Contest: Second Annual International Furoshiki Design Contest
Contest 
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Budding designers are invited to submit designs to the second annual International Furoshiki Design Contest. Furoshiki are traditional Japanese cloths used to wrap small objects.
Design Theme: Designs should evoke a fusion of the United States and Japan
Eligibility: Entry is open to individuals or groups engaged in the study of design or related subjects at a university of vocational school, and reside in the United States (Student of any nationality are welcome to enter the contest).
Deadline: Applications must be received no later than Fridday, October 29
For more information, visit The Japan Foundation, New York’s website at http://www.jfny.org/
Flyer: http://www.dc.jetalumni.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/flyer3.pdf
Guidelines: http://www.jfny.org/userfiles/file/English%20guidelines.pdf
Entry Sheet: http://www.jfny.org/userfiles/file/furoshiki%20English%20Entry%20sheet%20form.pdf
WIT Life #126: Dominance of video games and shared waters
Article/Journalism, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #126: Dominance of video games and shared waters
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WITLife 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.
Today’s NYT has two articles about Japan’s technology and relations with China. In the former, Hiroko Tabuchi discusses how the country’s once dominance of video games has been overtaken by Western game developer advances. The one exception is Nintendo, who has found great success with its Wii, but other companies are struggling in terms of economic resources and cultural understanding of what appeals to the international market (There is a growing gap in game styles between Japan and the West). Interestingly enough, in order to appeal to a global audience some video games are being written in scratch in English as opposed to relying on awkward translations from the original Japanese. The questions remains as to whether Japan can still produce star characters who can become the next Mario or Sonic.
On the political side, the second article talks about a dispute between Read More
Interview with JET alumna/’Food Sake Tokyo’ author Yukari Sakamoto
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By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
Tokyo-born and American-raised JET alumna Yukari Sakamoto (Chiba-ken, 1989-1990) is a professional chef, sommelier, and writer who has spent much of her life in both the U.S. and Japan. Released earlier this year, her debut book Food Sake Tokyo is the ideal guide for indulging in the best of Tokyo dining and drinking, whether you’re a first-time visitor or a Japanophile foodie keen on discovering new favorites.
How were you approached to write this book as part of the Terroir Guides series?
I contribute to Food & Wine magazine and my travel editor there at the time, Salma Abdelnour, told me about the publisher The Little Bookroom. She praised their travel guides and thought my book would find a good home there. My agent, Lisa Ekus, sent my proposal to The Little Bookroom, and the publisher, Angela Hederman, embraced it immediately. The Little Bookroom has a series of foodie travel guides called the Terroir Guides, and my book was a perfect fit—like Cinderella’s glass slipper. I have heard how difficult it is to find a publisher who will accept a book proposal, and I am blessed to have found the perfect home.
In the introduction to your book, you write that the popularity of the Slow Food movement has created a renewed appreciation for kyodo ryori, or local foods. How long has this movement been going on, and what started it?
The Slow Food movement has been popular for a long time. What has been extremely popular in the last few years are “antenna shops.” These regional shops represent prefectures from around Japan that feature local produce, beverages, and foods. For example, the Okinawa Washita shop in Ginza has a basement filled with awamori (the local shochu), including rare brands hard to find outside of Okinawa. The first floor has tropical fruits and vegetables and local specialties like shimadofu, a dense tofu, and shikuwasa, a citrus juice. I cannot say for sure what started it, but there are several contributing factors. Food safety scares and mislabeling of imported product have encouraged more consumption of local products. Popular food and travel programs promote regional specialties. And, there are an increasing number of ambassadors, like the governor of Miyazaki [Prefecture], Hideo Higashikokubaru, who enthusiastically promote Miyazaki products like wagyu, mangoes, etc. I am always impressed at the number of customers at antenna shops. I often go out my way to shop at antenna shops to pick up rare shochu, hard to find miso, or pickles.
There are more than 100,000 restaurants in Tokyo. How did you pare it down to the ones listed in the book?
First of all, I focused on restaurants that represented a particular cuisine. And then I narrowed down the list based on geography, leaning toward easy to find restaurants, or those included in one of the areas covered by the book. I have lived in Tokyo for eight years and ate out a lot while there. Tokyo is a great dining city, especially for solo diners.
Read the complete interview here.
JETAA Chapter Beat 9.17.10
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Freelance writer/editor Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.
- Kuliouou Ridge Hike – Sunday, September 19, 9:00 at Kuliouou Ridge in Hawaii Kai. Join in on a fun day of trekking and glimpse Oahu from up high with JETA’A Hawai’i. Meet up is at Whole Foods at Kahala Mall at 8:30 or at the trailhead at 9:00. Lunch to follow.
- Reel Anime – Sunday, September 19th, 12:15 Luna Leederville is playing host to this year’s edition of Reel Anime, a mini-festival celebrating Japanese Anime. This year’s feature is entitled Summer Wars.
- 2010 Annual JETAANY Softball Tournament – Saturday, September 18th, 9:00 at Red Hook Brooklyn. Sign up for the team or just come out as a spectator to this year’s slow pitch softball tournament.
- Book Club Meeting – Sunday, September 19th, 1:00 at the Jade Teahouse & Patisserie. This month’s selection is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
- Kabuki Club – Saturday, September 18th, 2:00 at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch Paley Conference Room. This month’s selection will be Bando Tamasaburo’s legendary performance in the play Musume Dojoji.
- Camping in Michigan – Saturday, September 18th thru Sunday September 19th in Van Buren State Park on Lake Michigan. JETAA Chicago is packing the car, setting up the tents and spending the weekend at the lake. Spend Saturday on the beach, followed by a cookout complete with ghost stories and marsh mellows.
What happened at your chapter’s event? If you attend(ed) any of these exciting events, JetWit would love to hear about them. Just contact Jonathan Trace with any info, stories or comments.
JET Alum researcher seeks JET Alum respondents for survey on reverse culture shock
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Smitha Prasadh (Tokushima-ken, 2005-07) is a Master of Design Candidate at Carnegie Mellon School of Design as well as an active organizer of the growing JETAA Pittsburgh Subchapter. She is seeking respondents for a survey she is conducting on reverse culture shock as part of her graduate research:
Hello! I am an alumna of the JET Programme. For my graduate thesis, I am designing a resource to help North American JET alumni cope with reverse culture shock upon their departure from Japan. If you are an American or Canadian JET alum, I would sincerely appreciate it if you could fill out this survey about your overall experiences before, during, and after JET. Your participation would help my research greatly.
The following survey should take approximately 15‐20 minutes to complete. (Should you choose to elaborate on your answers, it will take a bit longer.)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/jet-rcs-thesis
Thank you very much for your time!
Smitha Prasadh
thesis@smithaprasadh.com
Job: Associate Director of International Programs (Occidential College, Los Angeles)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Associate Director of International Programs (Occidential College, Los Angeles)
Job posting via JET alum Clara Solomon, JETAA Student Services. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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Job Details:
Occidental College seeks an energetic and articulate Associate Director of International Programs. This is a newly created position augmenting a staff consisting of Director, Assistant Director and Coordinator.
The Associate Director supports the Director in carrying out the mission and the overall management of International Programs including:
How to apply:
Please see the full job listing:
http://departments.oxy.edu/hr/Associate%20Director%20of%20IPO.html
Job: Study Abroad Advisor (University of Texas, Austin)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Study Abroad Advisor (University of Texas, Austin)
Job posting via JET alum Clara Solomon, JETAA Student Services. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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Job Details:
The International Office is pleased to announce that we are currently recruiting for the position of Study Abroad Advisor (International Advisor I, #10-09-10-01-3066).
This position will report to the (soon to be hired) Study Abroad Advising Team Leader, and will advise students of varied backgrounds on matters associated with study abroad, with primary responsibility for assigned geographic regions and/or academic units.
For a complete review of the job description, go to this link:
http://utdirect.utexas.edu/pnjobs/pnjobsvw.WBX?comp=0&job_nbr=100910013066
How to apply:
Interested applicants who meet all of the requirements should apply online by uploading the required application materials (a resume, a letter of interest, and three business references) via the HRMS Document Management tool.
Job: Assistant to JET Coordinator (Los Angeles)
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Via the JET Alumni Association of Southern California LinkedIn group:
This full-time (temporary) position begins October 1 and ends November 13 (or there about). Unfortunately, the salary is non-negotiable. It does not include social security or parking/transportation. However, it IS a fairly fun and exciting job, and you can help out the Program as well. This is a great way to learn about the ‘inner workings’ of the Consulate and of the JET Program interviewing process.
If you are interested, please e-mail your resume and cover letter to jet@la-cgjapan.org and please type “arubaito” in the subject line. The deadline for resume submission is 9/16, with interviews commencing shortly thereafter.
Desired qualifications:
JET Program alumni (preferably within the past 3 years)
Flexible
Able to “possibly” work on a Saturday
Has reliable transportation
Experience with the Microsoft Office Suite
Trustworthy, reliable, detail oriented, and a self starter
VERY organized
Duties to include:
Data entry
Copious quantities of copying and filing
Information session scheduling
Keeping the Coordinator organized
Mailing out of information
Answering questions regarding the application process
Assisting with other Information and Culture Center projects, as needed
Life After the B.O.E.: Chopsticks
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Life After the B.O.E. is a comic series about the JET experience by David Namisato (Aomori-ken, 2002-2004), a professional illustrator currently living in Toronto.
Visit David’s website at www.namisato.org.
Study opportunity in Japan
Academic Comments Off on Study opportunity in Japan
Posting via JET alum Eric Korpiel, Liaison to Admissions Counseling at Meiji Universtity. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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Meiji University has just opened a new English track course for international students interested in studying in Japan. Application deadline is Oct 15th and scholarships are available.
For those who do not know Meiji, it is one of the Big 6 universities of Tokyo and according to Nipon Keizai Shinbun was recently voted Number 1 by Japanese high school students when asked which university they wish to attend.
Students can learn more about application procedure at http://www.meiji.ac.jp/nippon/english/englishtrack/admissions.html
Specific questions should be sent to gjs at mics dot meiji dot ac dot jp
Job: Graphic Designer III / Amazon / Seattle, WA (3 Month Contract)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Graphic Designer III / Amazon / Seattle, WA (3 Month Contract)
Job posting via Jet alum Stuart Albert. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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#4974-1 Graphic Designer III / Amazon / Seattle, WA (3 Month Contract)
Organization: Amazon Corporate LLC
Work Location: The Columbia Center
Desired Start Date: 9/27/2010
Job Description:
********MUST submit an online portfolio with updated resume for this position
Amazon is looking for a visual web designer contractor with a background in retail websites to work on Amazon.co.jp (Amazon Japan).
Click ‘Read More’ for more details
Job (Urgent): Japanese speaker to help at trade show booth (Chicago)
Jobs Comments Off on Job (Urgent): Japanese speaker to help at trade show booth (Chicago)
Job posting via JET alum Bianca Jarvis, Consulate in Chicago. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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Job Description
We need a JAPANESE speaking individual who can help out a Machine Tool Company at the Trade Show this week, starting tomorrow or asap. The job is paid at $12.00 / hr and requests the person to have strong people skills, to be generally friendly and talk to potential clients when coming to the booth – in English and JAPANESE. It is a fun job to be honest. The whole jobs is for this week (whole days). You would be trained a little bit about the product on day one. The client said it would be really easy.
Company:
Company for language services based in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Please contact us asap / if possible today at: we will place the job at first come first serve basis due to the urgency.
Contact
Elke Kramer
President
Forefront Corporation
1516 Normandy Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103, USA
Ph: (+1)-248-705-2605
www.forefrontinternational.com
WITLife 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.
Today’s NYT has a flurry of articles about Japan’s politics and economy. First of all, PM Kan survived the challenge to his leadership and handily defeated Ozawa with 721 votes to his 491. Everyone can breath a collective sigh of relief knowing that the PM will not be changing yet again.
On the economic side, Hiroko Tabuchi gives us two articles about the strong yen and its implications. One discusses the measures the government has taken to weaken it, intervening in foreign markets for the first time since 2004. The other talks about how the strong yen has provided an opportunity for Japanese companies to go a shopping spree purchasing foreign companies, such as Rakuten’s recent acquisition of Buy.com. Happy reading!
Guinea Pigs Needed for Kanji Reading Experiment
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Karl Rosvold (ALT/CIR in Hiroshima Prefecture, ’93-’96) is conducting an online reading experiment targeted at foreigners who are learning or have learned Japanese. He’s looking for as many participants as possible who are native or near-native English speakers and “upper-beginner” or above in Japanese (defined as having passed the old JLPT 3/new JLPT N4). There are a few other conditions which you can see on the experiment website.
Registration will start around September 25th. To participate in the experiment, simply fill out a short questionnaire on the website, then come back two more times, about a week apart to take two short Japanese reading comprehension tests, with or without hints about the kanji in the text. Each step should take about 30 minutes. Ideally, people will participate because they feel the experiment is interesting and beneficial, but for participants living in Japan, Karl is also offering a 2000 yen QUO gift card to the first 100 people who complete the whole experiment.
Please check out the temporary website for more information: http://kanjijikken.web.fc2.com/
or feel free to e-mail Karl at kanji.experiment@gmail.com. Please let him know that you saw this message on Jetwit!
Reformers, Futile Gesturers, Blamers, and Loss-Cutters: Adventures in Anger, Personal Responsibility, and Positive Thinking
Academic, Advice, Blogs, Career, Graduate School Comments Off on Reformers, Futile Gesturers, Blamers, and Loss-Cutters: Adventures in Anger, Personal Responsibility, and Positive Thinking
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Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules. He operates a think tank of one, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States. He also maintains the “Bankruptcy Legal Topics,” and, “Bankruptcy Billables,” sections for Steven Horowitz’s Bankruptcy Bill. For further reading regarding JETs and the law, he recommends JETs with J.D.s.
As the tuition bubble expands, so too does a cast of characters who discuss it–all with their own audiences and agendas. Read this to find out who’s who as the tuition bubble debate becomes more complicated.
