Akita Global Network Newsletter – Vol 2
Local Government, Uncategorized 
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Hot off the presses, it’s Volume 2 of the Akita Prefecture Global Network Newsletter (“AGN”). This newsletter is part of Akita-ken’s efforts to stay connected with its JET alumni as well as study abroad students who were based in Akita-ken. And this issue features an essay by Dan Dooher (Akita-ken, 2006-10)
To get on the e-mail list for this pdf newsletter, please contact the Akita Prefecture International Affairs Division at: kokusaika@pref.akita.lg.jp The newsletter welcomes submissions from alumni as well.
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JETs in the News: Lars Martinson featured in Japan Times article on ex-pat comics
Blogs, Books, Cartoon/Illustration, Celebrity, Interview/Profile, Japan Trends, JETs in the News, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on JETs in the News: Lars Martinson featured in Japan Times article on ex-pat comics
JET alum and 'Tonoharu' creator Lars Martinson.
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JET alum/cartoonist Lars Martinson (Fukuoka-ken 2003-2006), author of the graphic novels Tonoharu: Part Two and Tonoharu: Part 1, is the focus (along with Adam Pasion, author of the Sundogs anthologies) of a thoughtful Japan Times article by Gianni Simone on comics about Japan “that tell it like it is.”
Here’s the link to the article: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110205a1.html
And below are a few excerpts about Martinson from the article:
The comic life of expats in Japan
Americans Lars Martinson and Adam Pasion tell it like it is with cutting-edge manga
By GIANNI SIMONE Special to The Japan Times
Tales of expat life in Japan all too often get blown out of proportion and quickly become picaresque adventures that little resemble real life.
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Luckily for us, many comic artists who have lived here seem to be more level-headed and have tackled the subject with a more realistic, no-nonsense approach.
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As the title suggests, “Tonoharu: Part Two” is not Martinson’s first foray in the field of expat comics: He self-published the first volume of this four-part saga in 2008 thanks to a grant from the prestigious Xeric Foundation.
Martinson, 33, first arrived in Japan in 2003 to work as an assistant language teacher, and spent the next three years working at a junior high school in a small town in Fukuoka Prefecture. His second stint in this country was in 2008 when he studied East Asian calligraphy under the auspices of a two-year research scholarship from the Japanese government.
Travel had played a pivotal role in his life (he had lived in Thailand and Norway as well), so when he came up with the idea of producing a graphic novel, he decided to make foreign travel a central theme.
“I planned from the start to turn my Japanese experience into a comic,” Martinson says, “even though I didn’t want it to be a mere autobiographical story. So I chose a 20-something American like me as the protagonist, but added a fictional group of eccentric expatriates living in the same rural Japanese town.”
At times living in the middle of nowhere was a challenge. Still, Martinson has no regrets about those three years spent in Kyushu.
“I’m actually a city slicker,” confesses Martinson, “and would love to live in a huge city in Japan at some point. Also, I’m sure that expat communities are awesome, but they can also separate you from the native population. When you live out in the country, you don’t have the option to just hang out with other Westerners, and this can force you to get involved in the host culture in ways you probably wouldn’t otherwise.”
Click here to read the full article: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110205a1.html
Click here to read more JetWit posts about Lars Martinson:
Click here for Lars Martinson’s official blog/website: http://larsmartinson.com
Foxhound87: Setsubun!
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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.
Setsubun is a bizarre festival in Japan. I know that calling a Japanese festival bizarre is redundant, but bear with me. Setsubun is the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. It literally means, “seasonal division.” Roasted soybeans are thrown at an Oni (demon or ogre), while the people say “Demons out! Luck in!” (鬼は外! 福は内!, Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!?). Although this is not common practice in households anymore, most people attend a shrine or temple’s spring festival where this is done. I recently went to Setsubun.
I decided to go to Setsubun with Center of the Universe (Tenri) JETs. We hopped the bus from Tenri Station and walked about 10 minutes to Oyamato Shrine. We walked through the large gate and wandered onto the shrine’s grounds. There was a large bonfire, so we gathered there for a moment to warm up. As I was warming my hands, I noticed an older woman walk up to the fire and throw a department store shopping bag into the fire. My first thought was, “Are people burning their garbage on sacred ground?” Turns out, there was stuff inside the bag. Though no explanation was given to me, I assume people burn things that bring bad luck or memories. Again, this is a guess.
The priests had set up a stand selling bags of soybeans. Each bag had a number in it that corresponded with a prize. I won a bag of potato chips. Yay. Another JET won an apple. Um…yay? When the ceremony started, we moved to the action. 2 priests were sitting on stage next to large drums. They said something in Japanese, hit the drum, and reacted as if horrified. The “demons” had arrived.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.
http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/
