@api ASIAN PACFIC ISLANDER
MEET API AJET 2015 National representatives and block leaders
Articles from:
Stuart Wong Cat Dinh and JayKayJapan
2014-2015 year meetup
What’s up, JETs! We are API AJET, a special interest group committed to provide peer support to the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community in Japan, as well as to raise local and global awareness about the diverse range of issues that face this community. The group is open to any and all who wish to share experiences and/or promote cross-cultural understanding through discussions, events, activities, etc. In the past, our block leaders across Japan have held various events in their communities, such as movie screenings of Hafu, a charity event for the Philippines, as well as local meet-ups and hangouts. Every year, we plan a National Meet-up for members to get together. This year, we’re streamlining and revamping our social media presence, so stay tuned. In the meantime, get your discussion on and share your experiences with our weekly API AJET Q&A. Want to get those API frustrations onto paper? Write articles, poems, and other literature for our API AJET magazine!
National Representatives
National Representative Ryan Hata
National Representative Cat Dinh
Hi everyone: My name is Ryan Hata and I am an incoming National Representative for API AJET. I am a first year ALT placed in Tottori City near the Sand Dunes. I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai`i. After high school, I moved to Los Angeles, California earning my BA in Communication Studies from Loyola Marymount University. After a “gap year” back in Hawai`i, I moved to San Francisco where I obtained my MA in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University. My goals for API AJET this year is to spread awareness about our community throughout Japan. I also want API AJET to be a support system for people who may feel lost coming to Japan. I am looking forward to communicating with you in some capacity soon!
Hi everyone! I’m Cat Dinh from Northern California, USA. I was Block 1 Co-Rep for Stonewall and Treasurer for FuJET (Fukushima) between my first and second year, and thought I would take a break, but I'm glad I was invited to be National Rep for API AJET. I really believe this community is important to us as a safe space for those who feel invisible as foreigners in Japan or as APIs in our foreigner communities, so I hope we can continue to support each other in Japan! I look forward to our shared experiences and different perspectives, so as we plan meet-up events and online publications, I hope many of you will be inspired to contribute your voice with us.
Prefecture: Tottori
Prefecture: Fukushima
API AJET Block leaders Block 3 Co-Leader: Jaime Ota Prefecture: Gunma Hello! I'm Jaime, one of the Block 3 Reps for API AJET. I'm originally from California, USA, but I've been living and working in Gunma for 6 years now. I'm an ex-JET who worked as both an ALT and CIR, and I currently work as an ALT Advisor at the Gunma Prefectural BOE. This is my 3rd year as a Block 3 Rep, and I hope to get to know more lovely people and strengthen bonds in the API JET community this year. Yoroshiku!
Block 3 Co-Leader: Harris Vu Prefecture: Gunma My name’s Harris, I’m a second year Vietnamese-American JET from California currently living near Kusatsu, Gunma (voted Japan’s best onsen twelve years in a row~). When I’m not relaxing in an onsen I enjoy running, hiking, and singing!
Block 4 Leader: teresa fong City: Tokyo Greetings! I'm Teresa Fong, and I originally hail from the Fijian Islands. I moved to Boston, Massachusetts at a young age, making me very excited for my second transcontinental placement in Tokyo, Japan. As a block representative, I am eager to celebrate cultural exchange and learning as well as eager to bring the invisible foreigners into the spotlight.
Block 5 Leader: Melody Tsukahara Prefecture: Toyama Hello! I’m Melody, a third year JET in the beautiful Toyama-Ken, home of the elusive raichou, black ramen, and YKK, the “zipper capital of the world”. I’m second -generation half-Japanese on my dad’s side and from London, Ontario, Canada. I’m happy to be part of a group like API AJET that can create a community in Japan and facilitate conversation about being API in Japan.
Block 6 leader: Stuart Wong Prefecture: Shiga Greetings! I’m Stuart, a (as of August 2015) 3rd year JET in Shiga Prefecture, teaching at 2 elementary schools. I was born and raised in Southern California, spent my college years in Northern California and now reside in the quiet countryside town of Maibara. You’ll usually find me enjoying the usual geeky Japanese activities of manga, anime, and games, listening to music, and climbing the occasional (snowy) mountain. Here’s to a good year on A(D)PI AJET!
Block 9 co-leader: Dana learning Prefecture: Tottori Kia ora koutou, My name is Dana Leaming. I come from New Zealand and I am placed in Tottori prefecture. I am a co-block leader with Sachi Kanecko. I am part Maori who are the indigenous people of New Zealand. My main aim is to rep those super cool pacific islands down the very ends of the earth in the middle of nowhere. We are a very mysterious bunch and I look forward to introducing more of the cultures that I grew up with. Mauri ora.
Block 9 Co-Leader: sachi lauren kaneko Prefecture: Tottori Hi there! I`m a queer, mixed race 四世 nikkei and Russian-Jew. I came to Japan to `find my roots` and improve my (terrible) Japanese. Being here, things have felt incredibly `懐かしい` and completely foreign all at the same time. It can be a bit of a mind mix up. I studied English literature and Creative Writing for my under grad. In my free time, I love playing guitar, rock climbing, running, playing futsal, writing, studying Japanese, reading Black Girl Dangerous, and hanging with my friends. For the group, I hope to provide space for API minorities and promote intersectionality.
Block 10 Leader: nick mejia Prefecture: Nagasaki Just a brown ‘n yellow here to say hello.
Block 11 Leader: matthew tsuda Prefecture: Kumamoto Hi everyone! My name is Matthew Tsuda and I am the new leader of Block 11. I am a fourth generation Japanese-American from Los Angeles and I am extremely excited to be a part of API. I’m currently living in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto-ken in a small village called Toyomachiminami. I love all things food related and am a huge basketball nerd. Feel free to contact me at mtsuda713@gmail.com if you have any questions about small schools, life in the inaka or just want to talk hoops.
Jared Olivia (Aomori) - Block 1 Rebecca Chen (Akita) - Block 1 Himani Shah (Shizuoka) - Block 4 Miya Sommers (Tokushima) - Block 8
l a n o N at i P U t Mee April 2015 Nagoya
API AJET Block leader column By
g n o w S t u a rt
As a 3rd-year ALT of East Asian descent, I’ve long accepted that my experience in Japan will differ, sometimes vastly, from the experiences of many of my peers on JET. For one of similar background just having started his/her first year on JET, however, this gap between their and others’ experiences might prove alienating. Whether it be super-friendly neighbors who upon first greeting invite the JET who just moved in to a rowdy night of eating and drinking or wary train passengers declining to sit next to the obviously foreign JET, these stories often don’t resonate with those who outwardly blend into Japanese society more easily. That well-worn phrase “Every situation is different” applies to each JET’s Japan experience as well, and those situations which many JETs find similarities in, though often taken for granted as “the normal JET/foreigner experience”, might not be as standard as many might assume. Disclaimer: I can only speak from my personal experience as one with semi-decent Japanese ability and whose appearance is easily mistaken for Japanese, so this is not representative even within the API community. Nevertheless, there are probably enough JETs with a similar profile to mine that I hope what I have to say is of use. And even for those who might not be able to empathize, I hope that I can show that a different experience is just that: different. There need not be a qualitative good/bad judgement attached.
One could say there is a dearth of JETs within my prefecture that would identify as API. As a result, whenever I do go out with the other JETs to, for example, a restaurant, the Japanese restaurant staff would inevitably turn to me to do the talking, whether or not I had the best Japanese ability of the group or not. I learned early on that anything less than fluent Japanese would often be met by an initial dumbfounded stare by the Japanese party, so I quickly became uncomfortable with this pressure to perform under the spotlight, so to speak. So especially at the beginning of my 1st year on JET, I would do whatever I could to shirk this responsibility I never asked for. I found various ways: stand
I quickly became uncomfortable with this pressure to perform under the spotlight at the very back of the group, stand close to someone I knew had good Japanese ability who could speak in my place even as the Japanese person would be looking at me to respond, etc. There was one instance where I did have the best Japanese of the group, yet I watched on silently as the other JETs stumbled through. They made it out fine, but they were understandably not quite so happy with me when they realized I could have said something but simply chose not to. Perfectly understandable, yet what I real-
ly wanted to say was “It’s not as if my Japanese is that much better. You look foreign, so it’s expected that your Japanese won’t be perfect. You’ll be excused without a problem. Me on the other hand, I look Japanese. It doesn’t matter that I’m Chinese-American, if anything less than fluency comes out of my mouth, I might be looked on and treated as a retard!” Forgive the insensitive language, but this is the most accurate reflection of my thoughts at the time. It was only when I grew more confident in both my Japanese ability and stopped being as self-conscious as I was that this complex of sorts began to diminish. But every now and then, when it comes time to “perform” and speak Japanese to one who presumes that I’m just another Japanese person, it is that fear of being found out, that fear of that initial moment of their dumbfounded shock that comes up from the depths of my being and paralyzes me. Perhaps my experience is unique, derived from my own insecurity. I would certainly hope so. But I suspect that there are at least a few people out there on JET who have felt similar feelings of trepidation whenever it comes time to display their Japanese skill for fear of being judged. For those people, I hope my own anecdote was of some consolation. For how much we do blend into Japanese society either appearance or even personality-wise, we must keep a rather non-Japanese idea in our minds, that others’ judgement, rather than a signifier of your own strengths and faults and a useful guide to direct your behavior around, is ultimately a reflection of the other rather than yourself.
y a d 3 d n i w l r i h w
Originally written on September 9, 2013
By Cat DinH
It’s been about two months now since I’ve moved to Aizu Wakamatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture. The prefecture organized a bus to take us from Tokyo to Fukushima this year, which took about 4 hours. We took a couple mandatory 10-15 minute breaks at a couple highway stops where we took bathroom breaks and had some food. In Japan, it’s illegal to have the driver drive for more than 2 hours without breaks. Before I go further, there’s a couple things to know about Fukushima. When referring to Fukushima, it can mean either the prefecture of the city. Because so many parts of Japan are densely populated, people’s worlds and lives center mostly around their immediate area. If I were to tell you that there is a cat cafe in Fukushima, I would be referring to the city, not the prefecture. But if I were to tell you Fukushima has a few lakes, I am talking about the prefecture. Hope that lessens any confusion. On we go! Once we got to Koriyama, one of the two biggest cities in Fukushima (the other being Fukushima…!), we assembled into a room where all the supervisors from various areas of the prefecture were waiting for us. We all had a specific seat that we were told to sit in beforehand, and everyone took turns to introduce themselves. I met with with my supervisor, a tired and old middle-aged looking man. Let’s call him Mr. Super. We introduced ourselves amidst all the other excited introductions, and I instantly felt as if I had just met an uncle from my mother’s extended family. My mother’s family is so well connected that I was and am constantly being introduced to some new person who is a second cousin or relative, so I guess that trained me to have instant connections with people, especially Asians who can be my aunt or uncle.
After a while, Mr. Super took me to his car, a really nice Prius among many other nice cars, and drove us to Aizu-Wakamatsu. On the way, we talked more about ourselves, and he showed me Mt. Bandai. I drooled at the cleared paths, which would soon collect snow and become ski and snowboarding trails come winter. It took us about 45 minutes on the highway, so we had a lot of time to talk. Since there was still time in the workday, and this was officially a workday, Mr. Super took me to the school, where I met my Australian coworker, an ALT teaching the junior high part of the school whom I will call Ms. Ozzie. We then went to my apartment which was sparsely furnished, but I’m incredibly grateful for them because some of the teacher staff had moved big appliances to the 3rd floor, and Ms. Ozzie’s husband had done some DIY touch-ups as well. The electric and gas company also came by to turn on the gas and check out the stovetop (“gas table”), and reported that I had the wrong kind… No cooking for me! We planned our schedule the next day after doing a room walkthrough: 1) Register as a resident at city hall 2) Get a bank account 3) Get a phone 4) Sign my apartment lease This took pretty much the entire 2nd day. There was lots of waiting, and explaining contracts, and trying to understand contracts, and stamping and signing. In Japan, contracts are signed with a personal stamp. It’s actually a lot of fun to press that thing on a piece of paper. Mr. Super and Ms. Ozzie were with me the whole time, and I’m so glad they were because I would have been so lost. And hungry, because without Ms. Ozzie and her hubs, I would not have been invited over for dinner. On the 3rd day, Mr. Super and Ms. Ozzie accompanied me again to go to Nitori, a giant home furnishings store similar to IKEA, and Daiyu 8, a home center, similar to Target, to pick up some bedding, curtains, a new gas table, and other necessities. I also got my mama-chari bike! That evening, I checked out the grocery store around the corner to get rice so that I could have some sustenance, as well as bread and butter so I could have buttered toast with awesome fluffy and slightly sweet Japanese bread, something that I’d missed since I last lived in Japan. Because it was another long day, I didn’t have the energy to explore the market, read the labels, and get more interesting things to buy. There’d be plenty of time for that… And that was my first 3 days of a whirlwind in Aizu-Wakamatsu
Tallest mountain in Tottori!
Wait… why isn’t this train moving…
j ay k ay
So I went to challenge the tallest mountain in Tottori last weekend (1729 m). It didn’t go as planned. Our train leaving the station at 8 am turned out to leave around 9 am and with multiple delays (uncharacteristic of Japanese trains) we ended up getting to Yonago (city where Daisen – tallest mountain in Tottori – is located) around 12:30 pm. Then the bus to Daisen got us there around 2:30 pm. We were definitely not getting to the top, we thought, but we went up anyway. We got halfway up, but it was stairs-upon-stairs-upon-stairs.
By Just
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