JETAA NY Newsletter: ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL – A discussion with Inuyama City Councilman Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, 1987-91)
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Interview by Michael Glazer (Chiba-ken, 1995-97)
Want to hear the full interview? Click here to get the podcast.
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn native Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, 1987-91), the first-ever North American to hold an elected position in Japan, is still going strong in his role as a city councilman in Inuyama-shi, Aichi-ken. 
Michael Glazer: You have a very interesting background. How does a JET program teacher become a city council member?
Anthony Bianchi: Well, I’ll try to make the story as short as possible. I studied filmmaking at New York University and I was interested in Kurasawa films and whatnot, and I was out in L.A. for a while. I came back to New York. I was working for New York City and I saw an ad in the paper about the Expo that was held in Gifu about 20 years ago. So I went over to Japan on a homestay program and decided it would be nice to try to live there for a year or so. I joined the JET program, stayed for a couple years, and decided I wanted to stay longer.
I was teaching, working for the Board of Education in Inuyama, and I kind of got involved in the administrative aspects of it. I was banging my head against a lot of brick walls and finding that I had to get in touch with the mayor and the city council people to help back up what we were doing. I finally got to a point where I got tired of complaining about things and needing other people’s help, so I decided to try and do something myself. I ran in the election and somehow I got elected, believe it or not.
MG: Once you were elected into office, were there any things early on that struck you as unexpected? Read More
Job: Bilingual Product Specialist for Nintendo (Redmond, WA)
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Just saw this on Craigslist, which means it has no connection to JetWit.
Bilingual Product Specialist (English/Japanese) (Redmond)
Reply to: see below
Date: 2008-11-17, 4:18PM PST
To apply, go to: https://nintendo.taleo.net/careersection/10000/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=080000009E
Bankruptcy Bill – Strip #4: Headhunters
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Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. To see more strips as well as bankruptcy haiku, go to bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
Writing Opportunities: JETAA NY Upcoming Newsletter Issue
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Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02), Editor of the JETAA NY Quarterly newsletter has announced that the theme for the next issue (slated for Jan. 2009) is The “New” Issue. New year, new JETAA editor, new U.S. president, and maybe some other things by the time we go to press.
- Contact Justin at: newsletter /atto/ jetaany /dotto/ org
- URL: http://jetaany.org/quarterly-newsletter-latest-edition/
“New” Ancedotes”: Justin is seeking anecdotes from JET alums that deal with anything new you learned or experienced during your time on JET or just in Japan. Prizes to the most interesting submissions. So the next time you’re on the subway and the train hits a red signal, think back to a time where everything was new, and send me something. If you need any inspiration, check out the political anecdotes from our last issue, which covered a wide spectrum of JET life. Next…
PART I: NEW FEATURES
-Nippon News Blotter: This aims to be a recap of the most interesting news stories of what’s happened in Japan since the last newsletter was published. Political, economic, entertainment, crime, scandals, whatever’s ripped from the headlines that can give our readers more of a sense of what’s going on in Japan. Easy to get by doing a Google News search or checking out an online English-language newspaper like the Japan Times online. So if you’re a Japanese news junkie and you come across a story that grabs you, forward the link to me and I’ll earmark it for inclusion in the next issue.
-East Meets West: The idea is to pose a question each issue to a handful of both Japanese people and JETs, with their answers printed underneath their photos. The Japanese can be friends of JETs, or people you meet in your daily life or even out on the street. I’m curious to see if the Japanese opinions would be the same, close, or totally different from what Americans would say. An example question would be something like “What problem do you want President Obama to handle first when he takes office?”, but the topic is open to suggestions and volunteers to both answer the questions and snap some photos.
-View From Japan: Are you a JET who’s currently living in Japan, or an alum who knows somebody with a JET relationship currently working in Japan? If so, Justin is looking to add more features from those in Japan today, which can give past JETs a clearer picture of what it’s like to work on the program here in the late ’00s. And commentary or a human interest story about something happening in Japan also plays up our international angle nicely.
-Celebrity Interviews: Does anybody know somebody who can get us in touch for an interview with a “big” name? Reason: even if they aren’t Japanese or haven’t lived there, they might have visited the country or have a big fan base there. So just asking a few questions about Japan could make an interesting spot of reading that would make JETAA NY stand out. Of course, if they are Japanese and have lived in Japan, even better. At the very least, run a wishlist by me or recommend a site for publicists or agents if you know one.
-Our New Name: We toyed with this idea earlier in the year, but it didn’t take. If anyone has any proposals to re-name the newsletter, send in your suggestions. Having a new name in time for the “new” issue would be timely, but it has to be something special!
PART II: BULLETIN BOARD
–Sukiyaki Western Django film review: Anyone want to review a recent movie where the mostly-Japanese cast speaks every line of dialogue in English? With a supporting role by Quentin Tarantino, this action/Western directed by Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer) premiered at Japan Society early this summer and followed with a short arthouse theatrical run. And if your Netflix queue has you swamped through the next decade, I may be able to arrange a screener from the production company. Check out some clips at its Amazon.com page:
-333 Club at Japan Society: One of Justin’s contacts at Japan Society runs the 333 Club, which invloves the following according to their homepage: Japan Society Members who are between the ages of 21 and 40 at the $500 Sponsor level or above to become a part of the 333 Club. Programs for our younger Members include meet-the-artist receptions, roundtable discussions with special guests and various other networking opportunities.
- Yakitori demonstration and tasting at Tori Shin restaurant
- Meet-the-Artist Reception with Basil Twist
- Summer Party/Miwa Yanagi Exhibition at Chelsea Art Museum
- Special Workshop and Reception at New York City Ballet
- Gallery Walk and Brunch with Making a Home Curator Eric Shiner
- Meet-the-Artist Reception with Yoshi Oida and David Stern
- Hands-on Pottery Workshop at Tougeikyoshitsu
- Meet-the-Artist Reception with B-saku Sato and Mitsuru Hirata
- Foreign Policy Roundtable with Dr. Tomohito Shinoda
- Meet-the-Artist Reception with rock shamisen artist Hiromitsu Agatsuma
- Artisanal Tea Tasting Dinner at Cha-an Teahouse
- Japanese Architecture Tour of New York
- Night at Yankees Stadium
If anyone’s interested in doing a piece on this, Justin will put you touch with someone. They likely already have a more detailed press release for this club, so the writer will just need to get a few quotes and wrap up with the club’s future plans and upcoming activities. Simple enough, right? Who’s in?
http://www.japansociety.org/333_club
–SwirlySwirlDates.com: SwirlySwirl is run by one Charmane Tsang, an enterprising young New Yorker who’s taken speed dating international under the slogan of Meet, Chat, Swirl, Go Interracial. Each week SwirlySwirl has speed dating and networking events for people of different backgrounds (including matching Japanese with others in NYC). While the subject isn’t a JET alum, Charmane provides a service that might be useful to many JET alums out there, and I get you in touch with her for a possible feature story about the jungle-like world that is NYC dating.
http://www.swirlyswirldates.com
-Restaurant Reviews: Another kind of story that we haven’t included for a few years now. Anyone been to a Japanese restaurant that you find yourself recommending to your friends over and over again? Might be worth spotlighing one in each issue, which is also good for our international community and opens the door for future gift certificate sponsors.
Roland Kelts Update – 11/17/08
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), the author of Japanamerica and a professor at Todai, is back in Japan and up to some interesting things.
NPR: He’s putting together a program about Japan’s generation gap and disaffected youth culture for WNYC’s Studio 360. It will likely air in January.
Anime Masterpieces: Creating and editing a Study Guide for the next film in the 
series, Tekkonkinkreet. Go to animemasterpieces.com for more info on the panel. The most recent event was on the 14th at the Waterloo Festival of Animated Cinema in Canada. The next event will be Dec. 6th at the Smithsonian featuring John Dower, Susan Napier and Fred Schodt. The next event in which Roland will appear will be Feb. 11 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Who: Attending all four of their Kanto area shows and spending time with Pete Townsend and his assistant and crew (with whom he’s become friends!) According to Roland, the shows have been spectacular, with rabidly enthusiastic responses from Japanese fans–who stand and cheer through the entire concert (which he observes is fairly unusual for usually reserved Japanese concert-goers). The final two shows will be at Budokan.
He even received a compliment from Pete Townsend on his latest Daily Yomiuri column, which Pete read one morning when the paper was delivered to his hotel room.
Adbusters Magazine: Has become a contributing writer/editor at Adbusters magazine (http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/too_comfortable_to_take_risks.html), which means he provides a story from Japan for every issue, starting this past September. A scan of his story from the lates issue 
is, The MANGA MAN, is available on Roland’s blog. Meanwhile, the current issue of Adbusters has a lengthy feature by Roland on the recent success of Kanikosen (The Crab Ship), a socialist novel written by Takiji Kobayashi in 1929, among young Japanese, and the spike in enrollment in Japan’s Communist Party since the start of this year.
Writing Opportunity: Japanese Film Reviews
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JetWit is seeking reviews of Japanese films (recent or old) from any JET alums or Friends of JET who want to write one. No deadline. If you want to write one at any point, just send it in to stevenwaseda /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com.
Job Opportunities: Asian Pacific University Translation/Interpreting Jobs – Beppu City
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Professional interpreter/translator (and Beppu Hot Springs Master) Joel Dechant (CIR Fukuoka-ken, 2001-04) mentioned that his former employer, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu City, Fukuoka-ken, often has open positions for faculty and native English staff. Go here for job listings: http://www.apu.ac.jp/administration/modules/opportunities/index.php?id=1&sel_lang=english
Joel says these are contract positions, meaning they’re good for fresh Ex-JETS itching to get back to Nippon
and a good place to hone your skills enough to go solo at some point. He also points out there are several ex-APUer acquaintances that ended up in higher education jobs in their respective home countries.
Editorial Pursuits #3 – JetWit is my hero!
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Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She has just started an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits will chronicle her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned. Intro
Friday morning started out like any other day full of job searching and unemployment. I got up, made some toast, put water in the tea kettle and set the burner on medium heat, lazily sauntered over to the computer desk, turned on the laptop, and opened Gmail.
I expected to find a few Facebook comments, a random e-mail or two from family members, an amazon.com special deal. But this morning, I found something additional in the inbox – a message from a fellow JET Alumn who had read my JetWit posts and wanted to offer me a potential internship at her literary agency.
Wait, what? Could this be happening to me? I sat baffled at the words on the screen, unable to believe what I just read. Me? For an internship? At a New York literary agency? Saw my “Editorial Pursuits” and wanted me to contact her if I was interested? Wow!
Needless to say, I e-mailed her right away and one thing led to another. I was asked to come in and meet her and the agent that afternoon, and by 3:00pm, I had an internship and felt that I was finally on the road toward my dream of working in editing and publishing!
Walking out of the agent’s office with an armload of books and a partial manuscript to read and write a report for by Monday, I felt like a new woman – a person with a purpose! I don’t want to sound cliché but I walked down the street, towards the subway station, with a bounce in my step and a twinkle in my eye. I immediately came home, called all my friends and family, and did a little “happy dance” in the living room while listening to ” Don’t Ya Evah” by Spoon. Life, it turns out, is good.
So my lesson for the end of the week – a week that only began with a suggestion that I write a regular “column” on JetWit – is that you should never turn down opportunities that are given to you. I didn’t really think anyone would care to read about my job search trials and tribulations, but in fact someone did. And now I am happily (though not monetarily) employed and on a track for endless possibilities. My life has purpose again.
And to any of you out there who might be thinking, “Is this the end of Editorial Pursuits?” I happily answer, “No.” I look forward to continuing to share my lessons learned about job searching and being an intern in the wide world of publishing.
ODD-FISH ALUM: A talk with James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of the fantasy novel The Order of Odd-Fish
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Interview by Gina Anderson (Nara-ken, 2003-05) JETAA DC Newsletter Editor
In August 2008, James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06) published his first novel, The Order of Odd-Fish, a fantasy novel inspired partially by his experience in Japan. Book sales have been going well and JETAA DC Newsletter Editor Gina Anderson (Nara-ken, 2003-05) recently talked with James about the book and, well, some other things.
Let’s start with your hair. Do you razor it or clippers? Neither?
Usually my wife Heather cuts my hair. Scissors all the way. Recently I’ve been getting my hair cut by a friend instead. At first it felt like a kind of betrayal, but actually Heather is relieved.
Paper or plastic?
I generally write on paper.
Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
Like many introverts, I enjoy playing the extrovert.
Who’s your favorite author?
POLITICAL ANIMALS – Stories of politics from days of JET
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We didn’t go on JET to run for office or start a revolution, but sometimes politics had a way of finding us. Here are some stories from fellow alums.
*********************
GIFT CERTIFICATE WINNERS
Clara Solomon (CIR Tottori-ken, 1999-2001)
Meredith Wutz (Saitama-ken, 2000-02)
One Prize: $25 to Kinokuniya Bookstore, now on 6th Ave. between 40th & 41st Streets in NYC
The Other Prize: Dinner for two at Bao Noodles (2nd Ave. between 22nd & 23rd Streets), owned by Chris Johnson (Oita-ken, 1992-95) (baonoodles.com)
Domo Domo to the panel of independent JET alum judges: Elizabeth Sharpe (Pacific Northwest), Jennifer Lee (Southern California), Elizabeth White (Southern California), David Kowalsky (Pacific Northwest) and Mark Frey (Northern California)
*********************
Two days before our three-year stint on JET was to end, we had lunch with the mayor of our city, who wanted to thank us for our time and efforts. Nick and I were the only JETs in our relatively 30,000-small Hokkaido city. When the waitress came, we were asked what we’d like to drink and Nick and I both looked at each other and I knew what he was thinking, so I said, “beer nonde mo ii desu ka?” He thought about it for a second and said that he normally wouldn’t drink at lunch, but would make and exception and ordered three beers. Well, it was obvious he “made exceptions” often as he was later forced to resign because Read More
I just noticed that the Chronicle of Higher Education’s website (chronicle.com) provides job listings for international programs, a popular career path for many JET alums.
You can also grab the RSS/XML feed.
JetWit shirts, mugs and more!
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Want something but don’t see it? Have a good idea for something to put on a shirt? It’s easy to create new items, so just e-mail your suggestion/desire to stevenwaseda /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com.
JETAA NY Newsletter: Bringing Power Back to the People One Call at a Time — Shaun Dakin’s (Shimane-ken, 1989-91) Fight Against Intrusive Political Calls
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Interview by Stacy Smith (CIR Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03)
Although JET Alum Shaun Dakin (ALT, Shimane 1989-91) grew up overseas, his first time in Asia was living in Japan. He spent two years there, an experience that would go on to shape his future as well as that of his family. Shaun shared with the JETAA Newsletter the unlikely connection between his time as an English teacher on JET and the non-profit organization National Political Do Not Contact Registry (StopPoliticalCalls.org) opposing political robocalls,where he is CEO.
Q: What led you to join the JET Program?
A: My reasons for going on JET were adventure and the chance to live in Asia. I grew up in Africa and Europe (Libya, Kenya, Nigeria and the U.K.) and was looking to get to Asia to experience something I never had before. JET was a hot thing to do so I did it.
Q: Is what you do now related to your time in Japan?
A: Not directly, though the skills I picked up while on JET certainly helped me throughout my life. The program taught me how to have self confidence in a new environment, as well as how to write. When I was there I actually had to write letters to friends to keep in touch (there was no e-mail at the time), and Read More
Rocky Mountain JETAA Newsletter – Fall 2008 Issue
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Rocky Mountain JETAA Newsletter editor Cami Cacciatore recently published their Fall 2008 newsletter. Have a look, especially if you’re looking for tatami timeshares for ski season. ;-)
Rise of the West: JET Alum Michael Auslin article on the conservative movement
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JET alum Michael Auslin (Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and former Professor of Japanese History at Yale University) has a new article titled Rise of the West offering some suggestions for the conservative movement as it contemplates its future direction.
