JQ Magazine: Nippon in New York — Home (Media) for the Holidays
Article/Journalism, Books, Film, Music 
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By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.
As fall turns to winter, some spiffed up favorites, holiday hits and new discoveries are coming your way to close out the year.
This season’s highlights include:
Available Nov. 17
Mermaid Saga Collector’s Edition, Vol. 1
392 pp, $24.99
From Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame inductee Rumiko Takahashi, the legendary creator of Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha! Yuta became immortal when he unwittingly ate mermaid flesh, and now he seeks a way to become human again. Hundreds of years later, he encounters a volatile and determined young lady named Mana while searching for a mermaid. Could this mysterious woman hold the key to saving Yuta’s humanity?
Read MoreJob: UNT Program Director in Japan – University of North Texas (Hirakata, Osaka)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: UNT Program Director in Japan
Posted by: University of North Texas
Location: Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Contract: Full-Time
Here’s a JET-relevant job that was passed along to us by a JET alumna. It’s based in Japan, requires a TESOL degree, and housing is provided:
Founded in 1977, the Intensive English Language Institute (IELI) at the University of North Texas was one of the first IEPs to receive accreditation from the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). In the IELI’s storied 43-year history, thousands of students have achieved English proficiency for degree study at UNT and other universities both in the U.S. and overseas.
Since 2014, IELI has successfully run an intensive English program for our long-term partner institution, Kansai Gaidai University, in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan. The main purpose of the KGU–UNT Super IES Program is to prepare KGU students in English skills and academic culture for successful study abroad experiences at U.S. universities.
For academic assignments and duties, the UNT Program Director in Japan (PDJ) position is under the supervision of the Assistant Dean and Director of the IELI with UNT’s International Affairs. The PDJ also works closely with KGU’s Center for International Education to maintain a positive working relationship and to ensure compliance with host university rules and regulations.
Application Process: UNT Program Director in Japan.
Job: Warehouse Assistant/non-CDL Driver – Yamato Transport USA (West Valley City, Utah)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: Warehouse Assistant/non-CDL Driver
Posted by: Yamato Transport USA
Location: West Valley City, Utah
Contract: Full-Time
Thanks to JET alumni, Javier Sevilla (Wakayama-ken) for passing along the following job opening with his company, which favors those with JET experience:
Job Description
Yamato is an **Essential Business** and is the number one small package door-to-door carrier in Japan. We have a conservative, multi-cultural environment in our West Valley warehouse. A clean and professional appearance is required for representing the company. Yamato takes pride in the logistics industry with our precise dedicated work to strive for perfection in a professional atmosphere.
Being at your best while assisting other team members in the following tasks is very important. We are seeking someone who is good at listening and receiving instructions to continue our vision. Japanese language not required but would be a plus, and multi-cultural appreciation and understanding is appreciated.
Responsibilities
- Assisting team members to fulfill orders before deadline
- Prepping boxes and product for next day’s shipment
- Pick up and drop off pallets and/or packages using our 26 ft. box truck or cargo van, within Salt Lake and Utah counties.
- Load and unload pallets and/or packages at our location and customer’s location.
Hokkaido milk bread and Wolf Children
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By Jack McDonough, 2021 prospective JET
Have you ever had Hokkaido milk bread? If you’ve ever watched the Youtuber Emmy Cho, who runs the channel emmymadeinjapan, you might be aware of this Japanese bread. My sister is a fan of Cho, and so we decided to try our hand at baking the bread. Not being a baker myself, I was skeptical about our ability to create anything resembling food, but our bread actually turned out to look and taste delicious. The bread was light, fluffy, and had a sweet taste; it was great in the morning with coffee for a nice breakfast. The baking of the bread proved to be surprisingly easy, as most of the process was spent waiting for the dough to prove and bake.
While we baked the bread, we decided to watch the movie Wolf Children by Mamoru Hosoda. My younger sister Grace considers Wolf Children to be one of the best movies ever made; with a recommendation like that, I knew I had to give it a try. The film is about a young, single mother named Hana, who must raise her two children alone after the death of their father. The children have inherited from their father the ability to transform into wolves. The boy Ame and the girl Yuki must decide whether they want to live life as humans or wolves. For Hana, she not only has to raise the children without their father, but she must also keep their ability secret so that Ame and Yuki can grow up safely. Most of the film is carried by the incredible animation: a style that is cute but realistic enough to give weight to the characters’ decisions. One scene in the film stands out: Ame and Yuki play in freshly fallen snow, where they transform between their human and lupine forms while enjoying themselves. While the animation is spectacular, I can’t say that I loved the film: the ending of the film stumbles a bit and fails to really give the story of Hana, Ame, and Yuki the send-off it deserves. I still recommend watching Wolf Children, especially to someone who enjoys great animation and heartfelt stories.
Mixing Wolf Children and baking Hokkaido milk bread made for a fun evening. I never expected to bake something delicious while watching a movie about children who can turn into wolves, but I would highly recommend combining baking and anime; you never know what you might get.
Job: Translation/Interpretation Position – CSI Group (Lexington, KY, USA)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: Translation/Interpretation Position
Posted by: CSI Group
Location: Lexington, KY, USA
Contract: Full-Time
Thanks to JET alum Roy Harrison of the JET alum-owned company CSI for forwarding on another opening for a translator at their company:
A JET-founded company (CSI Group) is searching for candidates for a translation/interpretation position based in Lexington, Kentucky.
- Highly experienced Japanese/English interpreter/translator
- Native Japanese ability
- Familiar with (or able to learn) machine translation tools (SDL Trados, Systran, etc.)
- Capable of demonstrating success in team/group workload sharing
The Tumbleweed Christmas Tree
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The Tumbleweed Christmas Tree was written by JET alumna, Bridget Thomas (Yamaguchi-ken, 1994-1997).
The Tumbleweed Christmas Tree is based on a true story and is available for purchase in both paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon.
Inaka—Portraits of Life in Rural Japan
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Inaka life is something special, and Camphor Press is celebrating it with an anthology that it calls “an affectionate but unsentimental taste of authentic rural living.” I’m happy to be among several JET alumni authors who contributed work to this collection! Sarah Coomber – writer
Job: General Affairs Staff Member – Consulate General of Japan in New York (New York, NY)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: General Affairs Staff Member
Posted by: Consulate General of Japan in New York
Location: New York, NY, USA
Contract: Full-Time
Here’s a job received directly from the Consulate General of Japan in New York:
The Consulate General of Japan is currently hiring for an open position. Applications will be accepted until Monday, November 23rd.
Application Process: If you are interested in applying, please review the job details in the attachment and contact the Consulate General of Japan via the contact information provided.
Job: Associate Program Officer, Grassroots Exchange & Education – Japan Foundation (New York, NY, USA)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: Associate Program Officer, Grassroots Exchange & Education
Posted by: Japan Foundation
Location: New York, NY
Contract: Full-Time
The Japan Foundation, New York seeks an Associate Program Officer at The Center for Global Partnership (CGP) who will be responsible for managing grants and other programs in Grassroots Exchange & Education.
Application Process: For details, please click here.
Job: International Marketing Specialist & International Recruitment Advisor – San Jose State University (San Jose, CA, USA)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: International Marketing Specialist & International Recruitment Advisor
Posted by: San Jose State University
Location: San Jose, CA, USA
Contract: Full-Time
Thanks to JET alumna, Jennifer Hwang (Shizuoka-ken) for passing along the following two job openings and adds, “Although the positions are open until filled, I highly recommend applying within the specified application period in the listing.”
Seeking a special holiday gift? Consider, Kokoro Care Packages! *Special discount code included*
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Kokoro Care Packages offers hand-crafted Care Packages filled with premium-quality, artisanal Japanese foods delivered straight from Japan to your door. Each item (including noodles, cooking essentials sauces, spices, snacks, soups, teas and more) is carefully selected for its quality, ease of use and of course, great taste! All products are free from chemicals and many cannot be found outside of Japan. They work closely with local producers who share their values and are passionate about the foods they create, while connecting you to their stories and their communities. They also include all the English translations making it easy to enjoy all these Japanese tastes and flavors.
Their Care Packages are available in two options: Subscriptions and Collections
- Subscription Care Packages: available monthly Nourishing Essentials Care Package and quarterly Seasonal Delights Care Package. One time gift purchases are also available.
- Collections Care Packages including their Creative Beginnings: Redefining “Wa” Care Package of Japanese cooking essentials, a curation of Japan’s best noodles in their Zuru Zuru Noodles: “Yui” Care Package, their Japanese Green and Specialty Teas: “Ryu” Care Package of hand-picked, authentic Japanese teas and their newly released Japanese Snacks and Sweets: “Raku” Care Package full of traditional Japanese treats.
Just in time for the holidays, their upcoming December Nourishing Essentials and Winter Seasonal Delights Care Package theme is Oshogatsu – Japanese New Year Celebrations where they’ll be featuring their favorite New Years inspired foods from Japan. Order yours or as a gift by Nov 30th and use discount code JETAA for 10% off your first order of a subscription purchase.
Japan Foundation New York Online Pop-Culture Event Session 3
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The Japan Foundation, New York launched a monthly online series delving into Japanese pop culture from academic and professional perspectives!
For our third session, three musicologists in U.S academia will unravel the power of music in anime. You may love anime soundtracks as much as the anime itself, but have you ever thought about the role of music in storytelling, how the music affects the work itself, and what meanings might be hidden in the music?
Come join the panel discussion with Stacey Jocoy, Kunio Hara, and Rose Bridges as they discuss how directors and composers collaborate to create the music, explaining the role of music in storytelling, and the uses of music in beloved anime such as My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro), Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka), Cowboy Bebop, Your Name. (Kimi no na wa.), and other animes.
The discussion will be followed by a live Q&A. If you have any questions about music and soundscapes in anime, now’s your chance to ask the musicologists! Please feel free to post it on the Eventbrite page when you register. Live commentary will also be enabled on the YouTube stream, so you can participate in the Q&A session.
This is a free event. Registrants will receive the link to the stream via email.
Eventbrite link:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ep3-the-power-of-music-in-anime-tickets-125762034631?utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&aff=escb&utm-source=cp&utm-term=listing
Twitter post: https://twitter.com/JF_NewYork/status/1321149344674963459?s=20
Japan Insights—Spirits of the Countryside Exploring the folklore and yokai of rural Japan
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*********By Makoto Shirai, secretary, Japan-Insights Research Institute (Non-profit organization in Tokyo)
Hyakki yagyo, 1865, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892); Courtesy of International Center for Japanese Studies
Dear Friends,
Have you met with Yokai in Japan?
Let me introduce an essay from Japan-Insights archives.
The third one is on exploring the folklore and yokai of Iwate, Akita and Tottori prefectures.
Dr. Michael Dylan Foster introduces the spirits of the countryside of Japan.
https://topics.japan-insights.jp/#spiritsofcountryside
https://topics.japan-insights.jp/Public/pdf/japan-
insights_jp/topics/JIN_SpiritsOfCountryside.pdf
Japan-Insights is a nonprofit open database compiled by leading experts in Japanese studies. The posts present a broad range of historical and contemporary topics that encourage visitors to engage with the real Japan through immersive experiences. Follow the Facebook page and website to learn about and share these insights from around the country!”
#japan #japaneseculture #iwate #akita #tottori
Job: Research Analyst – UCLA Anderson School of Business (Los Angeles, CA)
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Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Position: Research Analyst – Bilingual Japanese/English
Posted by: UCLA Anderson School of Business
Location: Lost Angeles, CA
Contract: Full-Time
JQ Magazine: Book Review — ‘The Japanese Sake Bible’
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By Rashaad Jorden (Yamagata–ken, 2008-10; Kochi-ken, 2018-2020) for JQ magazine. A former head of JETAA Philadelphia’s Sub–Chapter, Rashaad is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University with a master’s degree in responsible tourism management. For more on his life abroad and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com.
Maybe it’s a bit too strong for your liking. Or maybe it contributed to an unpleasant hangover. But it’s quite possible it was a part of your JET experience.
I’m talking about sake. Anyone curious about what they might have been sipping at an enkai would do well to pick up The Japanese Sake Bible. Compiled by Kotaku Senior Contributing Editor Brian Ashcraft, this comprehensive work examines the world of sake—most notably its origins, its rise to becoming “Japan’s National bBeverage” (coincidentally the title of the first chapter), and tips on how to make the drink yourself.
True to its name, Ashcraft creates a book heavy on history. It’s clear upon looking at the first page of the aforementioned first chapter that this Bible will be more or less Sake 101 (oddly enough, the origins of sake were addressed not at the beginning of the book, but in chapter five). Although the author presents a lot of facts that will probably go over readers’ heads, he excels at thoroughly explaining in detail topics like the definition of sake, which is legally defined as being filtered from fermented rice, koji and water, and the differences between sake, wine and beer.
Although the book is in large part an introduction to the drink, it also serves as a guide for aspiring, if not full-fledged, sake connoisseurs. Ashcraft (also the author of Japanese Whisky) presents to readers more categories of sake than one might have thought actually existed: there’s well-polished sake, sparkling sake, and raw and unprocessed sake. Also, niche sake that might not be easy to find.
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