JetWit Celebrates the Year of the Ox
Cartoon/Illustration, Uncategorized, Writers 
Comments Off on JetWit Celebrates the Year of the Ox
To get JetWit in the Year of the Ox spirit, Meredith Hodges-Boos (Ehime-ken, 2003-05) has come up with yet another great Zazzle twist on A.J., the JetWit mascot, created by Zi Mei (Saitama-ken, 2002-05).
JetWit Year of the Ox Greeting Card
JetWit Year of the Ox T-shirt
JetWit Year of the Ox Postcard
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). She watches Fujisankei news in Japanese (to keep her interpreting skills sharp) and shares with us some of the interesting tidbits and trends as well as her own insights.
For many foreigners visiting Tokyo, an early morning trip to the legendary tuna auction at Tsukiji fish market is a must. However, last year the metropolitan government decided it had had enough of rowdy tourists disturbing the auctions and forbid them to enter the area during this time. Restriction began in April with the closing off of certain sections, and it escalated to complete denial of access for the one month period between December 15, 2008 and January 17, 2009. This tourist destination that receives as many as 500 visitors a day distributed flyers and put up signs in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Russian declaring the ban. 
The reasons the conflict escalated to this point were multifold. Aside from what was cited as general gaijin rudeness, there were some actions that were particularly upsetting to the auctioneers and other employees. For example, visitors would pose Read More
MAX is Back!
Jobs, Translating/Interpreting Comments Off on MAX is Back!
****************************
NY-based staffing firm MAX Consulting is once again posting job listings on the sidebar of JetWit.com. (Scroll down a bit to see the MAX job box.)
18 new job listings have just been posted (though the job box only shows the 10 most recent). To see the complete list of job listings, go to http://jetwitmaxjobs.wordpress.com.
Job: Public Relations Coordinator for Japanese Consulate in San Francisco (Temporary)
Jobs, Translating/Interpreting Comments Off on Job: Public Relations Coordinator for Japanese Consulate in San Francisco (Temporary)
Via the JETAA Northern California Jobs/Career email list:
http://www.sf. us.emb-japan. go.jp/archives/ PR_e/2009/ pr_09_0121. htm
The Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco has an opening for a temporary Coordinator for Public Relations in its Japan Information Center (JIC), as a substitute for the staff who will be on maternity
leave beginning February through the month of July.
Details for the terms of employment will be discussed upon interview.
Position: The Coordinator for Public Relations works closely with consulate officers and other local staff to promote greater interest in and understanding of Japan and Japanese culture in Northern California and
Nevada. S/he also works with the JIC Director to handle Japan-related press and public affairs issues that arise within areas served by this office. In addition, as a staff member of the Consulate, applicants must
be willing to work as a part of a team, sharing responsibilities and occasionally working overtime for evening/weekend programs as needed. Read More
More Translation Agencies
Career, Jobs, Translating/Interpreting Comments Off on More Translation Agencies
Marc Carroll (Gifu-ken, 2001-03) emailed to remind me to include his company, Transperfect, following a recent post about translation agencies. I’d already listed Transperfect (though not translations.com) on the Translation Agencies page, but I thought it was worth listing them in a post as well.
FYI, Marc used to be a project manager for Transperfect. And now he works for Translations.com which is a division of Transperfect. And it’s also worth mentioning that their offices are in the same building as the new CLAIR-NY/Japan Local Government Center offices.
Translations.com (http://www.translations.com/)
Provides Website localization, software localization, GMS (Globalization Management System) software products, and enterprise-level, professional translation services.
Transperfect: (http://www.transperfect.com/)
Provides a full array of language and business services, including Translation, Interpretation, Linguistic Validation, Transcription, Typesetting & Graphics, Multicultural Marketing, Voiceovers & Dubbing, Subtitling, Staffing Solutions, Document Management, Court Reporting, Virtual Data Room Services
Jobs: Part-time TESOL Teacher Trainers – Oxford Seminars (various U.S. locations)
Jobs Comments Off on Jobs: Part-time TESOL Teacher Trainers – Oxford Seminars (various U.S. locations)
Via JETAA Job Bank via JETAA DC email list:
Oxford Seminars – Part Time TESOL Teacher Trainers
Oxford Seminars is looking for dynamic and experienced ESL instructors to deliver Part Time TESOL/TEFL teacher training courses.
TESOL Instructors are currently needed in the following locations:
Des Moines, Iowa
Norfolk, Virginia
Kansas City, Missouri
Seattle, Washington
Stony Brook, New York
Read More
Japan Works Hard to Help Immigrants Find Jobs
Article/Journalism, Career, Japan Trends Comments Off on Japan Works Hard to Help Immigrants Find Jobs
There’s a telling article in today’s Washington Post by frequent Japan writer Blaine Harden (not a JET alum) on efforts by the Tokyo government to help immigrant workers in Japan stay in Japan in the face of job losses and factory closures. There seems to be increasing acceptance by Japan’s policy makers that significantly increased immigration is the solution to the potential future economic crisis likely to result from Jaan’s diminshing youth population.
From a JET alumni perspective, it’s worth paying attention to this issue. How will this affect Japan in the future? What opportunities will be available? In some ways, the JET Program along with the laws in the early 1990s that allowed South Americans of Japanese descent to work in Japan are smaller version experiments with immigration. Perhaps JET alumni have some perspectives to offer and/or roles to play in the future of Japan.
Job: Program Associate – APEC (Seattle)
Jobs Comments Off on Job: Program Associate – APEC (Seattle)
Via JETAA Pacific Northwest:
Position Announcement: Program Associate
Closing Date: February 27, 2009
Secretariat for U.S. Representation to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
The National Center for APEC (www.ncapec.org) is seeking a qualified candidate for an opening on our professional staff as a Program Associate. Excellent writing skills, international experience and superb attention to detail are required to support our mission of facilitating U.S. private sector engagement in the APEC and in support of our work as Secretariat to the U.S. representatives to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The Program Associate will provide support for the Center’s role as U.S. ABAC Secretariat, as well as coordinate the Center’s communications functions.
To Apply:
Please submit a cover letter, resume, and three references with phone numbers by February 27, 2009 to Linda Eng, Email: info @ ncapec. org. NOTE: Only materials delivered by e-mail will be accepted.
No telephone calls or personal office visits, please. Read More
Japanese Jobs in the U.S.
Career, Jobs, Translating/Interpreting Comments Off on Japanese Jobs in the U.S.
I just stumbled upon a website called Top Language Jobs that has a section just for Japanese language jobs in the U.S. They seem to have a number of postings from Bloomberg among other places, so a little different than the normal offerings that I’ve found so far. (They also have a section for jobs in Japan, but it said there are currently no listings.) In addition to listing the link below, I’ve also listed it in the Useful Jobs Site Links page of the Professional Profiles/Job Resources section of JetWit as well.
They also have an RSS feed for the category, so I’ve set up a widget over on the sidebar on the right that shows the most recent job listings from the feed.
Feel free to take a look and share any comments on the usefulness of this site. I know virtually nothing about the company that’s running this site other than that they seem to cover a very wide range of languages and countries.
In response to a request to the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) Group, Kyushu-based professional translator Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04) responded with a helpful list of additional translation agencies and links to be included in the Translation Agencies & Relevant Websites page within JetWit’s Professional Profiles/Job Resources page.
*******************
(ALC) The Mother of All Agency Lists – http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/sq_agt_list2
Congre – www.congre.co.jp – Mostly interpreter dispatch
Elanex – www.elanex.biz – There is more potential work for people with legal, finance and technical backgrounds, but they have some cool software to make the process easy, and they pay fast! (Most J companies pay 2 months after the fact)
Intergroup – www.intergroup.co.jp – Some translation jobs but mostly interpreter dispatch JTC – www.jtc.jp – One of Japan’s largest translation agencies
Lionbridge – http://www.lionbridge.com – The biggest one in the industry for all language pairs.
Proz.com – www.proz.com – Translator’s cafe type page with user profiles etc
Simul – http://www.simul.co.jp – Another big Japanese translation company
Hello Kitty Maternity Ward?
Celebrity, Humor, Japan Trends Comments Off on Hello Kitty Maternity Ward?
How did Japan get beaten to the punch on this one? Any thoughts from the JET alum (and Friends of JET) community?
Hello Kitty Maternity Ward – Yahoo! News Photos
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Hello-Kitty-Maternity-Ward-Hello-Kitty-Taipei/ss/events/lf/120608hellokittyhosp/im:/090121/481/157f0fef0bcb47f1ac31b27444cdb769/
Bar Great Harry – Brooklyn Brewmaster’s Reserve Night
Blogs, Events, Food & Drink Comments Off on Bar Great Harry – Brooklyn Brewmaster’s Reserve Night
Bar Great Harry is a bar on Smith St. in Brooklyn owned and run by JET alum Ben Wiley (CIR Fukui-ken, 2004-06), who shares the below info for anyone interested in joining. You can also see the Bar Great Harry blog here and a Fall 2007 JETAA NY Newsletter article about Ben and his bar here.
What: Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster’s Reserve Night
When: Tuesday, 01/27/09, 6PM-10PM
Where: Bar Great Harry, 280 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY
Beers:
- 2000 Monster Ale
- 2001 Saison
- 2006 Black Chocolate Stout
- 2006 Cuvee D’Achouffe
- 2008 Blast
- 2008 Flemish Gold
- 2008 Grand Cru
- 2008 Savoir Faire
- Cask of Blunderbuss Old Ale on Gravity!!!
This will be a seriously special night. The good folks from Brooklyn Brewery scoured the warehouse and found some really rare stuff for this event. A Monster Ale from 2000? A Saison from 2001? You will probably never get to try these again. Come.
After seeing the joy and excitement expressed by the people of Obama-shi, I thought it would be appropriate to stop and reflect on how far we have come in the relationship between U.S. presidents and Japan. (Make sure to watch the Saturday Night Live parody clip at the end.)
Reuters: Japan’s Obama Town Parties for Inauguration
Article/Journalism, Humor, Japan Trends, Uncategorized, Video Comments Off on Reuters: Japan’s Obama Town Parties for Inauguration
Obama-shi in Fukui-ken, Japan is partying hardy to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Here’s today’s report from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE50J4AQ20090120
And here’s the video of their Obama-uta to get you in the mood. “La…la-la-la-la O-ba-ma!…”
Smithsonian lists “Odd-Fish” as one of notable children’s books for 2008
Blogs, Books, Career, Celebrity, Interview/Profile, Uncategorized, Writers Comments Off on Smithsonian lists “Odd-Fish” as one of notable children’s books for 2008
Kathleen Burke, who compiles an annual list of notable children’s books for the Smithsonian, included The Order of Odd-Fish, by JET alum James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06) in her 2008 list in the category for older readers.
And as a bonus, the cover of Odd-Fish is one of three covers shown, along with Dr. Seuss’ Yertle the Turtle and Aaron Blabey’s Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley.
Omedetou gozaimashita, James-san!
(Click here to see other critical praise for Odd-Fish.)
