JETAA NC to make donation in honor of JET alum police officer
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From JETAA Northern California:
It is with great sadness that we remember Daniel Sakai, a fellow JET Alum (Iwate, 1997-1998) who was one of the Oakland Police Officers tragically killed on March 21st.
In remembrance of Daniel, the JET Alumni Association of Northern California (JETAANC) will be making a contribution to the Sakai Family Trust Fund. If you would like to make a contribution to JETAANC’s collective donation, go to http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=180769. We will send our collective donation on Monday, April 6, 2009.
We extend our deepest condolences.
The JETAANC Executive Committee
JETAA NY Meishi Exchange – March 19, 2009
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Thanks to JET alum Francis Lee, we now have photos–really good photos–from last Thursday’s JETAA NY Meishi Exchange networking event, which was held at Aja on 6th Ave. between 9th & 10th Sts.
A fond farewell to JETAA Liaison Shinya Bando
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Today is Shinya Bando’s last day working at the Japan Local Government Center (aka CLAIR) in New York City. He is returning to Tokyo in two days and then on to his home prefecture of Wakayama for his next assignment after spending the last two years in New York. His first year he served as the JETAA USA Liaison (among other roles), and this past year he served in an overseer role for both JETAA USA & Canada.
In addition to all of his support and encouragement for JETAA, JET alums who know him and had a chance to interact with him always appreciated his easygoing style, ever-present smile and warm nature.
The always-ganbatte-ing Taichi Hanzawa will take over Bando-san’s role as the JETAA USA & Canada overseer and will also serve as the JETAA Canada Liaison. Also pictured below is the wonderful and talented Ryoko Kobayashi, who served this past year as the JETAA Canada Liaison and will provide additional support to JETAA USA and Canada. Arriving May 6 will be Kawamura-san who will serve as the new JETAA USA Liaison.
O-tsukare sama deshita, Bando-san!
Taichi Hanzawa, Shinya Bando and Ryoko Kobayashi
Many thanks to JET alum Vlad Baranenko for capturing the JET Alumni Author Showcase in photographs. Click “Read More” below to see all the photos.
Japanese Violinist Sayaka Shoji at Carnegie Hall April 6
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Thanks to JETAA DC President Michelle Spezzacatena for sharing this. See below for both English and Japanese versions of the event info:
Performance by Japanese Violinist
Sayaka Shoji庄司紗矢香
Monday, April 6, 2009
7:30pm~
At Carnegie Hall
(Weill Recital Hall)
57th Str. & 7th Ave.
On Monday evening, April 6, 2009, the S&R Foundation is sponsoring a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City by an extraordinary Japanese violinist, Sayaka Shoji. Sayaka will be performing with pianist Julien Quentin. Read More
Update from Chen Reichert’s botodesigns.com
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The latest natsukashii-wear from JET alum Chen Reichert and the world of botodesign.com.
Planto is on vacation in the big city. He is a long way from the forests of his home. Tokyo has a lot to offer but it’s easy for a plant to get overwhelmed.
The little building signs say “Buy!” and “Sell!”
Roland Kelts recent articles in The Daily Yomiuri and Adbusters
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Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, has two recent articles published.
Daily Yomiuri: Soft Power Hard Truths / American anime fans party, but don’t pay
On the widening gap between Japanese and American fandom: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20090320TDY13002.htm
Adbusters: Dame-Ren (No Good People) – A glimpse into Japan’s embrace of Western-style capitalism
On Japan’s new generation of dropouts and street performers: http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/80/japan_no_good_people.html
Here are some photos from yesterday’s JET Alumni Author Showcase, courtesy of Noriko Furuhata, the JET Liason at the Consulate-General of Japan in New York:
Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93), Rob Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04), Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) and James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06) discuss their writing
Thanks to JET Program Coordinator/Consular Specialist at the Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle (and a JET alum herself) Lynn Myauchi for letting me know about Bruce Rutledge, the owner of Seattle-based independent publisher Chin Music Press (www.chinmusicpress.com). Bruce was a Monbusho Exchange Fellow (MEF), the predecessor program to the JET Program, and now he is responsible for the publication of books such as Tokyo Art Space and Curing Japan’s America Addiction. In addition to a focus on modern storytelling, Chin Music Press prides itself on its book designs, both graphically as well as the material used in the covers.
For the sake of this post, assume that these pigeons have all passed the nikkyu.
While many JET alums strive to find jobs and careers related to Japan, many JET alums also reach a point where they’d like to redefine themselves as something beyond a “Japan person.”
I’d like to ask JetWit readers who have some perspective or experience with redefining their careers to share their own experience or advice regarding getting out of the “Japan pigeonhole.”
Submit comments to this post, or feel free to also email them to jetwit at jetwit dot com.
Just after the JET Alumni Author Showcase, I was fortunate to be contacted by another JET alum author–Karl Taro Greenfeld (Kanagawa-ken, 1988-89)–of whom I was previously unaware. It turns out that in addition to writing a number of books, including Speed Tribes: Days and Nights With Japan’s Next Generation, Karl previously served as the editor for Tokyo Journal and TIME Asia.
On one hand I was regretful and a bit embarrassed that I somehow missed Karl in compiling the list of all JET Alum Authors posted on JetWit that served as the basis for organizing the JET Alumni Author Showcase. But on the other hand, I recognized that JetWit and the JET alum community is a work in progress, and I’m very happy to now know about yet another established author out there in the JETAA-sphere and be able to let the rest of the JET alum community know about him as well.
Here’s a more complete listing of Karl’s work:
Greenfeld, Karl Taro (Kanagawa-ken, 1988-89)
- Speed Tribes: Days and Nights With Japan’s Next Generation
- China Syndrome: The True Story of the 21st Century’s First Great Epidemic
- Boy Alone: A Brother’s Memoir
- Standard Deviations: Growing Up and Coming Down in the New Asia
- Blind To Failure : TIME Magazine Cover Story
- Life On The Edge : TIME Magazine Cover Story
- Meet the Napster : TIME Magazine Cover Story
- A New Way Of Giving : TIME Magazine Cover Story
- New York Tyrant, Vol. 2, No. 3
Click here for a list of all of the JET alum authors of which JetWit is aware. (Feel free to get in touch if there are any others that are not listed.)
JETAA Chapter Beat 3.24.09
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Freelance writer/editor Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community…
- JETAASE/JASG Volunteers Needed! – Saturday, March 28th, 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 at Agnes Scott College. Japan America Society of Georgia(JASG) needs volunteers for their Japan Academic Challenge and the 18th Annual Japanese Speech Contest. Take the time and help out JETAASE and JASG.
- South Carolina Subchapter Spring Picnic – April 25th at Furman University the JETAASE South Carolina Subchapter will be holding a spring picnic. Don’t miss a little sun and fun with the folks at the SC Subchapter.
- Japanese Bento Class Write Up! – On Saturday March 7th we held our Bento Cooking class which was a temendous and delicious success. We cooked 6 dishes and everyone had a chance to help cook at least one of the dishes. We would like to thank our teachers, Jessica Cork for translating, and in particular Consul Miki Hiro for helping to select the menu and teaching us how to make a delisious dish with many fresh spring ingredients — JETAASE
- O-Shaberikai – Wednesday, March 25th, 5:30 at the Holy Grail in Civic. Join in and meet Japanese people living in Canberra and other locals interested in Japan.
- Annual General Meeting – Friday, March 27th, 6:30 at 43 Below. If you are interested in joining the JETAA committee this year please come by and participate.
- JETAANY Book Club – Tuesday, March 24, 7:00 at Kat Barnas’ apartment. This book in question is “In the Shade of Spring Leaves, The Life of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine of Her Best Stories,” a collection of short stories by Higuchi Ichiyo. Come and discuss.
- Sakura Sunday – April 5th, 11:00 to 4:00 at the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Join JETAANY as well as the Philadelphia and New Jersey Subchapters at the Philadelphia Cherry Blossom Festival. Live music, hanami, dance, and a plethora of other Japanese related events and activities.
- Grad School and Fellowship Night – Tuesday, March 31st, 6:30 at the Old Ambassador’s Residence adjacent to the Japanese Embassy. JETAADC is hosting a panel discussion about grad school and fellowship/scholarship opportunities. If you are wondering what to do in life after JET, check it out.
- Kodo Drummers at DAR – Friday, March 27th at the DAR Constitution Hall. The Kodo Drummers are in town and tickets are half price, so don’t miss it.
- JETAADC Happy Hour – Tuesday, March 24th, 5:30 at Skye Lounge. Spend a night out with friends at this month’s Happy Hour.
- JETAANC Oakland A’s Game – Saturday, April 25th, 1:00 at McAfee Coliseum. JETAANC and the Japan Society are co-hosting a day at the ballpark. Oakland takes on Tampa Bay, so come out and root for the home team with friends and JETAA.
- East Bay Nomikai – Thursday, March 26th, 6:00 at Albatross Pub. Come out and have a drink with friends at this month’s Nomikai.
- Japan Nite 2009 – Saturday, March 28th, 8:00 at the Independent. Check out some Japanese music when Japan Nite comes to California.
What happened at your chapter’s event? If you attend(ed) any of these exciting events, JetWit would love to hear about them. Just email Jonathan Trace with any info, stories or comments.
I just heard from JETAA Northern California’s President and am sad to report that JET alum Daniel Sakai, a police officer in Oakland, was one of the officers killed in the police chase in Oakland on Saturday.
You can read the San Francisco Chronicle article about him here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/23/MNRF16L6DO.DTL&hw=japan&sn=006&sc=188
If any readers knew him, please feel free to share any memories or stories of him in the comments section of this post.
Job: Japanese Language and Literature Visiting Instructor, University of Montana
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Via Inside Higher Ed. See the full listing here:
Discover your future at The University of Montana!
The University of Montana invites applications for a one-year non-renewable adjunct instructorship in Japanese language (with a five-course load), beginning Fall 2009.
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botodesigns by JET Alum designer Chen Reichert
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One of the pleasant surprises that came out of yesterday’s JET Alumni Author Showcase was learning about Philly-based JET alum Chen Reichert, creater of botodesigns. In her Etsy site’s own words:
Welcome to the world of Boto created by Chen Reichert! Meet Boto, a robot in Japan. During his travels, Boto has met other robot travelers and a plant who is far away from home. Get to know Boto and his friends!
Botodesigns is my little world of Japanese inspired characters. I lived in Japan for a year and spent most of my time traveling, collecting postcards and enjoying the culture and characters that I encountered on a daily basis. Somewhere along the line my experience planted the seed of the idea of a robot tourist. It gestated for a few months until Boto was born and soon after came his motley gang of friends and family along with a plant that is far away from home. In my shop you’ll find my characters depicted in all different media including original paintings, silkscreened T-shirts, prints, handmade dolls, magnets and more! Please visit my blog: botodesigns.blogspot.com
If you like her work, here are all the different ways to keep up with her:
BLOG: botodesigns.blogspot.com
TWITTER: twitter.com/botodesigns
PHOTOS: flickr.com/chenreichert
CONTACT: chen [!at] botodesigns.com
Update: Chen will also be selling her botodesign crafts at the upcoming Philly Cherry Blossom Festival’s Sakura Sunday on April 5.
