Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. To see more strips as well as original bankruptcy haiku, go to bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
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
JET alum Lars Martinson creatively updates readers on the progress on his graphic novel Tonoharu: Part 2 in a recent post on his blog (larsmartinson.com):
Progress Bar Key
Scripting/Page Layout: Self-explanatory
Artwork: The Drawing, Inking, and Computer Work for the comic
Final Edits/Incidentals: Post-Production Edits, Designing the Cover, Preparing for Press, etc.
****
When I wrote the first progress report for Tonoharu: Part Two back in mid-July, I was a quarter of the way through the artwork. I concluded the entry saying I’d update on my progress again when the artwork was halfway done. I estimated/hoped that that update would come in “three or four months”,–>Click here to continue reading the post.
Japanese Interpreter (Houston)
Date: 2008-12-18, 11:15AM CST
Day Translations, Inc. www.daytranslations.com
We are searching for a professional Japanese interpreter to work with us on various projects and contracts. We need someone who is very familiar with the oil and business industries in order to interpret in person.
If you are interested and have experience interpreting, please call us at 1-800-969-6853 and email us at hr @ daytranslations. com and shopwood @ daytranslations. com
Please call as soon as possible.
Cordially,
Sean Patrick Hopwood
From Craigslist New York:
Japanese Transcription/ Translation
Reply to: gigs-964954712@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-12-20, 11:33AM EST
I have a dvd with 2 20 minute interviews in Japanese. I need them transcribed and translated to English in the next 2 weeks.
- it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
- Compensation: Negotiable but looking to pay $20-$25/ hour
PostingID: 964954712
Two stories stand out in my mind when I think about the Japanese practice ethic:
- I used to occasionally play with the ping-pong club in one of my junior high schools. After playing a couple matches with the 2nd and 3rd years, I noticed some 1st years in the hallway adjacent to the gym. I went over to talk to them and realized that they were all standing in a line, holding their paddles, and practicing their swing at an imaginary ping-pong ball over and over for an hour.
- My friend who was an ALT in the high schools in my town decided to participate in the kyudo (Japanese archery) club. He learned that for the first three months the students don’t even touch a bow. They just practice the arm movements with an imaginary bow. Then the next three months they have a bow but no arrow and they practice the movements over and over before they finally learn with an arrow.
These stories always fascinated me. I think they get at some of the fundamental cultural differences between Japan and the U.S. (or most other countries for that reason.
What “practice” stories or observations or memories from JET days do you have?
You can send an e-mail to jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com or just post as a comment below.
A JET alum in Seattle shared a link to this interesting article on Salon.com about a guy named Brian Raftery who wrote a book about karaoke called Don’t Stop Believin’: How Karaoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life.
I enjoyed the article, though I think his explanation about the origin of karaoke slips into cultural generalizations, especially regarding the question of how karaoke became so big in Japan before the US. My understanding is that, even before karaoke machines, there was a tradition at enkais of making people stand up and sing a song on their own. Microphones and later karaoke machines were add-ons to the experience.
Any other JET perspectives or comments on karaoke? Post them below.
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.
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:
Here are a few recent job listings from the JETAA NY Jobs and Careers page.
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.
-
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.
Read More
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 band member Saiko Mikan recently shared a link to an in depth interview with the band from J-Pop World. Definitely worth a read.
