Japan 2019 aims to broaden understanding of an interest in Japanese culture in the United States through two programs: the Japan 2019 Official Program featuring a series of events co-organized or supported by the Japan Foundation, mainly in New York and Washington, D.C., and the Japan 2019 Associated Program, featuring affiliated events organized by public and private entities to introduce Japanese culture and promote exchange between Japan and the U.S.

Check out the link below!

https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/about/area/japan2019/index.html

Anyone with at least beginner level Japanese language ability are invited to the upcoming U.S. Career Forum exclusively for domestic positions.
Attendees will have the opportunity to submit resumes, interview, and even receive offers of employment during the one-day event. 

Career Forum registration and attendance are entirely free.

U.S. Career Forum 2019 (in New York)
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March 30 (Sat.), 2019
https://careerforum.net/en/event/us/
* All positions in the U.S. using Japanese
* Anyone with legal U.S. work permission welcome
* Attendance Support available
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If you have questions about any of the Career Forums, please contact us at cfn@careerforum.net

We look forward to seeing you there!

A new book about Japan has been published andavailable online at www.ryanpub.com.au!

Written by Fukuoka resident, Andrew Thomson, Bridge to the Gods: Tales From Kyushu, assists the reader in understanding where Japanese culture began, And where the country may go in the future. It discusses topics on Shinto, rice, tea, Christian samurai, food, politics, organized crime, and more.

CHOKO KIMURA AIKEN and NANAHO CHIBA will introduce traditional and contemporary Japanese music by focusing on differences between US and Japanese customs and cultures.

Choko was born and raised in Japan and began studying classical piano at the age of three and later piano, violin, voice, and music theory at colleges in Tokyo and Fukuoka as well as traveling to the United States to study jazz in Los Angeles and New York.Her "Imagination" album, made in Los Angeles in 2011, was featured in that year’s February issue of JAZZIZ magazine. Choko has also performed many genres in Japan, including jazz, salsa, latin, classical, gospel, and pop. She left her long-time group Tri-Voices and other bands to relocate to Birmingham in January 2013. Since that time, Choko has enjoyed playing in the Magic City at many of its local venues, including the 4th Avenue Jazz Festival, Moss Rock Festival, Creek Bank Festival, Mt. Brook Arts Festival, and Eric Essix Jazz Escape. She has been Guest Pianist at the 2015 Supper Jazz Concert, 2016 4th Avenue Jazz Festival, and 2017 Jazz in the Park. She looks forward to continuing with her main goal of simply making people happy with her music. For more information, please see: https://www.chokoaiken.com

Professor Niendorf will first offer various definitions and views of politeness in Japan, Sweden, and the US as well as other English-speaking countries and discuss the reasons why these came to be viewed as they are today. Swedish learners’ attitudes toward the use of Japanese polite forms will be examined using data from surveys and error analyses. And various methods for overcoming cross-cultural miscommunication caused by differences in politeness strategies will be proposed, which may be applied to learners of other languages.

*This event is free and open to the public.

When: March 07, 2019. 3:30 - 4:30

Where: UAB Heritage Hall Building, Rm 104. 1401 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL.

A free Asian cultures convention hosted by Annicon will be in Anniston on Saturday, March 02! Enjoy a one-day celebration of Asian Culture with displays and performances on the subjects of art, music, cosplay, manga, anime, gaming, food, history, and special guests. Check out the schedule below to see what’s featured.

More information about the event and volunteering at www.annicon.com

Location: Anniston City Meeting Center 1516 Noble Street, Anniston, AL.

Are you traveling to Japan soon? Would you like a chance to make authentic, in-home Japanese meal while you’re there? Look no further than AirKitchen!

AirKitchen is a unique opportunity that allows global  travelers to book an authentic cooking class by Japanese hosts in their homes. AirKitchen creates an experience to learn to cook homemade Japanese food and enjoy the warmth of eating around a dinner table with Japanese locals.

Is your mouth watering yet? Hop over to their website to learn more!

https://airkitchen.jp/

*They don’t have a host in Alabama because they’re currently offering the service in Japan.

JASA will have a table at Alabama's Largest Anime and Gaming Comic - Con! Come and see our fan table on Friday night and Saturday morning of the 3-Day event! We'd love to see you there.

Kami-Con Dates: February 22-24 2019

For more information about Kami-Con, follow this link.

EngageAsia is administering the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teaching award to one exceptional teacher in the humanities category (the 2020 award will focus on Japanese language). The Award recognizes exceptional teachers who further mutual understanding between American and Japanese people. The award consists of a $2,500 monetary award and a $5,000 grant provided by the United States-Japan Foundation. It is named in honor of Elgin Heinz for his commitment to educating students about Asia as well as for the inspiration he has provided to the field of pre-college education.

To learn more about the award and application procedures, please link here:

https://www.engageasia.org/programs/

Eligibility Requirements

The award is open to current full-time K-12 classroom teachers of any relevant subject in the United States. There are two award categories, one in the humanities and one in Japanese language. The 2019 award will only be open to candidates in the humanities category.

Previous award recipients often have over 10 years of teaching experience and have been engaged in teaching their students about Japan for a substantial period of time.  Candidates must demonstrate sustained commitment to improving mutual understanding between Americans and Japanese, and must have made a significant contribution to enhancing students’ knowledge of Japan.

Applicants for the Japanese language category must have excellent command of the Japanese language and may be contacted by members of the selection committee to verify this.

Nomination Procedures

Applicants for the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award need not be nominated to apply. However, the Foundation is always seeking to encourage the nation’s top educators to consider applying for the award. Therefore, we welcome nominations of individuals qualified to apply for the Award.

Letters of Nomination should briefly highlight the qualifications of the candidate and must include his/her name, contact information, and indicate the school at which the candidate currently teaches.

EngageAsia, which is administering the award, will accept Letters of Nomination at any time and will inform candidates that they have been nominated for the Award. Those nominated must submit a full application as indicated below.

Nominators should keep in mind the deadline for applications is in early May. Therefore, it is recommended that nominations be submitted by early March in order to provide potential candidates the time needed to compile their applications.

Deadline: May 15, 2019

Letters of Nomination should be e-mailed to EngageAsia at: info@engageasia.org

We'd like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who came to the Okonomiyaki class yesterday! We had tons of fun, made new friends, and rekindled with old ones!