Mikans and Money: The Ehime AJET Scholarship

Mikans and Money: The Ehime AJET Scholarship

Anna Tattersall

I feel I am very lucky to come from the UK. I have always taken for granted how close I am to other European countries and the ample opportunities to travel and work abroad (not so much anymore — I’m still pissed off about the whole Brexit thing). Since my first journey outside of the UK at the age of 6 months, various family holidays, school trips, and travels with friends have taken me to approximately 20 countries around the world, and I have had the opportunity to encounter festivals, events, languages, cuisines, and cultures that I certainly would not have if I’d stayed home in my quiet corner of the English countryside.  (more…)

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365 Days in Japan

365 Days in Japan

Bronwyn O’Neill

One of my last memories of England before coming to Japan was sitting quietly with my parents, eating poached eggs at an airport cafe and looking bemusedly at my suitcase. We’d just wrapped the suitcase in clingfilm at an overpriced machine to keep my worldly possessions safe inside. At this point, the centre of the suitcase finally buckled under the pressure of the plastic wrap and contorted into an hourglass shape. The suitcase was red, and I smiled at the thought that I would be lugging around something very Jessica Rabbit-esque to my first graduate job. Maybe I should have interpreted it as a portent of the time trials to come, and not just the Mario Kart variety. (more…)

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The Mikan — Pirates, Monks, and Inakamono: Ehime in Contemporary Media

Pirates, Monks, and Inakamono: Ehime in Contemporary Media

John Wheeler

Tokyo is the center of Japan’s media industry, the place where a majority of production and marketing happens. The capital’s gravity is felt in everything from films to manga to advertising. Tokyo is modern Japan, and everywhere else assumes an outside position relative to the center.

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Tell Me About the Rabbits

Tell Me About the Rabbits

Anna Sheffer

From fox villages to cat cafes, Japan has a reputation for animal tourism. And one of the most unique examples is Okunoshima — an island overrun with rabbits — located between Ehime and Hiroshima prefectures in the Seto Inland Sea. After hearing rave reviews, some friends and I decided to visit the island in mid-March.

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Never Give Up: the Japanese community theatre experience

By Rowan Carmichael

Musical theatre isn’t easy. You have to be able to sing, dance and act, as well as give the commitment that any performance requires. To do a musical, you need a “Never Give Up” kind of mindset. I had the chance to be in a musical about a man with that very mindset — Sogo Shinji, the founder of the shinkansen. “Full speed ahead! The Shinkansen Dream ~The Story of Kiku and Shinji,” centered on Shinji’s motto “Yuufazu” (有法子　“Never give up” in Chinese) and how he never gave up on Saijo, his wife, or the shinkansen.

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Re-sign or Resign: coming to terms with my recontracting decision

By Nicole McCoy

It would happen about five times a day. A niggling feeling at the back of my mind, reminding me that there’s something I needed to do, something I’d been putting off.  I’d be working at my desk, my eyes would wander to that stack of papers, and I’d lose focus.

I’d been putting off signing my recontracting papers. I waited until the last possible moment to submit them.

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Teaching as an ALT

 Teaching as an ALT 

Scott Tamaki

This post is for any ALT who has teaching in their sights as a career path. Maybe your goal is to become a better teacher, maybe it’s to gain teaching experience for something post-JET, or maybe it’s just to find out if you like teaching. I try my best to revise and reevaluate the goals I have for teaching each day.  I ask myself, “What do I want my students to gain from this?” and question if my actions are aligned with my objective. Often times my judgement wanes, and mistake after mistake has me reflecting on how I can do things better.  Every now and then there are moments of teaching frustration, but there always seems to be small things that keep me motivated as a teacher.  Here are my thoughts and observations, highs and lows of being an ALT to junior high school students.  

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