Update on Japan Flooding
Kumamoto and Kagoshima were hard hit by flooding due to unprecedented rain over the weekend. So far 18 people are confirmed dead and rescue efforts continue.
USJETAA extends our heartfelt sympathy to the people of Japan affected by this crisis.
At the moment, there does not seem to be a great need for financial support for rescue efforts so USJETAA will not be collecting donations at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation. If you would like to donate to support rescue efforts, we recommend seeking NGOs on the ground in Japan who will be able to use the funds immediately.
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Event: Lessons on Soy with TABLE FOR TWO
Soy is an important staple for Japanese cuisine. In this event you will learn more about the role soy plays in the U.S. and Japan, about soy-based foods available in the United States, and nutritional facts about soy. This event is family friendly and fun for kids.
Event Schedule:
5:00 PM Presentation About Soy
5:15 PM Chopstick Skills Contest
5:25 PM Cooking Demonstration with Soy Based Recipes
For the chopstick skills contest you will need the following:
(1) #EdamameChamp Score Sheet (download and print from here). If a printer is not available, draw 5 circles on a letter-size paper.
(2) 25 or more shelled Edamame beans or any beans you have available.
(3) 1 pair of chopsticks.
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Guest Blog Post: USJETAA Leadership Workshop with JETAA Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest JET Alumni Association (PNWJETAA) was thrilled to welcome Executive Director of USJETAA Bahia Simons-Lane (Gunma, 2005-2007) to Seattle in early March. During these early days on the cusp of the pandemic, we had no idea that the world would change so much, or that the Leadership Program would be the last time our council would see each other in person for some time. While paying careful attention to hygiene and personal space, we had a very successful and fruitful weekend — the benefits of which have kept us engaged and inspired even in these times of uncertainty. Read more.
This post was written by Samantha Corpuz (Gunma, 2012-2016), President of PNWJETAA.
USJETAA's visit to PNWJETAA was funded by CLAIR NY, Japan Local Government Center. This trip occurred in early March, before we knew the reality of the COVID pandemic.
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Event: Higher Education Careers for JETs (WEBINAR)
Interested in pursuing a career in higher education? Join USJETAA to hear JET alumni talk about their experiences working in higher education. They will share tips and advice for landing a job in the field.
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Article: Sax and Sake: Japanese Jazz in Midtown Manhattan
"Japan is one of the largest markets for jazz and has produced many great jazz musicians such as Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ryo Fukui, and Takuya Kuroda. New York City is one of the most storied jazz cities in the world, where in the clubs of Harlem, pioneers such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk pushed the music to new heights. Today, Japanese jazz manifests itself in New York in two clubs I recently visited, Tomi Jazz and Jazz at Kitano," writes X.M. Griffiths (Tokyo, 2014-2016). Read more.
This article is part of USJETAA's guest-contributor partnership with the East-West Center in Washington.
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Recording: Marketing Your JET Experience (WEBINAR)
Are you looking for ways to market your JET experience? Prepare to be inspired. Ryan Paugh will share insights from his own personal transformation and career journey after JET. This webinar will give you the tips and tricks for marketing your JET experience and creating the life and career you've always imagined.
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Article: Increasing Intercultural Engagement Opportunities for Japanese Students in the Boston Area
"As a Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Assistant Language Teacher (JET ALT) who taught at Kujukuri Junior High School, I spent the first two years of my career as a cultural ambassador in a rural Japanese community. My passion for international communication led me to my subsequent career at Showa Boston Institute, the study abroad campus of Showa Women’s University. There, I work to connect its Japanese student body to Boston-Area college students through extracurricular programming. After all, merely sharing a space or encouraging students to go out and engage with the community doesn’t work for most of our population, nor is it an effective method on other college campuses," writes Daniel Lowe (Chiba, 2011-2013). Read more.
This article is part of USJETAA's guest-contributor partnership with the East-West Center in Washington.
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Recording: The Black JET Experience - JETAA Southeast
Given the racial divisions in our country that have come to the forefront with George Floyd's death, JETAASE organized an event to hear from Black JET Alumni on how they as a chapter and as individuals can help to be a voice against racial inequality.
Specifically the conversation was based on these topics:
- Being Black in Japan - Our Experiences
- Being Black in the United States- Our Experiences
- What Can JETAASE do to Increase Minority Participation on the JET Program?
- How do we increase JET recruitment at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs)?
- What actions plan can we do as individuals and as a chapter to voice against racial inequality?
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Japan in DC: Book Shows Influence of JETs in the Nation's Capital
This book grew out of the Globalize DC summer 2017 Japan in DC program. For six weeks 20 curious DC public high school students traveled across the city to meet with interesting people and investigate the many ways that Japan has a presence in their own city. The book is full of Washington, DC JET alumni in U.S.-Japan relations, including Mya Fisher (Kanagawa, 2000-2002) of the U.S.-Japan Council, Shanti Shoji (Kagawa, 2002-2004) of Kizuna Across Cultures, and Danielle Reed (Sendai, 2011-2014) of the S&R Foundation.
For more information about the Japan in DC guidebook, please visit Globalize DC’s website here.
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Alumnus Discusses Race on Blockhead Podcast
There is a new Blockhead podcast episode featuring JETAANC alumnus Khalid Birdsong (Osaka, 2003-2005) discussing race relations with his cartooning hero, Ray Billingsley, creator of the syndicated comic strip “Curtis.” Khalid is a talented cartoonist in his own right, who writes a heartfelt, funny strip about living in Japan called Fried Chicken and Sushi.
Listen to Episode 44 of Blockhead at: https://geoffgrogan.com/blockhead/
If you have Apple Podcasts you can listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ray-billingsley-and-khalid-birdsong/id1440223132?i=1000477950131
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Japanese Hip-hop and Electronica Radio Show on WMBR 88.1FM
Ian Condry (Miyagi, 1988-1989) is a cultural anthropologist and Professor of Japanese Culture and Media at MIT, where he has been teaching since 2002. He is the author of two books, “Hip-Hop Japan” and “The Soul of Anime,” both of which explore how cultural movements go global from below. He is co-founder and Chief Anthropologist of Area4 Labs which created the Hearby app, a local live music discovery platform (hearby.com). His weekly radio show, “Near and Far” Tuesdays 7-8 pm on WMBR 88.1FM (Cambridge, MA) and online at wmbr.org, focuses on Japanese hip-hop and electronica (mixcloud.com/iancondry). More info: iancondry.com
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Building Your Resume During Quarantine
Career counselor Emily Frank (Hokkaido, 1993-1996) shares tips on using your time in lockdown to rebuild your resume. Check it out here.
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Virtual Screening and Q&A of The Harimaya Bridge
View Thursday, July 9th through Sunday, July 12th, 2020
Q&A Sunday July 12th, 7:00pm PST
Support Berkeley-Sakai Sister City Association’s US-Japan youth exchange program by watching online THE HARIMAYA BRIDGE by filmmaker and JET Aaron Woolfolk (Kochi-ken, 1991-1993) that is sure to make you feel nostalgic about Japan. Includes a Q&A by the filmmaker and producer.
Eleven Arts Studios partners with the Berkeley-Sakai Association to bring you a Virtual Screening. The film will be available to screen for $10 anytime between Thursday, July 9th, and Sunday, July 12th, 2020. The virtual screening is a fundraiser for the Berkeley-Sakai Sister City Association and will support their programs.
Following the screening period, at 7:00PM PST on Sunday, July 12th, Eleven Arts Studios will host a youtube streamed Q&A with film director and writer, Aaron Woolfolk and film producer, Ko Mori, and with Velina Hasu Houston hosting the conversation. Viewers of the Q&A are invited to ask their own questions in the comments of the virtual Q&A livestream.
View Thursday, July 9th through Sunday, July 12th, 2020: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theharimayabridge
Q&A Sunday July 12th, 7:00pm PST: https://youtu.be/X8ibfh0gXlg
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Have something you think we should share? Email us at contact@usjetaa.org.
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Click here for a list of all the virtual JETAA chapter events this month. The list will be updated as new events are created. As always, check with your local chapter to see what's going on. Links to events in private/closed Facebook groups may not be available unless you are in the group. The current events for June are below:
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Every Wednesday at 11 AM ET
JETAA USA Yoga: Facebook Event
Every Thursday at 8:30 PM EDT
JETAA Great Lakes Terrace House Thursdays: Join Facebook Group for Event Details
Every Friday at 8:30 AM ET and 8:30 AM PT
JETAA USA Radio Taiso: Facebook Event (you do not need Facebook to participate)
Every Sunday at 2 PM to 3 PM
JETAA DC Japanese Script Reading Club - Click here to sign up: https://forms.gle/4bG2LS6KVgRRPRNX9
July 6, 2020 at 5:00 PM ET
USJETAA Lessons on Soy: Register here
July 6, 2020 at 6:30 PM ET
JETAANY Nihongo Dake: RSVP Via Facebook
July 7, 2020 at 6:30 PM CDT
JETAA Mid-South 1st Tuesday Happy Hour: RSVP via Facebook Event.
July 7, 2020 at 7 PM ET
JETAANY Book Club: register at https://bit.ly/3eQQ9ax to receive the meeting link.
July 8, 2020 at 7 PM ET
JETAANY Virtual Craft Night: Register here.
July 8, 2020 at 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM UTC-10
JETAA Hawaii July Virtual Kaiwa Table: RSVP here
July 9, 2020 at 2 PM or 7 PM EDT
JETAANY Gender Based Violence Webinar
2PM session registration: https://mssm.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAucu-opj4rGdxUGjUMMmyUVfnXGImMwfKN
7PM session registration: https://mssm.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvceyoqj4vHdS0LWuef9VnKclO_OA8Wl8k
July 10, 2020 at 7 PM CDT
JETAA Texoma Japanese History Trivia Night: Register to participate at this Google form: https://forms.gle/zN2Qu2bei6gNBqam6
July 14, 2020 at 5:30 PM PDT / 8:30 PM EDT
USJETAA Webinar: Higher Education Careers for JETs: Register here
July 14, 2020 at 6 - 7:30 PM PDT
JETAANC Film Appreciation Club: Film Discussion: "In This Corner of the World" (「この世界の片隅に」). More Info.
July 16, 2020 at 7:00 pm ET
JETAA Southeast Nihongo Dake: Facebook Event | Zoom Registration
July 16, 2002 at 7 PM ET
JETAANY Networking Part II: Zoom link available via Facebook Event.
July 26, 2020 at 11:30 AM - 1 PM PDT
JETAA Portland & JETAA BC - JETAA Kyaraben Contest: Sign up here!
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Non-JETAA Online Opportunities & Recordings
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Gratitude, Respect and Rock & Roll – Ambassador Yamanouchi at the Consulate General of Japan in New York expresses his appreciation for the resilient American people and the long relationship between the US, NY & Japan in a special video that includes a 4th of July performance inspired by music legend Jimi Hendrix. Happy Independence Day, America! Watch the video.
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Scholar Spotlight - Dr. Kit Brooks on Master of Ukiyo-e, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and His Depictions of Heroes
July 9, 2020
7:00 - 8:00 PM EDT
REGISTER
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi is most often remembered as an ukiyo-e artist who produced designs of blood, horror, and grotesquerie. And while this characterization does represent a portion of his oeuvre, Yoshitoshi was also engaged in a project to reimagine Japan’s past according to the prerogatives of a rapidly changing society.
Within Yoshitoshi’s lifetime, Japan shifted from a feudal system to one that emulated Western governmental and cultural institutions. At the same time, the last generations of ukiyo-e artists struggled to maintain relevance by reconceptualizing the heroic figures that appear in the popular “warrior prints” of the Edo period (1603–1868) into the new genre of “history paintings” befitting Meiji society (1868–1912).
In this lecture, we will examine how this process is distilled into a remarkable painting by Yoshitoshi, Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing the Flute by Moonlight, as he sought to balance the models inherited from his teachers with the expectations of his new audiences.
Presented by the Japan Information & Culture Center, Embassy of Japan with the support of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institutions.
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I Love Yu! Japanese Bath Houses, Hot Springs, and How to Soak Up the Benefits at Home
The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership
Saturday, July 18, 7 PM EDT
YouTubeLive
Join our free online event with special guest speakers Stéphanie Crohin, Author and Sento Ambassador, and Hayasaka Shinya MD PhD, Bath & Hot Spring Medical Researcher, as they discuss Japan’s long history of bath culture, the art of public bath houses, the science behind Japanese bathing habits, and how everyone can try these practices in the comfort of their own home. Presentations will be followed by a live Q&A. This event is supported by the Center for Global Partnership.
RSVP: https://iloveyu.eventbrite.com to receive a reminder and link to the LiveStream.
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Learn How to Draw Totoro
Former president of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki, shares a tutorial on how to draw Totoro. Click for more.
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