WIT Life #101: Empire State Turns Japanese!
Anecdote Article, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life 
Comments Off on WIT Life #101: Empire State Turns Japanese!
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.
In a previous post about the recent Japan Day in Central Park, I mentioned the introduction of a samurai procession. 
This was one aspect of celebrating this year’s 150’s anniversary of the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States and its enthusiastic reception in New York City on June 16, 1860. According to a press release from the Japanese Consulate of New York, “the visit by a group of over 70 samurai was one of the greatest spectacles the city had ever seen: an estimated half-a-million New Yorkers jammed the streets to watch the Japanese parade up Broadway and two weeks of grand balls, celebrations, and non-stop press reports welcomed the visitors from across the sea.” The samurai brought with them instruments of ratification for the 日米修好通商条約 (Nichibei shuukou tsuushou jouyaku) or U.S.-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce.
Another exciting promotional event commemorating this historical occasion is Read More
WIT Life #100: ダーリンは外国人
Anecdote Article, Film, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #100: ダーリンは外国人
**************************************************************
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 night I went to see the US premiere of ダーリンは外国人 or My Darling is a Foreigner. This film is based on the manga series with the same title by Saori Oguri. I was introduced to this work by a Japanese friend shortly after it came out in 2002, and I devoured the volumes that were available at the time. It depicted the day to day life of this international couple and the bumps that they encountered along the road of their relationship. They eventually went on to have a child together, and since the first book went on sale this popular series has sold 3 million copies.
Tony is the name of Saori’s husband and he hails from the United States. He is Read More
Job: Online Writer for The U.S.-Japan Council (Washington DC)
Jobs, Uncategorized Comments Off on Job: Online Writer for The U.S.-Japan Council (Washington DC)
The U.S.-Japan Council (www.usjapancouncil.org) is an educational 501(c)3 non-profit organization that promotes U.S.-Japan relations and is currently seeking a communications associate who can support the Council’s website content editing, online marketing, member communications, program promotions, and design efforts.
As a new non-profit organization, the Council is seeking a candidate who is interested in an exciting opportunity to establish the Council’s communications strategy, establish an online presence, and apply effective push and pull marketing efforts through traditional and new social media.
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Develop editorial content for the website, monthly e-Newsletter, press releases and marketing tools. Prepare drafts of marketing materials (e.g., brochures, program announcements, membership information, etc.)
• Contribute ideas for multimedia and interactive content to increase the reach of the Council and to retain engaged audiences.
• Create graphics and layouts, including e-Newsletter templates, website templates, web content, logos, marketing brochures, fliers, event registration pages, and invitations.
• Maintain and update the Council’s website.
• Provide basic software program training to staff, as needed (e.g. – Salesforce.com, Constant Contact). Read More
Job: Butler/Caretaker, Consulate-General of Japan (Seattle)
Uncategorized Comments Off on Job: Butler/Caretaker, Consulate-General of Japan (Seattle)
Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The Consulate-General of Japan is seeking an individual for position of Butler/Caretaker for Large Residence.
The Requirements for this position are:
–Must perform a variety of cleaning, meal serving and light household maintenance duties.
–Must be responsible, neat and polite.
Send resume & cover letter by June 11 to:
Consulate-General of Japan, 601 Union St. #500, Seattle, WA. 98101
Attn. Mr. Yukio Motoe
Email: kanri@cgjapansea. org
Tom Baker reviews two books on the game industry
Uncategorized Comments Off on Tom Baker reviews two books on the game industry
Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91) is a staff writer for http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/. He usually writes for DYWeekend, the paper’s arts and leisure section. You can follow Tom’s blog at tokyotombaker.wordpress.com.
Recently he rerviewed two books on the video game business, “Fun Inc” and “Nintendo Magic.” Here’s an excerpt:
Even if you aren’t into video games, you may already be into video games. A major theme of two new books on the subject is that game technology is now so omnipresent that even people who don’t consider themselves gamers are using it.
“Games have long been one of the world’s most important engines for computing innovation–along with, more recently, the mobile phone,” writes British journalist Tom Chatfield in Fun Inc.
“It’s largely thanks to the ever-evolving ambitions of game designers that modern computers have a DVD drive, a graphics card, decent sound capability, a staggering amount of RAM, a large colour monitor, and so on.”
User interface is one area in which game developers are especially driven to improve. People may put up with hard-to-use accounting software because they need it for work, but no one has to play a video game.
“For a long time, we’ve made things that are fundamentally useless,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is quoted as saying in Nintendo Magic, by Japanese journalist Osamu Inoue. “People won’t endure inconvenience that they don’t have to endure. They won’t read your instruction manual. If something is hard to understand, it’s entirely the maker’s fault. If they can’t figure out a videogame in five minutes…that’s the end of it.”
Read the rest of the review here.
Job: Translator needed
Jobs, Uncategorized Comments Off on Job: Translator needed
NOTE: Kay reports that they have received many capable applicants via JetWit and are no longer accepting applications.
Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Via Kay Ohara, Kodansha Ltd.
Kodansha is seeking a Japanese-to-English translator for the iBook edition of Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s new novel, Shineba Iinoni. The project details are as follows:
-400 pages, much of it is dialogue.
-Deadline: Aug. 10
-Fee: approx. $7,500, rights cannot be retained by the translator
WIT Life #99: Japan Day
Anecdote Article, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #99: Japan Day
Reception at the residence of Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya (front left), accompanied by his lovely wife Yukiko and the author on her right
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.
The heavens held out for this year’s Japan Day, despite the forecast of impending showers. I was at the residence of Ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya on the Friday night before the event, and he assured all the guests that it would not be raining come Sunday. Sure enough, there was a huge amount of humidity but the skies were clear. The Ambassador himself made multiple appearances through the day, initially at the four mile run in Central Park that kicked off the event. I was one of the participants, and was happy to see him dressed as a samurai greeting runners as we began the race. Later in the day he was still in costume and made his way through the throngs of people attending the festivities in the East Meadow.
A new aspect of this year’s event, its fourth holding, was a samurai parade. This procession, led by the band from the NYPD, included Read More
WIT Life #98: 鳩山おろし
Anecdote Article, Article/Journalism, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #98: 鳩山おろし
***********************************************************************************
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.
This morning’s news was buzzing with the announcement that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will be stepping down from his position. This makes him the fourth PM in four years to quit, a statistic that will likely lead to some self-reflection in Japan. The 2 main reasons cited for his resignation were 1) 普天間問題 (Futenma mondai or the fate of the Futenma Marine Corps Air base on Okinawa) and 2) 政府と金 (seifu to kane or government and money, the investigations being carried out regarding Hatoyama’s political financing).
As for the former, Hatoyama directly apologized to Okinawans for his waffling on the matter and the loss of faith he had caused as a result. When on the street interviews were conducted with Okinawa residents, the response was largely one of disappointment and regret that Hatoyama was cutting and running. In terms of the latter, Hatoyama pledged to “return to a DPJ that separates government and money and to deal with the issue properly.”
The title of this post is 鳩山おろし (Hatoyama oroshi or “Down with Hatoyama”), referring to Read More
J-DOC: Japanese Proficiency Exam – What’s Changed, and How to Handle It
Uncategorized Comments Off on J-DOC: Japanese Proficiency Exam – What’s Changed, and How to Handle It
J-DOC, C-DOC, and K-DOC are recurring features written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based 
language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese, Chinese, and Korean language learning options.
Japanese Class listing can be found at: Japanese Classes
Whether you’re a new student for the Japanese Proficiency Exam or have taken it in the past, the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in 2010 has changed. Consequently, how to study and handle the exam has also changed. This article will discuss the history of the exam and why changes were brought about, what’s new about the Japanese Proficiency Test for 2010, and how to best study to pass the JLPT.
The reason why the test was changed in 2010 was test takers and school administrators were complaining…
(Click JLPT 2010 for the rest of the article)
WIT Life #97: Anko obsessed
Anecdote Article, Food & Drink, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #97: Anko obsessed
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.
For those of you who have been faithful readers of my blog, you probably have a sense of the sweet tooth that I have, especially regarding 和菓子(wagashi). This is something known well by those closest to me, as well as those looking for the fastest way into my heart :) My birthday was this past weekend, and my friends came through with flying colors in terms of satisfying my cravings for something sweet.
I celebrated my birthday with dinner at Koiso, the best Japanese restaurant in NY (and I’m not saying that just because I used to waitress there!). It is a truly authentic family-run joint where regulars dominate the clientele, and there are always multiple conversations taking place in Japanese. Taisho (the sushi chef), gets his supplies from the Freeport Fish Market, and he always lets customers know what fish are the freshest that day. Omakase (leaving it in the hands of the master) is definitely the way to go for the best sushi/sashimi!
Taisho’s wife Kyoko-san is the waitress and all-around life of Koiso, and the warmest woman you will ever want to meet. For my birthday, she had all of my favorites prepared. As you can see in the picture on the right resembling an anko trifecta, she made me a generous portion of Read More
Article about JetWit in CLAIR publication
Uncategorized Comments Off on Article about JetWit in CLAIR publication
There’s a nice article (in Japanese) about JetWit in the June 2010 issue of a CLAIR publication. I believe it was written by Hanzawa-san, who works in the CLAIR-NY office and served for one year as the JETAA USA Lisaison.
http://www.clair.or.jp/j/forum/forum/pdf_248/09_jet.pdf
Job: News reporter/research assistant for Daily Yomiuri (Los Angeles)
Jobs, Uncategorized Comments Off on Job: News reporter/research assistant for Daily Yomiuri (Los Angeles)
Via Caleb Rabinowitz of the Daily Yomiuri in Los Angeles:
News Reporter/Research Assistant
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Description:
The Los Angeles Bureau of the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest national daily newspaper, seeks a reporter/research assistant. We cover social issues, sports events, national politics and any major breaking news in the Western and Midwestern states of the U.S. This job primarily involves gathering news, tracking newswires, assisting sportswriters, arranging interviews, conducting background research, creating scrapbooks of news clips and transcribing interviews. The office is often fast-paced, and the position will include exciting opportunities to travel to major news events, report on major sporting events, interview high-ranking state and national officials, and cover the entertainment industry. Applicants must be fluent in English and speak conversational or better Japanese. Those who speak Spanish will be preferred. Read More
Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91) is a staff writer for The Daily Yomiuri. He usually writes for DYWeekend, the paper’s arts and leisure section. You can follow Tom’s blog at tokyotombaker.wordpress.com.
He recently interviewed Azby Brown, author of “Just Enough,” a book that describes how Japanese people 200 years ago (including the million-plus residents of Edo, which was the world’s largest city at the time) led environmentally sustainable lives. Here is an excerpt:
Most of the details are of purely historical interest. It is unlikely, for instance, that you will ever need to stitch a thatched roof onto your house with a wooden sewing needle the size of a spear.
However, the larger patterns that emerge from the details are of vital interest today. A farmer’s thatched roof could be made of rice straw, making good use of a by-product of food production. The same straw also was used to make rope, sandals, bags or mats. And when those items were worn out, they could be composted or mulched to help grow more rice, or they could be burned as fuel, incidentally creating ash that could be sold to the makers of ceramics, dyes and other products.
Brown calls this an example of “the zero-waste ideal.” But it wasn’t just farmers living close to the land who approached this ideal. Even urban Edo recycled almost everything and wasted almost nothing. “It was a self-policing system, because nearly every waste product had economic value for someone else,” Brown writes.
“Waste product” in this context means more than just rags, scraps and ash. Even the contents of the city’s toilets had economic value, with farmers paying for the privilege of hauling “night soil” away to make compost for their fields. Urine was collected separately, to extract ammonia and other useful chemicals.
Brown thinks these are practices to which the modern world would do well to return, especially in the present era of “alarming topsoil losses.” Unfortunately, the “yuck factor” keeps such resources from being utilized.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen…a composting toilet,” Brown said in the interview. “The compost that comes out is absolutely inoffensive. You really would think it was peat moss. You would not know what it was. There is almost no smell. [The problem is] the idea more than anything else.”
The use of night soil as farm fertilizer actually promoted public health in the Edo era, Brown writes. Because waste was collected and hauled away, it stayed out of the urban groundwater supply, helping to spare Edo from the deadly cholera epidemics that often swept large Western cities of the time.
Job: New AET needed in Shintoku (Hokkaido)
Jobs, Uncategorized Comments Off on Job: New AET needed in Shintoku (Hokkaido)
Via the Hokkaido JETs Yahoo listserv:
The Shintoku BOE is looking for an applicant to fill one of its two Assistant English Teacher (AET) positions. The town is looking for someone who can help the Japanese teachers with the Eigo Note. The successful applicant will also help teach at 2 junior high schools, design and teach a children’s conversation class and coordinate a yearly English/holiday party with the town’s other AET.
Application deadline: June 18th
Position begins: August 1st
WIT Life #96: ヒューストンの日本庭園
Anecdote Article, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life Comments Off on WIT Life #96: ヒューストンの日本庭園
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.
The hot, humid weather down here in Houston certainly takes its toll on the body, but I was able to enjoy a morning run this weekend with one of the participants in my group (By the way, this fellow runner is also a former interpreter, and I would highly recommend her Japanese-only very entertaining blog). Our destination was Hermann Park located just off of the Rice University campus, and when we arrived and did some exploring we were able to find a Japanese garden! (日本庭園 or Nihon teien)
It was authentic in all respects, with manicured paths and a large tea house in the back. We took respite in the shade and Read More
