The e-Japan Journal is the electronic webletter of the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago (CGOJ) and the Japan Information Center (JIC). We hope it proves useful, interesting, and exciting as a window into Japanese culture in the Midwest. As always, your feedback, comments, and suggestions are encouraged and can be sent to our editor, Daniel Drake, at jic@japancc.org.

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The Consulate's Japan Information Center is looking for a Receptionist/Librarian/Outreach coordinator. Responsibilities include:
Under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Japan Information Center:

1. Receptionist tasks
   -receive and greet visitors to Japan Information Center (JIC) and the JIC library and answer inquiries and telephone calls.
2. Librarian tasks at the JIC library
   -lending service for books and electronic resources.
   -monitor the selection of books and electronic resources and organize them.
   -research topics of interest to JIC constituencies.
   -send periodical publications of the Japanese Government to concerned organizations in mail.
3. Outreach coordinator tasks
   -schedule and organize school visits in the Midwest, especially the Chicago area, and introduce Japanese culture (Origami, Tea ceremony, Kendo, Kimono, Calligraphy etc.) to students from elementary to high school levels, with demonstrations or power point presentations.
   ※ work with other JIC staff members who are able to give such demonstrations.
4. General office responsibilities including attending events organized by the JIC and other related organizations and helping other staff members’ tasks if needed.

1. US citizen or permanent residency holder (working permit holder)
2. Those majoring in Japanese studies, Japanese language, international studies or related areas will be highly desirable.
3. Excellent communications skills
4. Strong computer skills (database knowledge is preferred)

1. English and Japanese are the working languages in the Japan Information Center.
2. Fluency in oral and written English is required. Fluency in oral and written Japanese is highly desirable.

Throughout this summer, hundreds of American high school students are travelling to Japan for a fully-funded two-week visit. Their adventure is part of an initiative run by the Japanese government called "The Kizuna Project." Meaning "bond" in Japanese, Kizuna aims to promote understanding about the recovery effort in Japan in the wake of the March 11, 2011 disaster, but also to foster long-term cooperation and understanding between the youth of Japan and the world.

Several Midwestern high schools were selected to participate in the project, and students studying Japanese at the schools will be embarking soon (or have already embarked!) for their journeys. The students can look forward to a homestay experience, side trips to Kyoto, Kobe, and Osaka, and, as the focus of the project, three nights and four days in an area affected by the earthquake and tsunami. There, they will volunteer with the recovery effort, and learn about the many ways it has changed the lives of Japanese citizens.

The participants are from:
Muncie and Lafayette, Indiana (travelling June 10 - 23)
St. Paul, Minnesota (travelling July 1 - 14)
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (travelling July 8 - 21)
Chicago, Illinois (travelling July 8 - 21)

For more information on the Kizuna Project visit the Japan Foundation's website. For more information on the two-week program, go to The Laurasian Institute's website. You can also see some videos and photos from a group that has already visited here, and read an article in The Star Press about the Indiana schools as they prepared to depart.

Anime Midwest is back! The three-day Anime Convention just outside of Chicago is a weekend packed with anime-related fun. Come for the music, the food, the celebrity guests (Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe!), and, of course, the costume contest. But stay for the Consulate's booth, which will host an exhibit of photographs showing the recovery effort in the Tohoku region of Japan, and also educate you about the JET Program.

Date	Friday, July 6-Sunday, July 8
Place	Wyndham Hotel & Convention Cente 3000 Warrenville Road Lisle, IL 60532 (Location Information)
Info	Visit Anime Midwest's website to register, and read more of the schedule!

Director Lucy Walker originally set out to make a documentary about the pomp and festivity that typically accompanies cherry blossom season in Japan. But after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, she decided to focus on a group of survivors from the Tohoku area as they prepared for the first sakura after the disaster. The subsequent film, called The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, is a moving story of mourning and renewal and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Now is your chance to see The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom at its Chicago premiere. The film will be screening on Wednesday, July 11, and free passes (two per person) are available at the website linked below. There will be a reception prior to the screening, and a discussion with the filmmakers will follow the screening.

Date	Wednesday, July 11 Reception at 5:30, Screening at 6:30
Place	Venue SIX10 610S Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60605 (Map)
Info	Reservations required: visit this website to reserve your tickets

The Centennial Celebration of Japan's gift of cherry blossom trees to the United States continues this July with a planting ceremony in Kansas City. Join your fellow Kansans and Missourians on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 18 for a ceremony to celebrate the planting, featuring speeches from local officials as well as Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki and Consul General OKAMURA Yoshifumi!

Date	Wednesday, July 18, 1:30 PM
Place	Loose Park (by the Japanese Tea Room) 5200 Pennsylvania Avenue Kansas City, MO 64112 (Map)
Info	Check the Heart of America Japan America Society's website for updates as the date approaches

Every year, Cinema/Chicago, the organizer of the Chicago International Film Festival, co-hosts an International Screenings Program with the various Consulates in Chicago. This August, as part of the program, the Japanese Consulate and Cinema/Chicago are excited to screen the documentary Fukushima Hula Girls, the story of the post-earthquake reconstruction and recovery of a fifty-six year old Hawaiian-themed resort in Fukushima prefecture.

Date	Wednesday, August 8, 6:30 PM Saturday, August 11, 2:00 PM
Place	2nd Floor, Claudia Cassidy Theater Chicago Cultural Center 77 E. Randolph Street Chicago, IL 60602 (Map)
Info	Free admission! Go here for more information about the International Screenings Program

The Consulate General of Japan at Chicago is pleased to announce that we can now offer reduced parking rates to all visitors to the Japan Information Center. Whether you are visiting the Center as part of a school visit, or just to browse the library, you can pay the discounted rate at the parking garage in the basement of the Olympia Center. Visit our website for more information.

• Through August 2: A Studio Ghibli Retrospective at the Gene Siskel Film Center
• Through August 11: 20th Century Japanese Prints at the Art Institute of Chicago
• July 3 and 5: Violinist Midori Plays Bach at the Ravinia Music Festival
• July 5: Chicago White Sox Play for Earthquake Relief
• July 10: Japan America Society of Minnesota Sushi Social
• July 21 and 25: Indianapolis International Film Festival Shows 311: In the Moment
• July 24: Japan America Society of Indiana to Host a Lecture by Dr. Akira Miyawaki on Forest Regeneration
• July 28: Hana-bi: Celebrating 15 Years of Ho-Etsu Taiko Group

Monthly Economic Report (June, 2012)
http://www5.cao.go.jp/keizai3/getsurei-e/2012june.html

Speech by Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20)
http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/environment/warm/cop/rio_20/fm_speech_en.html

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba 16 June 2012 – Including 2. And 4. Questions concerning the Deployment of Osprey aircraft in Okinawa
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm_press/2012/6/0615_01.html

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba 13 June 2012 – Including 1. Question concerning the issue of the name “Sea of Japan”
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm_press/2012/6/0613_01.html

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba 12 June 2012 – Including 4. Questions concerning the Deployment of Ospreys in Okinawa
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm_press/2012/6/0612_01.html

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba 8 June 2012 – Including 1. Selection of the Next CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and 3. Questions concerning the deployment of Osprey aircraft to Okinawa
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm_press/2012/6/0608_01.html

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba 6 June 2012 – Including 2. Question concerning Japan-U.S. Relations
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm_press/2012/6/0606_01.html

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba 1 June 2012 – Including 5. Additional questions concerning the Realignment of US Forces in Japan (Okinawa Prefectural Assembly Elections)
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm_press/2012/6/0601_01.html

Fumizuki is the old Japanese name for the month of July. Its kanji characters literally mean "book month." There are several theories about the origins of this name. One is that fumizuki is a shortened form of hofumizuki, which refers to the time when rice becomes ready for harvest. Another possible explanation is that it's short for fumihirakizuki, which means to hope for an improvement in one's calligraphy skills. Tanabata - the major holiday during fumizuki - is a time to pray specifically for improvement in calligraphy.

The only official holiday in July is Marine Day, celebrated on the third Monday of the month. It is Japan's newest national holiday (first observed in 1996), and commemorates the return of Emperor Meiji to Yokohama port from a boat trip to Hokkaido in 1876. A more traditional celebration is Tanabata, observed on July 7th. According to legend, a cattleherd named Hikoboshi and a weaver named Orihime are allowed to meet just once a year: on the 7th day of the 7th month. They are represented by the stars Altair and Vega, which come together from across the Milky Way. One popular custom on Tanabata is to write one's deepest wish on a piece of paper and hang it on a bamboo tree (hence the emphasis on calligraphy).

Explore the different sides of Tokyo!

This month’s library article highlights three books that focus on Tokyo's visual culture. Insightful and original, these books go beyond the typical Tokyo guides.

The Tokyo Lookbook at Call #180011 offers a glimpse of Tokyo street fashion ranging from "stylish to spectacular, goth to gyaru, sidewalk to catwalk." Bursting with fun and colorful photography, the Lookbook is an engaging work of art. Yuri Manabe's striking photographs are accompanied by anthropologist Philomena Keet's insightful narrative on Japanese society.

Our trek through Tokyo moves from the streets into the household at Tokyo: a Certain Style at Call#173021. This pocket-sized book, packed with images of small apartment interiors, conveys the compacted life styles of Tokyo urbanites. Photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki guides the viewer through the diverse dwellings of artists, students, young professionals, and families, creating a distinct portrait of modern Japanese life.

A new addition to the library, Tokyo Cyberpunk: Posthumanism in Japanese Visual Culture at Call # 180022 explores "what it means to be human in a posthuman world." Through his analysis of Japanese visual culture, including anime, manga, and science fiction films, Steven Brown draws conclusions on topics as diverse as electronic social interaction to socioeconomic issues.

Discover a new Tokyo at the JIC library!

This month’s What's New in the Library article was written by JIC intern Carter Rice. Welcome, Carter!

Here are three new questions about current events in Japan. The first person to answer the most questions correctly will receive a bit of Consular merchandise.

1. What game has a University of Tokyo robot never lost?


2. What small gift with a big meaning did teenagers in Craig, Alaska mail to Japan?


3. In what sport does Shimane Prefecture's Kei Nishikori excel?


To submit your answers by email, click here: jic@japancc.org and write "Japan News Quiz" in the subject line.

Answers to June's Quiz:
Congratulations to Miss Willa Coufal!

1. Who is the oldest person to climb Mount Everest? Miss Tamae Watanabe, at the age of 73, is the oldest person to climb Mount Everest.


2. How did Penguin No. 337 spend his spring break? After escaping the zoo, he spent the last few weeks living in and around Tokyo Bay.


3. How tall is the newly-opened Tokyo Skytree? It is 2,080 feet tall, or 634 meters.

Primary Source: Resources for Teaching About Japan

This link goes out to all the teachers in the world. Under the subheading Cultural Snapshots of Daily Life in Japan for Elementary Students, this page on primarysource.org offers educators a wealth of material for a Japan-based unit. There's video about Japanese trains, slideshows and images about school life and food in Japan, essays, suggested homework, and more!

Japan being in the northern hemisphere, July is a hot, sticky month across the country. It's also the time for the tanabata festival, which is the major summer holiday. The "start festival" is a time for much celebration, usually at large festivals featuring floats, parades, games, and more. Tanabata is most famous, however, for the custom of writing one's deepest wish on a piece of paper and tying it to bamboo. Write a wish down and email it to us, and we'll tie to a stick of virtual bamboo!

Daniel Drake, Editor