JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Heart of a Samurai’
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“Many people join the JET Program looking to form international bonds between their home countries and Japan, but Manjiro Nakahama faced bigger challenges into trying to end Japan’s isolationist policy. ‘Heart of a Samurai’ gives you a fun glimpse of one of Japan’s most important historical figures.” (Abrams)
By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-2010) for JQ magazine. Rashaad worked at four elementary schools and three junior high schools on JET, and taught a weekly conversion class in Haguro (his village) to adults. He completed the Tokyo Marathon in 2010, and was also a member of a taiko group in Haguro.
You might know that under the policy of sakoku, no Japanese were permitted to leave the country. So when Japanese people were finally able to do so, it must have been a fascinating story. And thanks to Margi Preus, people have an easy-to-read tale about one of the first Japanese to venture outside of the country’s borders.
Preus’ book Heart of a Samurai offers a look into the life of Manjiro Nakahama, a fisherman-cum-aspiring samurai whose life is turned upside down when his boat is shipwrecked during an 1841 fishing trip. He and his four comrades are stranded on a remote island until members of an American whaling vessel arrive.
It was aboard the John Howland that Manjiro first learned about a world previously foreign to him. Unlike his comrades, the ever-inquisitive Manjiro is not scared of “butter stinkers” (a derogatory term for foreigners) and he learns English so quickly, he forms a bond with ship captain William Whitfield. Whitfield eventually takes Manjiro back to the United States, where the young man lives with the captain’s family. After spending several years exploring the world by sea, Manjiro eventually returns to Japan to accomplish his goal.
This book will resonate with people because it addresses the theme of being shocked at the world’s differences—some of which are hilarious (Aboard the John Howland, Manjiro is stunned by the existence of buttons, pockets, forks and knives while later expressing similar astonishment by seeing men wearing watches) and some that are not so funny (Manjiro is stunned to see segregation in a church). And in addition to adjusting to a culture where everything seemed to changing, Manjiro must also tackle racism and a new language while working to prove himself to people in a new country.
Job: Asahi Shimbun Economics News Assistant/Staff Reporter position
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Via Asahi Shimbun. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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***Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.***
Position: News Assistant / Economics Staff Reporter
Posted by: Asahi Shimbun
Type: Full-time
Location: Washington, DC
Salary: $33,000 to $36,000
Start date: NA
Overview:
The Asahi Shimbun is Japan’s leading national daily newspaper. Based in Tokyo, it has a circulation of more than eight million. Its North American bureaus are located in Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles.
Qualifications:
Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree, master’s preferred. Interest or background in covering U.S. and international economics and finance is highly desirable. Japanese language is helpful but not necessary. Interest or experience in East Asia, especially Japan and China, is also a plus. Economics major preferred but not required. Must be willing to work overtime on evenings and weekends. Read More
Job: AFS-USA – Development Year-End Seasonal Asst (Temp) (NYC)
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Via the Foundation Center. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). ____________________________________________________________
Position: Development Year-End Seasonal Assistant
Posted by: AFS-USA
Type: Temp
Location: New York, NY
Salary: NA
Start date: NA
Overview:
The Development Year-End Seasonal is a full-time, temporary position (until January; end date to be determined) that supports the administrative functions of the Development Department, focusing on gift processing and acknowledging as well as data entry. The Department raises nearly $3M annually from individuals, foundations and corporations through direct mail, online, major and planned gifts, and telemarketing programs, with a large portion of that revenue received in the last part of the calendar year. Read More
Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — B’z, Books, Sake Tastings and Michael Jackson in Yokohama
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B’z, the biggest-selling musicians in Japanese history, will make their New York debut at Best Buy Theater Sept. 30. (Courtesy of Best Buy Theater)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
After you’ve rested up from Labor Day weekend, enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of Japan with a whole month’s worth of events, activities and products from musicians to authors to restaurants. It’s all happening here as we welcome another autumn in New York.
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Oze no Yukidoke from Ryujin Shuzo Sake tasting
Sakaya
324 East 9th Street
Hailing from Gunma prefecture, Oze-no-Yukidoke is a well-refined sake that is widely considered to be one of the finest sakes available. Join Mr. Hideki Horikoshi, the head sake brewer of Ryujin Shuzo, for his his handmade signature sake, Oze no Yukidoke Junmai Daiginjo, as well as Ohkarakuchi Junmai. Purchasers will receive a lacquered sake cup as a free gift!
Sunday, Sept. 9, 1:00 p.m.
Cultural Resource – Contemporay Music by Japanese Composers/Musicians
Scandinavia House
58 Park Avenue
“The influences of ethnicity on the musical idioms of contemporary composers” is the research subject of Akiko Asai, Visiting Scholar at New York University. This concert is held as a part of her research project and a wrap-up of her research term at NYU and features Japanese composers and their works. The audience will be able to not only meet these artists’ creativities but also listen to the result of their research through the identical sound of accordion. Tomomi Ota, who will play their pieces, is a one of the promising performers who can show the audience different perspectives vividly.
For the complete story, click here.
JETAA Canada Conference Report 2012
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The JETAA Canada Conference was held in Calgary from June 8–10. They just put out a very nice on-line conference report.
Here’s the link: http://issuu.com/jetaabc/docs/jetaabc_summary_report
Justin’s Japan: Interview with ‘Speed Tribes’ Author/JET Alum Karl Taro Greenfeld
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“From being born in Kobe and spending time in Japan as a child, I had a decent feel for Japanese culture and even a little bit of the language. But what best prepared me for the JET Program was living in Paris during my junior year in college; that familiarized me with living in a foreign country and how one had to adapt, especially back then in pre-Internet times.” (Esmee Greenfeld)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
Born in Kobe and raised in America, Karl Taro Greenfeld (Kanagawa-ken, 1988-89) is the author of six books, and over the past two decades his writing has graced everything from the Paris Review to Playboy to Time Asia (where he served as editor for two years). His first book was Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan’s Next Generation, a gritty, true-life portrait of Tokyo’s urban underground. Published in 1994, it exposed a fascinating side of post-bubble Japan rarely seen (or reported by) foreigners.
Now living in Tribeca with his wife and two daughters, Greenfeld has recently penned his debut novel, Triburbia, which once again finds a muse in his current milieu. The New York Times calls it “an artful and casually cohesive work of fiction imbued with anthropological insight,” and Greenfeld will be appearing at an author event at (where else?) Barnes & Noble Tribeca on Sept. 5.
In this exclusive interview, I spoke with Greenfeld about his early days in Japan during its economic peak, his highlights as a journalist covering the nation’s subculture, and a never-before-told story about the fate of a planned Japanese-language release of Speed Tribes.
Triburbia is a story about Tribeca fathers at the end of the last decade facing a changing neighborhood, which is similar to your own life. What made you to decide to write a novel about this?
I was living in Tribeca and then we moved to Pacific Palisades, California for a few years, and that caused me to look back at Tribeca and think about that time and place. It’s very similar to how I wrote Speed Tribes after moving from Japan back to the U.S. Somehow, when I am living in a place the intensity of experience makes it hard to write about. But with the perspective of distance, ideas come into focus and I can get a better idea of what I want to say about a place.
At 23, you served on the JET Program in Kanagawa Prefecture from 1988-89. How did JET come on your radar, and what kinds of jobs did you have before that?
I don’t remember how I heard about JET. I think it was something my mother found out about and passed on to me through her contacts at the Japanese Consulate in Los Angeles. Before that I was working in a clothing store and was just starting to write for magazines. I’d had small stories in the New York Times and Harper’s Bazaar and I already knew that’s what I wanted to do. But then I was accepted into the JET Program, which turned out to be a lucky break because it got me to Japan, though further from Tokyo than I would have liked.
You were born in Kobe, grew up in Los Angeles and went to college in New York. How did this exposure to different cultures and lifestyles prepare you for your time on JET?
From being born in Kobe and spending time in Japan as a child, I had a decent feel for Japanese culture and even a little bit of the language. But what best prepared me for the JET Program was living in Paris during my junior year in college; that familiarized me with living in a foreign country and how one had to adapt, especially back then in pre-Internet times. I remember getting theJapan Times every day and that was my only connection to what was going on in America, a few baseball results—they didn’t print box scores—and maybe a few AP stories picked up about Bush or Dukakis. That was it!
How about being perceived as “half-Japanese” or “Asian” during your time in Kanagawa?
I think being half-Japanese was actually a disadvantage in the JET Program. For one thing, when Japanese kids hear they are getting a foreign teacher, they want a foreign teacher: A tall, strapping, blonde, preferably female, would be ideal. When I showed up, looking Japanese, I think it was a little bit of a disappointment. Never mind how lousy a teacher I actually was.
What were the biggest life lessons you picked up from JET? How about from that first year from working in Japan?
I learned a few things: For one, I learned that I shouldn’t confuse loneliness and happiness. That sometimes, I could be very lonely, and for the first six months or so in Kugenuma, where I lived in Kanagawa, I was intensely lonely. But I was strangely productive. I wrote a novel (never published), read a few hundred books, and had a lot of time to think about writing and what I wanted to say. It was the first time in my life that I wrote every day for a year.
For the complete interview, click here.
Job: Actus Posting – Operations Assistant – Japanese shipping company (Downtown, NYC)
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Via Actus Staffing. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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***Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.***
Job Position: Operations Assistant
Posted by: Actus
Location: Downtown, NYC
Position: N/A
Salary: N/A
Hour: N/A
Company Information:
- Established Japanese shipping company, engaging in operating cargo ships for breakbulk cargo. The company was founded in 1970 and is based in New York , NY .
- Entry level welcome. This would be a great opportunity for entry level person who wants to start a career in office environment.
Your Role with the Company:
Responsible for supporting the Company’s Operations functions, including coordinate ocean freight shipments, voyage arrangement, ensuring accurate documentation, and performing customer service functions. Read More
Job: Transportation Specialist for Japanese Transport Association (D.C.)
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Thanks to JET alum Sam Lederer for sharing this JET-relevant job listing. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Transportation Program Manager
Posted by: International Access Corporation
Type: Full-time
Location: Washington, DC
Salary: Negotiable
Start Date: N/A
Responsibility:
This position serves the primary function of obtaining a broad array of transportation research information upon request and independently creating research reports of varying length and levels of detail. Coordinates and moderates 4 transportation seminars per year that include U.S. and Japanese speakers on specific transportation issues. Specialties in aviation and public transport systems desirable.
Note:
Reports directly to Senior Representative of Japanese transport association in Washington, D.C. Read More
WIT Life #213: BayStars Baseball Revival
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Continuing with the sports theme, today’s NYT has an article about some of the unusual measures the Yokohama BayStars have incorporated to increase attendance at their games. They include discounts for children and seniors on certain days if they wear the team’s jersey, for cross dressers on Thursdays and for late arrivals. In addition, another promotion is Read More
Fukui JET alumni meet Fukui Group in New York
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Four Fukui JET alumni participated in a recent exchange meeting with a delegation from Fukui Prefecture (led by the incumbent Governor Nishikawa) and the Fukui Association (Fukui Kenjinkai) in New York.
The alumni happily spoke with the governor and others about their memories of JET life in Fukui, artworks on traditional Echizen paper (Echizen-Washi), plays featuring the sometimes amusing daily life in Fukui, and many other topics.
Job: Speechwriter & Public Relations Advisor for The Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles
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Thanks to Jet Alum Tiffany Dwyer for sharing this job opening. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Speechwriter & Public Relations Advisor
Posted by: The Consulate General of Japan
Type: Full-time
Location: Los Angeles
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
http://www.la.us.emb-japan.go.jp/e_web/jicc_opportunity.htm
Overview:
The Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles is seeking a motivated and diligent individual to be a Speech Writer and Public Relations advisor. The successful candidate would have excellent writing and research skills, intercultural communication skills, and an ability to self-motivate and take initiative to better communicate Japan’s policy to the American public.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Acting as the lead writer, draft speeches, op-ed and letters for the Consul General and other officers for various occasions; edit and support colleagues’ written material in each of their priority areas.
- Develop and draft presentation materials that clearly, consistently and effectively communicate Japan’s basic policies and positions on various issues as needed.
- Develop and maintain solid data (facts, figures, etc) on the Japan-US relationship to be used as a resource for the consulate.
- Monitor print, broadcast and internet media and work closely with colleagues to implement communications strategies on current issues in Japan-US relations and the consular jurisdiction.
- Work with consulate staff and outside organizations to assist in the planning and execution of Japan-related events, talks, lectures and official consulate functions.
- Perform various other duties, including creating and editing content for the consulate’s website, conducting a variety of general research and organizing public affairs functions.
- Translating documents from Japanese to English, as appropriate.
- Handling various administrative and clerical tasks. Read More
Job: Program Coordinator at I-House (NYC)
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Thanks to JETAANY Board Member Amber Liang for sharing this job opening. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Programs coordinator
Posted by: International House
Type: Full-time
Location: New York
Salary: N/A
Start Date: Immediately
Overview:
Founded in 1924, International House seeks to develop future global leaders by enabling them to live and learn together in a challenging and supportive residential community. The roster of innovative, high-quality programs and activities are at the core of this dynamic experience in multicultural living. These programs are designed to facilitate the development of the skills and values essential to sound global leadership through the exploration of diverse cultures, ideas and beliefs. The 700 resident members admitted each year are from over 100 countries and study at over 75 academic and training institutions in New York City in fields as diverse as finance, studio art, law, neuroscience and dance.
The Office of Programs & Resident Life is responsible for planning and implementing the cultural, educational and social programs that reflect the diversity of the resident community and actualize the mission of the House. The Programs Office staff works with a team of approximately 25 residents who serve the community as Program Fellows. Monthly programs during the academic year include cultural hours; resident roundtable discussions; performing, cinema and fine arts events; social events and trips in and around NYC. In addition, there are one or two guest speaker events each month, an outreach tutorial program, sports & fitness activities, a language exchange program, and leadership programs designed to enhance graduate study. Other large events include the annual Fall Fiesta, the All Nations Celebration in April, semi-formal dances and 4 Sunday Suppers each year. Summer activities include social, cultural and recreational activities in and around NYC. The Programs Office also includes the Resident Support Services team composed of 21 Resident Fellows, Peer Counselors and the Resident Social Worker. Office hours are Monday-Friday from 9:00am to 7:00pm and most programs take place in the evening and on some weekends. Read More
WIT Life #212: US Open 2012
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Yesterday I went to the first day of this year’s U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, and managed to catch some matches despite a long rain delay. I was happy to see that two of the outer courts were featuring Japanese players, Kei Nishikori (nicknamed “Air K” because of the jump he takes to give his forehand a little extra power) and Hiroki Moriya. I had never heard of the latter but am a big fan of the former, having first seen him in an exciting five-setter at the Open several years ago.
When my friend and I arrived, Nishikori was up two sets and leading in the third against Argentinian Guido Andreozzi when the downpour began. We camped out at the side court to insure good seats when the match resumed, which it did a few hours later. Andreozzi showed some strength but Read More
Job: Communications Interns at The White House Project (NYC)
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Thanks to JET alum and communications expert Kirsten Henning for sharing this interesting opportunity. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Communications Intern
Posted by: The White House Project
Type: N/A
Location: New York
Salary: N/A
Start date: N/A
Overview:
The White House Project ignites the leadership of women in business and politics. We connect, coach and educate an ever-expanding alumnae network of 14,000 nationwide. With a focus on women age 21-35, we activate the ambition, creativity, and skills necessary for innovative and effective leadership.
The White House Project seeks enthusiastic, committed individuals for exciting and challenging internships in NYC. Internships are available in Development, Communications, Programs, and Executive. We are currently accepting applications for Fall interns. Internships are unpaid, but we frequently work with colleges, universities and organizations that sponsor students or offer credit. Ideal candidates will have a background in political science, women’s studies, communications or business. Strong written and oral communication skills are a must. We are looking for individuals with an interest in igniting women’s leadership and learning more about the non-profit sector. Read More
Job: Marketing Support & Logistics Coordinator (NYC)
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Thanks to JET alum, Eric Liebman for sharing this JET-relevant job listing at his company.
Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Marketing Support & Logistics Coordinator
Posted by: Mitsubishi International Corporation
Type: N/A
Location: New York
Salary: N/A
Start date: N/A
Overview:
One of the Chemicals trading departments at is expanding operations in South America. The new role serves to satisfy customer needs and meet internal compliance requirements. The Coordinator would assure punctual and smooth coordination of shipments with customers/vendors according to their contracting logistics; proper inventory management; compliance with billing, documentation, accounting inputs, collection and credit monitoring; etc. A proactive approach to business is key. Within the team, transparent, punctual and close communications are required.
The following are preferred: experience with GBS, GTS, SAP systems; good MS Office skills; an open-minded attitude with new and unfamiliar situations; accuracy, efficiency, and consistency; strong organizational skills; ability to be proactive/flexible; good English Communication skill to give good customer service.
If you’re interested, please contact Former JET Eric Liebman (Shimane-ken, 2008-10): LIEBMAN@GMAIL.COM
