As a Broadcast Co-ordinator you will play a vital role in ensuring the overall success of a BBC based project. Reporting to the Operations Manager you will be part of the team responsible for the Japanese versioning of live news and current affairs programming. Read More
Job: Digital Manager – British Embassy (JP)
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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: Digital Manager
Posted by: British Embassy (BE)
Type: Full-time
Location: Tokyo, JP
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Duties & Responsibilities The purpose of the British Embassy (BE) in Tokyo is to promote the British Government’s prosperity, security and consular interests in Japan. The successful applicant will join the 50-strong UK Trade and Investment Team, which aims to promote economic growth and prosperity by helping British companies to access the Japanese market and encouraging Japanese companies to invest in the UK. This is a high priority for the British government.
The Marketing team at UKTI Japan has a clear mandate to increase the number of UK companies we help. We plan to do much of this digitally. This is an exciting and unique opportunity for a capable digital professional to work within the British Embassy to develop the professionalism and reach of our digital services to UK companies coming to Japan. The position offers a highly-rewarding opportunity to make a personal contribution to improving business links between the UK and Japan. Read More
Job: Research Assistant II Non-Lab – Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)
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Thanks to JET alum Julie Caffrey for sharing this very JET-relevant job listing. 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: Research Assistant II Non-Lab
Posted by: Harvard University
Type: Full-time
Location: MA – Cambridge
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Duties & Responsibilities
Assists research and administrative duties of a Harvard senior faculty member in the social sciences and supports the activities of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard. Locates, organizes, and analyzes research materials, including archival documents and other primary sources. Investigates and prepares reports on specific topics in the social sciences relating to Japan and Asia. Meets staff needs of a senior professor and assists in the programming of a busy international program; prepares course materials and maintains course Website; handles correspondence, scheduling, and travel arrangements; serves as liaison to students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and distinguished international visitors; provides staff support for seminars, conferences, and other events for Harvard faculty and students; serves as a liaison between the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations and other international centers and programs inside and outside Harvard; serves as a resource to students regarding Japan-related study and research opportunities; performs other duties as required. Read More
JETAANC Pacific Bridge: Alumni Spotlight with Xander Peterson
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Spotlight on: Xander Peterson (Miyazaki, 2009-12) JET Program Coordinator for San Francisco. Xander became the new coordinator earlier this year.
Why did you apply for the position?
I applied for the position because I truly believe in the purpose of JET, and I want to see the program flourish. The cultural exchange and friendships that I built with my students and community changed my life and hopefully influenced theirs, too. I knew that it wasn’t just me who felt this way; nearly everyone who goes on JET is profoundly impacted in some manner.
Did you ever see yourself becoming the Program Coordinator during JET/JET application process?
When I first applied to JET, I didn’t see myself as becoming the Program Coordinator. However, after my first year as an ALT, I was in love with the program and began to think of ways that I could support not just the JETs in my area but all JETs across Japan and the program as a whole. At the end of my final year in Japan, I applied to CLAIR but to no avail. A couple of months after I returned to Santa Cruz, the position of JET Program Coordinator (for Northern California / Nevada) opened up. I applied and got the job.
How do you see yourself working with JETAANC?
I see myself as the liaison between the Consulate and JETAANC. I’d like to do whatever I can to build a strong working relationship between the two. One area that I think we can work on is connecting our local JET alums with the local Sister City Associations. Local Sister City Associations are a great place for alumni to share their Japan experiences and adventures with American students who are interested in learning more about Japanese language and culture.
Read More
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
