Japan Restaurant Search via Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO)
Food & Drink, Local Government, Travel/Tourism 
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Just noticed in the latest issue of the JNTO’s e-Newsletter that they have a link to a “Japan Restaurant Search.” In theory you can find restaurants in any prefecture sorted by whatever criteria you select (e.g., accepts credit cards; English language menu available; English language staff; etc.) You can also search by cuisine and even different types of izakaya.
Here’s the link: http://www.jnto.go.jp/restaurant-search/eng/index.php
It tends to cover the major metropolitan areas well, but not as strong when you get out to the inaka. Perhaps there’s a way that the JET and JET alumni community can help fill in some of the holes?
Just a thought. Stay tuned for more info.
WIT Life #152: Kaga Maki-e
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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.
Recently I had the opportunity to interpret for a delegation from Kanazawa that was here to promote the city in general and especially its ancient craft of 蒔絵 (maki-e), a lacquerware technique that uses silver and gold powder. This art form actually originated in Kyoto which has its own style known as Kyo Maki-e, but the Kanazawa version is called Kaga Maki-e, Kaga referring to the area of Kanazawa where it originated. This picture, courtesy of fashion blogger Alice Chin, shows two delegation members at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Kaga Maki-e display.
On the left is native New Yorker and long-term Kanazawa resident Evelyn Teploff-Mugii, a designer who has modernized the thousand year old maki-e process to make breathtakingly beautiful accessories. Her Evelyn Claude line will be offered in the US for the first time. To her right is Read More
Sales position at New York Mutual Trading, Inc
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Ms. Ami Nakanishi, Business Development and Planning Manager of New York Mutual Trading, Inc., contact
ed me regarding a position at her company for a salesperson to target the American market. The candidate should especially have knowledge of Japanese knives, serving dishes, and ingredients, as well as Japanese culture in general. For those interested in applying, please contact Ms. Nakanishi directly at ami[at]nymtc.com or 201-933-9555.
By the way, the Japanese Culinary Center which serves as the showroom of New York Mutual Trading, Inc. and where Ms. Nakanishi works as Event Director, is a great resource for Japanese food culture. I have taken part in many classes there, and it is worth a trip over just to see all the fabulous Japanese items they sell!
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.
Last night I attended the shinnenkai for New York’s very own Battenkai, or group for Kyushu people (Batten comes from Kyushu-ben and means but, and kai means gathering). There are several kenjinkai or prefectural groups here in the city, but Kyushu has this joint group instead of individual ones for each prefecture. I have been attending their events since two summers ago, and it is always a diverse mix of people. You can find accountants, jazz singers, lawyers, graphic designers and karate instructors, all of whom have interesting stories to share.
Battenkai gatherings always include some form of entertainment, and last night’s was no exception. It featured several different acts to welcome the new year. First we were regaled by a beautiful shamisen performance by Read More
WIT Life #144: Manga restrictions and contemporary art challenges
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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.
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas celebration, whether it was with a strawberry shortcake or more traditional fare. Soon it will be time to get ready for Oshougatsu‘s toshikoshi soba and osechi ryouri! If you want to enjoy these holiday foods but not have to prepare them yourself, there are places around the city that will be offering free toshikoshi soba samples on New Year’s Eve (Village Yokocho is one), and osechi ryouri is being sold at Japanese supermarkets and by catering companies. I don’t know whether they are still accepting orders, but if you are interested it is worth checking o
ut!
In other news, two articles in last week’s Wall Street Journal talked about aspects of Tokyo’s art and pop culture scenes. One discussed how the city government is attempting to restrict sales of manga with “extreme” depictions of sex. This ordinance originated with conservative governor Shintaro Ishihara, but has been openly opposed by Prime Minster Naoto Kan. Motivating Kan’s critical stance is the fact that several manga artists and 10 major publishers have said that they will boycott the huge Tokyo International Anime Fair scheduled to take place in March. On his blog he wrote, “Upbringing of youth is an important matter. But at the same time, it’s also important to Read More
WIT Life #143: SoHo Host Club
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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.
I knew that there were a few hostess clubs floating around the city, but I was not aware of the existence of any host clubs. That is until I attended the Winter Solstice Wonderland event last night hosted by none other than New York’s very own SoHo Host Club! I have never visited a host club in Japan, so was not sure what to expect, but this group is inspired by the Japanese anime Ouran High School Host Club. The six hosts present ranged in age from 18-31, and all were dressed in suits and looked quite dapper.
The host taking care of our table was 25-year old Salvatore Torres, and he impressively remembered all of our individual tea selections and kept our cups filled. Evidently in the original anime most social events revolve around tea and sweets, but the event last night was Read More
Calling all Kyushu JET alums and fans of Kyushu!
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People from different parts of Japan who reside here in NYC have r
espective 県人会 (kenjinkai) or associations of people from a certain prefecture. Last year I decided to look for the Kumamoto Kenjinkai, and found out that we are part of the larger island-wide Battenkai for Kyushu-jin. I was hesitant to go since I wasn’t technically from Kyushu (even though I consider Kumamoto my home in Japan), but I was welcomed with open arms. The group is looking to get some new attendees, and would like to offer an open invitation to its upcoming shinnenkai (see below for details)! For those who want to read the original message in Japanese, please click here. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
We are beginning 2011 with a shinnenkai to mark the Year of the Rabbit! This exciting event will feature laughter yoga, a shamisen performance and a fabulous raffle. Please join us for this fun night!
★ Open to anyone born in or who has connections to Kyushu, as well as those interested in this region.
Date: January 5, 2011 (Tuesday)
Time: 7-9 pm
Location: Japanese American Association of New York (15 W. 44th Street (11th floor)
Cost: Adult = $35, Student = $20, 11 and younger free (includes food/drinks; pay in cash on day of)
☆Please click here to sign up! (This page is in Japanese, and it asks you to put your name in the first column, your phone number/email address in the next, and in the third column a password of your choice that will enable you to change your entry should you need to. When you are done with all that, click the gray button in the last column that says 登録する (touroku suru) or register. Please feel free to leave me a note below if you have any trouble! Stacy Smith, Kumamoto ’00-’03)
Culture Spreader: John Gauntner – The Sake Guy
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Culture Spreaders is a new feature intended to shine a spotlight on JET alums involved in spreading and sharing Japanese culture in their home countries. If you know of a good JET alum for a future post, just e-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com tell us why you think that alum is a Culture Spreader. (Self-nominations welcome too.)
JET alum and leading sake expert John Gauntner (aka “The Sake Guy“) has established himself as the leading non-Japanese sake expert in the world. See, e.g., this 2009 Japan Times article titled, “Nihonshu evangelist preaches heady mix of culture, taste.”
Not only does John spread the sake gospel through numerous appearances and events in the U.S. and elsewhere, but he also offers a Sake Professional Course in various locations to teach others how to be sake experts and evangelizers. As a result, there are now four sake-only specialist shops in the U.S.–True Sake (San Francisco), Sakaya (NYC), SakeNomi (Seattle) and The Sake Shop (Honolulu)–and the owners of all four attended John’s Sake Professional Course for the purpose of starting their respective businesses.
For his work spreading Japanese sake culture around the globe (and helping the Japanese sake industry expand its markets), John Gauntner is hereby recognized by JetWit as a serious “Culture Spreader.”
Editor’s note: In the “JET’s a small world” department, it turns out that both John Gauntner and last week’s “Culture Spreader” Bruce Rutledge are both originally from Cleveland and previously have met at SakeNomi in Seattle, where Bruce currently lives.
Sake World e-Newsletter by John Gauntner (November 2010)
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John Gauntner: JET alum and leading sake expert
The November 2010 issue of the Sake World E-mail Newsletter by JET alum and leading sake expert John Gauntner (aka “The Sake Guy”) is now available online. In this issue:
1. Greetings
2. “I’m from the Gov’t”
3. The 18 Nihonshu Samurai Tasting
4. Did You Know?
5. Sake Basics
6. Announcements and Events: Sake Professional Course in Japan
7. Sake Education Central
Additional Links:
WIT Life #134: Versatile veggies
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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.
Last night I was happy to be able to attend an event at Japan Society called Field to Table: The Role of Vegetables in the Japanese Diet. The featured speakers were Japanese food culture expert Elizabeth Andoh and Masato Nishihara, executive chef at Kajitsu, the only restaurant in NYC to feature 精進料理 (shouijn ryouri), a vegetarian cuisine introduced to Japan from China in the 13th century by Zen monks who had returned from studying Buddhism there.
I had met both of the speakers before, Elizabeth when I lived in Tokyo where she resides, and Nishihara-san when I interpreted for him at a food event last year. They offered their expertise regarding Read More
WIT Life #131: Asian Collaboration
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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.
Yesterday I attended the first ever Japan & Korea Block Fair, which was held on Broadway between 93rd and 94th streets. It was sandwiched between other festivals offering your standard street fare of zeppoles and gyros, but the Asian section seemed to be getting the most foot traffic. One side featured Japanese food such as okonomiyaki and yakitori, and the other had Korean food like bulgolgi and kimchi.
My friend and I shared many different samples, but my favorite was Read More
Sake World e-Newsletter by John Gauntner (October 2010)
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The October 2010 issue of the Sake World E-mail Newsletter by JET alum and leading sake expert John Gauntner (aka “The Sake Guy”) is now available online. In this issue:
1. Greetings: Happy Sake Day!
2. Toji Today: The State of the Artists
3. Did You Know? Start with the rougher stuff
4. Sake Basics: Sake Temperatures
5. Announcements and Events: Sake Professional Course in Portland and a new sake educational blog
6. Sake Education Central
Additional Links:
WIT Life #129: Maui Manju and other Hawaii discoveries
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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.
I find myself lucky enough to be finishing my current interpreting assignment here in Honolulu. I head home tonight but was able to spend my last afternoon with my local JET friend, who took me to the Don Quijote behind my hotel. I was expected the kind of zakka they have in Japan, but here it is a full-fledged supermarket stocked with a plethora of Japanese and other goods!
One item I found there that I have never Read More
WIT Life #122: Gaijin food and smile rankings
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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.
Today’s news did a special investigation on the favorite foods of foreigners visiting Japan. The results were displayed in an easy-to-read pie chart which showed soba/udon at the top with 20%, sushi and yakitori tied for 18%, ramen at 13%, okonomiyaki at 9% and 22% for other. The average total amount of money spent on food per day was 3352 yen (about $40 at today’s exchange rate of 84.125 yen to the dollar), thanks to cheap, filling meals like a serving of yakisoba for 200 yen at a local matsuri. With lodging for 2500 yen per night at a hostel, this allows for a pretty cheap stay in Japan despite the current 円高 (endaka or strong yen).
This survey marked a shift from the popularity of more upscale foods like sushi to more everyday dishes like noodles. Many foreigners interviewed attributed their interest in ramen to Read More
Kobayshi Cleared of Charges From Nathan’s Arrest
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Competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi with interpreter/publicist Maggie James and attorney Mario D. Romano. (Associated Press)
The case, of which its misdemeanors also included charges of obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct, ended with an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (A.C.D.). This means that if Kobayashi, 32, stays out of trouble for six months, his record will be restored. This is good news for the Nagano native’s New York fans, since he moved to Gotham earlier this year after receiving a 0-1A work visa in February for his “extraordinary ability or achievement.” His visa status should remain unaffected by the court’s decision.
Read the full story here.
