Tohoku Tomo: JET alum returning to Japan to document ongoing JET alum and international relief efforts in Tohoku
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Wesley Julian (Miyagi-ken, 2008-10) is heading to Japan with a small film crew to make a video that will share the story of JET alums and others who have made and continue to make a difference in Tohoku, Japan.
The project is called Tohoku Tomo and just launched a Kickstarter campaign. For more information and to donate, go to:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1283108911/tohoku-tomo
In the video below, Wesley, who spoke at his students’ graduation on 3/11 just before the earthquake struck, explains the project and its significance. He currently works for the Japanese Consulate in Chicago, though the Tohoku Tomo project is something he is doing independently of his work.
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CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” Series: Jessyca Wilcox Livingston (Hokkaido)
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Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The March 2012 edition includes an article by JET alumn Jessyca Wilcox. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“The fact that the people of Japan are wonderful has only been confirmed with every return visit and every new friend I meet. This is the power of grass roots internationalization and this is the power of the JET Program.”
As the daughter of parents in the State Department, Jessyca (Wilcox) Livingston (Hokkaido, 2003-06) spent her early childhood years immersed in Japan and most of the rest of her youth abroad. After graduating from Rutgers University she worked as a Park Ranger/Ecologist with the National Park Service. Her affinity for Japan led her to return as a JET Program participant. Jessyca spent three years as an ALT in Urahoro-cho, an experience which deepened her love for Japan and its people. Upon returning the USA, she quickly got involved in her local JETAA chapter in the Rocky Mountain region and secured a job at the Consulate General of Japan in Denver as the JET Program Coordinator. Jessyca served as treasurer of RMJETAA from 2008-10, then served two terms as a JETAA USA Country Representative from 2010-2012. She has participated in several conferences ranging from regional to international during her service with JETAA. Jessyca currently serves on the JETAA USA Advisory Board to help to guide and ensure the success of JETAA USA at the national level.
Once a JET, Always a JET
My love affair with Japan started at age one when my family moved to the coastal town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. My father worked on the nearby navy base and my mother settled into domestic life in Japan while I ran around with the neighborhood kids. I learned Japanese, they learned that there were more than just one kind of people in the world and we all learned that having fun together didn’t depend on what you looked like or what language you spoke. Friendship transcended all of that. That was my first experience with grass-roots internationalization. It was years before the JET Program would be established.
My family moved on to live in other countries, but I was able to return to Japan on several happy occasions. My Japanese language abilities fluctuated, but my Japanese friends remained steadfast. I experienced both the rewards of articulating myself well and the embarrassment of stumbling through sentences and making ungraceful mistakes. Through it all, Japan remained a common thread in my studies and personal life. I studied Japanese in school because I understood it was a vehicle to stay connected to the people and place I loved.
I found the JET Program in a school hallway in the form of a poster. I wrote down the information and filed it away for my future. I knew it had a place in my life. When the time was right, I submitted my application, and waited. Read More
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。
CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: Matthew Fuller (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 December 2011 edition includes an article by JET alumn Matthew Fuller. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“Often, you are the only foreigner that people will ever get to know, and so you are truly an Ambassador to Japan from the outside world – and that’s a powerful platform.”
Matthew Fuller (Aichi-ken, Toyota-shi, 1997-99) is originally from Austin, Texas. He came to Japan on the JET Programme and lived and taught in the rural village of Shimoyama which later merged to be part of Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture. After a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of the University of Texas, he joined the US Department of State. Matthew Gardner Fuller is currently the special assistant to the US Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos in Tokyo where he has served since 2009.
What was one the most positive aspects of your experience on the JET Programme?
One of the best things for me was the lifelong connections I made with the people in my community. What started out as sharing an occasional drink with some people in Shimoyama, ended up growing into long-term friendships. In fact, one of the friends I made during my time on JET has continued to keep in touch with me by calling every month to chat. He even continued to check in on me while I was on assignment in Baghdad. It’s these connections that really made my time on JET special. And these ongoing connections have provided numerous opportunities to go back and visit Shimoyama. For example, I was recently invited to and attended the wedding of a former student. I also had the chance to accompany Ambassador Roos to Shimoyama to help provide a firsthand look at the long-lasting grassroots exchange that the JET Programme is capable of fostering. Read More
Kyodo News “Rural JET alumni” series: Marion Lagan (Okayama)
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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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I hope I will have another chance to spend time there so, to the question “How is it to live in Tokyo?” I can finally answer “It’s good, but not as good as it was living in Okayama.”
Marion Lagan (Okayama-ken, Soja-shi, 2007-09) was born in the Southwest of France, then lived in many different places throughout France until she graduated high school. She moved to Paris where she studied French literature and Japanese. Once she got her teaching certificate, she applied to the JET Programme in order to get a first experience working abroad as well as furthering her knowledge of Japan and its culture. She spent two years in Okayama Prefecture teaching French and English and eating peaches. Once back in France, she got an MBA from HEC Paris. She is now working for L’Oréal as brand manager. In her spare time, she likes watching movies, making movies, reading novels as well as essays and planning her next trip to Japan.
All roads lead to Japan
When people learn I’ve spent two years in Japan, their first question always is “So, how is it to live in Tokyo ?” and the reaction I get when I tell them I don’t know since I lived in Okayama is, at best “What, you mean Hiroshima ?” or at worst “Is that even in Japan ?”. Yes, Okayama is in Japan. To me it is Japan.
From 2007 to 2009, I taught French and English to high school students whose age ranged from 15 to 19 year-old. I was a teacher in France and JET was a great opportunity to experience another lifestyle as well as work-style. I saw –and helped, I hope, students grow up and they definitely made me grow up too. It has been three years now I have left Japan and the more important memories seems to have sharpened so I will recount the ones that impressed me the most. Read More
JET alum Japanese teacher’s class visited by Delaware governor
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Thanks to Virginia Murray for catching this article and posting it to the JETAA Southeast Facebook group. It seems that Linnea Bradshaw, a fellow JET of Virginia’s from 1988, is a Japanese teacher at a high school in Delaware whose class was recently visited by Delaware’s Governor Jack Markell. Go JET!
Markell shares travel experiences with Appoquinimink students
Delaware’s Governor visited the Level II language class at Appoquinimink High School Tuesday morning to share his experiences in Japan and to take questions from the class he video-chatted with from the foreign country during his trip last year.
Here are some excerpts from the article:
“Governor Jack Markell told students in Linnea Bradshaw’s Japanese class Tuesday that speaking multiple languages gives them a leg-up in the job market. Delaware’s Governor visited the Level II language class at Appoquinimink High School Tuesday morning to share his experiences in Japan and to take questions from the class he video-chatted with from the foreign country during his trip last year.”
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“Markell wasn’t the only one in the room Tuesday who has experienced Japan. Last summer, Bradshaw took 23 students from both Middletown and Appoquinimink High Schools to Japan to immerse them in the culture. Bradshaw said that her highest-level students can speak sentences, and understand, write and read Japanese.”
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“During his multi-city trip of the country, Markell, his wife, and staff, met with several businesses in the Miyagi area in hopes of building a stronger partnership between Delaware and Miyagi.”
Click here to read the full article on the Middletown Transcript’s website as well as see a photo of Linnea with the Governor: http://www.middletowntranscript.com/article/20130108/NEWS/130109810/0/SEARCH
CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: Austin Moore (Yamaguchi)
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Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The January 2013 edition includes an article by Austin Moore, a former Monbusho English Fellow (MEF), the forerunner to the JET Programme. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“Sometimes I joke that back when I began what quite unexpectedly is turning out to be a lifetime in Japan, the local men carried swords and wore topknots.”
Austin Moore was born and brought up in a house that was built in 1830 in a small town of Massachusetts. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1984, he came to Japan to work as a member of the Monbusho English Fellow Programme in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Three years later, he moved to Tokyo to join the organization which is today known as CLAIR. Austin has been working for the Japan Intercultural Academy of Municipalities in Shiga Prefecture for the past twenty years. He is also the head of the Historic Preservation Society of Hino town, where he lives in a house that dates back to Edo period.
Adoption Of and By Japan
Sometimes I joke that back when I began what quite unexpectedly is turning out to be a lifetime in Japan, the local men carried swords and wore topknots. While that is more than a small exaggeration, the changes in Japanese society that I have witnessed during these three decades are nearly as significant.
In 1984, immediately after concluding my studies at Eisenhower College and Syracuse University, I was accepted into the Monbusho English Fellow (MEF) Program (preceding JET and run exclusively by the Ministry of Education) and spent almost three years in Yamaguchi Prefecture – the philosophical birthplace of modern-day Japan. There, for the first year, I had the distinction of being the only American employed by the prefectural education board and, as such, visited most every public high school in the prefecture, as well as numerous junior high schools.
It was the very beginning of July when I arrived in Yamaguchi. My supervisor was a kind man who spoke extremely good English – the only one in the office who did. But a week into life as an MEF, my supervisor, my ‘life-support system’, left for a month-long training seminar at Tsukuba University. And so it was that I promptly learned to breathe on my own. Read More
Kyodo News “Rural JET alumni” series: Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata)
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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 December 2012. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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Born in Japan, Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, Tsuruoka-shi, 2008-10) has lived a bit of a nomadic life, having lived in Virginia, New Jersey, and several times in France and Japan. He attended Coppin State University (Baltimore, Maryland) and graduated with a degree in English. He came back to Japan on the JET Programme and worked for two years in Yamagata Prefecture, in Haguro, a village that merged into Tsuruoka. Currently, he conducts English classes for Japanese adults at an online eikaiwa school named Hello English and is in the job hunt.
Same Country, New Experiences
I was born on a naval base in Yokosuka, where I spent my first 18 months. After graduating from university, I spent a year working at an eikaiwa school in Yokohama.
However, Japan was pretty much a mystery to me. My co-workers were all Westerners, so I was obviously missing out on a true Japanese work environment. If I went somewhere other than Shibuya on an off day, it was a miracle. And despite taking Japanese classes every Wednesday morning for several months, I struggled mightily in the language.
Needless to say, I had not gotten the most out of Japan during my year in Yokohama. But there was definitely an itch to discover more of the country and its culture. So after working as an assistant English teacher in France, the decision was simple: I was applying for the JET Programme.
In late March 2008, I learned Read More
JETAA British Columbia Newsletter – January 2013
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The latest issue of the JETAABC Newsletter is now available. The January issue includes a poignant article on Rikuzentakata by former Alison Dacia Brown (Iwate-ken, Rikuzentakata-shi, 2005-08) as well as an article on Photohoku, hockey in Japan, and other JET-relevant topics. JETAA BC is also one of the few remaining chapters to publish a print-layout newsletter, and they do a great job at it.
- Online Magazine Version: http://issuu.com/jetaabc/docs/newsletterv17n3/8
“Introduction to the JET Program” video created by JET alum Eliot Honda
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Here’s the latest video project by Hawaii-based JET Eliot Honda (Ehime-ken, Uwajima-shi), who previously created four videos about his JET town of Uwajima-shi as well as a video titled “Sister City Ties“:
Eliot says: “I finally completed the JET Program Introduction video. (Revised, hopefully audio and graphics look better.)”
Published on Dec 23, 2012
For official documentation on the JET Program please visit these sites:
http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/JET/
http://www.jetprogramme.org
http://ajet.net
http://www.clair.or.jp/e/jetprogram/index.html
Music:
http://incompetech.com
Wallpaper by Kevin Macleod
Sunshine by Kevin Macleod
Write a review of the JET Program for Teach Abroad
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I saw this posted to the Pacific Northwest JETAA Facebook group as well as the New Jersey JETAA Facebook group. It seems to be a nice opportunity to help promote the JET Program and help with recruiting (which in turn helps build the JET alumni community), so I thought I’d re-post to JETwit and encourage others to post reviews:
Posted by Tyler Starling:
Hey everyone! I am a student at UC Berkeley and an intern at a local startup called GoOverseas. We are the leading Teach Abroad review resource, but we currently ONLY HAVE SIX REVIEWS of JET Program with a 92% overall rating. Please help out other teachers, graduates, and students by sharing your experience and posting an honest review at http://www.gooverseas.com/
State of Colorado recognizes contributions of JET alumni to Colorado-Japan relationship
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Written by JETAA USA Board of Advisors member Jessyca Livingston who also serves as the JET Coordinator at the Consulate in Denver:
The Consulate General of Japan and Consul-General Ono recently hosted the 2012 National Day Reception. Rocky Mountain JET Alumni Association Executive Officers and Board Members were among the invitees along with other Japanese Community members, business leaders and government officials (including Denver Mayor Hancock).
Every year, the State of Colorado issues a Proclamation to the Consulate General of Japan in Denver on the occasion of the National Day Reception. This year, marked as “The year of opportunity for enhanced relations, friendship and mutual understanding between Japan and the State of Colorado”, acknowledged the success of the JET Program and the many participants sent from Colorado as a key component which continues to strengthen ties between Colorado and Japan.
The number of JETs sent from the Rocky Mountain region remains strong as does the quality of JETs we send as participants. Additionally, many of our JET alums in this region remain involved in supporting and strengthening US-Japan relations in a variety of fields locally, nationally and internationally. This recognition from the State of Colorado is indeed significant to RMJETAA and to the JET Program as a whole.
Life After JET: Return to Japan? You can, and I did, as a Rotary International Peace Fellow
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Mark graduating with his MA in Peace Studies from ICU, Tokyo
As a JET alum, have you ever thought about returning to Japan in a different capacity? Are you interested in earning a fully-funded MA in Peace Studies in Tokyo? You can, and I did, as a Rotary International Peace Fellow. (In fact, there have been at least five JET alums who have gone on to be Rotary Peace Fellows) For me, it was a perfect chance to return to Japan and advance my career at the same time.
Like many JET alums, I’d always thought it would be nice to live in Japan once again, but was not as interested in taking the Eikaiwa route. I had a wonderful experience as an ALT in Nagasaki (2000-04) and truly treasured my time there. After my time on JET, I had returned to the States and was living and working for the US Govt in Washington, DC through the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program. Still, I missed the experience of daily life in another culture and was looking for a way to make it happen. Through a friend of mine named William Daniel Sturgeon, who is also a JET alum and a former Peace Fellow, I learned about this great opportunity. Thanks to his great advice and mentoring, I was able to complete the application and selection process successfully and become a Rotary International Peace Fellow in Japan in 2010.
Through the Rotary Fellowship, Read More
Kyodo News “Rural JET alumni” series: Charlotte Green (Hokkaidō)
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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 November 2012. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“The subtlest things we observe in children are often the most significant. Of all the lessons I learned from JET, this is perhaps the one I have carried with me the furthest.”
Charlotte Green (Hokkaidō, Biei-chō, 2006-08), is from St. Helens, Merseyside, in the U.K. After studying abroad in Tokyo for one year, she graduated from university with a degree in Japanese and Politics in 2006. The same year, she came back to Japan on the JET Programme and spent two years in the lovely town of Biei. Now back in England, Charlotte is currently studying for a post-graduate diploma in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies and working as a play worker with Barnardo’s.
Looking Back with Letters
In a childishly-decorated shoe box at the back of my wardrobe is a collection of items I keep from interesting times in my life. A lot of it was generated from my time as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) on the JET programme. I spent two years teaching in Biei, a rural town in Hokkaido with a population of 12,000 people. Like most other ALTs, I arrived with only an anachronistic picture of the place in my mind. I worked at three different junior high schools, the smallest of which had twelve students and lay amidst rice paddies frequented by storks and warblers, and hills of birch trees that, in the autumn, turned a spectacular yellow. Snow fell thick and fast for six months of the year. The landscape was a constant source of intrigue. I can remember walking home from work one afternoon and hearing Read More
