JETwit needs your help identifying any earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster relief projects or efforts that have been started, organized, managed or otherwise undertaken by JETs or JET alumni.
What else is missing from this list?
View Japan Relief Efforts in a larger map
View Japan Relief Efforts in a larger map
The ones we’re aware of to date (8/12/11) are:
1. Smile Kids Japan (founded by Mike Maher-King (Fukui-ken, 2006-11) collaborating with Tokyo-based NPO Living Dreams to form the Smiles & Dreams Tohoku Kids’ Project (among other efforts).
2. The Fruitree Project, started by Paul Yoo (Akita-ken), which has now evolved into Volunteer AKITA and has led to the Big CLEAN which has already brought volunteers to help cleaning efforts in Kessenuma.
3. I’ve heard that Fukushima JETs have been organizing efforts to clean up the beaches, but I don’t have any details. Can anyone provide more info?
4. Hearts For Haragama (http://hearts4haragama.wordpress.com). Billy McMichael (CIR Fukushima) is one of the 7 founders of project aimed at raising funds for the Haragama Youchien kindergarten in Soma, Fukushima. (Thanks to former JETAA DC President Michelle Spezzacatena for passing this on.)
5. “Kat Geeraert, an ALT in Soma (Fukushima), is doing an amazing job with her foundation “Friends of Soma.” http://www.somafriends.com/ (Thanks to Catherine Lefrancois (JHS ALT in Fukushima-ken, Fukushima-shi) for passing this on.)
6. AJET is playing a significant role in facilitating and coordinating volunteer efforts for current JETs and has also been collaborating with other good organizations/efforts such as Peace Boat, Foreign Buyers Club and 5toSurvive. (Thanks to Cailin Arena (Osaka) for passing this on.)
7. “Save Miyagi was founded by Canon Purdy (Miyagi-ken, 2008-10) to help out students in Minamisanriku. Canon is currently back in Japan, working with officials to see where the money will be used.” (Thanks to Jen Wang (Miyagi-ken) for passing on the info.)
8. Hotdogs and Hugs is an aid organization formed by Saga-ken JETs. Among other things, they organized a volunteer group that traveled all the way from Saga (western Kyushu) up to Tohoku, collecting donations and fundraising along the way. (Thanks to Ling Tran (Saga-ken, Yoshinogari-shi, 2009-11) for passing on the info.)
9. Osaka AJET: “We have done extensive food drives and collections through our schools we work in, those goods, money, supplies have then been coordinated with Kozmoz International (A small not-for profit in Kyoto) and we have taken the needed items to Tohoku ourselves. We will be doing another drive across Osaka, hopefully in dozens of schools where JETs are placed from the start of this second term.” (Thanks to Matthew Cook, who serves as both AJET Chair and is a member of Osaka AJET, for sharing this info.)
10. The MUD Project: It turns out that Colin Renie (CIR Yamagata-ken, 2007-10) has been running a volunteer project that has enabled many JETs to volunteer in Tohoku with particular emphasis on Minamisanriku as well as other areas of Miyagi and Iwate. Lots of good info, photos and updates on the project’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mudproject
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What else is missing from this list?
Please post to the comments section or e-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com with more info.
Yoroshiku!
WIT Life #178: Fukushima Fallout, Nuclear and Bureaucratic
Earthquake Tsunami, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life, Writers 
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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.
Interesting article from today’s NYT about the government’s (mis)handling of the post-Fukushima disaster, specifically not providing information when it was available regarding potential radiation levels. The public is now not only fearful but outraged, claiming that the government cared more about covering up than about its own citizens. One notable aspect of the article appeared on the last page, discussing a group lawsuit being carried out by Read More
Job: Director, Patron Member Programs, Asia Society (NY)
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Via Philanthropy News Digest. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London and is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.
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***Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.***
Job Position: Director, Patron Member Programs, Asia Society (NY)
Job Details:
Asia Society, a prestigious, global, educational and cultural non-profit seeks a Director, Patron Member Programs to be responsible for the planning, managing and coordinating of all phases of the Chairman’s Circle, President’s Circle and Friends of Asian Arts patron membership programs.
Read More
Job: English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor (Brooklyn, NY)
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Via idealist.org. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London and is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.
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***Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.***
Job Position: English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor (Brooklyn, NY)
Job Details:
The Maura Clarke-Ita Ford (MCIF) Center, a non-profit located in Brooklyn, is in need of an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor beginning in September.
The position is for a Level 3 instructor weekday mornings for 14 hours per week. Hours are Monday through Wednesday from 9 am to 12 pm, and Thursday from 9 am to 2 pm. The academic year at MCIF Center is concurrent with the NYC Public School Calendar year.
MCIF Center is looking for an enthusiastic, passionate, patient, ESL instructor who is willing to learn and develop as a teacher.
Read More
Job: Assistant Consulting Opportunity – Japan Country Specialist (Chillicothe, IL)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Assistant Consulting Opportunity – Japan Country Specialist (Chillicothe, IL)
Via JET alum Bianca Jarvis. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika has recently moved back to London and is currently looking for new work opportunities related to Japan, translation, or other fields.
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***Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.***
Job Position: Assistant Consulting Opportunity – Japan Country Specialist, August 11, 12, 13 (Chillicothe, IL)
Job Details:
Greetings. My name is Max, Country Specialist Associate at Aperian Global, a cross-cultural consulting and training firm. We are currently searching for a Japan “Country Specialist” (CS) to join our Lead Consultant on August 11, 12 and 13 for a cross-cultural training in Chillicothe, IL (20 mi. north of Peoria). We have one program per day and are looking for someone to participate for one, two or ideally all three days. The program on the 13th is a kids program so it is important that we have someone capable of working with children for that program.
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The official trailer for Naoko Ogigami’s Toilet, screened at Japan Society July 2011.
By Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03) for JQ magazine. Stacy is a professional writer/interpreter/translator. She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observation in the periodic series WITLife.
I was able to catch Naoko Ogigami’s Megane (Glasses) when it was shown in March 2009 as part of the ContemporAsian film exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, so I was glad to see her newest film Toilet was being screened at Japan Society’s recent JAPAN CUTS film festival. I appreciated the simplicity and quirkiness of this first feature, but I liked the second one even better for its humor.
Both star Ogigami staple Masako Motai, an actress whose presence always greatly enhances whatever work she is in. Because Toilet is almost entirely in English, it is palatable for those who want to see a foreign movie without dealing with those pesky subtitles. It is supposedly set in the U.S., but it was actually produced in Toronto (Ogigami studied film at USC and in Canada).
Toilet opens with the death of the matriarch of a family of three adult siblings, Ray, Maury and Lisa. The movie’s center is Ray, an emotionless engineer with a fondness for plastic models. A fire in his apartment forces him (toy collection in tow) to move home with Maury and Lisa, who live in the house they grew up in. The audience finds out that shortly before she passed away, their mother went to Japan to bring her mother back with her. Their grandmother Baa-chan doesn’t speak any English and leads a silent existence, despite them all living together. Initially the family member with whom she seems to get along best is the household cat, Sensei.
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This editorial in support of the JET Programme by Hitoshi Tanaka appeared originally in Japanese in The Mainichi Daily News. Thanks to Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94), Executive Director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA), for sharing the article. And special thanks to Laura Kamutaka (CIR Miyagi-ken, Shiogama-shi, 2005-07) for translating it into English.
Don’t Cut Funding of Grassroots Exchange: Earthquake reveals and affirms overseas bond
http://www.jri.co.jp/MediaLibrary/file/report/tanaka/pdf/5570.pdf
Tanaka Hitoshi, Chairman, Institute for International Strategy, Japan Research Institute
The Tohoku earthquake swallowed many lives and left many missing. The unimaginable hardship of the disaster victims weighs heavily on our hearts, and many of us have a strong desire to help with this tragic situation. People who want to take action beyond making a charitable donation. People who want to work together with the disaster victims in any capacity, no matter how small the achievement. Some of those around me set up a nonprofit called Hope for Tomorrow to assist high school students affected by the earthquake, of which I’ve become a representative.
”Hope for Tomorrow” is designed to not only assist the students advancement but to help develop their language skills as well. There’s a reason for this. One of the tsunami victims was Taylor Anderson, an Assistant Language Teacher in Ishinomaki City of Miyagi Prefecture who taught English at both elementary and junior high schools. After the earthquake, the 24-year-old Virginia, US native worked to ensure her students’ safety and, in doing so, lost her life. In honor of her memory, Anderson’s parents have been collecting US donations with the intention of sending them to Japan to help restore school in Ishinomaki.
Anderson was in Japan through the JET Program, a Japanese government program that invites international youth to help Japanese students with foreign language instruction. After 24 years of existence, the program currently boasts over 4,000 participants from 36 countries, with over half coming from the United States. Most participants stay in Japan from two to three years, teach elementary to high school-level Japanese students, and maintain a strong bond with Japan even after returning to their home countries.
Ten years ago when I served as the Consulate General in San Francisco, I spoke with both JET participants who were about to leave for Japan and those that had recently returned. I remember those that returned all spoke passionately of their experiences and had great affection for Japan.
Even the JET participants’ response to the earthquake is remarkable. The JET Alumni Association has chapters across the country working to fundraise for relief efforts. There are those such as Stuart Harris, a JET participant in Iwate prefecture in 1989 who assembled a team of doctors right after the earthquake to provide relief to Japan. JET participants currently in Japan have also collected donations and vigorously volunteered to the relief effort.
Of course, it isn’t only the JET participants that have shown compassion towards Japan. A friend of mine who married an American found a network of people on Facebook, leading them to New York’s Union Square to collect donations less than a week after the earthquake. Passersby would donate cash and in no time more than $10,000 had been raised. We need to protect these precious bonds that transcend national lines.
Unfortunately, this kind of grassroots exchange has been decreasing each year. The number of JET participants has gone from 6,000 participants 10 years ago to 4,000. The Democratic Party of Japan has included the JET program in its budget cuts. From a financial standpoint alone, it seems counterintuitive to shrink a program that yields such positive results.
It is easy to see the Japan-US ties mainly through the relationship between the two governments. But that’s not true. Grassroots exchange is what sustains the important bond between the two countries and is something we must never forget.
Japanese students from Taylor Anderson and Monty Dickson’s towns in to visit U.S. as “envoys”
Cultural Outreach, Earthquake Tsunami, JETs in the News Comments Off on Japanese students from Taylor Anderson and Monty Dickson’s towns in to visit U.S. as “envoys”
Thanks to Andy Anderson, father of Taylor Anderson, for forwarding this article from The Mainichi Daily News:
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110712p2g00m0dm004000c.html
16 students from quake-hit prefectures to visit U.S. as ‘envoys’
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) — A total of 16 junior and senior high school students from the three prefectures severely affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will visit the United States next month at the invitation of the U.S. government to serve as teen envoys delivering the voices of those affected by the disaster, according to prefectural officials and other sources.
Ten of the 16 were selected from junior high schools in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture and Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, where two Americans, Montgomery Dickson, 26, of Alaska and Taylor Anderson, 24, of Virginia, fell victim to the tsunami while serving as assistant language teachers, they said.
From Fukushima Prefecture, which hosts Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a group of six senior high school students will join. The six boys and girls currently attend school as evacuees and include members of a baseball team.
A consul in charge of the three prefectures and other areas at the U.S. Consulate General in Sapporo said the program is intended to encourage Japanese youth and will be an opportunity for American students to learn about the disaster from them and understand why it is necessary to give support.
Under the plan, the 16 will stay in Pennsylvania and other locales for two weeks starting Aug. 10, with the United States covering travel and accommodation expenses.
Their itinerary includes practicing baseball and softball with American teens and meeting with Cal Ripken Jr., who played in a record 2,632 consecutive major league games.
Dickson was teaching until the day of the disaster, according to sources including the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, which dispatches assistant language teachers under the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. Dickson was at the city’s education board when the tsunami struck and was swept away with its building, they said.
Anderson stayed with her elementary school pupils until their guardians came to pick them up before heading home on a bicycle, they said. It is believed she was struck by the tsunami on her way, they said.
The trip participants include five female junior high school students who were taught English by Anderson.
“This is an exchange project to honor the two who died while on their way to accomplish their goals, and we are grateful to the U.S. government,” said an official at the council. “We hope that the students will have exchanges with many people in the United States,” the official said.
(Mainichi Japan) July 12, 2011
Volunteer translators needed for JET alumni Japan disaster relief project
Earthquake Tsunami, Fundraising, Return on JET-vestment, Translating/Interpreting, Volunteer Comments Off on Volunteer translators needed for JET alumni Japan disaster relief project
We may need a team of professional-level translators to help with an upcoming JET alumni project related to disaster relief efforts in Japan. Timing would likely be late September and October.
If interested, please e-mail Steven at jetwit [at] jetwit.com with “Translator” in the subject heading. No commitment necessary right now.
Reminder: You can also click here to join the JET Alumni Translators & Interpreters LinkedIn group.
Background:
Apologies for lack of detail at this point as the project idea is still in the process of being thought through by a couple JET alumni well-placed to set this up.
But the idea, generally speaking, relates to the fact that Japan’s non-profit/civil society sector and culture tends to be less established compared to that of the U.S. In the wake of the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami, many new Japanese organizations have formed and many existing small ones have taken on new roles and responsibilities.
One area they apparently tend to lack is familiarity with grant seeking and applying for grants. There are a number of U.S. foundations and other organizations that have been raising money but have struggled in trying to figure out how to get it to the organizations that could really use it. Part of the obstacle appears to be the grant making process. Grant making organizations tend to need to track and account for how money is doled out and used. And the application and reporting process are key.
Translation of many of these documents into English would of course be a key step for helping U.S. organizations in their efforts to communication with Japanese grant seekers. And this is of course a potentially significant way for the JET alumni community to continue to serve as a bridge to Japan.
Please contact Steven at jetwit [at] jetwit.com if potentially interested in helping.
Yoroshiku!
WIT Life #177: 子ども手当から児童手当へ
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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.
It’s been a bit of hisashiburi since I’ve written here, but it’s nice to be back. Recently our government has seen its share of wrangling regarding the debt ceiling issue, and there has been similar discord among Japan’s political parties regarding the 子ども手当 （こどもてあて, kodomo teate）or child allowance. Originally one of the DPJ’s key campaign pledges and put into law in April 2010, it granted a uniform 13,000 yen per month to parents with children up to the age of fifteen. However, it has just been announced that in order to prioritize financial resources for the country’s recovery, it will be eliminated in October when it expires.
Next April, this allowance will be replaced by Read More
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘The Beautiful One Has Come,’ short stories by JET alum author Suzanne Kamata
Article/Journalism, Books, JQ Magazine, Reviews Comments Off on JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘The Beautiful One Has Come,’ short stories by JET alum author Suzanne Kamata
“The stories in The Beautiful One Has Come have a universal appeal but will strike a familiar note in particular with those who have spent considerable time outside their comfort zones.” (Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing)
By Sharona Moskowitz (Fukuoka-ken, 2000-01) for JQ magazine. Sharona works at a literary agency in New York City. She is interested in fresh, new voices in fiction and creative nonfiction.
I began reading Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-1990)’s new collection of short stories with no idea what to expect and a sense of up-for-anything enthusiasm. Luckily, that feeling stayed with me throughout the collection and renewed itself automatically as I approached each new story.
There’s an enjoyably uncomfortable tension contained within the pages of The Beautiful One Has Come and it’s precisely that tension, paired with Kamata’s ability to glide between narrative points of view, that makes this collection so strong. The characters who inhabit the pages feel so true I could practically hear their pulses.
The physical settings of the stories vary from Cuba to Egypt to France to Japan among other countries, but the characters seem to inhabit spaces all their own: their minds are the true sites of conflict. The stories deal mostly with women in various states of transition; feeling like outsiders while negotiating their own identities, striving for something just out of reach, or trying to come to terms with loss. There is the foreign housewife who longs for the comforts of her native land, the elderly artist whose husband wrongfully gets the credit for the paintings she has created and the Japanese girl who is obsessed with studying abroad in Egypt.
Though these profiles might sound familiar, each story is buoyed by unique and unexpected details which keep the characters from sinking into stereotypes.
