WIT LIfe #119: 小東京
Anecdote Article, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life 
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
My current travels bring me to Los Angeles, so a trip to Little Tokyo (aka 小東京 or sho Tokyo) was in order. My first stop was Mikawaya, a (cash-only) sweets shop located in the Japanese village. As you can see in the picture on the right, they have a colorful selection of mochi. The top row features fruity and exotic flavors ranging from strawberry, orange, pineapple, melon and blueberry to coconut and chocolate. They offer bite-sized samples (and let you try as many as you want!), and I enjoyed the coconut and the strawberry.
However, 
when it came to buying some mochi to take home I decided Read More
WIT Life #118：プリクラの進化
Anecdote Article, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #118：プリクラの進化
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
It’s been a few years since I lived in Japan, but during my various periods in the country purikura played a big part in my life. Purikura stands for “print club” and refers to the sticker pictures often taken with friends that blanket Japan and many malls in the States as well. I must admit I sometimes didn’t fully understand all the purikura functions available and usually let my Japanese friends take charge, but they seem to have advanced even further these days. A special on the news this morning took a look at what current purikura machines have to offer.
Three functions were highlighted as being the most sought after by young women, who are the prime target of purikura. They are big eyes (デカ目 or dekame), skin beautifier (美肌機能 or bihada kinou) and linking to your keitai (携帯との連動性）. The first option of dekame works Read More
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
As of late there has been much discussion regarding to what extent English should be incorporated into different aspects of Japanese society. A recent post here talked about the possibility of mandating English in Japanese high schools in 2013, and a Wall Street Journal article from earlier this month entitled “English Gets the Last Word in Japan” highlighted Japanese firms that are conducting their internal business in English. This is an interesting phenomenon that is especially timely in light of the possibility of the JET program being cut.
The high school teacher who wrote the former article says, “Although many of our school’s students acquire the reading and writing skills needed to pass university entrance exams, I have failed to teach them the skills necessary for simple conversation. In the future, these elite students from high-ranking universities will Read More
WIT Life #116: Japanese Shifts in Sumo and Economic Status
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Two interesting Japan articles in today’s Wall Street Journal. The first on the cover page talks about the sumo club at Tokyo University, and how those previously not associated with the sport, such as smaller size wrestlers and foreigners, are now making a splash. The second in the opinion section discusses the recent news that China has replaced Japan as the world’s second largest economy (and is set to surpass America in the near future). Happy reading!
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
I am back in Honolulu, so of course I had to visit my favorite mochi stand, Kansai Yamato. Every time I go I end up discovering something new, and this time it was the two plump manju pictured on the right. The purple one was sweet potato flavored with this paste in the middle. The white manju was of the standard kind, filled with red bean. Both were quite substantial snacks, big and filling so the two-pack is likely meant for sharing. As manju, I found them Read More
PROfessional Japanese-English Conference on Translation PROJECT Tokyo 2010
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JetWit job poster Stephen Palanik (Fukushima Ken, 2004-08) learned of the following translator’s conference through the Japan Association of Translators, and thought it might be of interest to current and former JETs in the Tokyo area (or those that can get to Tokyo relatively easily). Stephen is a translator based in Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka Ken, and he occasionally posts job listings and event information for JET alumni.
PROJECT Tokyo 2010 is the third in a series of one-day conferences on translation and interpreting organized by the Japan Association of Translators (JAT; 日本翻訳者協会) for participants to build skills and exchange information about their professions.
Theme: Tools and Workshops: Better, Faster, Richer
Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010
Time: 9:30 to 17:00
Registration opens at 9:00
Venue: TKP Shinagawa Conference Center
3F Takanawa Court, 3-13-1 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Approx. 5 minutes’ walk from Shinagawa Station (Takanawa Exit)
Admission:
Students: ¥4,000
JAT Members: ¥5,000
Non-Members: ¥6,000
Post-conference networking event: ¥5,000
Two-hour buffet meal and open bar
* Registration for the conference and post-conference networking event closes at midday on September 4, 2010. Registration is via the conference website only.
The program will consist of introductions to translation tools, workshops to improve practical skills, and informative sessions from industry specialists.
* Visit the conference website for more details.
Come to PROJECT Tokyo 2010 and find out how you can change the way you work!
WIT Life #114: Sakura Square
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
My travels bring me to the mile-high city of Denver, Colorado, not exactly what you think of as a hotbed of Japanese influence. This is why I was surprised to catch a glimpse of hiragana during our city tour this past weekend. Little did I know, but not too far from our hotel was a location called Sakura Square. This plaza is overshadowed by the adjacent shopping area of Larimer Square, but nonetheless worth checking out for its small shrine and Japanese garden featuring a few bonzai trees.
An interesting piece of trivia is that Read More
WIT Life #113: Centenarian crisis
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Recent news coming out of Japan has surrounded unsettling discoveries regarding its elderly population. Last week it was revealed that Tokyo’s oldest listed man, who if alive would have been 111 last month, likely died over 30 years ago. According to a report on CNN this morning, currently the whereabouts of about 30 Japanese centenarians are unknown. As discussed in this coverage from Bloomberg, “the disappearance of some of Japan’s oldest citizens is raising concern that some families are bilking the nation’s pension system even as others risk being deprived of payments for the same reason — poor record keeping.” This was a big issue back in 2007 when Read More
WIT Life #112: DC JET sendoff
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Although my current business trip prevented me from attending the JET sendoff party in New York last week, I was fortunate enough to be able to catch the one here on my last night in DC. It was sponsored by the Embassy of Japan and held at the Ambassador’s Old Residence located on Embassy Row, and I was able to get an invite thanks to my friend Gina Anderson from JETAA DC (leftmost of the lovely group of JET alums on the right).
The event, scheduled from 6:30-8, was packed to the gills when I arrived a little before 7. After the walk over from my hotel I wanted nothing more than a cold beer, but Read More
WIT Life #111: Monozukuri
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
My travels (with a group of Pacific Islanders this time) prevent me from blogging as much as I want to, but I’d like to share an interesting article I just came across regarding the Japanese concept of monozukuri, courtesy of Rochelle Kopp’s Japan Intercultural Consulting site. Enjoy!
WIT Life #110: Japan Cuts comes to a close
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Last Friday wrapped up Japan Cuts, the two-week, 25-film festival at Japan Society. Thanks to JS’s wonderful volunteering system I was able to see nine of the films at the festival itself, and another two in the comfort of my home. The final night wrapped up the event with the two movies About Her Brother and Sweet Little Lies. I was really looking forward to the latter, but I found the pacing slow and the movie’s story less stimulating than I thought it would be.
About Her Brother is one of those ubiquitous sentimental Japanese movies, but it wasn’t too heavy on the sappiness. Tsurube Shofukutei plays Read More
WIT Life #109: Parade
Anecdote Article, Events, Film, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #109: Parade
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
At Japan Society on Friday night I saw what has been my favorite movie of the Japan Cuts festival so far, Parade. A special treat was the attendance of the director, Isao Yukisada, to introduce the movie and take questions after. He presented the movie as a “slice of the dark side of Tokyo,” and expressed his nervousness and excitement at having his work screened here in New York for the first time. The movie explores the relationships between four young people sharing an apartment in Tokyo, as they deal with their respective troubles as well as the danger of an assailant who has been attacking women in the area. The title refers to Read More
WIT Life #108: On the Road
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Both films screened last night at Japan Society’s Japan Cuts festival were road movies. The first, Accidental Kidnapper, is reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s A Perfect World, but I found the second one, One Million Yen Girl, to be more distinctly Japanese. Both feature well-known leads who are easy on the eyes (Katsunori Takahashi and Aoi Yu, respectively) and are backed by strong supporting casts, including Takashi Sasano who makes an appearance in both as an advocate for the main character.
In Accidental Kidnapper he plays a convict who advises Takahashi how to carry out his kidnapping, and in the latter he is a coffee shop proprietor in a small mountain village. In my previous double header, the actor Eita also appeared in both movies; he shows great versatility as one of the main characters in The Foreign Duck, The Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker and has a bit part in Hanging Garden. Both he and Sasano are also in Read More
WIT Life #107: Japan Cuts continued
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
At the Japan Cuts film festival last night, I was able to attend both movies which were screened. The first was The Foreign Duck, The Native Duck and God in a Coin Locker and the one that followed was Hanging Garden. As a special treat, the director of the latter, Toshiaki Toyoda (who also directed Blood of Rebirth which was screened twice at the festival last week) was on hand to offer an introduction to his film and a Q&A session after. The director of the former, Yoshihiro Nakamura, also did Golden Slumber so it was interesting to be able to compare the two.
Director Nakamura clearly places great importance on music in his movies, to the point where is almost a secondary character. This is true in Golden Slumber which focuses on the title’s Beatles song, and in Foreign Duck it is Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind. In both cases, the songs and their lyrics are Read More
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Last week was the start of the Japan Cuts film festival at Japan Society, where this year 24 films will be featured. This is the largest lineup ever and includes a wide variety of films. The Japan Society allows those who offer to volunteer at the festival the chance to stay and view the movie for free! I have decided to take advantage of this opportunity, and plan to help out during a couple of days of the festival. Stay tuned for reviews of the many movies I will have the chance to sample!
However, my first time at the festival was as a customer last Friday for the screening of the conspiracy theory comedy Golden Slumber. The plot of Read More
