The e-Japan Journal is the electronic webletter of the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago and the Japan Information Center (JIC). We hope it proves to be a useful, interesting, and exciting window for you to Japanese cultural activities happening throughout the Midwest. As always, your feedback, comments, and suggestions are encouraged and can be sent to our editor, Amy Klouse, at jic@cg.mofa.go.jp.
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| This Month in Japan |
| Special Announcements |
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Highlighted
Cultural Events |
- January 11 – March 20: Hiroshige's Winter Scenes @ Art Institute of Chicago
- February 7 - September 1: Flowers of the Four Seasons in Chinese and Japanese Art @ St. Louis Art Museum
- March 1-30: Hina Dolls Collection on display @ Rourke Art Museum in Moorhead, MN (near Fargo, ND)
- March 2: Girls' Day Celebration @ Japan House (Univ. of IL)
- March 5: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu concert @ The House of Blues
- March 5: 2014 Japanese Speech Contest @ Univ. of IA
- March 6: Osaka City University - University of Illinois-Exchange Symposium
- March 6: "Mental Health & Social Care: An Intimate Look at Social Service in Japan" with Chicago Sister Cities International
- March 8: "Masterpieces of Japanese Cinema: Tokyo Sonata" @ Art Institute of Chicago
- March 9: Wisconsin Japan Quiz 2014 @ UW-Milwaukee Union Ballroom
- March 9: Midwest Buddhist Temple Legacy Garden Benefit Concert
- March 9: Mitsuko Uchida plays Schubert and Beethoven with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- March 10: "The Challenges of Survival and Recovery from the 2011 Tsunami in Japan" by Dr. Daniel P. Aldrich @ Purdue Univ.
- March 12: Indiana University/UIUC - Korean Book Workshop Spring 2014 : "Re-Evaluating Education in Japan and Korea: Demystifying Stereotypes" with Dr. Hyunjoon Park
- March 13, 14, 15, 18: Mitsuko Uchida plays Shubert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- March 14-16: Naka-Kon @ Overland Park Convention Center, KS
- March 18: “Comparative Empires: Environmental History” by Dr. Peter Perdue @ Univ. of Chicago
- March 20-22: Riccardo Muti and Mitsuko Ushida with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- March 20: "A Night in Tokyo" fashion show @ Union League Club of Chicago
- March 21-23: Kitsune Kon @ Radisson Hotel in Appleton, WI
- March 22: Japanese Art and Culture Day @ Mildred Lane Kemper Art (Wash. U-St. Louis)
- March 22: Make Your Own Sushi with Japan America Society of Indiana
- March 22, 23: Malott Japanese Garden Spring Weekend @ Chicago Botanic Garden
- March 25: "Practicing Buddhism in Japan" by Sarah Aptilon @ Loose Park Garden Center, MO/KS
- March 28: "Cannon Design" lecture by Yoshiharu Tsukamoto @ Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Wash. U-St. Louis
- March 28-30: EvilleCon @ Clarion Inn in Evansville, IN
Please click through to our Events Calendar for a full list of events, as well as information about events in the coming months!
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| Economic News |
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| Political News |
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| JIC Library |
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| Fun Features |
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| Editor's Note |
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Yayoi, the old Japanese name for the month of March, means "new life.” It implies that spring is coming soon...I certainly hope so with the frigid winter we have been having this year!
The only national holiday in Yayoi is Shunbun no hi, or Vernal Equinox Day, on March 20th or 21st. Once Shunbun no hi passes, cherry blossom season and the time for spring celebrations is not too far away.
The Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival), or Girls' Day, falls on March 3rd and is one of the most popular celebrations this month. Families with young daughters set up doll displays of the imperial court around mid-February. Moreover, families prepare delicious foods like chirashi sushi and strawberry daifuku and offer prayers for the girls' health, fortune, and happiness. Once March 3rd elapses, however, the dolls are quickly stored away owing to an old superstition that the longer the dolls remain, the older the girls will be when they get married.
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Every year, the Japan Foundation offers several grants and fellowships to support researchers, educators, scholars, and others doing work related to Japanese culture, language, politics, and more. These grants and fellowships are a great way to strengthen your organization's mission. The deadlines are quickly approaching!
- (Deadline 3/1) Japanese Language Learners Event Grant
This grant provides financial support for Japanese-language related events on the national/state/regional levels (speech contests, quiz contests, presentational events, etc.) that are intended to motivate a large number of Japanese-language learners in multiple schools featuring different educational levels (primary, secondary, college levels, and adults) and promote Japanese-language education in the area.
- (Deadline 3/15) Japanese Teaching Material Purchase Grant
This program is intended to assist educational institutions in the U.S. to purchase teaching materials (textbooks, audio-visual materials, dictionaries, teachers’ reference books, etc.) for their Japanese-language courses by providing financial support.
- (Deadline 4/10) Salary Assistance Grant for Japanese Language Learners
This grant supports educational institutions or school districts in the U.S. that are facing temporary financial difficulties in either (1) starting up/launching a new Japanese program or (2) expanding or maintaining a current program. JFLA provides one-year grant support to supplement the instructor's salary.
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| KAKEHASHI Project School Visits |
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The KAKEHASHI Project aims to heighten potential interest in Japan and increase the number of overseas visitors to the country. Additionally, the project strives to enhance international understanding of the "Japan brand," or the nation's strengths and attractiveness, based on Japanese-style values and "Cool Japan." It is anticipated that this project will help to revitalize and boost the Japanese economy.
In March, a number of students from colleges and high schools in Japan will be visiting the Midwest to give presentations on Japanese culture at American schools. From March 8-11, students from the University of Tsukuba will travel to the University of WI-Oshkosh [March 10th community event article] and students from Fukushima University will be going to the University of WI-Madison [Event flier]. Then, from March 22-25, students from Japan's Kure National College of Technology will come to Chicago's Whitney Young Magnet High School and students from Nara Prefectural Sakurai Senior High School and Nara Prefectural Takatori Kokusai High School will visit Olathe North High School in Kansas. Let's warmly welcome our Japanese guests to the Midwest!
Students from the American schools went to Japan through the KAKEHASHI Project in 2013. You can read more about their trips on the Japan Foundation's website. In a similar way, students from schools in the Olathe district traveled to Japan through another youth exchange program called the Kizuna Project in 2013. This blog details some of their experiences.
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| March 1: 16th Annual Japanese Language Contest in Olathe, KS |
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Shodo created by 2013 contestants
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On March 1st, the Heart of America Japan America Society, Heartland JETAA, the University of KS East Asian Studies Program, and the Consulate General of Japan present the 16th Annual Japanese Language Contest! This contest provides an opportunity for friendly competition and networking between local students that study Japanese. Students not only showcase their language skills, but also have the chance to meet other students of Japanese as well as professionals connected to the Japanese community from across the region.
The contest is excited to offer the following competitions to students:
- Tanka Contest [mail-in event only]
- Shodo Contest [mail-in event only]
- "Kana Bee" [first year high school students or first semester college students only]
- "Kanji Bees" (Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced) [high school and college divisions]
- Quiz Bowl (Geography, History, and Culture)
- Talent Show [participation awards]
| Date and Time |
Location |
Information |
March 1, 2014 (Sat)
11:00 AM - 4:30 PM |
Olathe North High School
600 East Prairie Road
Olathe, KS 66061 |
● Event page |
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| March 3 (Deadline): Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Japanese Studies Scholarship Application |
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Monbukagakusho, or the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), offers four scholarships intended to give non-Japanese nationals a chance to study in Japan.
The Consulate is currently accepting applications for the Japanese Studies Scholarship for undergraduate students majoring in Japanese language, Japanese affairs, or Japanese culture where, if they are recipients, they will have a chance to deepen their understandings through academic study in one of several universities in Japan. This year, the application deadline is Monday, March 3! For application information and materials please visit our MEXT Scholarships page.
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| March 6: Japan Festival @ University of Nebraska |
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Sponsored by the Kawasaki Reading Room for Japanese Studies, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Japanese Program, and the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago, the event is FREE and open to the public!
The Japan Festival kicks off with a Japanese vocal and instrument performance that includes delicious refreshments. From 5 PM, Dr. Mikiko Petrucelli will perform a piano recital featuring pieces written by Japanese composers. At 7 PM there will be a screening of the Japanese Film "Hafu." This film follows the lives of five “hafus”–the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese–as they explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself as the mono-ethnic nation. Please see the event flier to learn more about University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Japan Fest.
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| March 7-15: 2014 Japanese American Leadership Delegation |
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2014 Delegates at their orientation in Los Angeles
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The Japanese American Leadership Delegation (JALD) program provides the opportunity for a select group of Japanese American leaders from across the U.S. to travel to Japan to engage with Japanese leaders in the business, government, academic, non-profit and cultural sectors. The trip also allows Japanese leaders to gain a greater understanding of multi-cultural America through the experiences of a diverse group of Japanese Americans. Upon their return, delegates collaborate with program alumni, the local consulates, the U.S.-Japan Council and local and national community organizations to continue strengthening ties between the U.S. and Japan.
This year’s delegation will travel to Japan from March 7 – 15, 2014, and will visit Fukuoka in the Kyushu region, an economically and culturally dynamic prefecture where many Japanese Americans have their ancestral roots. They will also participate in a symposium sponsored by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership and the U.S.-Japan Council. In Tokyo the delegates typically meet with the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and top business executives, among others. The 2014 delegation is composed of senior leaders from the new technology, clean energy, entrepreneurial and local, state or regional government sectors, including appointed and elected officials. The Consulate would like to congratulate Chicagoan Mr. Gary Yamashiroya, a participant in the 2014 delegation! Please refer to the US-Japan Council's website for more information on the program.
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| March 10-21: 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle Events |
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The Osaka Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International, along with the Japan America Society of Chicago, the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago and the Japan External Trade Organization Chicago, are proud to present 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle, the third phase of a multidimensional photography exhibition focusing on the bonds of friendship formed between the people of Japan and the people of Chicago following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The first two phases toured venues throughout Chicago in 2012 and 2013. Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois are serving as Honorary Co-Chairs of the exhibition.
The professional and personal photographs in the 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle Photo Exhibit illustrate that in the midst of great tragedy comes great hope and real connection. The exhibition features Chicagoans who are currently living and working in the recovering Tohoku region and Tohoku area students who have traveled to Chicago, capturing the connection’s effects on them. Finally, by highlighting the “Yarn Alive” group in Japan, the exhibition shows how the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami are extending help to others around the world, thereby growing the unbroken circle of hope and human connection.
There are several events that are part of 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle this year:
- March 10-21: 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle Photo Exhibit
@ Richard J. Daley Center [50 W. Washington Avenue, Chicago, IL 60602]
- March 11: 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle Opening Ceremony
@ Richard J. Daley Center [50 W. Washington Avenue, Chicago, IL 60602] from 12 PM
During the opening ceremony, Emily Toelcke, the JIC's Librarian and Outreach Coordinator, will play "Sakura" on the harp.
- March 12: Tohoku Tomo film screening
@ Adler Planetarium [1300 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605] from 6 PM
- March 12: Kizuna Economic Seminar
@ University of MO-St. Louis [Room 202 J.C. Penny Conference Center] from 4:30 PM
- March 13: "Japan is Back: The Phenomenon of Abenomics"
@ Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago [230 S. LaSalle Street (Jackson Boulevard entrance), Chicago, IL 60604] from 6 PM
- March 14: “A Friday for Japan”
@ Columbia Club [121 Monument Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46204] from 12 PM
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| March 22: 28th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest @ JIC |
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Participants from the 2013 Speech Contest
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The Consulate will be hosting the 28th Annual Japanese Language Speech Contest at the JIC on Saturday, March 22! The competition is a fantastic opportunity for students studying Japanese to put their Japanese skills to the test and to demonstrate their perseverance in perfecting the language to the audience. It is also a great chance to win an assortment of terrific prizes, including a round-trip ticket to Japan.
Visit the Speech Contest page on our website to find out more details. The speech submission period for 2014 is now closed, but the event is free and open to the public. So please come to cheer on the speakers! Parking is available at the Olympia Centre Parking stucture and discounted with validation.
| Date and Time |
Location |
March 22, 2014 (Sat)
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
Japan Information Center
737 North Michigan Avenue Suite 1000
Chicago, IL 60611 |
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If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact our librarian directly at emily.toelcke@cg.mofa.go.jp.
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| Highlighted Resources is a column written by JIC librarian Emily Toelcke that features notable library materials we offer per month. |
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March 11, 2011. 2:46 pm. I was sitting at my desk in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka-ken, when the floor began to vacillate. Over 300 miles away, I watched in horror as the Wave surged across Tohoku annihilating everything in its path. For me and many others, the events surrounding March 11th were real but also very distant. For those who faced the Wave, reality was far different.
Written by award-winning nature writer and poet Gretel Ehrlich, Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami (Call Number 344002) combines first-hand accounts with personal observations and poetry. These elements are intertwined to make a beautiful but haunting narrative of the events surrounding the Great East Japan Earthquake. They are stories of existence and resilience – fishermen who resolve to meet the Wave in their boats. A nun numb with emotion after having performed hundreds of funerals. A mother who daily rents a backhoe to search for her daughter’s body. An eighty-four-year-old geisha with the tenacity to survive so that her music can too…
Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami is a touching account of the very real emotions and challenges the survivors of the 3.11 Earthquake experienced. Ehrlich’s unique writing style places the reader inside the tsunami. There is an ebb and flow of desolation and courage, pain and joy. The struggles are both raw and real. Every chapter brings a new wave of emotion and with each vignette the reader is confronted with vulnerable questions of life, death, and survival. While not for the fainthearted, it is a wonderful conduit for those who love Japan to be transported into the realities of those who came face-to-face with the Wave. It is an eloquent picture of the determination of the Japanese people who would not allow their resolve to be engulfed.
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| New Additions, also written by Emily Toelcke, showcases the latest materials we have received in the JIC collection. |
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Here are some questions about current events in Japan. Email your answers for the chance to win a small prize!
- Which popular, long-standing Japanese pop group is collaborating with the Japanese government for the Nihonbashi Machizukuri Project?
- Where does the Japanese government plan to build a new mega tourist complex? (city and district)
- Which Japanese male figure skater won gold at Sochi 2014?
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These are the answers from last month's questions about Kyary Pamyu Pamyu for our concert ticket giveaway - Congratulations to Willa Coufal and Samantha House, our winners from the February issue! |
• What is the name of Kyary’s documentary?
“Gekijou ban Kyary Pamyu Pamyu”
• What is the name of the brand of fake eyelashes Kyary sells?
Harajuku Doll
• What is the name of Kyary’s television series?
TV JOHN!
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 MIT Visualizing Cultures
The selection for March's website highlight is an extremely useful resource for academics with an interest in Japanese history, but is also stimulating for those not familiar with the subject matter.
MIT's Visualizing Cultures was launched in 2002 by MIT Professors John Dower and Shigeru Miyagawa as a platform for image-driven scholarship. It was created with the intention to explore the potential of the internet for developing innovative learning. The use of present-day technology and hitherto inaccessible visual materials are used to reconstruct the past as people of the time visualized the world (or imagined it to be). Predominant themes focus on Japan in the modern world and early-modern China. The subjects often extend beyond Asia to address "culture" in much broader ways—cultures of modernization, war and peace, consumerism, and images of "Self."
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March marks the one year anniversary since yours truly started here at the Consulate! It is surprising how quickly a year flies by…
On a more solemn note, 2014 is the third year since the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disasters. Recovery efforts continue to be very much alive today while the bonds of friendship, hope, and resilience resonate worldwide. Midwesterners as well as Tohoku area students who have traveled to our states are educating others on these efforts and providing assistance to people who need help rebuilding after natural disasters strike. Wesley Julian –the JIC’s Media Relations Coordinator and JETAA Chicago President—will have his Tohoku Tomo documentary premiere on March 12, 2014 at Adler Planetarium to highlight the commitment of individuals within the international community to Japan’s recovery. I encourage you to attend this special film screening as well as other events during the 絆 Kizuna 3: Unbroken Circle weeks.
Best,
Amy Klouse (Editor, Technology and Information Coordinator)
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Hina Matsuri image courtesy
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Official website for Consulate General of Japan at Chicago
www.chicago.us.emb-japan.go.jp |
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Yayoi, the old Japanese name for the month of March, means "new life.” It implies that spring is coming soon...I certainly hope so with the frigid winter we have been having this year!
Every year, the Japan Foundation offers several grants and fellowships to support researchers, educators, scholars, and others doing work related to Japanese culture, language, politics, and more. These grants and fellowships are a great way to strengthen your organization's mission. The deadlines are quickly approaching!
The KAKEHASHI Project aims to heighten potential interest in Japan and increase the number of overseas visitors to the country. Additionally, the project strives to enhance international understanding of the "Japan brand," or the nation's strengths and attractiveness, based on Japanese-style values and "Cool Japan." It is anticipated that this project will help to revitalize and boost the Japanese economy.
Monbukagakusho, or the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), offers four scholarships intended to give non-Japanese nationals a chance to study in Japan.
Sponsored by the Kawasaki Reading Room for Japanese Studies, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Japanese Program, and the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago, the event is FREE and open to the public!
The Osaka Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International, along with the Japan America Society of Chicago, the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago and the Japan External Trade Organization Chicago, are proud to present 
March 11, 2011. 2:46 pm. I was sitting at my desk in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka-ken, when the floor began to vacillate. Over 300 miles away, I watched in horror as the Wave surged across Tohoku annihilating everything in its path. For me and many others, the events surrounding March 11th were real but also very distant. For those who faced the Wave, reality was far different.
