Sep 1

Vote for ‘Herbivores’ on Food2

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Hi, it’s your Jetwit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken ’03-’06) here.  I have a quick favor to ask you all.

“Herbivores,” the stop-motion animation video that I made with my friend Elizabeth Fuller last year has made it to the top 10 semifinals of the First Annual Food2 Summer Challenge. We desperately need your votes to help us win the grand prize. Please vote for us here. You need to sign in to vote, but you can log in using your Facebook or MySpace account. It only takes a minute.

Thanks so much for your help!

Aug 18

Events: Japan-Related Events in Canada for August and September (digest)

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JetWit job poster Stephen Palanik (Fukushima Ken, 2004-08) learned of the following events being held in various locations through the websites for the Consulate-General of Japan in Toronto and the Consulate-General of Japan at Montreal and thought they might be of interest to former JETs in these areas. Stephen is a translator based in Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka Ken, and he periodically posts job listings and event information for JET alumni.

Here are some Japan-related events being held in the Toronto and  Montreal areas over the next month and a half.

Toronto Area:

to Aug. 27 – The Japan Foundation, Toronto presents Four Seasons of Gardens in Kyoto, an exhibition of exquisite photographs by Katsuhiko Mizuno.

to Oct. 12 – Renowned Japanese sculptor and artist Ichi Ikeda is presenting one of the Earth Art exhibits at the Royal Botanical Gardens.

to Oct. 12 – Kazuyoshi Ehara is one of the photographers featured in RESPECT a photo exhibit at Harbourfront Centre which takes an innovative and thought-provoking look at Canada’s Boreal Forest.

Aug. 19 – The Japan Foundation, Toronto‘s Summer Movie Screenings features the celebrated work: Oriume.

Aug. 21 to 23 – The Shinsedai Cinema Festival at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre introduces the newest wave of young Japanese filmmakers and offers Canadian and International premieres of many of their films.

Aug. 27 – The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre is proud to announce its August movie is Departures, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as 10 Japanese Academy Awards.

Aug. 27 (deadline – extended) – The Thunder Bay International Fine Arts Association together with the Lakehead Japanese Canadian Cultural Association takes great pride in presenting The Summer Haiku Contest.

Read More

Aug 11

Isshoni London: Top 5 Picks for Summer in Japanese London

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*******************

Great article from the Isshoni London website run by JET alum Vanessa Villalobos (who is also the Communications Officer for JETAA UK).

There’s a welcome lull in frenetic London life over August… time to enjoy some of the finer things in life: food, music and the great outdoors.

If you, like I am, are counting down the days to the Japan Matsuri at Spitalfields this September 19th, you should indulge in a little Japanese cultural exploration over the summer!

1. EAT FOR FREE AT TOKYO CITY

I know! I couldn’t believe it either! Simply book your table in advance at Tokyo City Japanese Restaurant near Bank on any Tuesday in August, anytime from 11.30am to 10pm at night. A tasty offer too good to miss, you simply pay a £2.50 service charge and the cost of drinks you order.

City workers can feast for free on everything from handmade sushi and sashimi to bento boxes filled with Japanese classics, plus other traditional Japanese dishes, and help Tokyo City celebrate their 10th birthday and the launch of their new August menu.

Tokyo City is at 46 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7AY

Call 020 7726 0308 and quote the Tokyo City offer when you book.

2. DISCOVER CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE MUSIC

You’ll be pleased to hear Tsuru Sushi plays host to new Japanese music the last Wednesday of every month! Their 100% Genki events showcase Japanese musical and performance talent.

The events have been running for one year on the last Wednesday of each month, and attract a diverse crowd from the Japanese and local communities. Performers are also diverse, ranging from Wataru Kousaka, a sanshin player, to contemporary electronic composer Anchorsong and many others.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article

Aug 8

JQ Magazine’s Summer 2009 “¼ Cheap Trick” Issue Is Out Now!

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The leader of a band that’s sold over 20 million records and brought the words “At Budokan” to the big time, the new Japanese ambassador to New York, a tour of Philadelphia that’s uncannily Zen, and chats with award-winning writers, French pastry operations managers and even a maid-outfitted cosplay superstar complete with bunny ears. All this and more in the new summer issue of JETAANY’s JQ magazine.

To preserve our budget for alumni events, and in an effort to be greener and save paper, JETAANY will begin charging for print copies of JQ Magazine. The cost is $12 for 4 issues and you will only have the opportunity to sign up once a year – annual subscriptions will occur each fall.  Please note that the magazine, in its entirety, is also available online. If you would like to sign up to receive a paper copy by mail, please follow the PayPal link below (Add to Cart) or e-mail magazinesubscriptions@jetaany.org for more information. Remember you must put “JQ subscription” and your desired mailing address in the Paypal comments box.

Editor: Justin Tedaldi – magazine@jetaany.org

Aug 4

NYTMN with MURO and NEIL ARMSTRONG, Thur. Aug. 6th!‏

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Aug 4

ERIKA Live @ DROM 8/05/09

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Jul 28

Bankruptcy Bill #17: BAPCPA Man (cameo by Roland Kelts)

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Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall.  For more cartoons, original bankruptcy haiku and even a bankruptcy country song, go to bankruptcybill.us.

A twist in the plot!  (Also, note the Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) reference as the esoteric worlds of manga and bankruptcy find a rare intersection.)

*BAPCPA = Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, i.e., the 2005 Bankruptcy Law.

Jul 14

Announcing the NEW YORK – TOKYO MUSIC NIGHT

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New York – Tokyo wanted to start something fun with our old friends, new friends, and all the to-be-friends this summer. So, this Friday night we’re kicking it off with a “prototype party”. Join us all night, party people! We’ll have good music and Japan’s #1 beer, Asahi Beer! All for *FREE*!  See you Friday.

RSVP: www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/nytmn/

Jun 26

JetWits and Pieces: Japanese toilet training video

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Who says the JET alumni network doesn’t do enough things aimed at JET alums with kids?  There are a whole slew of JET alum writers with children’s books, not to mention Suzanne Kamata’s (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) book Call Me Okaasan:  Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (which I’m in the middle of reading right now and enjoying very much).

And now this helpful video (which is also good for plain old language study to boot).

Meanwhile, though the video may be unconscious satire in its own right, there are actually several parody versions of this video posted to YouTube as well.

Jun 9

Japan Fix: New York City

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Note: This is the first in what JetWit hopes will become a series of “Japan Fix” articles.  Each article can be a simple guide for where to go to get a Japan fix in your neck of the woods, or a more personal account of how you get your Japan fix.  (Or in Kirsten’s case below, both of those and more.)  The goal is to use the collective brain of the JET alumni community for the benefit of the JET alumni community.

Japan Fix:  New York City

By Kirsten Phillips (Niigata-ken, 2005-08), writer of the Kirsten’s World columns on JetWit

There are thousands of different angles to approach a story like this, particularly in a metropolitan city such as New York. But I’d really love to expand this topic and hear about Japan Fixes in other parts of the country, preferably those without a coast! Yes, I’m talking to you Wyoming! Hi there, Kansas City! Since Japan means something different for everyone who walks away from it, I’d really like to hear about where and how you find Japan. Whether its building a raft and fording rivers to reach that one Kaiten Sushi bar, renting your favorite Japanese language film, or simply chatting with your Japanese neighbor down the hall, tell us all about it!

Now let’s get one thing straight. I earned an admirable jones before I even lived in Japan.

I have my buddy Reiko to thank for the multitude of pre-JET Japanese obsessions I harbored before marching knee-deep into the trenches. In Nueva York, karaoke was only something I did when I was too drunk to care about the lyrics and the only songs I knew then were by Shiina Ringo. Tarako-spaghetti was novelty, not survival. I entered without ceremony. Tips were important. The sole purpose of a handkerchief was for gagging. Vending machines only offered one thing.

Although prior knowledge of Japanese custom, popular wastes of time and cuisine-abuses was a reasonably applicable methadone for the harder edges of culture shock, nothing can fully prepare you for the experience of living on Japanese soil. Everyone gets shocked in one way or another. However, once you get used to the vibe and start running with the pack, untangling yourself from that mentality can be equally as harsh. Three years of opening important doors with 失礼しますand public transportation that runs on time can really leave a mark. Also, it’s hard to say goodbye to your favorite onsen, izakaya, chuugakkou and depaato. A majority of these are difficult to revive even in facsimile here in the States unless you wanna fork over your rent check.

But for those who are blessed enough to live in or around Nueva York, Read More

Jun 8

JQ interview with Hikaru Utada – by Justin Tedaldi

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Hikaru Utada: The Complete JQ Interview

By Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02)

(Originally Published May 2009 in JQ (JETAA NY Quarterly) magazine, the official quarterly publication of JETAA NY (http://jetaany.org/magazine)

It was perfect timing. Back in January, Hikaru Utada, the New York-born recording phenomenon who before she was out of her teens notched three of Japan’s top ten bestselling albums (including number one), was back in town working on a new album for the U.S., and JQ spent a full hour with Hikki to talk of many things, including her new disc This is the One, which hit stores in May.

I know you want to talk about the new album and the single.

The song…

I heard it about two and half weeks ago, as I think I was already on the e-mail list from when your last English album came out.

Oh, right, right, right.

So we go way back. Ten years ago I found out about First Love when I studying Japanese as an undergraduate…

Oh, wow.

It’s amazing to be here now talking about it.

I’m humbled [laughs]. Read More

Jun 3

JQ Magazine’s Spring 2009 “Utada Issue” Now Available Online!

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The Spring 2009 Issue of JQ (JETAA NY Quarterly) Magazine is now available online at http://jetaany.org/magazine/.

O-tsuakare sama deshita to Editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for all his hard work in putting out another outstanding issue, this one featuring a one-on-one interview he did with Hikaru Utada in New York.

Tanjo!!  JQ‘s Spring 2009 Utada Issue is Here!

• What do an Oscar-winner, a celebrated ambassador-turned-president, an international author summit and one of the best-selling singer-songwriters the Eastern Hemisphere’s ever seen have in common? That’s right! They all (I heard) turned down Conan O’Brien to appear in the new issue of JETAANY’s quarterly magazine JQ!
• Months in the making but well worth the wait, our new issue also features our newly elected officers, Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a you-are-there piece on the Tokyo Marathon that you’re guaranteed to learn a thing or to from, and interviews with an Off-Broadway star, community honchos, noted authors and local JETs-made-good in both Japan and beyond.
• And how’s this for a main course: for the first time ever our feature interview was too long for the print issue, so we’ve posted the complete 13-page interview with Hikaru Utada at the handy link below. Whether you’re a Hikki-mania or just want to read what might be the most in-depth interview she’s ever done in English, we’ve got you covered.   It all happens in the new issue of JQ. Dozo and enjoy!

SPRING 2009 ISSUE – click to download PDF

(Click Here to Read the Complete Hikaru Utada Interview)

Editor: Justin Tedaldi – magazine@jetaany.org

SPRING 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Page 3…..Letter From the Editor / Letter From the Country Rep
• Page 4…..Nippon News Blotter / JQ National Photo Contest Winners
• Page 5…..Comings & Goings – New Officers and JLGC Changes
• Page 6…..JETAANY Author Showcase by Gina Anderson and Justin Tedaldi
• Page 6…..TAIKOPROJECT in Philly by Renay Loper
• Page 7…..Japan Society’s New President Motoatsu Sakurai by Justin Tedaldi
• Page 8…..JETlog featuring Ed Thompson (Chiba-shi CIR, 1994-97)
• Page 9…..STOMP New York’s Yako Miyamoto by Liz Wanic
• Page 10…Running the Tokyo Marathon by Stacy Smith
• Page 11…Nihonjin in NY – Featuring Noriko Furuhata of the CGJ by Rick Ambrosio
• Page 11…Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Page 13…Hikaru Utada: The JQ Interview by Justin Tedaldi
• Page 14…Adren Hart’s ConnectForce Productions Jazzes Up NY by Matt Matysik
• Page 15…JETAActivity Photos
• Page 16…An Animated Talk with Japanamerica Author Roland Kelts By Larry Heiman
• Page 17…Destination Nippon: JNTO and Kintetsu International by Sylvia Pertzborn
• Page 18…New York-Tokyo Founder Taeko Baba by Marea Pariser
• Page 19…Film Review: Departures by Lyle Sylvander
• Page 19…Book Corner: Shutting Out the Sun by David Kowalsky
• Page 20…Shutting Out the Sun Author Michael Zielenziger Q&A by Kelly Nixon
• Page 21…Awaji Puppet Theater at Japan Society by Beata Wilk
• Page 23…Top 14 List / Life After the B.O.E. / Let’s Make Chirashi!
• Major domo to (from left) Anson Mau, Kayoko & Rob Werner, Marea Pariser, Louie Reyes, Joe Marucheck, Justin Tedaldi, Steven Horowitz, Laura Pollak, Stacy Smith, and (off camera) Nancy Ikehara and Peter Mallik for pitching in to mail out the Utada Issue.

May 22

VAMPS Announce US Tour

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VAMPS is a star duo project of Oblivion Dust guitarist K.A.Z and L’Arc-en-Ciel vocalist Hyde.The fairly new side project that launched in February 2008 has been an interest for fans of the duo. This summer, VAMPS are scheduled to tour the United States to give a taste of their sound to those that normally wouldn’t have the chance to.  For more info check: www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/vamps/

TOUR SCHEDULE

July 11th, Saturday – New York NY  @ The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
July 12th, Sunday – Hartford CT  @ Warped Tour / New England Dodge Music Center
July 14th, Tuesday – Columbia MD @ Warped Tour / Merrlweather Post Pavilion
July 16th, Thursday – Baltimore MD @ Sonar Baltimore
July 19th, Sunday – Seattle WA @ The Showbox
July 20th, Monday – Portland OR @ Hawthorne Theater
July 25th, Saturday – San Francisco CA @ Regency Grand Ballroom
July 29th, Wednesday – San Diego CA @ SOMA
August 1st, Saturday – Los Angeles CA @ The Wiltern

May 16

ファイト！中島みゆきさん

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Thanks to CLAIR-NY’s Taichi Hanzawa for posting this nifty video by Nakashima Miyuki on his Facebook status page:

May 11

UTADA POSTPONES IN-STORE PROMO

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INTERNATIONAL POP STAR POSTPONES U.S. PROMOTION FOR ALBUM RELEASE

Renowned international singer  and songwriter, Hikaru Utada, who is set to release her new album This Is The One on May 12th (Island Def Jam Music Group), has been forced to postpone her promotions to launch the album along with a series of in-store appearances.  The 26 year-old artist, who had planned to arrive today May 11th to promote and drive the album release, has been diagnosed with an acute case of left relapsing peritonsillitis.

Utada, who is Japan’s best selling artist ever, was set to make highly anticipated in-store appearances in New York City, Los  Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and Honolulu to promote the May 12th album.  Upon consultation with doctors and a brief hospitalization, she’s been advised not to travel or use her voice for at least two weeks.  A full recovery is expected.

According to the artist’s representative, “Utada was very much looking forward to sharing her new album with her U.S fans and is very disappointed that her illness has forced her to postpone these promotional activities.  She looks forward to rescheduling them as soon as she can.”

Fans are encouraged to check www.utada.com for more information.