JET alum Lars Martinson publishes “Kameoka Diaries Volume 2” e-comic
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Lars Martinson (Fukuoka-ken 2003-2006), author of the graphic novels Tonoharu: Part Two andTonoharu: Part 1, has just published the Kameoka Diaries Volume 2. This is a follow-up to Kameoka Diaries Volume 1, Lars’ insightful and entertaining (especially to any JETs) e-comic about his return to teaching English, this time in Kameoka, Kyoto.
Notably, you can purchase a copy for $0.99 for iPhone/iPad/iPodTouch or pay $1 for a PDF version for Mac/PC/Android/whatever.
More info here and below: http://larsmartinson.com/kameokadiaries2-now-available/
In Lars’ words:
When I submitted my first e-comics to Apple, ( The Kameoka Diaries: Volume One and Young Men of a Certain Mind ) it took one month for them to get approved, so I’m surprised & delighted it only took two days this time. But hey, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!
I’ll write more about the new volume of The Kameoka Diaries soon; I just wanted to get this announcement blog entry out right-away.
So please check it out. And if you enjoy it, please consider writing a review on iBooks, and/or telling your friends, and/or tweeting about it, and/or “liking” it on Facebook. Thanks a bunch!
JETwit Note: I just downloaded a copy onto my iPhone as soon as I saw the announcement. Volume 1 was great, even on an iPhone screen.
Job: Researcher/Reporter Assistant – The Mainichi Newspapers (LA) (apply by Aug 19)
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Via The Mainichi Newspapers. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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***Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JETwit. Thanks.***
Position: Researcher/Reporter Assistant
Posted by: The Mainichi Newspapers
Type: Full-time
Location: Las Angeles, CA (Brentwood)
Salary: monthly net salary will be $2,500.00(after all applicable federal and state deductions and
withholding)
Start Date: N/A
General Description:
The Mainichi Newspapers Los Angeles Bureau seeks a Researcher/Reporter Assistant. The Mainichi Newspapers is a major daily Japanese newspaper printed in Japan with over 4 million readers. It is the oldest national daily newspaper in Japan founded in 1872. Our corporate information can be found at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/.
Note: The application deadline is August 19. Read More
Job: Production coord/researcher – NTV (NY)
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Via NTVIC. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Production Coordinator/Researcher
Posted by: NTVIC
Type: N/A
Location: New York
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Overview:
“TV Production Company under a major Japanese TV network group is seeking a production coordinator/researcher. The job is based in New York City, but requires traveling throughout North America for location shoots. Main responsibilities include researches and film shoot coordination for variety shows, documentary programs and sports programs for Nippon TV and other Japanese TV networks. Fluency in English (native/business level) required, and ability to converse and write emails in Japanese required. Please send resume in English or in Japanese to: contact@ntvic.com.”
http://www.ntvic.com/index-e.html
Job: Guide Job for Exchange Program
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Via JETAA Pacific Northwest. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Guide Job for Exchange Program
Posted by: The Laurasian Institution
Type: Short term
Location: Seattle, WA
Salary: N/A
Start Date: N/A
Responsibilities:
The Laurasian Institution of Seattle, WA is seeking guides for groups of 25 participants visiting the United States from Japan between October 2012 and March 2013. Groups will be comprised of 24 high school students and 1~2 adult chaperones. Groups will visit the United States for a period of 11 days, including sightseeing in two major cities (either Seattle & San Francisco or Washington D.C. and New York City) and a homestay in locations throughout the country.
Guides will meet groups at the airport in the arrival city (Washington D.C or Seattle), lead them through scheduled orientation and sightseeing activities, accompany them to the homestay location and departure city (New York City or San Francisco), and see them off at the airport. Read More
I’ll Make It Myself!: “Summer Pasta with Eggplant Sauce”
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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 writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel (formerly The Art of Japan: Kanazawa & Discover Kanazawa), ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and 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.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
Enjoy Japan’s excellent eggplants and tomatoes in this summery dish! -L
Who needs meat when you have the bounty of summer produce? Today I’m happy to share a recipe I think would be amazing at a dinner party–or simply to make something nice for yourself on a quiet evening at home. Bring out the best in summer tomatoes and eggplants with fresh basil, garlic, and a bit of cheese.
Job: Interviewees Wanted for Panel Discussion (NYC) (Midtown East, NY)
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Thanks to JET alum translator and writer Kia Samaniego for sharing this somewhat unique JET-relevant opportunity she spotted on Craigslist.
Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Position: Interviewees (for Panel Discussion)
Posted by: Multilingual Outsourcing Co., Ltd
Type: N/A
Location: Midtown East, NY
Salary: See Gratuity (below)
Start date: N/A
Responsibilities:
MULTILINGUAL OUTSOURCING Co., Ltd. (http://mlos.jp/en/index.html) is seeking participants who can attend panel discussions held on New York. Participants must be USA nationality, 20 to 59 years old and meet following requirement.
Requirements:
For the entry, you have to match one of following at least.
Category 1．You have been to Japan 1 or more times.
Category 2．You are working at Travel industry and have been to Japan 1 or more times.
Category 3．You are working at Travel Magazines and have been to Japan 1 or more times.
Category 4．You are photographer and have been to Japan 1 or more times. Read More
JETAANC(Northern California)’s Pacific Bridge Spring 2012
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The new issue of the official JETAANC magazine, Pacific Bridge, is now available. Read it online here.
In this issue you will:
-Learn about local efforts to support the recovery of the Tohoku region.
-Hear about how new JETs are settling into the Tohoku area.
-Read about recent events in the JETAANC chapter.
And much more!
Job: Postings from Idealist.org 8.07.12
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Via Idealist.org. Posted by Geneva Marie (Niigata-ken 2008-09) Geneva is a contributor to both JETwit and JETAANY. Geneva is on a continuous (epic) search for Japanese-related jobs in the United States. Hire me! :-)
Accountant
Posted by: The Asia Foundation
Type: Full-time
Location: New York, NY
Salary: Competitive, Full Benefits
Start Date: Not Specified
The Japan Society is seeking an Accountant who will report to the Vice President of Finance and Administration and who also will provide overall support to the Finance department with primary focus on Japan Society receivables. Bachelor’s degree in accounting or the equivalent combination of education and experience, required.
http://www.idealist.org/view/job/sD6B5JFNt3cp/
Program Coordinator
Posted by: The Japan Society of Northern California
Type: Full-time
Location: San Francisco, CA
Salary: Competitive, Benefits Package
Start Date: Not Specified
The Japan Society of Northern California is seeking a Program Coordinator who will be responsible for creating, organizing and executing Japan Society programs and special events. English fluency is required, Japanese language capability is a plus. Knowledge of Japan and Japan-related issues, also a plus.
http://www.idealist.org/view/job/d9mzFtDFMPFP/
Visitor Services Associate
Posted by: The Japan Society
Type: Part-time
Location: New York, NY
Salary: Entry Level, Hourly
Start Date: September 3rd, 2012
The Japan Society of New York is seeking a part-time Visitor Services Associate. The position is part-time, approximately 20 hours per week. In addition to regularly scheduled weekly hours, the Associate must be available to cover extra shifts on nights and weekends when necessary.
http://www.idealist.org/view/job/WZ7cWtGWTwSP/
WIT Life #210: Of Rice and Retirees
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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.
Last month the NYT offered several interesting articles on Japan’s economic situation, and there are two in particular that I would like to share. The first discusses how consumers are reevaluating their allegiance to Japanese rice in light cheaper options from places abroad like China, America and Australia. This foreign rice which used to be largely shunned is now hard to get a hold of. In addition, one major rice producing region in Japan is Fukushima where last year’s earthquake and tsunami hit. Farmers there are struggling to Read More
I’ll Make It Myself!: “Tanabata Beer Festa Toyama 2012”
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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 writer and web administrator for The Art of Travel (formerly The Art of Japan: Kanazawa & Discover Kanazawa), ze also writes I’ll Make It Myself!, a blog about food culture in Japan, and 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.
New Rice Cooker Chronicles submissions always welcome. Just e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
The Tanabata Beer Festa Toyama, held the first full weekend of July each year in Toyama City, Toyama, is one of Hokuriku’s only beer festivals. I hopped the train south with a couple of our friends for an afternoon of craft beer. I hadn’t been to a beer festival since I left Michigan three years ago, so I was beyond thrilled.
What does one drink when confronted with 20 breweries’ worth of Japan’s finest craft beer? Make a game plan. When I attended the Michigan Brewers’ Guild Summer Beer Festival, I decided to only drink cherry beers, as those are much harder to get on draft than stouts. This time, after three years of living deprived of regular access to stouts, I circled 5 stouts I’d like to try, got a pizza for lunch, and set to work drinking.
JQ Magazine: JQ&A with Bridges to Japan Founder Jennifer Jakubowski
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“If you are interested in doing something Japan-related, the JET alumni community is definitely a good start, associating with people who can relate to your experiences in Japan, and getting to know people who might be useful contacts for you on the career front.”
- space
- By Lana Kitcher (Yamanashi-ken, 2010-12) for JQ magazine. Lana is a New York native, and just recently returned to the U.S. She wrote for the AJET online magazine Connect while on the JET Program. She also enjoys writing about her adventures on her blog at Kitcher’s Café.
Jennifer Jakubowski (Hokkaido, 1995-97) is the founder and managing director of Bridges to Japan, a Japanese-American cross-cultural consulting and training firm based in New York. Prior to joining JET, Jakubowski spent two of her younger years in Japan, one as a junior high school student due to her father’s job and one as an exchange student at Waseda University.
Following her time on JET, she worked for the Nagano Winter Olympics as a broadcaster (despite having no experience or training, she wryly recalls), acquired a master’s degree in international studies and diplomacy in London, and then returned to the U.S. to chart a professional course in cross-cultural consulting in New York City. This mixture of experiences and opportunities over the years has landed her where she is today with Bridges to Japan.
As an inspiration to past, current and future JETs, JQ caught up with Jakubowski to learn about how she made it to where she is now, and what advice she has to offer to other JETs and alumni hoping to use their JET experience in their future careers.
Tell us a little about what you do at Bridges to Japan.
Most simply put, our mission is to help bridge cultural differences between Japanese and American business communities. As anyone who has spent time in both cultures can attest to, there are significant differences in how things are approached on many levels and these differences, if not addressed, can lead to misunderstandings. In the business world especially, this can have an adverse impact on the bottom line of a business initiative. Our end goal is for each side to better understand where the other side is coming from so that the relationship is more successful and enjoyable all around.
How do you achieve this?
For American clients, this most often involves training them on Japanese business and social norms unfamiliar to them if they haven’t had prior experience dealing with the Japanese culture. On the flip side, we work with Japanese expatriates in the U.S. (or on their way) to help them adapt to American workplace norms and to navigate working with locally hired American staff.
What kind of people or companies might be interested in your services at Bridges to Japan?
Any American organizations or individuals who are doing business with Japan, but who are unfamiliar with how to effectively navigate the cultural waters. It’s truly amazing the impact that even one day of training can have on the success of a particular business relationship. I hear it time and again from my clients. As you know, the Japanese don’t expect you to “be” Japanese—they even find it a little weird or unsettling when gaijin try too hard—but the effort to reach across the aisle and demonstrate some cultural compromise and sensitivity in the course of business can make or break a relationship. Likewise, Japanese expatriates working in the U.S.—or on their way to the U.S.—are ideal candidates for the type of support we provide.
How did your experience on the JET Program prepare you for, and lead you to where you are now?
In addition to certain aspects of business that I’ve learned through experience over the years, having a solid understanding of the Japanese culture is the single most important aspect of my work. By being exposed to so many situations and Japanese people on JET—speaking to senior citizen groups, teaching junior high school students, working with Japanese government officials, playing softball with local peers, volunteering at a special education program, riding tractors with local farmers…you name it—my cultural literacy escalated significantly. While the learning curve is infinite, I feel that the JET experience endowed me with significant knowledge on this front by mere virtue of what was expected of me in that capacity. I had a strong academic base and some prior experience in Japan going into the program, which certainly helped, but the range of things I experienced on the JET Program was really astounding. Once I had a solid understanding of these cultural differences and the value of applying this knowledge professionally, I’ve been hooked on applying it professionally ever since.
JET Eliot Honda’s latest video project: A YouTube series called “Sister City Ties”
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The latest video project by current JET Eliot Honda (Ehime-ken, Uwajima-shi), who previously created four videos about his JET town of Uwajima-shi:
“So here’s a preview show of a YouTube series I’ve been working on called Sister City Ties. It will show the sister city relationship between Honolulu and Uwajima.”
NY Times reviews “Triburbia” by JET alum Karl Taro Greenfeld
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JET alum Karl Taro Greenfeld (Kanagawa-ken, 1988-89), author of Speed Tribes: Days and Nights With Japan’s Next Generation), has a new book out titled Triburbia: A Novel which was recently reviewed by the New York Times (“Bobos in Paradise“). Here’s the link to the review: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/books/review/triburbia-by-karl-taro-greenfeld.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
- For more information about Karl Taro Greenfeld, go to his website or read the Wikipedia entry about him.
- To purchase the book on Amazon, go here: http://www.amazon.com/Triburbia-Novel-Karl-Taro-Greenfeld/dp/0062132393
Job: Bilingual (J/E) Admin Coordinator (San Francisco)
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A JET-relevant job listing received directly from the company, a small international investment firm (via a reference from a JET alum).
Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Job Position: Administrative Coordinator
Location: San Francisco, CA
Position: Full-time
Salary: N/A
Hour: N/A
Overview:
We are a small international investment firm in San Francisco looking for a bright, creative, self-starter who is bilingual in English/Japanese and can jump in and take control of a unique Administrative Coordinator position. The Coordinator will provide administrative and office support and will serve as special events organizer. He/She may also be called upon to assist with pro bono work for an affiliated non-profit organization during work hours. Due to the relatively small size of our firm, the candidate must have the flexibility to work across departments and be able to pro-actively handle multiple projects simultaneously with little supervision. This position will report to the Managing Partner and Director.
Qualifications and Requirements:
* Ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing with the highest standards for quality and accuracy, including the ability to pay
attention to details, easily follow directions and learn quickly
* Ability to manage multiple tasks with composure, organization, and efficiency.
* Willingness and ability to take responsibility for completing assigned tasks within requisite time frames, even in the face of unforeseen
circumstances.
* Proficiency in MS Suite Applications: specifically PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Access, and ideally Salesforce, social media, and WordPress, etc.
* Japanese language ability and knowledge of Japanese business culture is required
We offer a comprehensive range of benefits including medical, dental, vision, 401K, life insurance, vacation and holidays.
Please send a cover letter and resume toproject.coordinator1410@gmail.com. Only qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview.
Job: Consulate Job, Accounting Office Staff (SF)
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Thanks to JET alum Peter Weber (who is the JET Coordinator at the Consulate in San Francisco) for sharing this listing. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97).
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Job Position: Supervisor
Location: San Francisco, CA
Position: Full-time
Salary: N/A
Hour: 9-5/M-F
Overview:
Duties will include: Interpreting various negotiations with the builders, Consulate, official residence of the relationship-building and facilities maintenance and management, the equipment / consumables management, large-scale event set-up, Assistant accounting, accounting relationships, etc., translation accounting documents, etc., and survey (price situation, housing etc.), IT related business Assistant, official car management, official car driving, Affairs of business, matters directed to Consulate-General and other accounting matters, etc.
Native proficiency required in both Japanese and English.
For more information and to apply go to: http://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/archives/PR/2012/pr_12_0719a.htm (Japanese only)
