Roland Kelts on Japan’s News Zero interviewed by Sho Sakurai
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Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) was recently interviewed by Sho Sakurai on Japan’s News Zero program. Click here to watch the clip on YouTube. (Good opportunity to practice your Japanese a bit as well. :-)
KRAZY! Roland Kelts to speak at Japan Society (NY) this Thursday
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Japan Society Lecture
Talking KRAZY! Japan’s Evolving Pop Culture
Curatorial Panel Discussion
Thursday, March 12, 6:30 PM
Left to right: Bruce Grenville, Toshiya Ueno, and Roland Kelts, photo © Matthias Ley.
What are the forces that drive the narrative and artistic sophistication of Japanese manga and anime? What accounts for their dominance in Japanese visual culture and their international popularity?
Join KRAZY! curators Bruce Grenville, Senior Curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Toshiya Ueno, Professor of Sociology at Wako University, in conversation with Roland Kelts, Lecturer at the University of Tokyo and author of Japanamerica, together with moderator Joe Earle, Director of Japan Society Gallery, as they discuss the continuing evolution of visual culture in Japan.
Followed by a reception.
Tickets
$15 non-members
Japan Society Members free
Advance ticketing is required. Please call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. – Fri. 11 am – 6 pm, Weekends 11 am – 5 pm.
Kinokuniya sets up JET Alumni Author section
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In anticipation of the upcoming JET Alumni Author Showcase (set for March 22; e-mail authors at jetaany dot org to rsvp), Kinokuniya has set up a table featuring books by JET alumni authors. The table is on the ground floor in the main aisle, right by the magazine section and features the following books:
- Japanamerica – Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99)
- The Order of Odd-Fish – James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06)
- Zorgamazoo – Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04)
- Learning to Bow – Bruce Feiler (Tottori-ken, 1989-90)
- Importing Diversity: Inside Japan’s JET Program – David L. McConnell
- Hitching Rides with Buddha (originally titled Hokkaido Hitchhiking Blues) – Will Ferguson (Nagasaki-ken, 1991-94)
*See a more complete list of JET alumni authors and their works at http://jetwit.com/wordpress/library/authorsbooks/
Stop by Kinokuniya and take a look!
Other Kinokuniya-related information that may be of interest to you:
- Kinokuniya now offers an Anime/Manga Membership Card – for $15 you get 10% off all of your purchases. You can find the application form at the checkout desk in their stores.
- Anime Day @ Kinokuniya – Sunday March 15 (1073 Avenue of the Americas & 40th St. in NYC) – 11am to 6pm – First 10 fans dresses as Zetsubou-Sensei will win Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Vol. 1 from Del Rey Manga!
- Japanese Young Artists’ Book Fair_3rd – Feb 15 thru March 8 – Comics, graphic books, picture books, art books, phtoograph books, poetry books, art object books and more at 4 different locations in NY: Kinokuniya (Midtown), Printed Matter (Chelsea), St. Mark’s Bookshop (E. Village), Spoonbill & Sugartown, Booksellers (Williamsburg) and
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Big news to announce. This event is a direct outgrowth of the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) Group and JetWit.com.
Click on image to go to jetaany.org/authors to access full-size PDF of the poster.
Read on for more details about the event and the authors.
Daily Yomiuri: Roland Kelts comments on Haruki Murakami’s Israel speech
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In a special column in today’s Daily Yomiuri (“Haruki Murakami: Japan’s 21st-Century Cultural Ambassador“), Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, comments on Haruki Murakami’s speech regarding his recent acceptance of a literary award in Israel.
Roland also has a new “Soft Power/Hard Truths” column out today, this one titled “Cosplayers a breath of fresh air for D.C.“
Also, here are upcoming speaking dates in NY for Roland:
- Mar 10th, New York, NY, The Consulate General of Japan in New York
- Mar 12th, New York, NY, The Japan Society
- Mar 22nd, New York, NY, JETaaNY Author Showcase (*RSVP required)
Roland Kelts upcoming appearances: Pasadena, CA, Hobart College and NYC
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For the West Coast JET set out there, Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, will be speaking this Sunday, March 1, at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Full details here: http://www.pacificasiamuseum.org/calendar/calendar-next.htm
And for the Upstate NYers, on March 4 Roland will be at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Full details here: http://www.hws.edu/academics/fisher_center/fc_events.aspx#09s_kelts
And a reminder for the East Coast Elitist JET Alumni community that on Sunday, March 22 Roland will take part in the first ever JET Alumni Author Showcase, along with James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), Robert Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) and Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93). (Space is limited. RSVP to authors at jetaany dot org.)
*To rsvp via the event listing on Facebook, just click: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=56484206967&ref=nf
Soft Power, Hard Truths: From Akihabara to Katsucon
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The latest Soft Power, Hard Truths Daily Yomiuri column from Roland Kelts (author of Japanamerica) in which he describes taking his Tokyo U. students on a field trip to Akihabara (i.e., the heart of otaku culture) reflecting on their reactions.
WIT Life #29: International Recognition to Wipe Away Domestic Woes
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
For those of you who didn’t tune in to the Academy Awards last night, Japan cleaned up in all the categories in which it received nominations. Going against heavily favored Waltzing with Bashir from Israel, Director Yojiro Takita’s Okuribito (Departures) took the award for Best Foreign Language Film. Since the establishment of this award in 
1957, Japan Read More
From the 2009 Winter Issue of JQ, the JETAA NY quarterly magazine:
A JET Alum’s Experience Makes its Way to the Stage: JQ Catches Up With Playwright Randall David Cook
By Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02)
Three years ago, the Gotham Stage Company produced the terrific play Sake with the Haiku Geisha by JET alum Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93). The entire evening consisted of five one-act vignettes, all involving cross-cultural conflict among expatriates in Japan. As I noted in my review for JQ at the time, what made the play so successful was its exploration of the psychological issues confronting the main characters.
At first glance, Randall David Cook does not fit the profile of the typical playwright. As a human resources specialist with an international MBA, he was working in a corporate capacity at Newsweek magazine when two random events set him on a play writing course.
“I was dissatisfied with most of the new plays I was seeing at the time,” Cook says in his native South Carolina accent. “I kept insisting that I could do better, and one of my friends set me up on the challenge. At the same time, I was heartbroken over a relationship that had just ended and writing seemed like a good way for me to channel my emotions into a more productive pursuit.” Read More
A JET alum shared with me a very moving and thought-provoking column by Haruki Murakami on Salon.com. Murakami recently decided to accept a literary award in Israel despite the potential for controversy and a boycott of his books. He addresses the issues in his column.
NY Times article on Japan Society appointment of Ambassador Sakurai to head post
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The February 6 NY Times article “Japan Society Names a New President” offers some additional perspectives on Japan Society and the challenges that Sakurai-san will face as well as some of the tools and uique perspectives he’ll bring to the job. (See the original JetWit post with Japan Society press release here.)
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Just received this announcement/press release from Shannon Jowett, Director of Communications for Japan Society (NY). Ambassador Sakurai has been very supportive of JETAA, plus he’s a real nice guy, so JetWit is a big fan:
Japan Society is pleased to announce that Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai will be president effective Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Full details are below.
Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai Named Japan Society President
Ambassador Sakurai with his wife
First Japanese-born president to head non-profit, non-political organization
New York, NY — February 7, 2009 — Ambassador Motoatsu Sakurai will be the new president of Japan Society. The Society’s Board of Directors announced this morning that the Ambassador assumes his new leadership role April 7, 2009. Ambassador Sakurai is the Consul General of Japan in New York and is the former president of Mitsubishi International Corporation, USA. He will be the first Japanese-born president of Japan Society, now a 102-year old non-profit, non-political organization. Read More
Video: Roland Kelts on Studio360 with Kurt Anderson
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A sampling of what’s to air on NPR’s Studio 360 Goes to Japan on Saturday at 10 am, featuring Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99):
Roland Kelts special on NPR’s Studio360 to air Saturday morning
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JetWit just received the official press release from WNYC’s Studio 360 regarding their exclusive Studio 360 Goes to Japan program, featuring a segment written and hosted by Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), which will air this Saturday on NPR stations nationwide. Content, including video, will go live on the Studio 360 web site (http://www.studio360.org/) starting at 6 p.m. today (See the full press release below.)
The segment Roland wrote and hosted is focused on Japan’s Youth Culture and its various pathologies, especially the struggles of haken, or temporary workers, amid the imploding global economy.
Additionally, JetWit has learned that Roland is booked for an interview tomorrow afternoon with Nippon Television for their nightly news and entertainment program, News Zero. He will be interviewed by pop idol and actor Sho Sakurai of the band Arashi, and director Takashi Miike, both of whom are in town to promote the latter’s forthcoming live action film version of the 70s anime series, Yatterman. The interview will be about the Japanese pop culture juggernaut. Read More
Michael Auslin on Obama and U.S.-Asia Relations
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JET alum Michael Auslin, a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, has the lead item in the February 2009 Issue of AEI’s Asian Policy Update. (I can’t find a link to the issue on the AEI website, so I’m just copying and pasting the item below.)
Obama and U.S.-Asian Relations
President Barack Obama has made clear his commitment to maintaining, deepening, and fortifying America’s presence in Asia. Yet many in Asia are still curious about the extent of his interest in and knowledge of the region and the vision he holds for its future.
Leaders from India to Japan know that the new president is overwhelmed with the economic crisis at home and two wars abroad. They also know that what he does to fix America’s economic woes will have an impact on faltering global economies. Still, Asia is more interested in whether Obama will pursue his campaign promises to restrict free trade, end America’s pursuit of ballistic missile defense, and to get North Korea to end its nuclear program.
To a large degree, Obama’s Asia policy will be determined by the region itself. If Asia appears to be stable and without the need for immediate action, the president is likely to keep his attention focused on Afghanistan and the U.S. economy. Should he take that path, Asia might look very different when Obama runs for reelection in 2012. In the intervening years, North Korea could develop a fully reconstituted nuclear weapons program; China could continue to increase military spending to deal with Tibet and may achieve the capability of preventing American air and naval forces from moving freely throughout the East China Sea and beyond; tensions between India and China might grow commensurate with their clashing interests; and Japan may find itself increasingly isolated in a region that is becoming more heavily armed.
We are a nation with territorial, trade, and political interests that bind us inseparably to this most dynamic region on earth. America must continue to promote freer trade, democratic governance, and interstate stability. Otherwise, we may find ourselves with problems that dwarf anything we face in the Middle East.
