WITLife #11 – Nesting with Osechi
Career, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, WIT Life, Writers 
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
It looks like Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso will be getting a lump of coal in his stocking. The Cabinet approval rate is currently at 16.7%, down 22 points from last month, and the disapproval rate is up 30 points to 64.7%. Further probing into sources of dissatisfaction revealed that 40% had no hope in the government, 27.6% criticized its bad policy, 26.5% faulted its lack of leadership and 26.4% said it could not be trusted. In addition, in response to the question “Who is more suited to being a politician?” 23.9% picked Aso but 34.8% picked Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) leader Ichiro Ozawa.
As a result of the “New Year’s Nesting” phenomenon, expensive osechi are a hot item for Japanese department stores. Whereas in previous years osechi selling at 10,000 yen or more were popular, this year meals in the 30,000-50,000 range are the best sellers. A customer shopping for osechi said she had planned to go to Hawaii for the holidays, but with the high fuel surcharge could no longer afford it. After deciding to spend New Year’s at home, she will put her plane fare/trip money toward a deluxe osechi. I guess you could call this practical pampering? Another factor is that prices of fish and other osechi ingredients went up this month, so the one-stop shopping that osechi packages offer seems like a deal compared to having to purchase all the necessary items yourself.
JETAA NY webmaster and NYU ITP grad student Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) was pleased to see his ITP presentation from Wednesday and Thursday written up and photographed in a post today on Gizmodo (the gadget blog).
Lee-Sean used an accelerometer to create headphones that change the music depending on your head movements.
Every Situation is Different: Holiday Edition
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To get everyone in the Japanese Christmas spirit, here are a few cartoons from the archive of Earth Bennett’s (Aomori, 2000-03) JET cartoon Every Situation is Different:
Job listings from JETAA NY
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Here are a few recent job listings from the JETAA NY Jobs and Careers page.
- Sales & Marketing Associate Needed for Gallery/Showroom
- Manager or Director of Human Resources
- Assistant Program Director – Broadcasting
- Freelance Japanese – English Translator and/or Copy Writer Needed
Welcome to the JetWit Haiku Challenge! The challenge is to submit one or more haiku using the designated word. The best haiku submitted wins the prize.
This challenge is courtesy of Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., published by Palgrave Macmillan. You can also follow Roland on his blog japanamerica.blogspot.com.
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Designated word: “Pop” (you must use this word in your haiku; multiple submissions welcome)
- Deadline: Thursday, January 8, before 5:00p.m. EST
Prize: Free copy of Japanamerica + Susan Napier’s Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle mailed to you.- Form: Haiku are typically 5-7-5 and have a seasonal reference. (Though the form actually has a fair amount of flexibility.)
- E-mail responses to: jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com
Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04), author of Zorgamazoo, has reviewed all haiku submissions containing the designated word “prose“ for Haiku Challenge #2 and has selected a winner to receive a free copy of his book. Read on for his decision and rationale.
Following in the footsteps of James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), I feel obliged to assemble a short-list of honourable mentions. I make no claims, however, as to having any insightfulness when it comes to properly appreciating haiku…
Second runner-up, for its tenderness and topicality (’tis the season, after all), we have Justin Tedaldi’s entry:
The gift was thoughtful
The letter’s prose delightful
Happy holidays
—Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02)
First runner-up, for it’s gritty natural realism, is Alexei Esikoff’s ode to the grim weather of the Midwest:
The temperature drops
Buried under slushy prose
Minneapolis
—Alexei Esikoff (Fukushima-ken, 2001-02)
Finally, the winner this week is Meredith Hodges-Boos (who had an honourable mention in the previous contest, incidentally). Her haiku appeals to my love of word play — and even manages a nifty metaphor in the meantime. Congrats, Meredith!
Take roses with ‘P’s
Mix in the ordinary
Watch word gardens grow
—Meredith Hodges-Boos (Ehime-ken, 2003-05)
Click “Read More” to see the other haiku submitted.
Job: English to Japanese – Technical (D.C.)
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From Craigslist DC:
English to Japanese Translation Technical Quality Control (Freelance)
Reply to: gigs-962523543@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-12-18, 9:42AM EST
We are looking for a freelance person who has experience in translating written documents from English to Japanese. Additionally, this person should be experienced enough to be able to read and understand technical documentation.
Please send your resume / experience to Jobs@legaladvantage.net and in the subject include “English to Japanese Q/C”
Please note that as a follow up we will send out a small sample with known errors and will ask potential candidates to check / correct the errors.
- it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
- Compensation: 2 cents per word
Gaijin-a-Go-Go Interview
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Gaijin-a-Go-Go band member Saiko Mikan recently shared a link to an in depth interview with the band from J-Pop World. Definitely worth a read.
Job: Cultural Assistants/English Instructors for Sakura Educational Exchange (Rockville, MD)
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Sakura Educational Exchange Job Opening
Thu Dec 18, 2008 12:38 pm (PST)
Sakura Educational Exchange USA, a nonprofit international student exchange organization in Rockville, Maryland is seeking energetic, international- minded, fun-loving, dedicated people interested in working with visiting Japanese high school students in June and/or July 2009 as Cultural Assistants and English Instructors.
If interested, please email resume and letter of interest:
Attn: Stephanie Libonati, Program Manager, Sakura Educational Exchange USA
slibonati@seeusa- ryugaku.com
Roland Kelts on NPR’s The World
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Listen to Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99) being interviewed on NPR’s “The World.” http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/23341 Summary below:
As a global power, Japan is fading, but increasing numbers of people outside the country are opting to learn Japanese. What’s fueling the new interest is a growing obsession with Japanese Manga comics and Japanese animation. The World’s Patrick Cox has the story.
Japan Info Newsletter – Dec. 2008
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The December 2008 edition of JapanInfo is now available. JapanInfo is published by the Consulate General of Japan in New York/Japan Information Center and is a great source of info for Japan-related things going on in New York and the surrounding area.
WITLife #10 – Creative Dating
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends along with her own observations.
This morning’s news profiled how the faltering economy has affected couples and their date courses. They carried out two surveys, one on how date spots have changed and one on how much money is spent per date. For the first survey, the top three answers were:
Stay at home
“Zero yen” spots
Window shopping
Many couples are seeking ways to spend time together without spending a lot of money, and as might be expected relaxing at home is the most popular method. They profiled a couple who hung out in the girl’s room while she surfed the internet and he Read More
Layoffs
Anecdote Article, Career, Networking Comments Off on Layoffs
I just heard from a JET alum who lost their relatively senior level job with a non-profit that has funding issues. I also heard from a JET alum who seems to be keeping their job but at the expense of a colleague who is being let go.
How are you doing with your job situation or your job search? E-mail jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com with your story (which will be posted anonymously).
Favorite translator – update
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On December 12 JetWit asked the question: Do you have a favorite translator?
Here are two responses received so far. Feel free to post additional comments or e-mail them to jetwit /att/ jetwit /dotto/ com:
Cheleen, Kia (CIR, Aichi-ken 1996-98, ALT 1998-1999) says:
Linda Hoaglund is one of my favorites. She is famous for doing subtitles for Japanese movies (like Kurosawa films) and she is an AMAZING interpreter as well. She has a massive vocabulary and everything she does sounds so natural. Linda doesn’t just do big-name projects — she does a lot of translation & interpreting for the arts/artists as well. Even though she grew up in Japan (to which some would say, “of COURSE she can read/write/speak Japanese”), I still think that her interpreting and translation skills are extremely polished and give the rest of us translators/ interpreters something to strive for.
Joel Dechant (CIR Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04) says:
Translators Mini-Challenge #3 – WINNER!
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Translators Mini-Challenge is a new arbitrarily recurring feature presented by professional translator, interpreter and writer Kia Cheleen (CIR, Aichi-ken 1996-98, ALT 1998-1999).
Omedetou gozaimashita to Joel Dechant (CIR, Kagoshima-ken, 2001-04) for winning the Translators Mini-Challenge #3.
Joel has won a copy of the Gaijin-a-Go-Go CD “Go-Go Bootcamp.”
