Japan America Society Round-up 7.28.11
Japan Society Round-up 
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JET alum Gail Cetnar Meadows (ALT, Hiroshima-shi 2007-10), co-founder of Hiroshima JET webzine the Wide Island View, shines a light on some of the upcoming events of Japan America Societies…
26th Annual Berkeley Kite Festival — Experience the excitement and artistry of modern kite flying at this festival to celebrate the renewal of life and the confirmation of community spirit. Special guests include the Sode Cho Kite Team of Hamamatsu, Japan. This event, which is free and open to the public, features the Japanese-Style Rokkaku Kite Battle for the Skies as well as free kite making and a candy drop for kids.
- Date: July 30-31
- Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Place: Cesar E. Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina
- For more information: click here.
Radio broadcast of “Letters from Sendai” — Here is one radio broadcast you won’t want to miss. KERA News is broadcasting a continuing series titled “Letters from Sendai,” featuring letters written by earthquake survivors. Volunteers with the Japan Society helped collect the letters from people in Sendai, translate them into English and record readings of them at the KERA studio. The next installment will air Aug. 1 on 90.1 FM. You can hear it during Morning Edition (6:30-8:30 a.m,) and All Things Considered (4:30-6:30 p.m.). The approximate times will be 6:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., and 5:20 p.m. For links to podcasts of previous broadcasts from the series, click here.
Colorado-Yamagata 25th Anniversary Celebration Luncheon — JASC will host a luncheon to celebrate 25 years of exchange between Colorado and Yamagata this August. A delegation of eight from Yamagata, including Vice Governor Takashi Takahashi and Kozo Taira, Chairperson of the Yamagata Prefectural Assembly, will visit Colorado in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the sister-state relationship between Colorado and Yamagata Prefecture. The keynote speaker will be Ichiro Fujisaki, Japanese Ambassador to the United States.
- Date: Saturday, Aug. 6
- Time: Registration starts 11:30 a.m., luncheon at noon
- Place: Brown Palace Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 321 17th St., Denver
- 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 the info at gail (at) jetwit (dot) com.
Hanami: JETAA NY
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New York JET alums enjoy the Sakura Matsuri 2011 at Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Hanami: JETAA Northern California
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NY’s Japan Society announces allocation of Japan Earthquake Relief Fund
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New York’s Japan Society has released full details about the non-profit organizations in Japan that will receive the first allocation of funds from Japan Society’s Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. Read on for their press release…
New York, NY – Japan Society today announced four Japanese nonprofit organizations that will receive a total of $1,000,000 in the first installment of funding from the Society’s Japan Earthquake Relief Fund for relief and recovery work in northeastern Japan.
The four organizations – Tokyo Volunteer Network for Disaster Relief, JEN, Entrepreneurial Training for Innovative Communities (ETIC), and the Japan NPO Center – are involved in immediate relief efforts to help victims of the earthquake and tsunamis that struck Japan on March 11, 2011.
“Each organization is on the front lines in Japan and is playing an important role in the relief process,” Japan Society President Motoatsu Sakurai said. “We are pleased to provide financial support to these groups.”
Japan Society Round-up 03.28.11: Disaster relief funds set up by Japan America Societies
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In addition to the many fundraising events planned by Japan America Societies around the country, numerous funds have been set up to collect donations for Japan’s disaster relief. This list of funds (organized alphabetically by city/state) was compiled by JET alum Gail Meadows (ALT, Hiroshima-shi 2007-10). If you know of a fund set up by a Japan America Society that is not listed here, please leave it in the comments. Thanks!
JASGA has created a disaster relief fund to collect donations for organizations involved directly with relief efforts in the northeastern area of Japan. Donations can be made online here. Alternatively, checks can be sent to Japan-America Society of Greater Austin PO Box 9276 Austin, TX 78766. Please make checks payable to the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin and be sure to write Earthquake-Tsunami Relief Fund in the memo field.
JSB partnered with the Boston Foundation and the Fish Family Foundation to create a new Japanese Disaster Relief Fund-Boston. Donations to this fund are now being accepted online at www.japanesedisasterrelieffund.org. This fund was established with an initial leadership grant of $100,000 from Atsuko and Lawrence Fish, who have also pledged to cover all administrative costs of the fund. This will make it possible for 100 percent of contributions to go directly to Japanese disaster victims and to the organizations working on the ground in Tohoku to help the people who need it most. For more information, click here.
JASSCA has established the 2011 Japan Relief Fund. All donations will be forwarded to experienced non-governmental disaster relief agencies in Japan that have a proven track record of emergency humanitarian relief and restoration and development of destroyed areas. To donate, visit their website here.
JASNC created the JSNC Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund and pledges that 100 percent of contributions will be provided to Give2Asia, a highly regarded San Francisco-based philanthropy, to support relief efforts. Give2Asia will channel 95 percent of all funds received to Japanese NGOs working on the ground, with the remaining 5 percent funding Give2Aisa’s own work coordinating with and supporting those NGOs. Currently Give2Asia — in consultation with its advisor Japan NPO Network — is formulating relief plans with Second Harvest Japan and Shanti Volunteer Association. It is also in discussions with: Japanese Emergency NGOs (JEN), Saigai Volunteer Katsudo Shien Project Kaigi, Rescue Stock Yard, and Niigata Saigai (Disaster Volunteer Network). To donate, go here: http://give2asia.org/japansociety.
The Japan America Society of Chicago is currently accepting donations for the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. All proceeds will go directly to the Japanese Red Cross. To donate online, click here.
Posted by Gail Meadows (ALT, Hiroshima-shi 2007-10). If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JetWit.
The Japan/America Society of Kentucky (JASK) is hiring a part-time project manager. Application deadline is April 15, 2011. The position is for 20 to 25 hours per week, schedule negotiable.
Job Qualifications:
- Experience with managing events and programs (i.e., two or more years experience organizing events)
- Top-notch business communication skills (preference will be given for bilingual ability)
- Excellent organizational skills and project follow-through
- Strong interest in Japan/America friendship and building valuable programs for the Japan/America community in Kentucky
Job Duties:
- Take full responsibility for some of JASK’s ongoing programs under the supervision of the executive director
- Assist Executive Director with website development, membership recruitment, and new program development
- Contact members regarding program and event participation
- Assist with office management as-needed (mailings, record-keeping, etc.)
To fill out an application form, click here.
Japan Society Round-up: Events to raise funds for disaster relief
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Japan America Societies around the country are organizing fundraising efforts to help the earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. Here is a listing of various upcoming events for disaster relief gathered by JET alum Gail Meadows (ALT, Hiroshima-shi 2007-10). If your local Japan America Society is planning a fundraising event not listed here, please leave it in the comments!
What: Candlelight vigil- Where: Front steps of Thomas Worthington High School, 300 W. Granville Road, Worthington
- When: Thursday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m.
- Details: There will be music and a couple students speaking. Donations will be collected for the Red Cross fund for Japan.
- What: Soprano Seiko Lee Benefit Concert for Japanese Earthquake Relief
- Where: Dublin Recreation Center – Abbey Theater, 5600 Post Road, Dublin, Ohio
- When: Sunday, March 27 at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
- Details: The performance will feature Kenichiro Matsuda (Columbus Symphony), Hanamizuki no Kai (Columbus Japanese Women’s Chorus) and Eiko Toyoda (piano). Tickets/Suggested Donation $20 per person or two for $30. 100% of all ticket sales and donations will go to the Red Cross Japanese Chapter and will be directly used to support victims in Fukushima Prefecture through the Seiko Lee Project staff members. There are only 200 seats available, so pre-ordering tickets is recommended. Contact Ms. Asako Kim at 614-560-7796, Akai Hana Restaurant or Tensuke Market for more information or to purchase tickets. There is an age limit of 7 years and older.
- What: Stand With Japan event
- Where: The grounds of the Washington Monument
- When: Thursday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m.
- Details: The National Cherry Blossom Festival, its partners, participants and supporters invite you to gather at the Washington Monument followed by a walk around the Tidal Basin in the spirit of hope and rebuilding. This will be an opportunity for people to unite and connect, as well as contribute to the Festival’s Japan relief efforts, directly supporting the American Red Cross and their Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund. Visit www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org for more information.
- What: Discussion forum about the earthquake
- Where: W.T. Young Library Auditorium of the University of Kentucky
- When: Monday, March 28 from 4:10 to 6:10 p.m.
- Details: The discussion forum will feature the following individuals, all of whom experienced the earthquake and/or saw its aftermath in Japan: Doug Slaymaker (Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures [MCLLC]), Keiko Tanaka (Community and Leadership Development) and Akiko Takenaka (History). In addition, the forum also will include Susan Gardner (Physics and Astronomy) and Dhananjay Ravat (Earth and Environmental Sciences). These panelists will explore issues pertaining to the earthquake from multiple perspectives. Masamichi (Marro) Inoue (MCLLC, Director of the Japan Studies Program) will introduce and moderate the discussion. This forum will be an occasion for information sharing, cross-cultural community building, and academic engagement in social issues. Donations to the Red Cross will be accepted. The forum is free and open to the public.
- What: Bluegrass Community Walk for Japan Relief
- Where: Coldstream Research Park in North Lexington
- When: Saturday, March 26 at 10 a.m.
- Details: Residents of the Bluegrass Region who wish to show their support for the disaster victims will come together for this free community event. Donations for Japan disaster relief will be accepted by the Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross.
- What: Concert for Japan
- Where: Japan Society, 333 E. 47th St. between 1st and 2nd avenues
- When: Saturday, April 9, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Details: Twelve hours of music and special activities will benefit Japan Society’s Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. 100% of proceeds from the event and tax-deductible contributions made on site to the relief fund will go to organizations that directly help victims recover from the earthquake and tsunami. With dozens of performances throughout the day, confirmed gala blocks feature Philip Glass & Hal Willner, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and Zorn (starting at 1 p.m.), and Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bill Laswell and gigi band (starting at 6 p.m.). In addition to the music, there will be activities for all ages. Participants will have the chance to make origami cranes and washi lanterns, take basic Japanese language lessons and access to Japan Society’s current gallery exhibition, “By Bye Kitty!!! Between Heaven & Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art.” The entrance fee is $5. Gala blocks are $100 per block. For more information, click here.
- What: Japan Earthquake Relief Form and Update
- Where: Morrison & Foerster LLP, 425 Market St., 33F, San Francisco
- When: Monday, March 28, Noon to 2 p.m.
- Details: This free brown bag lunch meeting will focus on Japan Society earthquake and tsunami relief efforts and how the disaster may shape Japan’s future at home, regionally and globally. Dr. Barnett F. Baron, President and CEO of Give2Asia, will discuss his organizations work in the crisis, as well as the Japanese NPOs on the ground that Japan Society and Give2Asia are funding during this catastrophe. Dr. T.J. Pempel, Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, will provide a broader view of the long-term impacts. Advance registration required. For more information, click here.
- What: Japanese Dance Workshop
- Where: Asian American Cultural Center, 11713 Jollyville Road, Austin, Texas
- When: Saturday, March 26. Session 1 is 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Session 2 is 3 to 4:15 p.m.
- Details: Learn Japanese folk dance during this workshop with kodo artist Chieko Kojima to raise funds for the earthquake and tsunami victims of Japan. The fee is $15 for JASGA members of $20 for non-members. The first session is for participants who have basic skills and knowledge of Japanese dance, and the second session is for beginners. For more information, click here.
JET alum sake expert spotlighted in Japan Times
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Today’s Japan Times makes mention of JET alum and leading sake expert John Gauntner (a.k.a. The Sake Guy), author of the Sake World E-Newsletter. In the article, which highlights sake’s growing popularity around the world, Gauntner recalls his long journey with the rice-based beverage — from love at first sip to his current status as the first and only non-Japanese certified “sake expert assessor”.
Check out the article, “Foreign sake experts win over hearts, palates”.
Gauntner is a noted lecturer on sake who travels the world speaking on the topic. He has published a score of books on sake and spoke at Japan Society last May. To learn more about him and sake, visit his website www.sake-world.com.
Japan America Society Roundup 2.9.11
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JET alum Gail Cetnar Meadows (ALT, Hiroshima-shi 2007-10), co-founder of Hiroshima JET webzine the Wide Island View, shines a light on some of the upcoming events of Japan America Societies…
Japan America Society of Colorado
Tsugaru Shamisen performance — Come hear a free performance by the Monsters of Shamisen, Kevin Kmetz and Mike Penny. They are the first non-Japanese Tsugaru Shamisen performers ever to have participated and placed in the national Tsugaru Shamisen tournaments held annually in the Tsugaru region of northern Japan. Kmetz and Penny have performed throughout Japan and the U.S. in a great number of musical groups. Their music is influenced by a wide variety of musical styles including baroque/classical, Balkan gypsy, American bluegrass, Irish folk music and modern rock/pop.
- Date: Monday, Feb. 21
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Place: University of Colorado Denver, King Center Concert Hall, 855 Lawrence Way on the Auraria Campus
- For more information, click here.
Performance by Japanese violinist — Wright State University will host a free recital by world-class violinist Takayoshi Wanami, a blind violinist who has performed and recorded with some of the finest orchestras around the world, including the London Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Philharmonia, and the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields, among others. The performance will feature works by Beethoven, Ysaye, Takemitsu and Tchaikovsky. Also during the event, the University Orchestra will play Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1.
- Date: Tuesday, Feb. 22
- Time: 8 p.m.
- Place: Wright State University’s Schuster Hall, Creative Arts Center
- For more information, click here.
JAS of the State of Washington
Shadows of a Fleeting World: Pictorial Photography and the Seattle Camera Club — In the 1920s, Seattle’s first photography group was founded by Japanese immigrants who were denied citizenship and went on to dominate exhibitions and win numerous prizes. To create their work, which combined pictorial photography and Japanese traditional art, photographers used a blurry focus, altered the photos during development and captured emotions in a style that took its cue from the painting of the era. These photographs will be on display at a JASSW reception with guided tours and discussion.
- Date: Thursday, March 31
- Time: To Be Announced (evening)
- Place: Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE & NE 41st, Seattle
- 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 the info at gail (at) jetwit (dot) com.
See some familiar JET faces (including that of JetWit founder Steven Horowitz) in the latest issue of Shukan NY Seikatsu, a free, weekly Japanese newspaper available in New York. Along with Steven, JET alums Stacy Smith, Kia Cheleen, Tamar Entis, and Paul Benson sat down with the paper to talk about their experiences for a special New Year’s issue. The even was organized by Jon Hills, founder of Hills Learning (and husband of JET alum Kendall Murano).
The group was asked about what they learned from Japan, what they loved about their areas, what they thought was cool about Japan, and what their reactions were to some of the criticisms Japanese teachers have of JETs. The resulting “NY Cool” feature is front page news, with the full length article inside.
Read the full issue online here (the JET profiles are on page 4 and 5):
http://viewer.nyseikatsu.com/viewer/index.html?editionID=331&directory=../editions&page=1
For more background on the write-up, see this previous JetWit post.
Happy reading!
-Gail Meadows
Associate Editor, JetWit
JET alum manga artist featured in New York Times
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Kudos to JET alum Zach Wood (ALT Niigata 2007-09), who was recently featured in a New York Times article about the increase in the number of Japanese universities offering degrees in manga and animation. Zach is a graduate of Stanford University in California and is studying manga at Kyoto Seika University, which established Japan’s first manga program. Universities offering these kind of programs say they are hoping to significantly increase the number of international students enrolled. See the article here:
Japanese Universities Draw Foreign Students With Manga
Blog post about JET Programme on U.S. Embassy website
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Mark Dieker with Japanese students in the mid-90s
The following link comes via JET alum Aurelien Hancou (Okayama-ken 2003-06), now a Senior Programme Coordinator at CLAIR. Hancou writes to share a guest blog post by Mr. Mark S. Dieker, Consul for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka:
http://zblog.japan.usembassy.gov/e/zblog-e20101221a.html
The post is a great testimony of the value and benefit of the JET Programme. Check it out!
Sake World e-newsletter by John Gauntner (January 2011)
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The January 2011 issue of the Sake World e-newsletter by JET alum and the leading non-Japanese sake expert in the world, John Gauntner (a.k.a. “The Sake Guy”), is now available online. In this issue:
1. Greetings
2. The Suffix “-shu”
3. Announcements and Events: Sake professional course in Japan
4. Sake Education Central
Additional links:
JET alum shares perspectives of Japan in Metropolis magazine
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JET alum Mark Flanigan (Nagasaki 2000-04) wrote to JetWit to share his writing “debut” in Tokyo, featured in Metropolis Magazine. Following his stint in Nagasaki, Mark returned to Japan as a Rotary International World Peace Fellow at International Christian University (ICU) / 国際基督教大学 in Tokyo. He says:
I am very happy and also humbled to have been selected to write for such a great magazine. In my article, I talk about some of the different impressions I have found here, as a JET and now as a Peace Fellow, and compare/contrast my feelings of my two different times spent living in Japan.
Click here to read the article, “Found and Lost: Reflections on my two Japans.”
JET alum/cartoonist Lars Martinson gives radio interview
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JET alum and 'Tonoharu' creator Lars Martinson.
Check out this great radio interview with JET alum/cartoonist Lars Martinson (Fukuoka-ken 2003-2006), creator of the four-part graphic novel Tonoharu. Lars talked with radio station KFAI out Minnesota in December. Hear him talk about the creation of his book, which tells the tale of an ALT wrestling with the challenges of living in rural Japan (sound familiar, anyone?). Lars lived in rural Fukuoka for three years and spent several years post-JET crafting the novel based on his experiences.
For those who are interested, Tonoharu Part I and Part II (which just hit book shelves in November) can be found here:
Also be sure to check out JetWit’s recent interview with Lars Martinson.
