JapanInfo eNewsletter September 2009
The September 2009 edition of JapanInfo is now available online. JapanInfo is published by the Consulate General of Japan in New York/Japan Information Center and is a great source of info for Japan-related things going on in New York and the surrounding area.
Highlights include:
- PM Hatoyama in NY
- PM Hatoyama in Pittsburgh
- Japanese Elementary Schools: More than Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic
- From the Ambassador’s Desk
- Art of the Samurai at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- And plenty of things to do and see on the Events Calendar.
Event: JETAA Sydney Returnees Networking and Careers Night – Oct 30
Via Michelle Fox of JETAA Sydney:
Returnees Networking & Careers Night: “Jump into life after JET”
Looking for a job, or a change of career? Come to our Networking and Careers night for JET Returnees, or any jobseekers in Sydney.
When: October 30, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: The Japan Foundation
Keynote speaker – Paul Burgess, Author of Natural Born Success as shown on Today Tonight.
JETAA International Conference in Jamaica – Twitter Update 10.3.09
Here’s another update from the JETAA International Conference in Jamaica this weekend. Thanks to one Ryan Hart, one of JETAA USA’s three country reps, for continuing to Twitter live from the conference.
Here’s the link to the feed if you want it: http://twitter.com/jetaausa
And here’s a sampling of the latest tweets:
Web presence discussion from Paul D.about 1 hour ago from mobile web
Day 2- begins! Everyone is excited to get a lot done today!about 1 hour ago from mobile web
The dinner at the amabassador’s residence was beautiful. Ambassador Yamaguchi played a duet with his wife. Mononokehime.about 1 hour ago from mobile web
Thanks to @enfu for all of the great art donated for the conference. We are doing a raffle to win to support @roomtoread.about 15 hours ago from mobile web
We are all wrapped up for day oabout 16 hours ago from mobile web
Discussing the JETAA support of Room to Read.about 18 hours ago from mobile web
Had a busy afternoon of small group discussion on career support, events/activities, community participation, educational supportabout 18 hours ago from mobile web
Japan America Society Roundup 10.3.09
Current Hiroshima-ken JET Gail Meadows, Editor of Hiroshima JET webzine the Wide Island View, shines a light on some of the upcoming events of Japan America societies…
Lecture on Japanese Folding Fans — Japanese fans got us all through the miserable Japanese summers, but we should appreciate them for much more than that. They are used in a number of Japanese cultural practices, including Kabuki dance and Noh performances. Japanese fans have, in the past, been a major export from Japan, thought today this accessory to Japanese culture can sometimes be overlooked. During this lecture by Kanji Ishizumi, you can learn about the process of Japanese fan making and its craftsmanship, which have been passed down from generation to generation. The event is free, but places are limited. To reserve a place, e-mail event (at) jpf (dot) org (dot) uk.
- Date: Tuesday, Oct. 13
- Time: 6:30 p.m.
- Place: Japan Foundation, Russell Square House, 10-12 Russell Square, London, WC1B 5EH
- For more information, click here.
Classic Japanese Hair Styling — Keiichi Hanada, one of Kyoto’s most prominent contemporary hair stylists, will introduce classical Japanese coiffures of the 18th and 19th centuries and reveal their enduring beauty. This is a free event. Registration is required.
- Date: Wednesday, Oct. 14
- Time: 6:30 p.m.
- Place: Showa Boston Institute, 420 Pond St., Boston
- For more information, click here.
Presentation about Japanese employment — Dr. Norma Field of the University of Chicago will give a presentation titled “What’s happening to Japanese workers: What you won’t read in the Wall Street Journal or Business Week.” The perception that nearly all Japanese work for stable, team-oriented, paternalistic employers has been spread by the media over the years, but this is far from reality today. A seismic change has been taking place, with nearly a third of the Japanese labor force now classified as irregularly employed. What is often reported in the Japanese press these days are stories about the “income-gap society” (kakusa shakai), “working poor” (waakingu pua), and more recently, “lost generation” (rosu jene).
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 10
- Time: 6 to 7:30 p.m.
- Place: The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 3rd floor (Michael Moskow Auditorium), 230 N. LaSalle St., Chicago
- For more information, click here.
Does your Japan America Society have an upcoming event that you’d like to share with JetWit readers? Email Gail Meadows the info.
BAPCPA Man #10 – Bedtime for BAPCPA Man
BAPCPA Man and Bankruptcy Bill are cartoons created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. For more cartoons, original bankruptcy haiku and even a bankruptcy country song, go to bankruptcybill.us.
Click here to see a larger image of the cartoon.
Additionally, if anyone would like to take a stab at translating the cartoon into Japanese for JetWit’s Japanese fans out there, feel free to post in the comments section of this post. Some cultural explanation might be helpful as well, given that Japanese bankruptcy laws are very different than the U.S.
JETAA International Conference Twittered live from Jamaica!
JETAA Jamaica (ya’ mon, there really is a JET alumni chapter in Jamaica) is hosting this year’s JETAA International Conference today and all weekend. And in a nice use of new media, Ryan Hart, one of JETAA USA’s three country reps, is Twittering live from the conference and doing a great job.

Welcome to the JETAA International Conference!!!
Here’s the feed for all the JETAA conference junkies out there: http://twitter.com/jetaausa
And here’s a sampling of some of the tweets so far (some of which are clearly in my interest to re-post):
Steven H at JETWIT got another special mention in the CLAIR presentation. Steven will be on the next JET Streams too. awesome!32 minutes ago from mobile web
JET Streams newsletter is only being distributed over email and online this yearabout 1 hour ago from web
GIA form deadines are even more important with the new system. Don’t Miss them!about 1 hour ago from web
CLAIR reminded us to save Basic GIA receipts in case of auditabout 1 hour ago from web
After lunch, CLAIR Tokyo is confirming GIA changes JETAA chapters received at the US National Conference.about 1 hour ago from web
Gloria mentioned Steven H spoke as key note at the JETAA Canada National conference. Getting serious kudos in Jamaica. Hope u have an agent!about 2 hours ago from web
The Regional Tech Conference in Portland is creating quite a buzz! Tech is definitely a huge theme for the conference. We are aligned!about 3 hours ago from web
Shree is showcasing USCapters activities with highlights on the JETAANY career forum and author showcaseabout 3 hours ago from web
Roland Kelts to speak at anime event in St. Louis – Sat, 10/3
Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, will be giving a talk in St. Louis tomorrow as part of the Anime at UMSL event featuring renowned translator of anime and manga, Frederik L. Schodt, as well as a screening of the film PAPRIKA. The event is being run by the University of Missouri at St. Louis’ Center for International Studies.
All you Missouri JET alums out there, make sure to introduce yourself and say hi if you happen to attend.
Click here for full details: http://www.umsl.edu/services/cis/special_projects/ANIME_at_UMSL/anime_at_umsl.html
JET alums in Nevada?

A recent JET alum gathering in Las Vegas?
Message to JET Alumni in Nevada
Dear JET Alumni,
Our office will be traveling to Las Vegas and Reno to recruit for the 2010 JET Program from October 6-9. If you are free during this time we would like to meet with former JETs to discuss the JET Program, future JET events, and the possibilities of forming sub-chapters in these regions. We also will be available to speak to future JET applicants and/or conduct JET information meetings.
Please contact Peter Weber at jet@cgjsf.org with your availability. Below I have listed my availability:
Las Vegas: Thursday, October 6 (free in the evening); Wednesday, October 7 (busy 10:00am – 3:00pm at UNLV); Thursday, October 8 *(free in the morning and daytime)
Reno: Thursday, October 8 (free in the evening); Friday, October 9 (free throughout the day)
Thank you so much for your time.
Sincerely,
Peter Weber
JET Program Coordinator
Japan Information Center, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco, Attn: JET Program, 50 Fremont Street, Suite 2200, San Francisco, CA 94105; Phone: (415) 356-2462; FAX: (415) 777-0518; www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jet/
Event: Third Annual Japan Writers Conference
Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) who also serves as the Publicity Assistant for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, shared the following:
Do you wonder what’s the best way to get your ESL textbook into print and to market? Or how you can have your poem catch an editor’s attention? What’s the best way to get that rough draft novel smoothed out and readable? Why is an abstract such a big deal? How do different translators approach a Japanese text? Or more simply, where are the others who share your interest in the written word?
Possible answers to those and almost any other question one might have about writing, editing, translating, and publishing will be offered up at the Third Annual Japan Writers Conference. This year’s Conference will take place on the weekend of October 17th and 18 on the campus of Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto.
More than thirty writers, journalists, editors, translators, film makers and other wordsmiths will offer up their expertise in fifty-minute presentations, filling both days. And what is perhaps most remarkable is the event is completely free and open to all who want to attend. The Conference is a completely volunteer event.
Among those scheduled to present are novelist and children’s book author Holly Thompson, author/anthologist Hillel Wright, columnist Arudou Debito, literary translator Juliet Winters Carpenter, journalist Eric Johnston, article writer John Spiri, and poet Jane Joritz-Nakagawa. Novelist and diplomat Vikas Swarup has also agreed to appear. There are also plans for various writing groups and organizations to hold special meetings to introduce themselves to prospective members. And there will be a gathering for all attendees and presenters at a local restaurant on Saturday evening.
According to Juliet Carpenter, whose school is hosting this year’s conference, the Imadegawa campus of Doshisha Women’s College, across from the Gosho, is “a terrific location, easily accessible. We have a very nice campus that has a brand-new building with state-of-the- art ‘bells and whistles,’ and some beautiful Meiji-era Registered Cultural Property buildings, nicely preserved.”
Although the Conference takes place in Japan and has a decidedly Japanese focus, it will be a predominantly English-language event. It is also an international affair, with presenters from Canada, the US, China, India and other nations. While some of the presenters are Japan residents, others are short-term visitors and will provide a more global perspective on the writing life.
Complete information about the Third Annual Japan Writers Conference can be had at:
JETAA Northern California Newsletter: Summer 2009 Pacific Bridges now online
Via Mark Frey (Kumamoto-ken, 2002-06), Editor of Pacific Bridges, the JETAA Northern California quarterly newsletter.
The 2009 Summer Issue of the official JETAA NC newsletter, Pacific Bridge, is now available here! Get caught up on all of your local alumni happenings! Read it online here: http://www.jetaanc.org/newsletter.html or in the “Files” area of our Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jetaanc/files/
This issue’s theme is “Tradition.” Read about how alumni like you are keeping up various traditions near you, as well as other goings-on in the JET alumni world, including:
– Upcoming events like the Shobu Cup Dodgeball Match!
– Stories about local super-star alumni
– Taboos broached in SF Japanese discussion group
– New website for JET writers, interpreters, translators and job-seekers: JetWit.com
– JETAANC Scholarship Winner, Lukas Bonick, Three Years Later
– Natsu Matsuri Picnic Report
– JETAA National Conference report
– Oyaji’s advice column
– Top 10 List
– …and much more!
Please send any comments to [newsletter(at)jetaanc(dot) org]. Share your talents and build your portfolio by volunteering for the next issue (we seriously need more help)! Thanks to everyone who helped to produce yet another great issue.
Mark Frey (Kumamoto-ken, 2002-06)
Editor, Pacific Bridge
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