JET alum Jim Gannon continues his work on behalf of JCIE in support of Rikuzentakata and other areas
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Via the Japan Center for International Exchange’s Facebook page. A nice post about the work that Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94), Executive Director of the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA), has been doing in Tohoku on behalf of his organization. Jim is also a member of JETAA USA’s Board of Advisors and the JETAA USA Disaster Relief Fund Committee:
JCIE/USA’s Jim Gannon was in Tohoku last week, where he met with grantee AidTAKATA, an NGO that operates Radio FM Rikuzentakata to bring local news, music, and informational programs to people living in this hard-hit area. The station is the only source of local information for many residents in temporary housing, and it is working to strengthen community ties.
During his visit, the station featured a program with a lawyer who provides advice on the legal issues people in the disaster zone have to cope with (rebuilding regulations, insurance settlements, land titles, etc.). They also briefly interviewed Gannon during the program and took the opportunity to express their gratitude to all of the donors to the JCIE fund.
While on air, a small earthquake struck and the announcer immediately provided information on the epicenter and strength and to reassure listeners.
Kiyoshi Murakami (president, AidTAKATA), Jim Gannon (JCIE/USA), Hiromi Abe, and Sakie Musashi at the Radio FM Rikuzentakata station.
AJET Connect Magazine: May 2013
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Here’s the May 2013 issue of AJET Connect Magazine:
(Download PDF) http://ajetnet.s3.amazonaws.com/connect/2013_May_Connect.pdf
FYI, Editor Jim Kemp and his team at AJET Connect Magazine have been putting together some really good content along with appealing layout. In this issue, I particularly recommend Amelia Hagen’s “29 Things I’ve Learned While Travelling On JET.” But there are also articles on surfing in Japan, the evolution of the kyushoku, and the Tokyo Yamathon among other strong writing about “local” Japan.
Hawaii JET alum seeks to interview Ehime JET alums via Skype
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The below is a request from Eliot Honda (Ehime-ken, 2009-2012) who is seeking to interview other Ehime JET alumni as part of a project aimed at re-establishing the Ehime Kenjinkai in Hawaii:
My name is Eliot Honda, I am a former ALT in Uwajima city. I was there from 2009-2012, I had a blast and learned a lot about Uwajima, and Ehime in my three years. I found out that my home, Hawaii has deep ties to Ehime dating as far back as Japan’s first interaction with a Head of State. King Kalakaua and Date Munenari would meet during Kalakaua’s trip to Japan.
Since returning I’ve attempted to stay active in JET and in international exchange. My wife and I have been working to rebuild the Ehime Kenjinkai (Ehime Prefecture Club.) One of the things we talked about doing is a series of videos on the Ehime area. I wanted to add a bit of JET in there, since I’ve also become a board member of the JET Alumni Association in Hawaii. I wanted to do a screen cap of Skype/Facetime interviews and get former/present JETs to talk about the area in Ehime they lived in. A bit about the history, the landscape, the people, the attractions, and overall lifestyle of the area they live/lived in.
Ehime and JET hold a very special place in my heard, and Uwajima has become a 2nd home for me; a place I can always return to. (And not just because my wife is from there.) I have so many friends, and now family in Uwajima. This prefecture is rarely visited, but has a lot of beauty in it, and the JET Program is constantly on the chopping block, and I think people outside of the program miss the value of the program.
If you’re interested in doing an interview (which will eventually go on YouTube) and also helping to show the beauty of Ehime and just how helpful the JET Program can be for international exchange, please email me.
Thank You,
Eliot Honda
Email: eliot.honda [at] gmail.com
Here are some previous JETwit posts with Eliot’s videos about JET and Ehime. And here is a JQ Magazine “Life After JET” interview with him.
Saitama JET interviewed on CBS News feature on Japanese school lunches
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Update 5/28/13: I originally listed Karl as a Gumma JET before learning that he’s actually based in Saitama-ken. Apologies for the error.
CBS News did a feature on Japanese school lunches this past Saturday morning, May 18. They happened to pick a Higashi Chichibu Junior High School in Saitama-ken where JET Karl Hoeschen works and they ended up interviewing him for the story.
Click the link below to see the video. (The features starts around 07:54:30, after the opening segment on Michelle Obama.)
Here’s another link to the video that also has a written article in connection with the video: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33816_162-57585156/whats-for-lunch-in-japanese-schools-its-always-healthy/
JQ Magazine: JETAA New York Greets Distinguished Guests
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Inuyama City Council Member Anthony Bianchi, center, poses with fellow JET alums at the Japan Friendship Festival, Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza, May 2013. (Photo courtesy of Ann Chow)
By Ann Chow (Hyogo-ken, 2007-09) for JQ magazine. Ann is a native New Yorker and serves as the Membership Development Chair for the JET Alumni Association of New York.
On April 17, members of the JET Alumni Association of New York (JETAANY) were invited to attend a reception at the Nippon Club for the Governor of Tokyo, Naoki Inose, who was in New York to drum up support for his city’s bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Among the guests at the reception included Willie Banks, the three-time track and field Olympian, and world record holder from 1985-95 in Men’s Triple Jump. (Cool trivia: Banks speaks fluent Japanese.)
And on May 3, several JETAANY members, along with employees of CLAIR and the Japanese consulate, were on site to help Inuyama City Council Member Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, 1987-91) and B. Bridges participants at the Japan Friendship Festival at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza. The B. Bridges program (short for “Brooklyn Bridge” as well as “Building Bridges” and “Be Bridges”) was created as a cultural exchange program by Bianchi and the administration of Xaverian High School, of which Bianchi is an alumnus.
“The idea for the B. Bridges exchange program was born 10 years ago at an event the Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, held for me at Borough Hall after my first election, so it was great to be able to hold this, our Japan Friendship Festival: Inuyama Day at Borough Hall,” Bianchi said.
The program has sent close to 500 people from Brooklyn to Inuyama City and vice versa. This year, 40 participants came from Inuyama City to stay with families of students attending the school. On a beautiful sunny day, JETAANY members were able to help the group out at various booths which showcased tea ceremony, Japanese calligraphy, and traditional Japanese toys and wares.
“The cooperation of the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, the Japanese Consulate of New York, the Japan Local Government Center, and the JET Alumni Association of New York were crucial to making this event successful,” explained Bianchi.
He added: “I was also proud of our B. Bridges members, as well as our exchange partners at Xaverian High School, who made great use of the opportunity. This, I believe, made the event a great experience for all those in attendance.”
For additional photos from the events, click here and here.
Justin’s Japan: Nippon in New York — Japan Day @ Central Park and a ‘Deadly She-Wolf’
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CNN national correspondent Sandra Endo hosts Japan Day @ Central Park May 12. (Courtesy of @sandraendotv)
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his Japanese culture page here for related stories.
This month’s highlights include:
Sunday, May 12, 10:30 a.m.
Free
Now in its seventh year, Japan Day has won acclaim from New Yorkers from every walk of life, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg calling it an eagerly anticipated cultural event on the city’s calendar. For this year’s event, organizers are planning once again to have both the Japan Run (beginning at 8:00 a.m.) and the Japan Day Festival, emphasizing enjoyable activities for all ages that will deepen participants’ understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture—not to mention the food, drinks and snacks! Hosted by CNN national correspondent Sandra Endo, this year’s guest performers include Taiko Masala, Kylee, Yosakoi Dance Project 10tecomai, Chris Hart, and the Glory Gospel Singers.
May 16-June 2
Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon!
La MaMa Experimental Theatre, 74 East 4th Street
$30 adults, $25 students/seniors
Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon! is the latest music/theater and martial arts tour de force from collaborators Fred Ho and Ruth Margraff. A daring and imaginative homage to the 1970s Japanese raging cult manga and theatrical hit Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure Ookami)—which has inspired many other adaptations and works in comic books and film over the past decades—Deadly She-Wolf explodes with a ferocious stylistic mix of Japanese Noh theater and modern-day anime and manga influences with unique multi-martial arts and sword fighting choreography and a glorious score fusing traditional Japanese music and soul-jazz. Raised as a weapon by a brutal conspirator, a young female assassin discovers that her target has spun the empire of Japan into crisis and ruin–and–is none other than her father. Torn between loyalty to her mission, her nation and her soul, she must face the unimaginable at the twilight of an imperial epoch.
For the complete story, click here.
JQ Magazine: Cultural Heritage Soars in San Francisco’s Japantown
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Under the Peace Pagoda at the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, San Francisco, April 2013. (Preston Hatfield)
By Preston Hatfield (Yamanashi-ken, 2009-10) for JQ magazine. Preston received a B.A. in English literature with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in Japanese at the University of California, Davis. After spending an amazing year on JET in Yamanashi, he spent a year writing and interning with book publishing companies in New York. He currently lives in Marin County, where he continues to cover local Japan-related stories for JQ, and teaches English as a second language at an international school in San Francisco.
This April marks the forty-sixth time that San Francisco has hosted the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival. As one of the world’s top annual festivals of its kind and one of the largest Japanese American events in the country, the festival has made quite a reputation for itself, and each year it’s bigger and better. Whether you’ve been to Japan before and need a fix of your favorite street food, or you’re a newbie interested in exploring the culture, the NCCBF offers a comprehensive and top-notch Japan experience that includes traditional and modern elements.
If you’ve been to other festivals, you already know to expect tea ceremony demonstrations, doll exhibits, taiko performances, and cosplay competitions, but pay attention and you’ll also notice a powerful sense of community in every act and exhibit. Excepting a handful of wonderful guests from Japan (including this year’s Grand Marshal, renowned singer and actor Teruhiko Saigo), the NCCBF is put on wholly by the Bay Area’s Japanese American community, including some 300 volunteers, 50 organizations, schools, and groups, and is sponsored by a number of local businesses. In some respects, it’s their way of making a statement, as Allen Okamoto, co-chairman of the NCCBF, explains:
“One of the reasons I continue to volunteer with the festival is that Japantown is rapidly changing. The demographics of the community are changing with the intermarriage and lack of migration from Japan. I consider the festival as an institution the same as the Japanese language schools, the churches and other community organizations like the Japanese Community Youth Council, Kimochi, Inc. and the Japanese Cultural & Community Center. We are all continuing the culture and heritage of things Japanese.”
The festival has become something of a culture treasure here, and it’s no wonder. San Francisco, with a formidable but recently declining Japanese American population, is home to one of the last “true” Japantowns in the U.S., but some locals think that’s debatable. “I saw [at the festival] a hardworking community [bringing] culture and fun to Japantown, which for the rest of the year is slowly being eaten by non-Japanese businesses. Koreatown sometimes feels more appropriate,” said Bay Area resident and JET alum Mikeal Gibson.
Kyodo News “Rural JET alumni” series: Darryl Wharton-Rigby (Fukushima)
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News agency Kyodo News has recently been publishing monthly articles written by JET alumni who were appointed in rural areas of Japan, as part of promotion for the JET Programme. Below is the English version of the column from April 2013. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“I do not know how much of an impact I will have on the people I have met while I have been in Japan but I do know they have had a great impact on mine. Had I not applied for the JET Programme, I do not know what my life would be today.”
Writer, director, and professor, Darryl Wharton-Rigby (Fukushima-ken, Kawamata-machi, 2005-07) hails from a family of poets and storytellers in Baltimore, Maryland. He has earned a BA in History from Ithaca College and a MFA in Film Directing from Chapman University. After being hired by MTV Films to write a screenplay based on the Japanese manga TokyoTribe 2, he moved to Japan and taught English in a small town in Fukushima. He shot his latest short film, Obon, in the town of Natori, which is one of the areas of Japan hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami. He is now working on a documentary, Don Doko Don: The Yamakiya Taiko Club Story, about a group of young drummers who were displaced due to high levels of radiation in their community from the failed nuclear plant. He has earned awards and grants from the Urbanworld Film Festival, the Maryland State Arts Council, The Painted Bride Arts Center, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, and the Caucus Foundation for his work. He splits his time between Baltimore, Los Angeles and Japan where he currently lives, and credits his wife and three children as his ultimate muse.
A lifetime of happiness
One of the most satisfying and rewarding jobs in my life was working as an ALT in Kawamata in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan from 2005–2007. I have learned over the years that everything happens for a reason and that sometimes in life we are chosen to be at a certain place at a certain time.
I was 37 years old and living in Los Angeles, CA. I was living the life of a struggling filmmaker and needed a change, a break, from my career in film, television, and theatre. Since my first trip to Tokyo on a business trip for MTV I had been longing to return to Japan, because I knew there was more for me to learn and know about Japan. Applying for the JET Programme seemed the perfect opportunity.
From the moment I got accepted, life has moved at a rapid pace. I was placed in Kawamata, in Fukushima Prefecture, a quiet town with rice fields and rivers surrounded by mountains. My life in Kawamata was an adventure every day. I worked in two junior high schools, several elementary schools and kindergartens. It always brought a smile to my face, when I would hear students call my name, “Dariru-sensei!” I did my best to help the Japanese teachers in the classroom with activities and games. I got to know many of the students and could tell the ones who were enthusiastic towards learning English. Read More
CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: Jordan Patrick Lincez (Aichi)
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Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The May 2013 edition includes an article by JET alumn Jordan Patrick Lincez. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“Through the people I meet, I feel as though I have a responsibility to share my love and experiences of Japan to strengthen and sustain the bonds that were tied in fellowship and goodwill.”
Jordan Patrick Lincez (Aichi-ken, Toyone-mura, 2009-11) is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has been playing various instruments from a young age, first learning the guitar from his father Marc Victor, and eventually making an album with him before joining the JET Programme. Jordan spent two years in one of the smallest villages of Japan and his contributions to the community include recording a collaborative album with local musicians and organizing a charity music festival. He is now studying in Vancouver, BC, to become a French teacher in elementary schools in rural Canada.
After JET – Rural Reflections
Steve Jobs once talked about connecting the dots only after you go through something. Coming to and leaving Toyone was like that. My memories of there are vivid: wet mornings with mists floating above green mountains around Tsugawa Heights; straining to keep my eyes open and my body moving to the drum on Hana Matsuri; watching the evening sun burst in orange and red leaves during the autumn foliage season on my drive to Toyama; listening to my students practice Kendo in the dojo while watching the snow gently falls outside; joining my friends in celebrating our charity festival’s success with the most bountiful yakiniku feast I have ever seen. I have left Japan with a wealth of memories and friendships that I will carry with me forever, and it was only in connecting the dots looking back that am I able to see the impact my experiences there have had on my life and current endeavors.
What brought me to Japan? I wanted a new challenge, and, one day, I met a wonderful teacher in Ottawa who taught me Japanese, but also taught me about Japanese culture—and I was fascinated with it. I had to go experience it. I had to get out of Ottawa, out of Canada, and learn about myself through experiencing life in a different world. JET brought me to Japan and placed me as an ALT in two of the smallest villages in Japan: Toyone and Toyama in Aichi Prefecture. Read More
Tohoku Tomo Update 03.26.13
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Wesley Julian (Miyagi-ken, 2008-10) is now in Japan with a small film crew making a video that will share the story of JET alums and others who have made and continue to make a difference in Tohoku, Japan. Below is a video update from Wesley regarding his Tohoku Tomo project:
Tohoku Tomo Update from Philip Holbrook on Vimeo.
JET Alum Establishes “Tsunami Survivor Fund to Save Miyagi”
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A new effort started by Miyagi JET alum Canon Purdy:
Welcome to Save Miyagi, a non profit, unincorporated charity organization dedicated to helping Miyagi and Minamisanriku rebuild after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 11th, 2011.
Canon Purdy and her family founded this organization after Canon was stranded without contact in the town of Minamisanriku, where she had taught English for two years before.
SaveMiyagi successfully donated to the Minamisanriku Board of Education in August (check blog for details). Our next project is sending Paper Cranes to Northern Japan to support their recovery process.
Please check out the video below or the page above, and consider getting involved.
Hiroshima JET’s “The Wide Island View” – 03.04.13
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From The Wide Island View, the JET Program Webzine of Hiroshima Prefecture:
Hello and welcome to the new monthly newsletter from the Wide Island View! These emails will keep you updated on what’s happening on the website and hopefully give you some inspiration for your next article.
New Articles
If you haven’t been to the WIV in a while, there are plenty of new articles for you to check out!
- Ben Folds Five: Dan Wilson, the WIV resident music reviewer, debuts his new concert column with a review of Ben Folds Five’s recent Hiroshima performance.
- Hiroshima AJET: Cathy Hodgson tells us about her experience learning to snowboard with the Hiroshima AJET crew. Keep your eye on the WIV to hear about all of the upcoming AJET events and trips.
- Winter Blues: Winter may becoming to a close, but Japan’s spring is notoriously chilly so check out the How to Beat the Winter Blues article for some tips to help you stay warm.
Have something you’d like to add to these articles? Don’t feel shy about commenting!
Story Ideas
This list is by no means comprehensive, so if you come up with a story idea on your own, please send us an email. We’ve been able to add a ton of new articles recently, which has been fantastic. Please keep ‘em coming!
Seasonal
- Hanami season is just around the corner and we want you to help us make this year’s parties the best yet. Have any secret hanami spots? Any recipes or suggestions for the perfect hanami snacks and drinks? We want to know!
- Been to any good events lately? Perhaps the Naked Man festival in Okayama or the local one in Mihara? What about one of the many Hiroshima oyster festivals? Tell us about your experience with an article or photo journal.
Food
- Calling all sake connoisseurs – please share your expertise! This article could be a review of different sake from Hiroshima or around Japan, or an insider’s look at how sake is made. Saijo offers tours of many local breweries, so that may be a good place to start!
- Are you a whiz with your microwave oven? Have you mastered the art of cooking things other than rice in your rice cooker? Share your knowledge and recipes! And, as always, any recipes (seasonal or not, Japanese or not) are always welcome.
Sports
- The new soccer season is coming up fast and we’d like to learn more about our very own champions, Sanfrece Hiroshima! Who are the players to watch this year? What are the chances that we’ll win the championship for the second year in a row?
- If you’re a baseball expert (or would like an excuse to become one) we’d love for you write about baseball in Japan. How are the Carp looking this year? What are your predictions for the playoffs? Opening day is only a few weeks away, so help us get ready to play ball!
Culture
- Want to learn more about otaku culture? What about gyaru fashion? Help explain these interesting subsets of Japanese youth culture.
Language Study
- In the past, the WIV regularly featured articles about Japanese proverbs and study tips. This column was incredibly helpful so we’d like to bring it back. If you’re interested in sharing your knowledge of Nihongo, please let us know!
Other
- As always, we’re constantly looking for reviews of just about anything – movies, restaurants, products, books, festivals, you name it.
- Videographers, illustrators, photographers, we want to hear from you too!
Now that we’ve gotten the business part out of the way, we at the Wide Island View want to take a moment to say a big thank you to all of you for working so hard to get this website back on its feet. None of this would be possible without all of your help and support!
The school year will soon come to a close, so we’d like to suggest a new (school) year resolution for all of you: keep writing! We know that it can feel overwhelming to commit to extra work, but think about it this way – if every single one of you wrote just one article within the next few months, we’d be set for the rest of the year. One article per month would make you a superstar. More than that? Amazing! We love you! Well, we love all of you regardless, but you get the idea. We all have the chance to contribute to one of the best online resources for JETs in the entire country, and it would be a shame to let this opportunity go to waste.
Thank you again for your support of the Wide Island View, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!
Kyodo News “Rural JET alumni” series: Khalid Birdsong (Osaka)
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News agency Kyodo News has recently been publishing monthly articles written by JET alumni who were appointed in rural areas of Japan, as part of promotion for the JET Programme. Below is the English version of the column from January 2013. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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Khalid Birdsong (Osaka-fu, 2003-05) attended Howard University, in Washington D.C. from 1993-1997. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design. He is currently an Art teacher at a private school in Palo Alto, CA for grades Kindergarten through 4th. He is also a freelance cartoonist and webcomic artist. His comic about living in Japan can be found at www.friedchickenandsushi.com .
I couldn’t speak their language!
I moved to Japan in the summer of 2003 to work as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Junior High School for the JET Programme. I was placed in a small town called Shimamoto near the mountains in-between the cities of Osaka and Kyoto. I ended up living there for two years. Two years full of wonderful experiences and pleasant surprises. As an African-American man from Atlanta, Georgia, living in Japan also had its challenges! One of the most difficult was learning the Japanese language.
Support Fukushima through JET Social Media Activities
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A request from Lachlan Tranter (Fukushima-ken, 2011-present), CIR-PA at the Fukushima Prefecture Office. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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It is approaching 2 years since the 3.11 disaster and the prefecture has moved forward in many ways, but still faces a number of challenges. Many JETs around the country and JET alumni 
from all around the world assisted in the immediate recovery of the three prefectures most affected by the disaster, and I know many of you want to help more. Today I am offering a chance to do so and it is as easier as clicking you mouse!
In fact it is, we in Fukushima want your help spreading the word and interest in the prefecture and its strong and “genki” citizens. We want the world to know about a side of Fukushima people in our prefecture all know about, a Fukushima of beauty, of produce, of nature, of fun, of shy but brave and warmhearted people; not just a power plant.
We want people to learn that life continues on here and to set each person a challenge to learn something new about Fukushima. So here is how to help support Fukushima Prefecture, you don’t even have to get up out of your chair or Kotatsu!
Like our Facebook page and read the Japanese or English translations about Fukushima!
Head to the Prefectural YouTube channel and watch short videos about the revitalization from the disaster!
Head to our English blog and read about events, food and life in Fukushima including stories from fellow JETs!
Share these resources with friends and family back home and show that the world is still thinking about and supporting people in Fukushima!
Thank you so much for your time and support! 心より感謝申し上げます。
JapanLocal: Japanese city mascots dance to “Call Me Maybe”
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Hey, I just met you and…. this is crazy…. but here’s a video of Japanese city mascots dancing to “Call Me Maybe” ….. and I was wondering if any JETs were involved in making this video or if there are any JETs and JET alums who work(ed) in the cities that appear in the video.
