WIT Life #241: The Ravine of Goodbye
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WIT Life 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 along with her own observations.
Last night’s Japan Cuts feature film was Tatsushi Omori’s The Ravine of Goodbye, which just received the Special Jury Prize at the Moscow International Film Festival. This movie is based on the book by Shuichi Yoshida (who also wrote the chilling Villain, later made into a 2010 movie), and depicts the life of a couple whose next door neighbor’s young son was found murdered. As the police begin their investigation and reporters start gathering facts for their stories, it becomes revealed that the husband was involved in a gruesome gang rape when he was a college student. As more information is found, the deeper layers are peeled back to reveal the truth of the incident’s aftermath.
There were several scenes that were left a bit vague and I had some unanswered questions while watching, though I have a hunch they could be cleared up by reading the original source material. I thought the movie was really engaging in the first half, but later on as the truth was being uncovered things seemed to slow down almost uncomfortably. I found Omori’s work reminiscent of the recent Sundance miniseries “Top of the Lake,” both theme and pacing wise. Although much of Ravine was disturbing, it is without a doubt a polarizing film that will lead to much discussion, as I heard many disparate reactions from viewers exiting the theater. And for that alone, perhaps it is worth seeing.
WIT Life #240: Japan Cuts 2013: Week 2
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WIT Life 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 along with her own observations.
The amazing lineup at Japan Society’s Japan Cuts 2013 continues, and last night I had the chance to catch two films with the themes of loneliness and love. The first movie was I Have to Buy New Shoes, which is set in Paris and features a three-day romance between the main characters Aoi and Sen. The film’s title comes from their initial encounter, in which Aoi tripping over Sen’s passport causes the heel to come off her shoe and his passport to be ripped. She is a longtime resident of France, and he is visiting for the first time with his sister (who has abandoned him to find her boyfriend who is living there). Reminiscent of Celine and Jesse from Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, Aoi and Sen fall into an easy rhythm as they find themselves spending all their moments together.
But with Sen’s departure three days away, there is a deadline to their relationship. Over this short period of time, they become close enough to confide in each other about Read More
I’ll Make It Myself!: Baudrillard and the Food Truck: Dragon Fest 2013
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. Ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan and the US; curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan; and admins The JET Alumni Culinary Group on LinkedIn.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
One of the aspects I hadn’t anticipated as much regarding my culture shock expectations was adjusting to Americanized- and fusion Japanese food, especially for foods that I encountered for the first time in Japan. This isn’t to say that American-Japanese food isn’t delicious–quite the contrary–but it can be a bit alarming at times to see sushi rolls cooked tempura-style (why?) or cilantro in your temaki (YES). If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of my relative inexperience with the Japanese home cooking when I left to study abroad in university and the problematic nature of the idea of a food’s authenticity.
Dragon Fest is an annual celebration of pan-Asian cultures held in Seattle’s International District.
I’ll Make It Myself!: Raspberry-Almond Mini Baked Oatmeals
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. Ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan and the US; curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan; and admins The JET Alumni Culinary Group on LinkedIn.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Note: if you’re in Japan and sans raspberries, never fear! There are plenty of seasonal and local adaptations.
One of my go-to breakfast recipes is Heidi Swanson’s baked oatmeal (via Lottie & Doof). Extremely versatile, you can swap in any seasonal local fruit you like–in Japan, I often used persimmons, apples, or figs instead of bananas on the bottom; diced apples, raisins, or mikan mixed in when blueberries were out of season; and, best of all, it fit in a moven in a 20×20 cm (8×8 in) pan. The recipe will always remind me of my Kanazawa kitchen.
Around Japan in 47 curries: Iwate cheese
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Tom Baker (Chiba, 1989-91) is writing a 47-part weekly series of posts on his Tokyo Tom Baker blog, in which he samples and comments on a curry from a different prefecture each week. Here’s an excerpt from his ninth installment, about Iwate Prefecture.
The Choshu Five in London, with Masaru Inoue at center (Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons)
When I first came to Japan, I found some Koiwai cheese in a supermarket and mistook it for an American product. After all, Kiowa – as I initially misread the name – has an American ring. (The Kiowa are a Native American tribe.)
However, I now know the history of Koiwai cheese – and its unusual name – goes all the way back to the adventures of the Choshu Five, a group of young men who secretly left Japan in 1863 to study in Britain. After their return, they became leading figures in the country’s rapid modernization. One of them, Masaru Inoue, is remembered as “the father of the Japanese railways.”
In 1888, Inoue visited Iwate to inspect the progress of railway construction there. According to the Koiwai website, the volcanic soil and barren-looking windswept terrain struck him as a promising area for ranching…
WIT Life 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 along with her own observations.
Director Toshiaki Toyoda (center) with Japan Society Senior Film Program Officer Samuel Jamier (left).
Japan’s Society fabulous film festival Japan Cuts is back and better than ever! The 2013 lineup includes 24 films, some new and some older, all depicting Japanese society in the way that only Japanese cinema can. This year’s festival kicked off last Thursday night with the movie I’M FLASH from Japan Cuts favorite Toshiaki Toyoda. This director has attended previous festivals (2010’s Hanging Garden, 2012’s Monster’s Ball), and he was on hand this year as well to receive an award from Japan Society Senior Film Program Officer, Samuel Jamier (who announced this will be his last year with the festival. His unique, witty introductions to each film will be missed).
Toyoda’s film stars Tatsuya Fujiwara, who appeared in the film Parade featured at Japan Cuts 2010, as the leader Rui of a religious sect called “Life is Beautiful.” Rui has inherited the family business but is becoming disenchanted with it, and his bad behavior leads to a wild night with grave consequences. The film takes place in Okinawa, and the presence of the sea is so prominent that it is almost an additional character. Aside from Rui, we get to know Read More
Job: SNYS Editor (NYC)
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Thanks to JET alum Paul Benson for sharing this jet-relevant job listing. Posted by Kim ‘Kay’ Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Position: SNYS English Page Editor
Posted by: Shukan NY Seikatsu (週刊NY生活)
Type: N/A
Location: New York City
Salary: See below
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
JET alum freelance translator and journalist Paul Benson is seeking a replacement for himself at Shukan New York Seikatsu as he prepares to move on to grad school.
New York Seikatsu Press is looking for an English page editor. The Shukan NY Seikatsu (週刊NY生活) paper has broad readership in the United States and Japan. This position is ideal for someone interested in journalism, editing, and Japanese-English translation. The applicant must be able to commute into New York City once per week.
* Prior professional translation and journalism experience is recommended, but not required. Read More
Posted by Ashley Thompson (Shizuoka-ken, 2008-10), Community Manager for Nihongo Master and editor of Surviving in Japan.
Japan is home–the place I got engaged, married, and gave birth to my daughter. It’s the birthplace of my husband. I never expected Japan to become so special to me six years ago, let alone that the most important events of my life would happen there. It isn’t a perfect county–no country is–but I love many of its quirks, traits and customs.
We didn’t know what the future held and we had set up a life there.
A sudden turn of events and circumstances forced us to move back to the US in January of this year. We made the decision to move only two months before, as financially and emotionally we weren’t in a place to stay.
I’ve been struggling with reverse culture shock since coming back. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like I “fit in” here in the States, but I feel it even less so now. I’m trying to adjust while pining for Japan, despite the fact we had plenty of reasons to move back. Read More
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 June 2013. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“The four years I spent in Japan were some of the most significant years of my life; years I would not trade for anything in this world.”
Nadya Dee (Kagoshima-ken, Hioki-shi, 2007-11) is a writer, editor and blogger born and raised in the city of Kingston, Jamaica. With a Bachelors degree in English Literature from The University of the West Indies, she joined the JET Programme in 2007 and spent four years living and teaching English in Kagoshima, Japan. She currently works as an independent copywriter and her professional website can be found at http://nadyadee.wordpress.com. As a writer, she intends to write books and collections of short stories which explore the evolution of human consciousness. Through her international experiences she hopes to create written works that speak to the heart and soul of all mankind.
Ichi go Ichi e 一期一会: A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
Before going to Japan in 2007, I knew nothing about Kyushu let alone Kagoshima. I searched the internet but could only find a little information about the place that I was going to live for a year. I learnt about the active volcano Sakurajima and the “Last True Samurai” Saigo Takamori but I never expected to have such an amazing experience and I never thought that, half way across the world, I would find my second home.
I joined the JET Programme to broaden my international experience with the intention of spending just one year. I left my homeland, Jamaica, and went to Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher to teach English as an alternate form of communication. I went as an ambassador, to increase global awareness and foster a positive relationship between Japan and Jamaica; two countries so far apart but with such similarities. While living in the town of Ijuin, in a city called Hioki on the Satsuma Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture, I taught Bob Marley songs, learnt Kagoshima-ben, played taiko, danced in a mud festival, wrote haiku and made great friends who I now consider a part of my extended family.
As a Prefectural ALT I taught at a technical high school, an agricultural high school, a special needs school and two different high schools in and around Hioki and Ichiki-Kushikino City. My responsibilities included lesson planning, team-teaching in Oral Communication classes, motivating students to practice English, editing essays and compositions, helping students to prepare for skit and speech competitions, providing pronunciation and interview preparation support as well as promoting international awareness within Japanese society. I always ensured that all my students learnt about Jamaican food, music and culture in my self-introduction classes.
After a year of adjusting to life in Japan I got the rare opportunity to perform taiko with the ‘Fukiage Seishou Daiko Group’ in four festivals throughout the rural area of Hioki City. In the following years I went on to teach reggae dances to my Japanese friends and we also performed in various shows and matsuri in and around Kagoshima City. Read More
WIT Life #238: Internet use in Japanese elections
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WIT Life 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.
Japan will be holding its Upper House elections (for half of the 242 seats) on July 21, and in looking toward this there have been reduced restrictions on Internet use for campaigning purposes. Previously this was not permitted for reasons such as fear of libel and identity theft.
The two separate bills submitted to change this would enable candidates to use blogs and social media such as Facebook and Twitter during the 12-day campaign period for Upper House polls and the 17-day campaign for those of the Lower House. The difference between the two versions is that one allows voters to send out mail on behalf of their favored candidates, whereas the other limits the right to mail solicitation to political parties and candidates.
In accordance with these changes, Japan’s parties have created a variety of tools for constituents to get to know their candidates and interact with them electronically. For example, the LDP is targeting the young smart phone generation with a game called “Abe-pyon” that has the Prime Minister jumping up to Read More
Posted by Gemma Villanueva (Fukushima, 2008-11) on behalf of fellow JET alum Vinnie Burns.
JET alum Vinnie Burns is doing a critical study for his masters programme. His topic is on the motivation and job satisfaction of ALTs on the JET Programme. His particular interest will be to investigate what school leaders and managers can do to improve the motivation and job satisfaction of ALTs.
If you are interested in participating in his study, he has two different questionnaires — one for current ALTs and one for former ALTs. You only need to fill out the one which applies to you.
Former ALTs: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nLXFph_DFKldFPP0vmqtXg-lrOVjNp6ptSFbeHxzj6k/viewform
Current ALTs: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-die2kh_-THKKTqlI6ofGxmx3_DwRFPkMSi9vB8bETk/viewform
I’ll Make It Myself!: Localizing Big Boy
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A recent returnee, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan and the US; curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan; and admins The JET Alumni Culinary Group on LinkedIn.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
…During a work conference in Chiba that first fall, I ended up out for a quick lunch at Big Boy, which is essentially a hamburger-and-standard-”American”-fare family restaurant in the US. In Japan, as with most “Western food” family restaurants, Big Boy has been cleverly localized. There are no hamburgers, only hamburg plates.
WIT Life #237: Cincinnati chili and sister cities
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WIT Life 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 work brings me to Cincinnati, Ohio for the first time, so of course I sought out what Japanese connections exist. During my morning run along the Ohio River, I passed through the waterfront Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park. Its entrance is marked by a colorful sculpture announcing the name of the park in various languages, but unfortunately the Japanese one reads ｢フレンドシッ」, missing its final プ.
It’s divided into different sections for each region of the world, so while there is not one for Japan itself, there is one for all of Asia. In this area, the walkway is marked by 菊 (kiku or chrysanthemum) and what looks like various crests. From what I could see on the website, it seems like there are sakura that Read More
Let’s Talk Japan is a twice monthly, interview format podcast covering a wide range of Japan-related topics. Host Nick Harling (Mie-ken, 2001-03) lived in Japan from 2001 until 2005, including two great years as a JET Program participant in Mie-Ken. He practices law in Washington, D.C., and lives with his wife who patiently listens to him talk about Japan . . . a lot.
Looking for a good summer read? Check out Episode 12 of the Let’s Talk Japan podcast to hear recommendations from members of the J Book Club of Washington, DC. Enjoy!
Nick
If you have not already done so, be sure to “Like” the podcast on Facebook, and follow the podcast on Twitter @letstalkjapan. Additionally, please consider leaving a positive rating and/or review in iTunes.
I’ll Make It Myself!: New Resource: Japan-Friendly Recipes Master List
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L.M. Zoller (CIR Ishikawa-ken, Anamizu, 2009-11) is the editor of The Ishikawa JET Kitchen: Cooking in Japan Without a Fight. A bilingual writer, web administrator, and translator, ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan; curates The Rice Cooker Chronicles, a series of essays by JETs and JET alumni on the theme of cooking/eating and being alone in Japan; and admins The JET Alumni Culinary Group on LinkedIn.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
While living in Japan, I often got frustrated with the availability of ingredients, recipes that didn’t work in my moven, and other challenges to cooking in a Japanese kitchen. Now that I’ve repatriated, I wanted to have a special place on this blog to share Japan-friendly recipes, both my own and those of others, for foods from all over the world.
