Structural Unemployment Plagues U.S. Legal Sector
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Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules. He operates his own blog, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States. He also maintains the “Bankruptcy Legal Topics,” and, “Bankruptcy Billables,” sections for Steven Horowitz’s Bankruptcy Bill. For further reading regarding JETs and the law, he recommends JETs with J.D.s.
I’ve read how young adults in Japan are sometimes criticized for being lazily unemployed and living with their parents. I don’t know how common or fair that depiction is, but it’s out there. Economists’ term for this phenomenon is “structural unemployment.” Guess what awaits the U.S. legal profession?
Job: Senior Performance Management Advisor
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Job posting via wlid-jobs Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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Position Title: Senior Performance Management Advisor
Position Grade: G-13
Reports To: Senior Director, International Operations
Location: Washington, D.C.
Click ‘Read More’ for job details and requirements
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.
A wacky article from the WSJ about overnight trips between otaku and their virtual lovers to the seaside area of Atami, not far from Tokyo. Local business such as yakiniku (pictured right) and dessert shops are catering to this new clientele with special menus and promotional products, adding a bit of economic stimulus to this past its heyday region. Hotels will often charge for two (for up to $500!) despite the fact that half of the couple is virtual, and the men gladly pay. An Only in Japan story that I hope will be taken in context!
Job: Japanese logistic company, Customer Service Position (Long-term temp)
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Job posting via Quick USA, Inc. Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.
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Company: Japanese logistic company
Job Title: Customer Service
Employment type: Long-term temp position
Job Description: We are currently looking for a person to fulfill customer service position at export division of logistic company near JFK. The main responsibility of this position will be telephone calls, arrangement of pick-ups, and booking for airline etc. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO COMMUTE BY YOUR OWN CAR.
Salary: ~$15/hr
Requirements:
Location: Near JFK, NY
Contact: If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your resume to Shion Hoshino (Quick USA, Inc.) hoshino at 919usa dot com
JET alum James Kennedy turns “Odd-Fish” novel into school curriculum
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In a rather brilliantly creative move, James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of the acclaimed young adult novel The Order of Odd-Fish, has developed a classroom guide for the novel which is intended to be used by school teachers in class with their students.
In James’ own words:
Some schools have put The Order of Odd-Fish on their reading lists. That’s great!
So I’ve put together a classroom guide for Odd-Fish. It’s 44 pages of discussion questions, lesson plans, and projects. It also features Odd-Fish fan art by enthusiastic readers—art that was featured in our Odd-Fish gallery show in Chicago in April 2010.
This curriculum does the strangeness of the book justice, I think. Aside from the chapter-by-chapter worksheets, there are also activities such as inventing your own Odd-Fish specialty, writing your own articles for the Eldritch Snitch, researching Japanese rituals that inspired the Odd-Fish festivals, baking avant-garde pies, creating urk-ack music, and inventing one’s own Eldritch City mythologies.
It’s also gateway to other fields of study. The knights of the Odd-Fish are, after all, scholars as well as warriors. This curriculum touches on topics as disparate as cockroach anatomy, Shinto and Hindu mythology, the KGB, Wikipedia, foppery, real-life historical eccentrics, and more.
Download the guide for free here. And of course, I always enjoy visiting schools, either in person or by Skype.
Go pester your teachers now! I’m doing this for you, people!
And in JetWit’s opinion, while the novel is in the young adult category, it’s also one of the funniest books you’ll ever read as an adult. To read more JetWit posts about James, click here. And watch the below video to see James doing an extremely dramatic reading from the book at last year’s JET Alumni Author Showcase in New York:
Japan America Society Roundup 9.1.10
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Gail Cetnar Meadows (Hiroshima-shi ALT 2007-10), co-founder of Hiroshima JET webzine WideIslandView.com, shines a light on some of the upcoming events of Japan America Societies…
Tea Ceremony Workshop — Learn how to make a perfect bowl of tea at this hands-on workshop. During this tea ceremony event, participants can learn about the history, cultural contents and basic principles of the tea ceremony in English.
- Date: Friday, Sept. 17
- Time: 6:30 to 8 p.m.
- Place: The Japan Society of Northern California (Conference Room),
- For more information, click here.
- Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival — Enjoy traditional Asian music, dance and food, as well as arts and crafts at the Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival. JASP will have a booth there demonstrating traditional Japanese wrapping cloth techniques (furoshiki). Learn how to wrap and carry a water bottle, make a waist pouch and more.
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 18
- Time: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Place: South Side Riverfront Park, Pittsburgh
- For more information, click here.
Nihon-to: The Swords of Japan — Come and learn all about Japanese swords from Frank Tomicek, a member of the Austin Kendo Doshikai and Japanese Sword Society of the United States, as well as a long time collector of Japanese swords.
- Date: Monday, Sept. 13
- Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m.
- Place: 1701 Toomey Road, Casa de Luz Auditorium (1F), Austin
- For more information, click here.
Does your Japan America Society have an upcoming event that you’d like to share with JetWit readers? Email Gail Cetnar Meadows the info.
Job: Part-time Administrative Assistant, Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth (Dallas, TX)
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Job posting by Lauren Sethney (Niigata-shi CIR, 2000-2003). Lauren serves as the Program Director at the Japan-America Society of Dallas-Fort Worth.
Job Summary:
Performs general administrative functions to support the efficient and professional operation of the organization. Primary areas of responsibility include: maintaining membership records; providing administrative support for programs and events; updating the society’s website; fielding public inquiries; performing basic accounting functions; providing meeting support; and performing general office work.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Maintains the Society’s membership records, ensuring that records are accurate and current, including: sending renewal notices, processing payments, maintaining database, updating online directory
• Provides administrative support for programs and events, including: creating online registration pages, tracking advance registration, making travel arrangements, preparing mailings, producing printed pieces
New “JET Alumni Non-Profit Group” on LinkedIn
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Arisa Takahashi (CIR, 1991-94), the Treasurer for JETAA Northern California, has started a much-needed new LinkedIn group for JETs and JET alumni for those working in or interested in non-profit organizations and related fields.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the JET Alumni Non-Profit Group on LinkedIn. (Or just do a search for it on LinkedIn.)
Domo arigatou Arisa-sama!
The Missing J.D.s
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Matt Leichter (matt [dot] leichter [at] gmail [dot] com) (Saitama-ken 2003-05) is a renegade attorney who plays by his own rules. He operates his own blog, The Law School Tuition Bubble, where he archives, chronicles, and analyzes the rising cost and declining value of legal education in the United States. He also maintains the “Bankruptcy Legal Topics,” and, “Bankruptcy Billables,” sections for Steven Horowitz’s Bankruptcy Bill. For further reading regarding JETs and the law, he recommends JETs with J.D.s.
Anyone see Kore-eda Hirokazu’s 「誰も知らない」(Dare-mo Shiranai), the movie about the mother who abandons her four children in a Tokyo apartment? I thought of that movie when I learned that 4/10 law graduates over the last forty years are neither practicing lawyers nor judges. What happened to them? Did they land on their feet? If you’re going to law school will you end up like them? Found out more here.
Job: ISSO Department Coordinator, Brandeis University (Waltham, MA)
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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 the JETAA Student Services Google Group
The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) at Brandeis University is looking for a Department Coordinator. This person provides office support for the staff of the ISSO and serves as the front line contact and information resource for all clients of the ISSO, including students, faculty, scholars, staff, family members, visitors, and others who seek the services of the ISSO either in person, by phone, or via email.
Examples of Key Responsibilities:
– Responsible for greeting all visitors to the ISSO and answering the ISSO main phone line. Also responsible for reading/maintenance of the ISSO office email account. Maintains office calendar for professional staff in scheduling student/scholar appointments and coordinating schedule of office meetings.
– Assists with planning and implementation of all office activities, including the arrangement of facilities and services for office functions and programs, oversees appropriate program advertising, making travel/conference arrangements for staff as needed. Participates in weekly ISSO staff meetings. Coordinates publication of ISSOnews, the office electronic newsletter.
– Coordinates the ISSO Host Programs: the International Undergraduate Student Open Doors Host Family Program and the International Graduate Student Peer Host Program; including advertising/selection of host families/host students, matching of new students to hosts, and coordination of programming for both Host Programs (including welcome dinners and events during the academic year).
For more information on the ISSO, please visit our website at http://www.brandeis.edu/acserv/isso/
Job: Freelance Translator, Golf Channel
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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 the Golf Channel
Title: Freelance English>Japanese Translator (work from home)
Reports to: Director of International Operations Japan
Overview: Freelance translator will create a typed Japanese translation script of Golf Channel’s English language programming. Translation scripts must be broadcast quality in a ready-to-read format for Japanese voice talent.
Job Responsibilities:
- Translate all programming material from English to Japanese
- Type Japanese translations with time code in Microsoft Word
- Proofread and e-mail voice over-ready Japanese translation scripts
Minimum Requirements:
- Native Japanese ability (Tokyo Standard, reading, writing, speaking)
- Near-native English (reading, writing, speaking)
- English to Japanese translation experience; broadcast translation experience preferred
- Excellent knowledge of the game of golf and its vernacular
- Experience with Japanese OS and word processing (Microsoft)
- Ability to work with tight deadlines
- Weekly commitment preferred
Qualified candidates should apply directly to Debra Conrad at dconrad@golfchannel.com
WIT Life #120: Domestic challenges
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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.
Yesterday’s NYT had an article about the rise of Japan’s very own Tea Party. It profiles the rise of the Zaitokukai, or the Citizens Group That Will Not Forgive Special Privileges for Koreans in Japan. In comparison to old-line rightist groups this movement is known as the Net right, as they are organized via the Internet and come together for demonstrations. The article focused on their protest last December at an elementary school for ethnic Koreans. This year they also picketed theaters showing the documentary The Cove, which they perceive to be anti-Japanese. The group is led by a 38-year old man who insists that foreigners have caused Japan to go in the wrong direction (members even harassed some Westerners for wearing Halloween costumes!). The far right writes them off as amateur attention seekers, but nevertheless this is a disturbing trend.
In WSJ coverage this morning, there is discussion of how a majority of Read More
Job: Sales Manager, Joto Sake LLC (Los Angeles)
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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.
Joto Sake LLC is one of the leading artisanal Japanese sake importers in the U.S. Founded in January, 2005, the company has built an excellent reputation for its highly selective portfolio and its strong marketing and sales support. The company is now hiring a sales manager for Los Angeles. The job can be divided into two areas of responsibility—1) field sales, hand-selling and account management, and 2) distributor and territory management.
Field sales responsibilities include:
• Creating and constantly updating a target list of accounts: constantly re-prioritizing this list
• Identifying the buyer for each account, making contact and booking sales calls, conducting sales calls and closing the sale by making new placements, reprinting menus and booking staff trainings
• Growing our business in our accounts: increasing number of placements, adding by-the-glass pours, running waitstaff incentives, doing staff trainings and developing other promotions that drive volume
• Actively managing pricing to ensure competitive positioning of our products
Read More
Job: Associate Program Officer, Center for Global Partnership (New York)
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Qualifications:
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Minimum of a college degree in a related area;
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Strong analytical skills; the ability through questioning and informal research to understand the feasibility and implications of submitted proposals;
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Desire to think creatively, explore new ideas, and develop new networks to foster innovative program ideas and funding initiatives;
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Strong oral and written communication skills in English;
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Strong organizational skills, keen attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously;
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Ability to work independently and as part of a team;
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Understanding of contemporary Japan; experience living in Japan and proficiency in the Japanese language, including translating ability, preferred.
Books: Lars Martison’s “Tonoharu” gets favorable write-up on BoingBoing, makes Amazon’s Top Ten Bestselling Graphic Novels list
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There’s a nice review of JET alum Lars Martinson’s graphic novel Tonoharu: Part 1 on the BoingBoing site written by Mark Frauenfelder titled “Tonoharu: Excellent graphic novel about an English teacher in Japan.” And according to Lars’ blog,
“Thanks to Mark Frauenfelder’s writeup about Tonoharu: Part One on Boing Boing, the book has made it into Amazon.com’s Top Ten Bestselling Graphic Novels today!”
Here’s the link to the review: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/27/tonoharu-excellent-g.html
Here’s a quote from the review:
“Published in 2008, and a winner of the prestigious Xeric Award, Tonoharu is a story of isolation, frustration, and mystery, with just the right amount of black humor to keep it from being depressing.”
For fans awaiting the next installment, Tonoharu: Part 2 is due out in December.
