Live and Work in Japan in Birmingham’s Sister City!

Teach English in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture! The Hitachi Municipal Board of Education is looking to fill a direct-hire position for a native English instructor (ALT). This position is reserved exclusively for candidates from Hitachi’s Sister City of Birmingham, Alabama.

Job Description Employed by the Hitachi Municipal Board of Education and based at a public junior high school, you will assist Japanese teachers of English in planning and conducting English lessons. Although you will mainly teach at junior high school(s), there will be periodic visits to elementary schools, kindergartens, and/or other city schools for special activities. Although no Japanese is required for this job, it is highly recommended and beneficial to have basic Japanese skills. Successful applicants with a high level of Japanese ability (N2 or above) may have the occasional chance to work on translation of documents related to Sister Cities and various other projects for Hitachi City Hall.

Contract Period Initial contract is for one (1) year with the opportunity to continually renew every year Contract will commence on April 1st, 2020 *We ask for an initial two-year commitment for visa purposes, etc.

Requirements ① Hold a bachelor’s degree in any subject ② Be a current or former resident of Birmingham (graduate of surrounding university etc.) ③ Be able to commit to completion of initial two-year contract ④ Have a strong interest in Japan (language/culture) ⑤ Prior teaching experience preferred but not required

Benefits • Visa Sponsorship • Airfare from Birmingham and return ticket upon completion of contract • Housing provided • Work commuting costs covered (when public transportation is necessary) • National Health Insurance

About Hitachi Hitachi City is located in Ibaraki Prefecture, about 1.5 hours from Tokyo by limited express train. Positioned on the east coast, Hitachi is surrounded by both the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. With the establishment of Sister City ties in 1982, Birmingham has its oldest and most active Sister City relationship with Hitachi. Hitachi employs four ALTs from its two Sister Cities (Birmingham City and Tauranga City, New Zealand) and engages in various cultural and economic exchanges with these cities.

*Please contact Scotty Colson, Hitachi’s representative in Birmingham, at scotty@jimmiehalemission.com for application materials and further inquiries.

Writers in Kyoto Present the Fifth

Annual Kyoto Writing Competition

December 1, 2019 / Writers in Kyoto / Comments Off on Writers in Kyoto Present the Fifth Annual Kyoto Writing Competition

THEME: Kyoto (English language submissions only)
DEADLINE: March 31st, 2020 (Midnight JST)
GENRE: Short Shorts (unpublished material only)
WORD LIMIT: 300 Words (to fit on a single page)
FORM: Short poems, character studies, essays, travel tips, whimsy, haiku sequence, haibun, wordplays, dialogue, experimental verse, etc. In short, anything that helps show the spirit of place in a fresh light.

Submission Requirements

• Limited to one submission per person
• You do not need to be located in Kyoto to participate. We accept submissions from anywhere in the world.
• Must be submitted by Microsoft Word attachment file. (Submissions by PDF attachment are NOT accepted.)
• At the top of the Microsoft Word attachment (not in the body of the e-mail), please include the following: Full Name, E-mail Contact, Nationality, Current Residence (Town, Country).
• Do not provide any special formatting to your piece. We request your information at the top with the text directly below.
• Please send your Microsoft Word attachment file to: kyotowritingcompetition2020@gmail.com

Top Prizes:

First Prize: ¥30,000, Kyoto Prize (To Be Decided), One-year complimentary WiK membership (April 2020 – March 2021), publication on the Writers in Kyoto website, and inclusion in the WiK Anthology

Second and Third Prize: Kyoto Prize (To Be Decided), Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto by John Dougill and John Einarsen, publication on the Writers in Kyoto website, and inclusion in the WiK Anthology

Publishing Rights/Copyright

Writers in Kyoto reserves the right to publish entries on its website. Winning entries will be eligible for publication in the WiK Anthology. Authors retain the copyright of their own work.

Local Prizes:

Japan Local Prize: A selected ceramic piece from the Robert Yellin Yakimoto Gallery 

USA Prize: Phila-Nipponica: An Historic Guide to Philadelphia & Japan and one-year complimentary Japan-America Society of Greater Philadelphia membership

Kyoto prizes are generously provided by the Kyoto City Tourism Association.  Phila-Nipponica: An Historic Guide to Philadelphia & Japan is awarded by the Japan-America Society of Greater Philadelphia. This competition is also sponsored by the Kyoto Journal and Kyoto International Community House.

The WiK Competition logo was designed by Rebecca Otowa, author of The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper, At Home in Japan, and My Awesome Japan Adventure.

For More Information about Writers in Kyoto: 

• Writers in Kyoto website: http://www.writersinkyoto.com
• Writers in Kyoto anthologies available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions:

Echoes: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 2017

Edited by John Dougill, Amy Chavez and Mark Richardson.

Encounters with Kyoto: Writers in Kyoto Anthology 3

Edited by Jann Williams and Ian Josh Yates.

http://www.writersinkyoto.com/2019/12/writers-in-kyoto-present-the-fifth-annual-kyoto-writing-competition/?fbclid=IwAR2QORVhO0sYz7dxPaY0QZ97vuWX4gT1TsfRhC817Gr0pjYUX_ft4e4eLK0

Here are some of the details about this year’s program:

 

UNO-Japan: Study at Doshisha Summer 2020

May 24 – June 27, 2020 (Online Intro Session: May 13-23)

 

2020 Classes: Students are required to take two classes (6 credit hours) while abroad that will be fully transferrable to your home institution. Class is held Monday – Thursday, with Fridays off for a longer weekend, giving students the opportunity to travel and participate in field trips.

 

Intermediate Japanese I (JAPN 2001) (third semester Japanese)

Art Appreciation (FA 1010)

Deciphering Manga & Anime (HUMS 2090)

Into to Digital Photography (FA 1551 – for non-art majors)

Introduction to Photography (FA 2550 – for art majors)

Godzilla and the World: History of Post War Japan (HIST 3992)

 

Price: $5,595.00 (Cost includes: tuition for your two classes, housing, breakfast every day, lunch on campus during class days, 30-day bus pass in Kyoto, study abroad health insurance, cultural activities, guided campus and city tour, participation in our Tomodachi Program, and MORE!) We also have optional field trips available in Kyoto, Osaka and Nara for an additional cost: http://new.uno.edu/studyabroad/japan/Fieldtrips.

Toyota Boshoku Aki USA in Athens, AL is seeking a bilingual (English / Japanese) HR representative to assist with recruiting. Reach out to Stan Brewer for more information.

Contact:
STAN BREWER, SPHR/SHRM-SCP
Human Resources Manager
Toyota Boshoku Aki USA; LLC
300 West Sandefer Road
Athens, AL 35611
Stan.brewer@toyota-boshoku.com

Please find a message below from Halleh Hashtpari, 

Hello!

My name is Halleh Hashtpari, and I am a counseling psychology doctoral student at the University of Utah. I would like to invite you to participate in an online study examining how participants experience their ethnic identity within the context of other identity statuses (i.e., gender identity, religious identity, sexual identity) at different times throughout the day, over the course of a week. This study has received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval through the University of Utah (IRB_00099876).

This study is open to anyone who identifies as Asian or Asian American.

Your participation will involve completing a short survey that takes approximately 5 minutes to complete once a day over the course of a week. Questions will be asked about how you are experiencing your different identity statuses in that moment, and how you may be feeling emotionally and physically over the course of each day. If you would like to participate in the study, please send me an email (halleh.hashtpari@utah.edu).

Your participation is completely voluntary, and responses will be anonymous and confidential.

If you have any questions, please email me at halleh.hashtpari@utah.edu, or my research supervisor, Dr. Karen Tao, at k.tao@utah.edu.

If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, or concerns you do not feel you can discuss with the investigator, you can contact the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The University of Utah IRB may be reached by phone at (801) 581-3655 or by e-mail at irb@hsc.utah.edu. 

Please sign up at the link below if you are interested in participating.

https://goo.gl/forms/i2H9vtPwtOk4AcQE2

Thank you for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,

Halleh Hashtpari, M.S.

University of Utah

Our hearts go out to those affected by Typhoon Hagibis.

If you would like to support relief efforts, our colleagues
at the Japan-America Society of Iowa the Japan Society have opened relief funds. Visit the websites below to donate:

-Chie Schiller writes that Japan America Society of Iowa has a fund : https://www.japaniowa.org/

-Motoatsu Sakurai writes that Japan Society, Inc. has opened a fund : https://jscommunity.japansociety.org/pages/japan-relief-fund?_ga=2.248872448.661770023.1571150626-1367775772.1395064087

"Tokyo — Less than a week after being hit by the worst typhoon in decades, Japan was bracing on Thursday for a secondary disaster. Heavy rain was forecast to hit already-inundated areas in the coming days. Officials said additional precipitation could destabilize storm walls along swollen rivers and trigger more landslides, with recovery efforts barely underway and a full picture of the devastation wrought by Typhoon Hagibis just starting to emerge.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said more than 56,000 acres across eastern and northeastern parts of Japan's main island of Honshu were flooded by the super typhoon. More than 100 river embankments collapsed during and immediately after the storm struck last weekend, causing 33,000 homes to flood. Almost 2,000 houses were partially or totally destroyed.

More than 77 deaths have been blamed on the storm, and hopes were fading fast that any of the approximately 10 people still listed as missing would be found alive. Thousands remained in shelters on Thursday, often shivering through the night as temperatures drop." - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/typhoon-in-japan-death-toll-nears-80-as-more-rain-forecast-to-test-tokyo-flood-defenses-today-2019-10-17/

Have you or a family member been stationed in Japan while in the U.S. Military?  If so, check out JUMP: the Japan U.S. Military Program.

This year's JUMP event is hosted by our neighbors at the Japan America Society of Northwest Florida . The event will be at the Pensacola National Naval Aviation Museum  on Saturday, September 21st, 1p.m. till 4 p.m. 

JUMP's mission is to connect past and present service members, their families, and government civilians who have served in Japan.  JUMP builds relationships and provides opportunities for service members to engage with each other and form bonds that transcend cultural barriers.  JUMP provides a powerful foundation for sustaining the solid alliance and relationship that exists between the U.S. and Japan.

If you are in the Southern Alabama area, this would be a great opportunity!

For more information,  please visit https://www.jumprogram.org/

Questions? email at jasnwfl.org or call at 850-602-7049

We are a student club at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, studying the Japanese martial art of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. Our faculty sponsor is Dr. Jeffrey Walker, PhD. Dr. Walker is a Shihan (Master Teacher) in the Bujinkan, and is ranked at 15th Dan. He is the chief instructor for the group.

Shane Layton is a Criminal Justice major at UAB. He has been training in the Bujinkan since 1985, and is a Shidoshi (Teacher), holding the rank of 7th Dan. Shane is the assistant instructor for the group.

Classes are currently held at the mini park on Saturday mornings from 9-11 am. Classes are open to all UAB students. There is no fee for UAB students.

The Bujinkan system consists on 9 martial arts lineages:

 Togakure-ryū Ninpō 戸隠流忍法

 Gyokko ryū Kosshi jutsu 玉虎流骨指術

 Kuki Shinden Happō Bikenjutsu 九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術

 Koto Ryū Koppō jutsu 虎倒流骨法術

 Shinden Fudo Ryū Dakentai jutsu 神伝不動流打拳体術

 Takagi Yoshin Ryū Jūtai jutsu 高木揚心流柔体術

 Gikan Ryū Koppō jutsu 義鑑流骨法術

 Gyokushin-ryū Ryū Ninpō 玉心流忍法

 Kumogakure Ryū Ninpō 雲隠流忍法

For more information contact Shane at dlayton1@uab.edu.

South Alabama residents: don't miss this once-a-year opportunity in Pensacola! 

Press Release:

13^th ANNUAL 2019 BONFEST

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Noon – 4 p.m. at

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

6000 College Pkwy Pensacola, FL 32504

Taiko Drummers from EPCOT will be performing at the event! Enjoy Authentic Japanese Food, Dancing, Fun & Activities for ALL AGES !

 

Thanks for your community support!

HOST FAMILIES NEEDED.  Have you ever wanted to host an international student for a semester?  Youth for Understanding, one of the oldest and most respected nonprofit foreign exchange organizations in the nation, needs your help!  YFU is looking for families to host a high school aged exchange student for the academic school year (August to June) or for just a semester.

Host families are responsible for provide basic meals and a place to sleep. The students will have their own insurance and spending money. Please consider making a student’s dream a reality while also learning about another culture. If interested, please contact Kylie at kneidich@yfu.org and “apply” online at www.yfuusa.org!