Job: Digital Media Coordinator – Japan Information & Culture Center (Washington, DC)
Jobs 
Comments Off on Job: Digital Media Coordinator – Japan Information & Culture Center (Washington, DC)
Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Job Title: Digital Media Coordinator
Posted by: Japan Information & Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan
Location: Washington, DC
Contract: Full Time
Here’s a job received directly from the JICC, Embassy of Japan:
http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/employment/dmc.html
The Japan Information & Culture Center (JICC), Embassy of Japan, is seeking a highly motivated, team-oriented individual for the position of Digital Media Coordinator. This individual is primarily responsible for supporting the JICC’s goal to promote a better understanding of Japan and Japanese culture through digital communications. Please see below for a detailed listing of responsibilities.
The Embassy offers group health insurance coverage, paid vacation and sick leave. Working hours are 9:00AM – 5:00PM, Monday through Friday, with weeknight and/or weekend events several times a month (paid overtime). Salary is commensurate with experience. The minimum basic monthly salary for this position is $3,200.
Please note: Candidates must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S. green card holder. Screening will be immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Only successful candidates will be contacted. All candidates will be subject to background checks and security clearance.
JQ Magazine: Book Review — New from Tuttle (Spring 2018)
Art, Article/Journalism, Books, JQ Magazine, Reviews, Travel/Tourism Comments Off on JQ Magazine: Book Review — New from Tuttle (Spring 2018)
Tuttle Publishing
By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata–ken, 2008-10) for JQ magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub–Chapter, Rashaad is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University with a master’s degree in responsible tourism management. For more on his life abroad and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com.
Tuttle Publishing has released another selection of Japan-related books, and the following quartet includes works that touch on Japanese etiquette, language study, Okinawan history, and picturesque Kyoto.
Japan: A Guide to Traditions, Customs and Etiquette
While studying Japanese, I learned the term shikata, which is translated as the “way of doing things.” However, as the late lecturer and writer Boyé Lafayette de Mente thoroughly documents, kata represents a lot more than a translation of “form”: It is a concept present in just about every aspect of Japanese society, whether it be the business world, poetry, or sumo. In essence, kata guides the country’s etiquette.
In Japan, the process of accomplishing a goal is just as significant, if not more significant, than the actual result—a notable contrast to the West. De Mente defines kata as the “way things are supposed to be done,” and he educates readers on how the concept has shaped Japan throughout its history and the present.
The author also touches on other cultural differences between Westerners and Japanese (such as communication styles) and people reading the book will probably nod their heads in agreement as they read certain passages, such as “Foreigners can live a lifetime in Japan and not fully understand how the Japanese system works the way it does” and why Japanese often express amazement at foreigners who can utter the simplest Japanese phrase. Japan: A Guide to Traditions, Customs and Etiquette is really an exploration of the Japanese psyche.
If nothing else, you’ll be amazing at how different Japan seems from the West.
Tuttle Publishing
Beginning Japanese Kanji: Language Practice Pad
Those seeking an introduction to kanji, or just a way to brush up on them, should turn to William Matsuzaki’s work. The pad is an excellent tool for busy people: The 334 kanji it presents lends itself to a simple, one kanji-a-day memorization for those aiming to study at a relaxed pace. Furthermore, each page contains terms utilizing the featured kanji and tips on how to write its strokes.
The kanji appearing in the pad is really nothing out of the ordinary, as you’ll see them in many (if not most) materials geared toward relatively novice Japanese learners. Adding to the book’s appeal, the inclusion of spaces to write the kanji (as well as sample sentences featuring the characters) is most useful for those looking to bolster their knowledge of the language.
JQ Magazine: Manga Review — ‘CITY’
Art, Article/Journalism, Books, Cartoon/Illustration, JQ Magazine, Reviews Comments Off on JQ Magazine: Manga Review — ‘CITY’
“If nothing else, CITY is a reminder that big city chaos can be entertaining.” (Vertical Comics)
By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata–ken, 2008-10) for JQ magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub–Chapter, Rashaad is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University with a master’s degree in responsible tourism management. For more on his life abroad and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com.
Work often gets in the way of fun times. But if you incorporate some creativity into your life, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Enter the world of Midori Nagumo, the protagonist of the comedy manga CITY. In this first volume (which began serialization in Japan in September 2016) from creator Keiichi Arawi (Nichijou), Nagumo is a very broke college student whose landlady is constantly hounding her for money. Her roommate Niikura refuses to lend her money when she realizes what Nagumo’s true intention is.
Nagumo has to resort to other avenues to raise money, such as stealing a clay figure with the aim of selling it. But she clumsily drops the object, rendering it shattered. Crazily enough, immediately afterwards she’s offered a job at a restaurant (where the incident happens).
Our protagonist accepts the job but still has issues. It doesn’t help that her landlady has a police officer help “move” (or steal) all of her stuff so she wouldn’t escape (as the stolen items are actually collateral). In the middle of the volume, Nagumo reflects on her life, telling herself that if she could continue to have lots of happy moments, she’d be unbelievably thrilled with her life.
Job: Reporter/Researcher – Yomiuri Shimbun (New York City, NY)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Reporter/Researcher – Yomiuri Shimbun (New York City, NY)
Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Job Title: Reporter / Researcher
Posted by: Yomiuri Shimbun
Location: New York City, NY
Contract: Full Time
Here’s a job received directly from the newspaper:
The Yomiuri Shimbun is Japan’s largest daily newspaper. We are headquartered in Tokyo and have 26 international bureaus, three of which are in the United States: New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.
Website Japanese: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/
English-language site is: http://the-japan-news.com/
Description: Main duties involve assisting the Yomiuri’s Japanese United Nations correspondent by covering the Security Council and other UN bodies, as well as working on business news. This includes covering press briefings, tracking relevant stories, arranging and conducting interviews, doing research, coming up with story ideas, etc. Applicant may also be required to work other news areas (including business and financial markets, sports, social and political news) as the situation warrants. Some transcribing of briefings and interviews is also required. Read More
Job: Seeking Male/Female Voice Over Actors for Japanese Product Video (New York, NY)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Seeking Male/Female Voice Over Actors for Japanese Product Video (New York, NY)
Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Job Title: Seeking Male/Female Voice Over Actors for Japanese Product Video
Location: New York, NY, USA
Contract: Contract
Here’s another job received directly from the company:
A multi-national Japanese technology company is seeking a Japanese voice over actor for a video that showcases a new, experimental digital service. The video is roughly two minutes long. Looking for either young adult/middle age male or female. We are based out of NYC so it would be preferable to have someone here, but not totally necessary. We will provide the script in Japanese for you to read for the voiceover recording.
Please advise if you are interested, along with your quote to matt.steiniger@isobar.com.
Thank you!
Job: Seeking People for Japanese Product Video (New York, NY)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Seeking People for Japanese Product Video (New York, NY)
Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
Job Title: Seeking People for Japanese Product Video
Location: New York, NY, USA
Contract: Contract
Here’s a job received directly from the company:
A multi-national Japanese technology company is seeking people of Japanese or East Asian decent to appear in a video for an experimental digital product. Talent will portray user of a service intended to inform millions of Japanese. This is a non-speaking role and no experience is necessary.
Seeking (4) people:
- (1) Female ages 20-30s
- (1) Female ages 40-50s
- (1) Male ages 30-40s
- (1) Male ages 60s+
COMMITMENT: Half day (6 hours maximum) during daylight hours
DATES: (Pending) April 12th, 13th, or 14th, 2018
LOCATION: Filming in NYC modern apartment, or at a retail location depending on the role
COMPENSATION: $100 and lunch provide
Please send your e-mail, phone number and one or more photo to matt.steiniger@isobar.com.
Thank you!
JQ Magazine: Nippon in New York — Sake + Rakugo, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sakura Matsuri
Events, Film, Food & Drink, JQ Magazine, Music Comments Off on JQ Magazine: Nippon in New York — Sake + Rakugo, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Sakura Matsuri
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe–shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.
Spring has sprung in the Big Apple, and that means one thing: a new season of sounds, colors, and spectacular performing arts to match the blossoming sakura trees throughout the city.
This month’s highlights include:
Courtesy of Yukiko Takahashi
Thursday, April 5, 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Rakugo Event: Tozaburo Yanagiya III
Brooklyn Kura, 68 34th Street (Industry City)
Free
This special set of performances is held at the first Japanese sake brewery in New York State. Born in Tokyo, Yanagiya Tozaburo became a disciple of master Rakugo performer Yanagiya Gontaro III in 1999. He was promoted to the master Shin’uchi rank, in which he himself is certified to train disciples, in 2014. Ever since, he has performed all over Japan and appeared in the ShotenRakugo show and other television programs. During his first visit to North America this spring, he has performed at the University of Toronto, LaGuardia Community College, Hunter College, New York University, and Brooklyn Kitchen. Tozaburo was awarded the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Arts Festival Newcomer Award in 2016. Tozaburo will share sake-inspired stories (while patrons can enjoy the real thing on the premises) along with a traditional story, “The Zoo.”
Tozaburo is also appearing at J-COLLABO’s Spring Festival in Park Slope on Saturday, April 7, at 3:00 p.m. For more information, click here.
Courtesy of Kazuo Miyagawa Family
April 12-28
Kazuo Miyagawa: Japan’s Greatest Cinematographer
The Museum of Modern Art, (April 12-29)
Japan Society, (April 13-28)
$13/$10 seniors and students, $9 Japan Society members
In celebration of the 110th anniversary of his birth, Japan Society presents an 11-film retrospective surveying the work of Kazuo Miyagawa (1908-1999), the most influential cinematographer of postwar Japanese cinema. Working intimately with directors like Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa on some of their most important films, Miyagawa pushed Japanese cinema to its highest artistic peaks through his lyrical, innovative and technically flawless camerawork. This career-spanning selection displays his great versatility, including major masterpieces and rarely shown titles, screening in 35mm and new digital restorations. Co-organizer The Museum of Modern Art will host repeat screenings and additional Miyagawa retrospective titles from April 12-29. Preceding the retrospective, new 4K restorations of Mizoguchi’s A Story From Chikamatsu and Sansho the Bailiff, both shot by Miyagawa, will run at Film Forum from April 6-12.
GKIDS
April 22-23, 25
E-Walk 42nd Street 13, 247 West 42nd Street / Empire 25, 234 West 42nd Street
$12.50 all ages
Part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2018! From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of My Neighbor Totoro and the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away, comes a charming and magical adventure that will delight the entire family. Haru is walking home after a dreary day of school when she spies a cat with a small gift box in its mouth crossing a busy street, and she jumps in front of traffic to save the cat from an oncoming truck. To her amazement, the cat gets up on its hind legs, brushes itself off, and thanks her very politely. But things take an even stranger turn when later than night, the King of Cats shows up at her doorstep in a feline motorcade. He showers Haru with gifts, and decrees that she shall marry the Prince and come live in the Kingdom of Cats!
Courtesy of Ryuichi Sakamoto – Coda
April 25-27
Cinépolis Chelsea (4/25-26), 260 West 23rd Street
Regal Cinemas Battery Park Stadium (4/27), 102 North End Avenue
$23
From his start pioneering synth pop music with Yellow Magic Orchestra, in the late ’70s to winning an Oscar for his score for The Last Emperor in 1988, Ryuichi Sakamoto quickly established himself as one of the most original and intuitive composers of his generation. But, never content to rest on his laurels, Sakamoto’s life journey eventually led him to find musical inspiration in the unlikeliest of places: the Fukushima nuclear disaster and a personal battle with cancer, both of which gave way to a late-life shift in his artistic process. With Coda, director Stephen Nomura Schible (a co-producer on Lost in Translation) crafts a portrait of the artist as an ageless man, one who can turn the worst news into the most refined and purposeful moment of productivity in an already storied career. Shot over five years, this graceful music documentary is an elegantly observed examination of the creative process, following as Sakamoto builds from nothing the album he must assume will be his swan song. Premiere Screening features a Q&A with subject Sakamoto and Nomura Schible.
Kikuna Mishima
April 28-29, 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 990 Washington Avenue
$30 adults, $25 senior and students, free for BBG members and children under 12
Billed as a dynamic two days of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture inspired by BBG’s famous collection of flowering cherry trees, organizers will once again welcome tens of thousands of visitors to its massive 52 acres, home to over 12,000 kinds of plants (and, for that weekend, nearly as many cosplayers). Enjoy food and drink, events and activities for all ages while taking in live performances from New York troupe Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, the BBG Parasol Society Fashion Show, NYC’s own J-pop meets jazz favorite J-MUSIC Ensemble, and the Matsuri live debuts of DJ Sashimi and Tokyo-based rock duo Bo-Peep.
Want to stay in the loop on future events? Follow Justin on Facebook and Twitter.
JET Prefecture Round Up (April 2018)
AJET, Events, JET Prefecture Round-up Comments Off on JET Prefecture Round Up (April 2018)
JET Prefecture Round Up is a mosaic of events taking place in the AJET community in Japan. Compiled by Suzanne Bhagan (Tottori Prefecture alumni).
Cherry Blossom Viewing & Potluck Party
When: April 1
Where: Shizuoka Prefecture
Enjoy Shizuoka Matsuri under the cherry blossoms. Entrance is free but please bring some nibbles or drinks to share.
The Ultimate Hanami and After Party of 2018
When: April 7
Where: Tokyo
Celebrate spring with JETs and ALTs in Japan. The event’s totally free, with free snacks and drinks (while they last!). There’s also an after-party once the sun sets.
When: April 14
Where: Okinawa Prefecture
Calling all OkiJETs! April is just around the corner and you know what that means: it’s Gumball Rally time!! It’s a super cool island-wide event similar to a scavenger hunt where you complete tasks for points.
When: April 14
Where: Miyazaki Prefecture
This is one of Miyazaki AJET’s biggest events of the year, similar to the TV show. This year, the challenges and clues will be based on Harry Potter!
Regional JET and ALT Gathering
When: April 20
Where: Tokyo
Experience a night of elegance and receive special VIP treatment at one of the most acclaimed establishments in all of Tokyo! JETs, alumni, ALTs, or anyone who joins this page will be included as a VIP. Entrance fee is 2500 yen (3500 yen at the door).
When: April 21
Where: Aomori Prefecture
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival and Aomori AJET’s Hanami will coincide with its opening day.
AJET Tokyo Scavenger Hunt 2018
When: April 21
This will be the 5th Block 4 Tokyo Scavenger Hunt! For this event, you and your team will complete a variety of different missions around the city of Tokyo!
When: April 21
Where: Kumamoto Prefecture
Once again, it’s music and party time on the side of the world’s largest caldera brought to you by Kuma AJET. For those of you leaving Japan this summer, it’s a great last chance to see friends. Cost is 1000 yen.
