See some familiar JET faces (including that of JetWit founder Steven Horowitz) in the latest issue of Shukan NY Seikatsu, a free, weekly Japanese newspaper available in New York. Along with Steven, JET alums Stacy Smith, Kia Cheleen, Tamar Entis, and Paul Benson sat down with the paper to talk about their experiences for a special New Year’s issue. The even was organized by Jon Hills, founder of Hills Learning (and husband of JET alum Kendall Murano).
The group was asked about what they learned from Japan, what they loved about their areas, what they thought was cool about Japan, and what their reactions were to some of the criticisms Japanese teachers have of JETs. The resulting “NY Cool” feature is front page news, with the full length article inside.
Read the full issue online here (the JET profiles are on page 4 and 5):
http://viewer.nyseikatsu.com/viewer/index.html?editionID=331&directory=../editions&page=1
For more background on the write-up, see this previous JetWit post.
Happy reading!
-Gail Meadows
Associate Editor, JetWit
Sake World e-newsletter by John Gauntner (January 2011)
Books, Celebrity, Notable JET Alums 
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The January 2011 issue of the Sake World e-newsletter by JET alum and the leading non-Japanese sake expert in the world, John Gauntner (a.k.a. “The Sake Guy”), is now available online. In this issue:
1. Greetings
2. The Suffix “-shu”
3. Announcements and Events: Sake professional course in Japan
4. Sake Education Central
Additional links:
JET alum/cartoonist Lars Martinson gives radio interview
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JET alum and 'Tonoharu' creator Lars Martinson.
Check out this great radio interview with JET alum/cartoonist Lars Martinson (Fukuoka-ken 2003-2006), creator of the four-part graphic novel Tonoharu. Lars talked with radio station KFAI out Minnesota in December. Hear him talk about the creation of his book, which tells the tale of an ALT wrestling with the challenges of living in rural Japan (sound familiar, anyone?). Lars lived in rural Fukuoka for three years and spent several years post-JET crafting the novel based on his experiences.
For those who are interested, Tonoharu Part I and Part II (which just hit book shelves in November) can be found here:
Also be sure to check out JetWit’s recent interview with Lars Martinson.
JET alum seeks funding for “Bound in Japan,” a community book art project
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Via the JETAA DC email list, information about an interesting project created by Kieu Lam (Kagoshima-ken, 2003-06):
Dear Fellow JETs and Friends of Japan,
I am writing to let you know about Bound in Japan, a community book art project that I am producing.
I am a former JET and, like so many of you, have come to love Japan and consider it a second home. As you are aware, establishing a new life and community in Japan presents many challenges, and opportunities for exchange amongst native and non-native residents are important. Bound in Japan will offer a unique opportunity for this kind of engagement.
I plan on going to Japan in the summer of 2011 and will be teaching book art workshops for mainly non-native residents. These participants will create original book art about their experiences living in Japan, and this book art will be organized as an exhibition. Through this creative process, Bound in Japan aims to promote intercultural exchange and understanding in a Japanese society that is slowly but steadily becoming more multi-ethnic.
In order to make the book art workshops widely accessible and to incorporate as many voices as possible, these workshops will be offered at no cost to participants. It is necessary to raise funds to cover expenses for workshops and the exhibition as well as travel and living expenses in Japan. Read More
Op-ed on natural gas development by JET alum
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JET alums continue to make their voices heard. Here’s a recent opinion article by New York-based alum Sam Lederer (Shizuoka-ken, 2005-07), a Contributor at Americans for Energy Leadership, on the importance of better regulation over natural gas exploration in the U.S.
CLICK HERE to read some of Sam’s other writings on Japanese energy and environmental policy.
Sam can be reached via his LinkedIn profile and can be followed via Twitter @samlederer
A recent article from Japan Times-McClatchy News Information Services about the Nitten braile library in Takadanobaba in Tokyo includes several paragraphs on a British JET alum named David Hathaway (Nagano-ken) who is blind and who is running the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) scholarship program — which is held in Malaysia, where he teaches basic and advanced computer skills to blind Asian leaders.
Here’s the link to the article: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/12/19/5203423.htm
(Thanks to Megan Miller-Yoo for alerting us to the article.)
Justin’s Japan: Interview with ‘Fried Chicken and Sushi’ Cartoonist/JET Alum Khalid Birdsong: Part 2 of 2
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Khalid Birdsong at work. (Courtesy of K. Birdsong)
By
JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
For Fried Chicken and Sushi, was it a conscious decision to make the lead character black?
Of course, definitely. I’m obviously an African American, and I think that I was concerned because I thought, is anybody going to want to read about this black guy going to Japan? I felt like I wanted to be true to who I am, and there’s a certain kind of way of being able to comment on race, the way that we perceive and look at people. When you go to Japan, they don’t really care who you are, you’re just a foreigner. So it’s a different kind of perception, and I really like that idea. If I keep Karl as black, I can have things that I think about that can be a whole lot easier to write, but I think it would be an interesting thing that you don’t see very often.
What kinds of crazy situations did you observe in Japan regarding Japanese people’s impression of you?
Where do I start? One thing in general is that everyone would ask me questions about America as if everyone in America does the same thing, you know? Since the Japanese people have a shared history and are all kind of the same race, they say, “Well, what is it like in America?” and “What do families eat for dinner in America?”, and it’s always so difficult to answer those questions because I have to say, well, it depends—we have a lot of cultures and so everybody’s different, and people celebrate different things. So that always would frustrate me because they want to generalize and put us all into one box, and it was hard to do. I always found that to be funny and I would start laughing when they would ask me those questions and look at me strangely: “Why are you laughing? This is a very serious question!”
What were some of the funnier or grossly inappropriate things that you experienced there that may or may not make the cut for future episodes of Fried Chicken and Sushi?
Maybe I’ll put this one in there—I don’t know if I’m the only one where this happened—but a lot of students always are asking if you have a girlfriend or something like that. But I would have several students come up to me and ask if I had a lover, like, “Do you have a lover?” And I always would say, “Uhh…well, no.” It was just the kind of English that they would use. I’m sure that you remember that there were just certain words that were always just a little different, and it would make me laugh all the time when they asked me that question, which I would always get.
Did you find yourself in the situation of having to educate your students on certain cultural things?
All the time. About America, and talking about holidays and what people do, just like the whole Christmas thing, like, “How do you celebrate Christmas?”, you know? “Christmas is not for lovers in America and we have family over.” That kind of explanation would go on and on. Certain things, even racial issues—they would learn about Martin Luther King and then they felt like there were no problems for black people in America anymore because of Martin Luther King, and everyone’s treated equally all the time in America. So there are a lot of cultural issues that I would try to discuss and help them to understand. Also, even though we have things that are different, there’s things that are the same, too. They always wanted to know what’s different, but I tried to say that things are still the same. We have families that we love and we like to celebrate and laugh and eat, and so I think that was allowed because they want to act like we’re so different and no one’s like Japanese people, but we actually do share things in common just as people.
How about race-related questions?
Just being tall and getting the students who were just shocked at how tall I was, I got that all the time: “Oh, dekai! Se ga takai!”, “you’re so tall,” and everything. They thought that I played basketball, and I really, really suck at basketball [laughs]; it’s really embarrassing. So I was leaving school one day and the kids were out playing basketball, so of course they called me over, “Oh, Birdsong-sensei, please shoot the basket.” So I thought, okay, sure—I knew I was going to miss, and they’ll see how much I suck, and it’ll be great. So of course I shoot it, and of course I make it, and they’re all like, “WOAH! You’re the greatest!” [laughs] Here we go, living up to the stereotype. Those things didn’t happen much, but they would happen on occasion, that’s for sure.
Click here for the rest of the interview.
Justin’s Japan: Interview with ‘Fried Chicken and Sushi’ Cartoonist/JET Alum Khalid Birdsong: Part 1 of 2
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By JQ magazine’s Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Examiner.com. Visit his NY Japanese Culture page here to subscribe for free alerts on newly published stories.
Cartoonist/JET alum Khalid Birdsong. (Courtesy of K. Birdsong)
Cartoonist and teacher Khalid Birdsong lived in Japan for two years working as an assistant English teacher on the JET Program. Last spring he launched the original webcomic Fried Chicken and Sushi, which is published twice a week and based loosely on his real-life experiences in Japan, mining the cross-cultural humor that living abroad provides.
Birdsong now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, whom he met in Japan, and baby daughter. He plans to visit Japan next year, which he feels will inspire even more stories. I spoke with the artist about his time on JET, life as a teacher, and the future of his creation.
Where did you grow up, and what is your history with comics?
I guess I’d call Atlanta, Georgia, home—that’s where I’ve spent most of my life. I’ve traveled quite a bit. I’ve lived in several countries—in Nigeria, Germany, the Bahamas and also Japan. So I’ve kind of had that international view of things. I’ve always enjoyed reading comics no matter where I might be living. I’ve always liked to draw them, but I didn’t really read American comics until I was in middle school. Mainly, I would read Asterix and the European comics, and I’d watch a lot of animation. But I’d still draw my own comics and make up my own characters and do my own comic books and then sell them for a quarter to my friends; people always knew me as the comic book kid. So I just kept it going—even in college, I went to Howard University in Washington, D.C., and I studied graphic design and illustration there. Everything I learned, I tried to bring it back into comics and cartooning. I also did T-shirt designs, and did some freelancing for a couple of years on my own, which meant that I was freelance working, but I was also a security guard, and I was waiting tables, and all the other things that you do. And I just fell into teaching art in elementary school, and I’ve been teaching ever since. I really, really love it. It’s great.
How did you get hooked on Japanese culture?
I think like most people in high school, at least when I was in high school in the early ’90s, it was this brand new thing, when trying to look at Japanese animation when you didn’t have a translation and watching stuff you couldn’t understand with friends—and trying to read any certain comics that you could get your hands on—it was something new and exciting. I just always thought, “Boy, it must be interesting to actually live in Japan; that must be something amazing to do.” But I never thought I would really ever do it. I was just interested in the art and language. Even in college, same thing—it became more prevalent. I would enjoy more and more anime and manga, along with American comics. So I think that’s what really started me off. I was drawing comics, but I was still drawing in an American-type cartoony style. I didn’t have that quote-unquote manga style, but that’s what kind of started me into it. And then I started thinking what it would be like to live over there once I started actually teaching art.
That’s when you discovered the JET Program?
Yeah, when I was teaching art, I guess I had this feeling—I was in my mid-20s, and I just thought it would be nice. Me and my friend Jason, who’s actually the J in the Fried Chicken and Sushi comic—we both talked about going to Japan just to visit just for a couple of weeks. And so we tried to plan a trip, but we didn’t have the money and all this—didn’t quite happen. And then, he actually found out about the JET Program online, and then I looked into it, too, and we said, “We should try to apply, let’s do it.” I was already teaching [in the U.S.], so we applied, and I went through the, whatever, nine-month span of time that it takes to go through everything, and I made it in and he didn’t, and it really was not cool; it really hurt us both. But he’s a good friend, so he said, “You need to go on ahead and do it,” and so I did.
So the relationship between the two characters in the comic is based on real life.
It is. A lot of what I’m telling in the comic is based on truth in my life, but there are things that I may change or over exaggerate or add on as time goes by, as Karl’s character develops and becomes more of his own character and individual, and the same with J. So there’ll be things that I make up, but I try to keep as much of it as I can based on some of my real experiences—I think people can tell what comes from truth and real experience.
So you’re saying you didn’t have a talking tanuki spirit haunting you?
[laughs] That’s great! You know, the thing with that is, in real life I really do have a very overactive imagination. You might have known some Japanese when you went over there, but for me, I really didn’t. I listened to some CDs and studied some basic greetings and everything, so when I was there I had no idea what anyone was saying. I would just get lost in my own imagination, and there were tons of stories going on in my head and all this—I would imagine things moving around that weren’t moving around. So no, I didn’t have a tanuki, but I wanted to have something that would represent that state of craziness I was in, where I’m there but also kind of detached from it all.
Because of budget woes, there’s been talk of the Japanese government trimming or potentially cutting the JET Program altogether. As a JET alum, what are your thoughts on the value and benefits of the program from your own experiences?
I think that for me, it was great to be able to travel to another country and to get international experience as a teacher and teach English and be able to travel in a place where I never thought I would and learn a new language, so that is very valuable for me. I think that even though people argue, saying that maybe having a native speaker in the classroom is not that all that important for Japanese people, I think that it’s still great for them to have someone from another country, because I feel that Japanese people don’t really get a chance to really experience or talk to or have someone that’s not Japanese around them typically. So I think it’s a great way for them to not just learn about other cultures and what’s around them, not to mention English, but in terms of international relations I think it’s a really great program for that.
And the work you’re doing now is an extension of those ideals.
I totally agree, it’s really great. It challenges stereotypes, and I wish we could have more of it instead of cutting it down.
Click here for the rest of the interview.
JET Alum J.D. Sparks elected Magistrate and Justice of the Peace in Kentucky
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Thanks to JET alum Terry Vo of the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville for sharing this press release. Terry also serves as President of JETAA Music City (i.e., Nashville).
Pewee Valley, Oldham County, KY – November 2, 2010 J.D. Sparks, A former JET participant and current JETAA member, was elected as Magistrate and Justice of the Peace to Oldham County’s Fiscal Court for Oldham County’s fifth Magisterial District.
JD ran as a Republican in the Primary against incumbent Iva Davis and won the slot as the Republican Candidate on the ticket. He was then unopposed in the General Election. This is JD’s first election for public office. The duties will include evaluation of budgets for the county, new ordinances, taxing issues and a host of other public duties to insure the welfare of the community. In addition the Justices are able to marry people in the County. The position includes the traditional title of Squire.
Along with Mr Sparks there were a number of first time nominees that won their elections and a new Judge Executive. While the position is considered full time most members traditionally maintain their regular jobs and serve as part time citizen legislators. JD will maintain his position as Executive Vice President of Public Equity Group, a firm that does international financing. JD says, “I hope my years of international business operations and political volunteerism will help me in this position.” And goes on to say, “I want to be the People’s voice on the court and uphold the ideals that I was elected under.”
JD and the others in this new administration will be sworn in on December 3rd at the Oldham County Court House. Their first meeting will be the following day to discuss the business of the Community and his position has a four year term. He will represent the 5th Magisterial District, which encompasses the southern part of Oldham County to include the outlying areas of Pewee Valley, Crestwood and the Worth districts. Oldham County is recognized in Kentucky as the county with the highest mean income per household and best schools in the Commonwealth.
While on the JET program, JD was a member of the AJET national Council as Vice Chair and served on his local AJET board for 3 years. He is married to Japanese national and former Middle school teacher Yuko Sunaga Sparks of Ogama-machi, Japan. She currently teaches at the The Greater Louisville Regional Japanese Saturday School hosted at Indiana University South East. They are also members of the Japan Club of Greater Louisville. They have two sons: Manabu and Kenta Sparks. JD is very proud of his Japanese Heritage (his family came from Kitsuki Japan in 1905) and has a minor in Asian American Studies from Loyola University Chicago.
Sake World e-Newsletter by John Gauntner (December 2010)
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The December 2010 issue of the Sake World E-mail Newsletter by JET alum and the leading non-Japanese sake expert in the world, John Gauntner (aka “The Sake Guy”), is now available online. In this issue:
1. Greetings
2. Rice to Sake: How Much?
3. Did You Know?
5. Sake Basics
6. Announcements and Events: Sake Professional Course in Japan
7. Sake Education Central
Additional Links:
James Kennedy reviews “Pluto killer” book for Wall Street Journal
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James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of the acclaimed young adult novel The Order of Odd-Fish, has a great review in the Wall Street Journal of a sugoku omoshiroi book titled, How I Killed Pluto, And Why It Had It Coming by professor of astronomy Mike Brown.
Here’s the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704243904575630683559145518.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
Op-ed on U.S. energy policy by JET alum
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JET alums are indeed everywhere. Here’s a recent opinion article by New York-based alum Sam Lederer (Shizuoka-ken, 2005-07), a Contributor at Americans for Energy Leadership, on potential directions in U.S. energy policy for the “lame-duck” session of the U.S. Congress.
CLICK HERE to read some of Sam’s other writings on Japanese energy and environmental policy.
Sam can be reached via his LinkedIn profile and can be followed via Twitter @samlederer
Lars Martinson interviewed in Hero Magazine re “Tonoharu: Part 2”
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There’s a nice interview with JET alum Lars Martinson in Hero Magazine. Lars recently published Tonoharu: Part 2, a graphic novel about teaching English in Japan that follows up on the success of Tonoharu: Part 1.
Here’s the link to the article: http://heromagazine.org/?p=189
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:
