JLGC Blogs

One way that the many JET alumni chapters in the US work to stay connected to Japan is through their support for prefecture and local governments and their involvement with communities here that have links to Japan. Alumni are active in contributing to sister city and sister state relationships, assisting groups or officials visiting from Japan, helping out at events and exhibits to promote tourism and local products, and participating in kenjinkai and other Japanese groups here in the US. Sister State & Sister City Relationships While almost every chapter reported involvement with sister states and cities in some way, a few of the more substantive examples are mentioned here.… Read More »JETAA USA Support for Communities in Japan

Each local area has its own special food. Especially in Japan, there are various kinds of local food and some of them are very famous. The residents love the food, and many tourists visit such places to explore a special local taste, which enriches their travel experience. Kagawa Prefecture, located on Shikoku Island, is very famous for “Udon”, wheat noodles in soup. Udon is a common food across almost all of Japan. But Kagawa’s Udon (called “Sanuki Udon” named after the region’s feudal age name) is especially famous and popular for its special texture and serving style. There are said to be eight hundred Udon restaurants in Kagawa. Not a… Read More »Promoting Local Special Food – Udon (Wheat Noodle) Taxi in Kagawa

This year marks the 100th anniversary of trees given to the United States from Japan which are planted in Washington, DC. On May 19th, Sunday, a tree planting ceremony was held at the Novi Civic Center. The City of Novi, which has the largest Japanese population in Michigan with nearly 2,500 community members and more than 65 Japanese-owned businesses, has been chosen as a recipient of the Centennial Gift of Trees. At the ceremony, Mayor Gatt said “By welcoming diversity, Novi has become home for global citizens and businesses. In the future, as we water and nurture these trees, we are reminded to do the same with the Japan-Novi relationship.”… Read More »Centennial Gift of Trees Celebration at the City of Novi

～ One Aspect of Japanese Municipal Tax System ～ On April 11th, 2012, the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) approved a controversial tax by the City of Izumisano, Osaka. The city will impose a 100 yen tax on every vehicle which crosses the bridge connecting the mainland to Kansai International Airport (KIA) Island. The tax is in addition to an existing 800 yen toll on the national bridge. Historically, the bridge was owned by KIA Co., Ltd established by the national government to operate KIA. Although established by the national government, the bridge was privately owned and the city could and did levy a property tax on… Read More »A New and Controversial Municipal Tax on Vehicles Crossing the Bridge

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced on March 5, 2012 that its traffic control policy has been updated significantly. Almost one year has passed since the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, when the central part of the Tokyo metropolitan area experienced heavy traffic congestion with people trying to return to their homes. As a result, there were instances when emergency vehicles could not arrive quickly to places where people needed them. Learning from that experience, the new department plan aims to improve the performance of emergency vehicles, especially police cars, fire engines and ambulances. Before the new plan, vehicles bringing emergency supplies to specific places were allowed. Under the new… Read More »Traffic control policy for large-scale disasters is changed significantly

Tokyo Metropolitan Government supports the overseas study and training of 10,000 youth. In December 2011, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) issued its long term comprehensive vision titled “Tokyo Vision 2020”. The plan is to show the residents of Tokyo how to move forward and tackle many kinds of urban issues after the Great East Japan Earthquake. This plan addresses “8 Goals”; including becoming a disaster- resistant city, creating a highly efficient and independent energy system, stimulating industry, transportation, welfare and education. As well as the “8 Goals”, the plan also describes “12 Key Projects” to achieve the goals. Among the “12 Goals”, you can find an interesting project called “Let Your… Read More »Let Your Child Experience the World

The Yamakiya drummers meeting with Ambassador John Roos before leaving for Washington. The National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Japan-America Society of Washington DC have invited 13 students from the Yamakiya Taiko Club in Fukushima to perform at the centennial celebrations for Japan’s gift of flowering cherry trees to the United States. The students will travel to Washington from their new, post-evacuation homes in Japan, after being forced to leave their hometown of Yamakiya, part of Kawamata Town in Fukushima Prefecture, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. They will be in Washington from April 7th to the 17th, and will perform at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage on… Read More »JETAA DC Chapter Members Help Bring Fukushima Kids to Perform in Washington

Okinawa prefecture government has set up a “Working Team for Evacuees” in its Department for Tohoku Earthquake Assistance and has launched its “acceptance” program. They also opened the “Information for all evacuees” portal on the Okinawa prefecture government website in June 2011. The latest information was updated as of Oct 28th. At first, the evacuees should register “Japan evacuee’s information system” at the municipal governments’ office so that they can get current information from their hometowns in Tohoku. The program consists of providing education for children, health care programs, assistance for job opportunities, and other programs directly related to evacuees’ daily life. The distinctive feature of this special program is… Read More »Okinawa prefecture has launched a program that accepts evacuees from Tohoku

In Japan, 19 cities designated by government ordinance are responsible for many of the functions instead of prefecture governments. Each designated city, which has a population of over 0.5 million, has subdivided wards that conduct various administrative functions for the city government. In each of these wards, a mayor is normally appointed by the overall city mayor, from a list of locally important officials. In November, Sakai City, however, announced the open recruitment for the Mihara Ward Mayor. Mihara is one of the 7 wards in Sakai. It is said to be the first case that a designated city accepted candidates for ward mayor from anywhere in the country. Applicants… Read More »City Recruits Ward Mayor Nationally

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education (BOE) conducts bus excursion tours for young people for a reasonable price. These bus tours are unique because the sites visited are not the usual sites such as; the Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace, or the aesthetic water front area, but the city’s schools! The tours are organized to attract and recruit people interested in the teaching profession. Learning about the benefits of being an educator by visiting schools and experiencing first-hand what it is like to be a teacher may inspire participants to pursue a teaching career at a Tokyo school. The tours are given four times annually. The first three visits are to… Read More »“Tokyo School Visiting Excursion” – to recruit teachers from outside of Tokyo

Nowadays, the increase in traffic accidents involving bicycles is one of the biggest problems in Tokyo. Cases of bicycle collisions with pedestrians, causing serious injuries to the pedestrians, and of bicyclists riding recklessly and being killed by cars are both occurring frequently. Bicycles are fundamentally supposed to use the roadway, but using a sidewalk is possible in many cases. Moreover, there are many problems in how people ride their bicycles, like those who are riding while running along a sidewalk at high speed or talking over their cell phone, and even texting. Such things cause many accidents. In order to decrease the number of accidents, a recommended route map for… Read More »Bicycle Use in Tokyo

Now European countries are discussing joint issuance of government bonds. But Germany, needless to say the most financially stabilized country, is against the proposition partly because Germany can issue its government bond for itself at less expensive cost. This is quite a similar situation seen in Japanese local government bond market. In 2003, 27 major prefectures and cities started joint issuance of their local government bonds. In terms of relationship with bond holders, the issuing local governments are jointly and severally liable for the entire amount of the jointly issued bond. This makes redemption of the bond more reliable, even though none of those local governments have ever defaulted on… Read More »Joint Local Government Bond in Japan

October 17th, 2011 Speaking of sightseeing in Tokyo’s downtown (Shitamachi), some popular spots are Ueno, Asakusa and Ryogoku. Public transportation in Tokyo is so convenient that you can travel all across Tokyo by railway, subway and bus. However, they are all operated by different organizations such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metro Company, JR East and so on. Some travelers from foreign countries feel a bit of confusion when they calculate fares or change trains. So the Tokyo Shitamachi Bus could be the solution, since it connects all of the above-mentioned downtown sightseeing spots. The Tokyo Shitamachi Bus is a fixed-route sightseeing bus which requires no reservations, and it… Read More »The Tokyo Shitamachi Bus -The best choice for sightseeing in downtown Tokyo

September 28th, 2011 In September 2011, Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education (BoE) and Fukushima Prefecture Board of Education signed an agreement so that the Tokyo BoE could conduct the recruitment exam for Fukushima. According to the announcement of the Tokyo BoE, the applicants are asked at the time they apply if they want to work for Fukushima’s elementary schools in the future. If the applicant writes “yes” to this question and passes the examination, he will be employed at first in Tokyo for about 5 years. Then after having worked about 5 years in Tokyo schools, the teacher will be employed by Fukushima Prefecture Board of Education and work for… Read More »Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education recruits new teachers for Fukushima

September 22nd, 2011 The quality and nutritional value of Japanese cuisine has become well known throughout the world. And nobody should wonder that the inseparable companion of Japanese foos is Japanese kitchen knives. Especially in New York, Japanese knives are used by not only Japanese but also many Western chefs influenced by Japanese food culture. Japanese knives are widely adopted because of their sharpness, flexibility of use and beautiful craftsmanship. Among the many producers of knives in Japan, Sakai City is best known as the capital of Hocho (traditional kitchen knives) and Sakai’s Hocho are holding the line against others in terms of their quality and sharpness. Sakai Hocho are… Read More »Sakai Knives Penetrate East To West