Japan Matsuri and Hyper Japan.
JLGC attended Japan Matsuri and Hyper Japan in London, with Japan Matsuri held in Trafalgar Square on 6 October and Hyper Japan at Earls Court 23-25 November. The much-loved Japan Matsuri is a dynamic annual event that brings people together to enjoy Japanese food, music, dance, family activities and much more. Japan Matsuri is organised by Japan Matsuri Ltd., comprising the Japan Association in the UK, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in the UK, the Japan Society and the Nippon Club and supported by the Embassy of Japan. The event this year was attended by an estimated 60,000 people to see the huge variety of displays, including workshops held by the gifted craftsman of Nantan City in Kyoto Prefecture, where peopled lined up and to be able to have a go at making a pair of wooden chopstick themselves. JLGC also played a video at our stall with a message of thanks from the people of Tohoku for all the support received in the aftermath of last year’s earthquake and tsunami, as well as handing material about the recovery and revitalisation of the area.
Hyper Japan claims to be the UK’s biggest “J-Culture” event and exhibits everything cute, cool and contemporary about today’s Japan. This November’s event, attended by 46,000 people over three days, featured samurai sword artists super cute Tokyo fashion, rocking J-music acts, robotics, arts & crafts, sake tasting, sushi master classes, and more. The show featured talks from internationally acclaimed anime experts, gaming fun, and a huge range of collectable goods. Whether for food lovers, anime-mad otakus, a creatively-inspired cosplayer, or just a lover of exploring foreign cultures, HYPER JAPAN claims to represent Japan’s innovative and inspiring pop culture.
At both events JLGC handed out promotional material from Japan’s regions and cities, while discussing various aspects about travel to Japan and areas of interest. Both events are annual and more information can be found at the Japan Matsuri and Hyper Japan websites.
JET Programme Recruitment and University Visits
JLGC staff attended a number of events at universities throughout the UK in October and November, in the run up to the deadline for this year’s Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme 2013 summer recruitment drive.
The JET Programme is a Japanese government sponsored scheme which employs UK graduates in Japanese local authorities in state schools as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) or Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) in town and city halls, as well as prefectural headquarters. Over 50,000 graduates from all backgrounds have taken part in the JET Programme since its inception in 1984, including over 7,000 from the UK in the past 25 years.
JLGC staff normally travel the country visiting universities and give presentations to undergraduates, which they do every year, although this year with staff attending a number of careers fairs with other postgraduate recruiters and programmes. In autumn 2012 over 150 ALTs were newly employed throughout Japan at local schools, as well as seven CIRs in local government centres. Applications run every year with the deadline in late November, with interviews at the Embassy of Japan in the new year, results released in March and placement information made in April, before flying out to Japan at the end of July. JLGC would like to thank all the universities and careers service staff for the warm welcomes we received, and wish good luck to all those applying.
More information about the JET and life on the programme can be found here
Japanese Mayors visit the UK
Hiromi Tsukuda, Mayor of Ito City in Shizuoka Prefecture (80 miles from Tokyo), made a visit to the UK and Ito’s sister authority of Medway Council. He was accompanied by a citizens group who performed for the local Japan Group in Gillingham. Mayor Tsukuda also made a visit to the Mayor of Medway’s parlor, where he was received and there was a reconfirmation of the twinning arrangement between the two local authorities. JLGC assisted with the visited liaising between the two partners.
Ito’s link with Medway comes out of the historical connections with William Adams being from the area around Medway. William Adams, the ‘Blue-eyed Samurai’, also known in Japanese as ‘Miura Anjin’ and inspiration for James Clavel’s Shogun novels, was born in Gillingham on 24 September 1564. He is key to the link between Medway and Japan, being the first Briton to land in Japan. Since 1947, Ito has held an Anjin Festival to celebrate the inaugural sail of the first western style ships designed by William Adams to the mouth of the Tojin River in 1605. In March 1964 a member of the Diet (Japan’s Parliament) and citizen of Ito arrived in Gillingham and since then picture, cultural and friendship exchanges between the cities has continued to this day.
jlgcIn February 1982 the Gillingham council voted for friendship links with Ito and formal negotiations were concluded by the Mayors in July of that year. Again twinning ties have continued since Gillingham became Medway in 1998.
The Mayor of Hirado City, which also has links to Medway, was in the UK to visit its sister city, and also made a visit to London to meet with JLGC staff and the organisers of the Japan-UK “J400” series of events. The events will mark the 400th anniversary of the first mission to Japan by John Saris carrying letters from the Court of King James VI and I to the Shogunate of Tokugawa Hidetada. John Saris was a contemporary of the more famous William Adams who had actually arrived in Japan as the navigator of a Dutch ship, making Saris’ arrival the first “official” contact between Japan and the UK. J400 will have a series of events throughout 2013, of which JLGC is on the organising committee and will give more details during the New Year.
