JQ Magazine: DVD Review — ‘Live from Tokyo’ Explores Music’s Japanification
By Sam Frank, an ALT who taught English in Hiraizumi-Cho, Iwate-ken, from 2002-04 and worked in Shirahama-cho, Wakayama-ken as a JET from 2004-06, for JQ magazine. He currently manages the New York division of UnRated magazine and works as a project manager/Web producer at Arrow Root Media. When it comes to cultural diversity, Japan has […]
Hokkaido JET Annual Musical Production Tradition Continues
Snow, Sea and Song Hokkaido’s hills are alive with the sound of music, thanks to the efforts of its ALTs By Caroline Cronshaw (Hokkaido, 2006-09) – Caroline is an amateur illustrator and instructor at the University New Brunswick in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. She has painted and designed posters for the HAJET Hokkaido Players’ […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review — ‘Are You an Echo?’
By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata-ken, 2008-10) for JQ magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub-Chapter, Rashaad is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University with a master’s degree in responsible tourism management. For more on his life abroad and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com. As we might take for granted the ability to research […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review — ‘Yurei: The Japanese Ghost’
By Julio Perez Jr. (Kyoto-shi, 2011-13) for JQ magazine. A bibliophile, writer, translator, and graduate from Columbia University, Julio is currently working at JTB’s New Jersey office while seeking opportunities with publications in New York. Follow his enthusiasm for Japan, literature, and board gaming on his blog and Twitter @brittlejules. Do not read this review. If you are foolish enough to read this review to […]
By Julio Perez Jr. (Kyoto-shi, 2011-13) for JQ magazine. A bibliophile, writer, translator, and graduate from Columbia University, Julio has had experience working at Ishikawa Prefecture’s New York office while seeking opportunities with publications in New York. Follow his enthusiasm for Japan, literature, and comic books on his blog and Twitter @brittlejules. A Professor Emeritus of Harvard University, Jay Rubin has also served […]
JQ Magazine Seeks Writers for Fall 2013!
As we head into fall, JETAA New York’s JQ magazine continues to provide content with an ever-expanding array of articles, interviews and features (see our recent stories here). We’re now looking for new writers, including recent returnees and JET vets, from all JETAA chapters worldwide for posting stories via our host at the global JET alumni resource site […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review — ‘Yokohama Yankee’
By Michael Glumac (Miyazaki-ken, 2008-09) for JQ magazine. Michael is currently enrolled as a graduate student in international affairs, and has been a music publicist and artist manager. Pages of Leslie Helm‘s new book Yokohama Yankee seem as though they might be perfectly at place in a Dan Brown novel, and this I mean in […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘From Postwar to Postmodern, Art in Japan 1945-1989: Primary Documents’
By Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken, 2007-08) for JQ magazine. Jessica is a freelance writer and a graduate student in arts journalism. She was previously the publicist for Japan-focused publishers Stone Bridge Press and Chin Music Press. The abstract and avant-garde sculptor, painter and all-around revolutionary Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto famously said, “Art is an explostion” […]
JET Alum Artist Beat: Joshua Powell, Book Designer and Illustrator
******* JET Alum Artist Beat is a periodic feature organized by Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken, 2007-2008) intending to share the wide scope of creative work that JET alumni are pursuing as artists, designers, and/or craftspeople. She is interested in interviewing and providing exposure for artists and arts professionals, and welcomes links to online portfolios, stores and […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan—and Japan to the West’
By Jessica Sattell (Fukuoka-ken, 2007-08) for JQ magazine. Jessica is a freelance writer, and was previously the publicist for Japan-focused publishers Stone Bridge Press and Chin Music Press. She is interested in the forgotten histories of culture, and has often considered running away and joining the circus. We’re still riding the “Cool Japan” […]
JQ Magazine: Book Review – ‘Shiro’ and ‘Otaku Spaces’
By Preston Hatfield (Yamanashi-ken, 2009-10) for JQ magazine. Preston moved from San Francisco to New York City in January 2012 and is now accepting submissions from people who want to be his friend. Abduct him from his house in the middle of the night, or find him on Facebook and ask about his JET blog […]
JQ Magazine Needs New Writers for Winter 2012!
As we welcome a new year, JETAA New York’s JQ magazine continues to provide content with an ever-expanding array of articles, interviews and features (see our recent stories here). We’re now looking for new writers (including new returnees and JET vets) from all JETAA chapters worldwide to write and share more material that we can […]
New version of LinkedIn group for Monbusho English Fellows (MEFs) and other pre-JETs
A few months ago I set up a LinkedIn group for Monbusho English Fellows (MEFs) and other pre-JETs such as British English Teachers (BETs). However, it turns out that an MEF named Thomas Schalow, now a professor living in Kobe, had already set up an MEF group on Linkedin. Here’s the link for anyone who […]
JET ROI: “The JET Program’s Finest Hour”
David Jacobson, a former Monbusho Scholar who now works for Seattle-based Chin Music Press (founded by former Monbusho English Fellow Bruce Rutledge), has just posted a really terrific piece titled “The JET Program’s Finest Hour“ about the role of JET and JET alumni in response to the Tohoku Earthquake Disaster. David did a particularly effective […]
MEF Bruce Rutledge article on CNN: Japan’s post-quake kawaii cute movement
********** MEF Bruce Rutledge, founder of Seattle-based independent book publisher Chin Music Press and editor of Ibuki magazine, has an article on CNN GO titled: “Japan’s post-quake kawaii cute movement: Harajuku’s colorful street-styles used to combat the quake crisis.”