************By Makoto Shirai, secretary, Japan-Insights Research Institute (Non-profit organization in Tokyo)

Dear Friends,

Are you interested in Japanese crafting art?

Let me introduce a new essay from Japan-Insights.

The Magic of Urushi Lacquer by Dr. Rupert Faulkner

https://topics.japan-insights.jp/Public/pdf/japan-insights_jp/topics/JIN_Urushi.pdf

Please share this expert’s experience!

Japan-Insights is a nonprofit open database compiled by leading experts in Japanese studies. The posts present a broad range of historical and contemporary topics that encourage visitors to engage with the real Japan through immersive experiences. Follow the Facebook page and website to learn about and share these insights from around the country!”

#japan

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Instructor
Posted by: International College of Technology
Location: Ishikawa, Japan
Contract: Full-time

Attached is a job shared with us. A visa is possible, but candidates should inquire before committing.

Instructors to teach programming, software development at the high school/junior college level.

Qualifications: 

1. Master’s degree in relevant field
2. Evidence of excellent teaching skills
3. Teaching experience
4. Evidence of commitment to teaching and to student development
5. Advanced English proficiency
6. Keen interest in Japanese education

Period of employment:  Two or Three-year contract beginning April 1, 2023 or June 1, 2023 (further extension of period of employment dependent on staffing needs of the college and instructor’s performance)

Read More

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Sales and Marketing Coordinator
Posted by: Nikkei America, Inc.
Location: New York, NY, USA
Contract: Full-time

Attached is a job passed along to us. Unfortunately, they will not sponsor a visa.

Nikkei America, Inc. is one of the subsidiaries of Nikkei, Inc. For more than 145 years, Nikkei has been providing unparalleled coverage of Japan’s economy, industries and markets. The group’s business portfolio includes publishing, broadcasting and the Nikkei 225 stock index. Its flagship media, The Nikkei, has a circulation of approximately 2.83 million. With 37 bases globally and 1500 journalists, Nikkei is ideally positioned to provide Asian news and analysis to a global audience.

<Your Role>

Nikkei America is looking for a Sales and Marketing Coordinator for its New York Office. This position in the Media Business Department is designed to provide sales and marketing assistance to the vice president in the department. Other services relating to the Media Business Department may be required from time to time.

<Responsibilities>

• Produce brochures, sales materials, proposals, and presentation documents in English, including proofreading and editing. Translation from Japanese to English is included.
• Support planning and organizing for promotional events.
• Check daily advertising/marketing news from various media.
• Participate in meetings with clients and advertising agencies as requested by the vice president.
• Serve as a liaison to facilitate administrative communication with clients, advertising agencies, Nikkei media representatives, Financial Times, and Nikkei Tokyo team.
• Create and issue invoices and bills and send them to clients through various channels (mail, e-mail, etc.)
• Keep records of all advertising invoices and voucher copies.
• Plan and execute digital marketing strategies, such as sending marketing e-mail.
• Maintain awareness of clients’ needs as well as operations and industries, and provide timely information to clients.
• Other administrative services relating to the Media Business Department may be required from time to time.
• This position may require traveling as requested by the vice president of the department.

Read More

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Custom Programs Resident Director
Posted by: Osaka Gakuin University
Location: Osaka, Japan
Contract: Full-time

Thanks to JET alumna, Kate Maruyama (Osaka-ken, 2005-2008) for passing along the following opening at her organization:

The Custom Programs Resident Director (CPRD) will plan and implement customized programs developed specifically for various universities in the United States. When custom programs are not on the ground, the CPRD may also be responsible for supporting other team members on CET’s standard semester programs as needed.

Attributes of the ideal CPRD candidate are strong leadership skills, flexibility, dedication, and enthusiasm for working with students and for cross-cultural exchanges. Candidates are advised that this is a time consuming, challenging position. We discourage those interested in pursuing their own research projects in Japan from applying.

Application Process: For more information and to apply, please click here – https://cetacademicprograms.com/about/work-for-cet/. CET encourages applicants to send their materials as soon as possible and before their best consideration deadline on January 15, 2023.

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Assistant Director
Posted by: Kobe Trade Information Office
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Contract: Part-time

Here’s a JET-relevant job passed along to us:

The Kobe Trade Information Office (KTIO) is currently seeking a new Assistant Director. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about the Kobe-Seattle sister city relationship and the promotion of startup business abroad to Kobe, Japan.

This a part-time position in their downtown Seattle office where they share a space with Hyogo Business & Cultural Center (HBCC). They strongly encourage previous JET ALTs to apply! Unfortunately, they are unable to offer any visa sponsorship. 

Application Process: Please check the link below. #seattlejobs#thejetprogram#alt#kobecity#japan
https://lnkd.in/d-zhHv2q

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Japanese to English Translator
Posted by: Kyushu National Museum
Location: Fukuoka, Japan
Contract: Full-time

Below’s a job received directly from the museum. For applicants who do not have Japanese citizenship, you can either be a permanent resident of Japan or possess a visa that permits long-term remunerative work in Japan.

Interested parties may apply without such a visa provided they are able to obtain one by the starting date of employment, which the employer will help prepare the necessary documents for visa application such as a certificate of employment, etc.

Application Process: For more information and to apply, please click here –
https://www.kyuhaku.jp/news/news-221125.html

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.

With Thanksgiving (and the hopes of sensible eating) now just a memory, we turn to colder weather, falling snow, and the new year to come. Fortunately for Japanese culture fans, December is just as busy as the holiday season itself. Whether you’re hosting guests from out of town or looking to squeeze in an event or two in between parties, we’ve got you covered.

This month’s highlights include:

Now through Jan. 8

NYC Winter Lantern Festival

Various locations

$12.00-$50.00

The annual Winter Lantern Festival is back to transform your neighborhood into an immersive world of light Journey to the East with friends and family at SIUH Community Park in Staten Island to explore the wonders of over 1,000 Chinese lanterns; all handmade by artisans. Queens County Farm welcomes visitors an unforgettable radiant oasis with friends and family as we Illuminate the Farm. Located at Nassau County Museum of Art in Long Island, Winter Lantern Festival’s Drive Thru Adventure in Roslyn will dazzle your friends and family as you roll through acres of luminance! Finally, night the light this holiday season! The Winter Lantern Festival at Smithtown Historical Society in Suffolk County will feature lanterns and displays ranging from mushrooms and flowers to farm animals to dinosaurs; all handmade by artisans with decades of dedication to their craft. Be ready for photo-ops with friends and family as this will be an unforgettable experience!

Dec. 1-3, 7:30 p.m.

Kotei (The Emperor) | Makura Jido (Chrusanthemum Boy)

Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street

$95, $76 members (performance + soirée); $72, $58 members (performance only)

Prominent members from the Kita Noh School, including Akiyo Tomoeda, Living National Treasure designated by the Japanese government, perform two works from noh theater’s classical repertoire: Kotei (The Emperor) on Dec. 1 and 3, and Makura Jido (Chrysanthemum Boy) on Dec. 2—two pieces meant to be a prayer to hasten the end of the pandemic and celebrate health and longevity. Set in the Tang Dynasty in China, Kotei tells the story of the deity Shoki, who rescues the ailing Empress Yang Guifei and pledges his allegiance to Emperor Xuanzong. Also set in China, Makura Jido is about a boy who has joyfully lived for 700 years by drinking an immortal elixir from the dew of a chrysanthemum leaf. The boy reveals that the dew has created a pool in the valley, which has become the headspring for medicinal water. Performed in Japanese with English supertitles. A ticketed soirée follows the Dec. 1 performance. An artist Q&A follows the Dec. 2 performance.

 Dec. 2-11, various times

Yoshimitsu Morita Retrospective

Film at Lincoln Center, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza #4

$10-$65

Across a 30-plus-year career, Yoshimitsu Morita (1950–2011) amassed one of the most fascinatingly idiosyncratic and prolific bodies of work in modern Japanese cinema. From his irreverently comic 1981 Something Like It to his 1983 breakout black comedy, The Family Game (presented in an all-new 4K remaster), to forays into melodrama (And Then, 1985), the hard-boiled film (Deaths in Tokimeki, 1984), the pink film/roman porno (Top Stripper, 1982), horror (The Black House, 1999), and romantic drama (Haru, 1996), Morita’s work is marked by an incomparable sensitivity to the peaks and valleys of the inner landscape of Japanese society, a penchant for subtle injections of surreality to highlight the absurdity of certain aspects of Japanese life, an omnipresent sense of irony, and a boldly iconoclastic approach to visual composition. Presented in Japanese with English subtitles. Select screenings feature an introduction by producer Kazuko Misawa and composer Michiru Oshima.

Read More

Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03) presents WIT Life, a periodic series about aspects of Japanese culture such as art, film, food and language. Stacy starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she offers some interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.

All you soccer (or should I say football) fans out there have probably been busy watching the World Cup. I don’t follow soccer, but am excited to see how far Japan has gotten and will be cheering Samurai Blue on in their match with Spain tomorrow. It’s also been nice to see Japanese fans receive recognition for their attention to the stadium’s cleanliness. I particularly like this image of the Japanese team’s locker room following their upset victory over Germany (check out the origabmi cranes displayed in the back!).

A segment on this morning’s Japanese news interviewed some of these volunteers, and the reporter seemed to be taken by one response in regard to what motivated them: cleaning is「当たり前」(atarimae, or natural, obvious, reasonable). Another respondent replied that a clean stadium is a reflection of their pure hearts (a familiar Japanese trope). The cleaning crew’s earnestness was not only endearing but an inspiration to fans from other countries, some of whom emulated the Japanese fans after their own teams’ matches.

Read More

Posted by Tom Baker

When the 2022 Japan Writers Conference took place at Tokai University last month, hosted by novelist and JET alum Charles Kowalski, it was the first time for the event to be held in person since before the pandemic. Even so, there were still a few online sessions. Some of the sessions were recorded for posterity. (And you, dear reader, are posterity.)

Below, you can watch screenwriter and UCLA Prof. Steven Wolfson describe some of the elements of a successful screenplay. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can see many more at the JWC YouTube channel.

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Japanese Teacher
Posted by: Monterey High School
Location: Monterey Peninsula, CA, USA
Contract: Full-time

Thanks to JET alumnus, Gabriel Rebeck (Kagoshima, 2008-2011) for passing along the following job opening:

Monterey High School is hoping to fill this position ASAP. Other former JETs are teaching Japanese in this area. Many of the top minds in Japanese language education in the US are located in Monterey. Lots of opportunities for career growth for individuals passionate about teaching Japanese.

Application Process; The full job description and application can be found at the following link: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/DistrictJobPosting/1688525

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Various Positions
Posted by: Inside Travel Group
Location: Broomfield, CO, USA
Contract: Full-time

Here are numerous job openings sent directly to us from the company:

Inside Travel Group has openings for new Japan Specialist Travel Consultants, and Senior Japan Specialist Travel Consultants starting in January of 2023. The job descriptions are attached below, as well as a link to the website and details on applying. 

Application Process: For more information and to apply, please view the PDFs below.

Posted by Tom Baker

The sixth annual European Literature Festival in Tokyo will take place Nov. 22-27. It is a multilingual event featuring talks by scholars and writers from Japan and the European Union. Sessions to be presented in English include an appearance at the Aoyama Book Center by Irish poet Paula Meehan and and online discussion with Dutch thinker Rutger Bregman.

For full details, visit https://eulitfest.jp/year2022/en/

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Assistant, Economic Section
Posted by: Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Contract: Full-time

Below is a job received directly from the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago:

The Consulate-General of Japan is seeking a highly motivated, team-oriented individual for the position of Assistant for Economic Section.

The Consulate offers group health insurance 80% coverage, paid vacation and sick leave. Working hours are 9:15 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, with lunch time receptionist duty once a month and the occasional weeknight and/or weekend event (paid overtime). Salary is commensurate with experience. The minimum monthly base salary for this position is between $3,400 to $3,600. The Consulate does not withhold federal or other taxes from employee salaries.

Read More

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Inside Travel Group Branch Integrator / Branch Director
Posted by: Inside Travel
Location: Broomfield, CO, USA
Contract: Full-time

Thanks to JET alumnus, John McMillen (Fukui, 2006-2008) for sending us a job opening at his current company:

Are you a business leader who gets excited about delivering exceptional value for customers? Do you excel at motivating teams around a shared passion? Have you felt for yourself the difference that a meaningful travel experience can make in a person’s life? If these questions describe you, keep reading!

About Us

We build vacation experiences people love with our multi-award-winning approach of service-led cultural adventures. This pairs classic sightseeing with unique experiences of local life and culture. In everything we do at Inside Travel Group, we strive to deliver a Quality and Friendly service with Integrity, Determination and Passion using our collective Knowledge. And we’re growing!

About the Role

We are actively seeking a Branch Director to provide the leadership, drive, and coordination that the branch needs to become a high-performing unit that achieves its profit and growth targets; to connect the branch to the global ITG vision and mission; and to make a positive impact on its people and community. You’ll be part of a fun, friendly team of employees, all of whom share a passion for our destinations, a belief in our brands, and a strong collective sense of values and purpose. Our work culture is supportive, creative, and dedicated.

Read More

Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.

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Position: Educational Events and Programs Planner
Posted by: Stanford University
Location: Stanford, CA, USA
Contract: Full-time

Thanks to JET alumna, Jennifer Hwang (Shizuoka-ken, 2008-2012) for sharing the following opening on her team:

The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) is a dynamic and fast-paced team that delivers programs to Stanford’s 9,000+ graduate students and 3,000+ postdoctoral scholars. We work collaboratively across the university with schools and other vice provost areas to enhance the graduate educational experience. VPGE supports programs, administration, and service to the university community and graduate students in five portfolio areas: fellowships and funding, professional development, diversity and inclusion, interdisciplinary learning, and academic guidance. VPGE is searching for a skilled events professional for our team.

Reporting to the Assistant Vice Provost for Graduate Education, you will plan and execute events, programs, and workshops for our Graduate Professional Development portfolio, the Stanford Graduate Summer Institute, and fellowship programs. You will play a key role in coordinating logistics such as registration and attendee tracking, presentation and materials support, and evaluations. 

In support of the university’s flexible work initiative, this position may be eligible to be “hybrid,” working both from home and the Stanford main campus with the expectation of being onsite three to five days per week.

Application Process: For more information and to apply, please click this link — https://careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/educational-events-and-programs-planner-19430