happy new year!

it's 2013! wow...i can't believe it. 2013 is the year of the snake and heisei 25 in japan. the past few years i've been in japan, a majority of the stores were closed on january 1, with a handful opening on the second and more opening on the third. perhaps taking a page from america, a lot of stores opened up on january 1! convenience stores (conbini) and gyu-don places are always open. and don quijote, i guess. this year, zara was open! uniqlo was open (and having sales)! and of course cafes like starbucks were open to give the citizens their coffee fix. i feel sorry for the people that had to work on new year's day. but, i am glad that there were out there! of course, the big new year's day thing in japan is the nengajo (new year's cards). they arrive the morning of january 1, and you get to see how many people love you. i got a card, one lonely card, from someone who i really don't remember...but i am grateful! thank you, random person!

so, you're applying for the JET program...pt1 application

I'm pretty sure that JET applicants in North America (and the UK, etc) have submitted their applications for the 2011-2012 year.
So, I know that this post is "late", but I did that for a variety of reasons...including me just being busy with work.

Let's get started.

Gathering the necessary materials for your application and writing an intriguing statement of purpose (SoP), is an incredibly nerve wracking process.
I don't so interviews for JET, but I have read over SoPs, and I think I have a bit of insight into how people are chosen. Since there is a wealth of information on the internet for JETs who are applying as ALTs, I'll be focusing on CIRs. But, I am sure that many of this applies to both groups.

Did the application instructions ask you to put your papers in a specific order?
Did you comply?
Showing that you can follow directions is one of the most basic things that the people at the D.C. Embassy are going to look for.
Next, were you able get letters of recommendation from people who you know are able to write strongly and positively about you? (Hopefully from people who can comment on your Japanese skills)
Finally, the most important, in my opinion, is your statement of purpose strong?

You are asked to answer a number of questions in a limited amount of space. Not only that, but you have to sell yourself as being a great candidate for the program. As most people should know, the SoP should be grammatically correct and written formally. Of the SoP letters I've seen posted online by JET hopefuls, the most common mistakes I find are:
- Rambling (use concise phrases and ideas to get your idea across)
- Too casual ("I really liked Japanese food"; "It was nice to talk to someone from another country"; etc)
The bolded words are ones that my elementary school teachers hated. Not only are they too casual for a formal SoP, but they also take up unnecessary space.
- Misspelled words (use spell check, yo!)
- Reads like a resume (you don't need to list all of your accomplishments, no one cares that you were the president of the student council in 4th grade)

Have you have experience abroad or helping foreign people in your area?
Cite a specific example, what you learned from it, and how it can *specifically* be applied to your job as a CIR.
What sparked your interest in Japan? Anime? Maybe you want to write that, but think about how many other hundreds of people are writing the same thing. Aside from anime/manga, what other things interested you in Japan?
I will go out on a limb and say that past girlfriends/boyfriends of Japanese descent shouldn't me mentioned either, unless you can skillfully connect it to a learning experience relevant to CIRs.

As a CIR, what would you like to accomplish (everyone wants to be a bridge between Japan and the US, what else do you want to accomplish?)
Some CIRs work with local foreigners, so, while you want to learn about Japanese culture, you also want to be able to help foreigners in your area.
Lastly, as I mentioned above, use the SoP to speak about what you will do/want to do as a CIR. Speak as if you have already been offered the job.

asience shampoo...wtf?

(taking a break from the library drama...)

For a while I've had issues with the Asience shampoo commercials.

What is Asience shampoo, exactly?
It's a shampoo made by the Japanese company Kao to meet the unique hair needs of East Asians.
The basic premise is that Asian hair is different from Western hair and that the shampoo that Asians use should also be different.

It's not really a unique concept.
So, why the annoyance?

Well, last year Asience had a series of commercials featuring Korean actress Jeon JiHyeon.
In them, Jeon JiHyeon's beauty is envied by Westerners (white Americans).

In one commercial, Jeon JiHyeon runs through a crowd and embraces a white man while being surrounded by cheering white people.
In this video, Jeon JiHyeon wins a dance competition to become an "Asian superstar".
It ends with her becoming "bigger" than the white people around her, and not just that, but the envy of them, too.

In my opinion, the commercial fails at conveying its message, which is something like "Your hair is beautiful".
Instead, the beauty of Asian hair is reduced to something that can be used to make you the envy of white people and allow you acess to a white boyfriend (more like stealing one from the white people, based on the way this video feels).

The goal of the video, and the shampoo, is reduced to making white people look at you. When the goal of the company should be to show how their product is better for your hair than the foreign brand. The only message the viewer gets is that a white man might choose you over a blonde girl because you washed your hair with Asience shampoo.

Those commercials have ended, but a new batch has started up.

On Saturday, I was handed a sample.
Inside, it's letting me know that straight Asian hair is 1.5 times thicker than wavy Western hair.

There's nothing written inside as to WHY this is important, and during the commercials there's nothing said as to why this is imporant.

It becomes another Asian vs. Western attempt to win customers.
If they could offer reasons as to why their product is beneficial to Asians, then I wouldn't care so much. But currently, their only action is to make their consumers feel like they can somehow "beat" white people in a beauty contest.
Big waste of time and money.

Mitoku-san

This morning I woke up at 5am.

By 6am, I met with 4 others in front of my workplace and we headed off on a 3hr (ish) drive to Tottori-ken.

Our destination was a mountain called Mitoku-san and the temple Sanbutsu-ji.

I tried to get some rest in the car, but there were 3 of us squeezed into the back seat, and Nish-san was driving pretty crazy.

I did wake up to catch this crazy fog.

When we arrived, we headed up some steep stairs to the first check point.

This is a pretty old place, and so there's a lot of uneven steps and such. Before getting our tickets, the guy checked our shoes.

I was the only one with "problem" shoes, but he let me through.

We passed by a number of small temples on our way up.

In one temple, these little statues were all lined up, and I thought they were pretty nifty looking, so I snapped a picture.

The scenery was very beautiful, but climbing up the stairs to the next level was awful. The stairs were made of some stone, some newer, some older. Some parts crumbling...

There were some HUGE trees that were in this open area before the final set of temples.

I'm not much of a fan of the sun, but the pics do look good...

Anyways, so we pass through the final group of temples and pay for our tickets to climb the mountain. Again, my shoes came into question, but I was allowed to go through.

We were required to wear a white sash with some writing on it...for any number of reasons.

The gates to the mountain.

We had already walked up some steep steps, and I was curious as to what "mountain climbing" would entail.

Our destination was one of the many temples built on this mountain.

There were no safety ropes or straps used, and I saw a number of kids and old people climbing too. There were definately places...a lot of places, where a wrong step could have been met with serious injury or death.

Our first temple. To get to it, we climbed up this rock with a metal chain for grip. Kyo-san was pretty unsure of herself climbing up. It was pretty scary, to give her credit.

Chillin at the temple.

The final destination. The temple was built inside of this little space.

It's opened up only once every 100 years or 50years or something like that.

But, people can visit and look at it.

After climbing back down the mountain, we went and ate lunch by a small river.

Our next and final stop was a cow and horse farm...type place.

They sold beef, leather goods and other stuff made from milk.

There was an area where people could ride the horses and feed them too.

It was an interesting trip.