-$18$5<   ,668(  -/*&1(:6/(77(5      -DSDQ/RFDO*RYHUQPHQW&HQWHU &/$,51HZ<RUN   ,VVXHQR-DQXDU\

1. -/*&·V:DVKLQJWRQ'&6HPLQDU
Arisa Kurihara

ISSUE NO. 87
JANUARY 2017

１-/*&·V:DVKLQJWRQ'&Seminar (Page 1-­2)
２. International City/County
Management Association An-­nual Conference(Page３)
3. JETAA US Conference 2016
in LA ( Page 4-­5)-/*&·VDQQXDO:DVKLQJWRQ'&VHPLQDUZDVKHOGIRUWKUHH
days from October 24th to 26th, and 5 staff members attended
it. This seminar is arranged by the Council of State Govern-­ments (CSG) with the main goals being to help our staff learn
about unique administrative structures in the US andstrengthening our networks with the participating organiza-­tions. We set some themes for this seminar such as education
policy, economic development policy and natural disastermeasures .  We visited 8 organizations over 3 days. On the first day, we
visited the Council of State Governments (CSG) and received alecture on improving elections for U.S. military and overseas
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maintains two separate advisory working groups, and the Poli-­cy Working Group, one of these, made recommendations suchas making effective use of election websites and social media
for voter communication, and providing online voter registra-­tion by states that incorporates registration for overseas andmilitary voters.

4. JETAANY Career Forumand JET Welcome Back Re-­
ception in New York( Page 6)  -$3$1/2&$/*29(510(17&(17(5ϯWĂƌŬǀĞŶƵĞ͕ϮϬƚŚ&ůŽŽƌ  EĞǁzŽƌŬ͕EzϭϬϬϭϲ-­‐ϱϵϬϮ  ϮϭϮ͘Ϯϰϲ͘ϱϱϰϮŽĸĐĞͻϮϭϮ͘Ϯϰϲ͘ϱϲϭϳĨĂǆ  ǁǁǁ͘ũůŐĐ͘ŽƌŐ  ϭ

,668(  -$18$5<Mr. KalisaZKRH[SODLQHGDERXW&6*·VRYHUVHDVYRWLQJLQL   tiative, is a former CLAIR Fellowship Program partici-­
  pant , and we were very glad to hear about his experience  in Japan.  

Members from JETAADC and the Japanese Embassy
joined our reception on the first day and we enjoyed talking   with them.  
On the second day, we met with Ms. Anne R. Kaiser, who is   a member of the Maryland State House of Delegates. She
explained the education system in Maryland to us, especial-­ly about English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) andproviding educational opportunities for poor students.

EĂƟŽŶĂů'ŽǀĞƌŶŽƌƐƐƐŽĐŝĂƟŽŶ;E'Ϳ  We met with federal government officers on the last day,where we could learn about economic development policy
andmeasures to deal with natural calamities such as
hurricanes and floods. All of the lectures and presenta-­
tions were wonderful and informative, and we hope thatsome policies can be applied to local communities in Ja-­
pan as well. Also, we could get a chance to see some sites, suchas the Maryland State House, United States Capitol, and Lin-­
coln Memorial, and these gave us a sense of history.
We were also so impressed with the highly organized CSG staff
who took the time to prepare the visits. Thank you so much!  

DĂƌǇůĂŶĚ^ƚĂƚĞ,ŽƵƐĞ  【Schedule】
ͳͲȀʹͶ  ͳ  ͳͲȀʹͷ  ʹ  Council of State Governments (CSG)  National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practic-­
es, Economic, Human Services & Workforce Division  Alexander & Cleaver professional office  Maryland State House  Washington, DC  Maryland  U.S. Economic Development Department, U.S. Department ofCommerce  ͳͲȀʹ͸  ͵	     Federal Emergency Management Agency  Washington, DC  Destination DC  Newseum  Ϯ,668(  -$18$5<

2. International City/County Management Association
Annual Conference
Arika Aizawa
JLGC attended the ICMA Annual Conferencein Kansas City, MO, which was held from Sep-­
WHPEHUWKWRWK:HDOVRKHOGD´-DSDQ1LJKWµUHFHSWLRQDWWKLVFRQIHUHQFHICMA is a professional organization of admin-­istrative workers, consisting mainly of manag-­
ers in local governments around the world,
CAOs (Chief Administrative Officers), andother local administrative officials.
At the annual conference, keynote lecturesand sessions, discussions, and workshops were
held in various fields. It is also a feature of thegeneral meeting of ICMA that there are ses-­
sions according to career level, such as for as-­sistant managers, senior managers, small
community managers, etc.
One of these sessions at the conference,´,PSDFWRI7UDQVLWµZDVDILHOGGHPR:Hwalked around the city and rode the street carservice. All rides are free and it was a surprise
to see such frequent service. City Staff de-­scribed the transit services in Kansas City,and their most important concern was local
bus service for city residents.

/DtĞůĐŽŵŝŶŐZĞĐĞƉƟŽŶ

I chose to attend theLearning Lounge
presentation´,QQRYDWLRQDQG(PHUJ
ing Practices in Local*RYHUQPHQWµE\&R
conino County, AZ,
talking about best prac-­
tices for maintaining
high level staffing, par-­ticularly in health care.
Because of constant&ŝĞůĚĞŵŽ
turnover and shortages ofqualified staff, not to mention the length of timerequired for hiring, a creative solution needed tobe found. The county proposed borrowing amanager from another department. To make aquick decision, the County used e-­mail andphone interviewing. This way it was able totackle a difficult problem, whilst at the sametime respecting departmental staff cultures.
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September 26th. Many people, including former
CLAIR Fellows, came to the reception and to-­gether we introduced CLAIR to the other ICMAparticipants.

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,668(  -$18$5<

3. JETAA US Conference 2016 in LA

JETAA USA National Conference 2016 was heldin Los Angeles from September 29th to October2nd. Delegates from the 19 chapters in the U.S.,
the country representatives from the U.S. andCanada, a representative from the Northern Al-­berta chapter, and many guests attended the con-­ference. This year, the conference was focused on
how to keep promoting Japan, various aspects of
the JET Programme, and working on making ourJETAA chapters stronger while collaborating withother chapters.
On the first of these points, Mr. Mark Frey, thepresident of the Northern California chapter, gavea presentation about both what JETs gained fromthe JET Programme and what they gave back toJapan through contributing to bilateral relations,
supporting Japan in emergencies like 3.11, being
responsible for large numbers of their friends &relatives visiting Japan as tourists, supporting
Japanese artists, introducing Japanese culture to
their homes and volunteering to actively support
JETAA. +H KLPVHOI LV D ´0RQEDVVDGRUµ ZKR SURmotes Kumamoto Prefecture along with the official
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the idea of helping to foster a direct connection
model for alumni around the world to link together
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they have chosen after JET, bolstered by leverag-­
ing their personal and professional networks.  

Kaori Ito

Then, the Pacific Northwest chapter gave apresentation about ways to increase volunteer
participation and use this to tie a chapter into
the local community more strongly, raising itsprofile and making it a valuable partner for oth-­er groups. Tips included volunteering with otherorganizations that share similar values or objec-­tives, recruiting members before they even leavefor Japan, getting to know them and giving them
personal attention, posting on social media often,
using as many platforms as necessary to reachyour audience, and showing thanks to your vol-­unteers.

Japanese American National Museum Tourϰ,668(  -$18$5<As for another highlight of this conference, sinceSouthern California has a rich history associatedwith Japanese immigrants and five generations ofJapanese-­American culture, it included a program
to educate JETAA chapter delegates on Japanese-­
American history and culture, as well as ways inwhich JET alumni can be more connected with thelarger Japanese-­American community.

)LQDOO\ WKLV \HDU·V FRQIHUHQFH KDG D VSHFLDOmeaning as the kick-­off for a year-­long celebra-­tion of The JET Programme's 30th Anniversaryin 2017.

USJETAA, an organiza-­tion which works with thechapters
tosupport
JETAA activities, an-­nounced to the attendees
7KHUHZDVDSDQHOGLVFXVVLRQDERXW´6WUHQJWKHQLQJ that they are hosting anConnections Between JET Alumni and the Nikkei event in Washington D.C.
&RPPXQLW\µIHDWXULQJ/LO\$:HOW\7DPDL3K' to celebrate the 30th an-­Curator at JANM and Lecturer at UCLA, as mod-­ niversary year of the JETerator, and Alan Nishio, Chairman of the Board of Programme. The gather-­
Governors for the Little Tokyo Service Center, and ing will be some kind ofJane H. Yamashiro, Ph.D., sociologist and author conference / convention /RI´5HGHILQLQJ-DSDQHVHQHVVµDVDSDQHOLVWV
reunion held in July or
August of 2017, and is
In his opening remarks, Mr. Nishio presented the open to any alumni any-­
USJETAA
history of Japanese immigration to the US, break-­ where in the world whoPaige Cottingham-­Streatering it down into distinct periods defined by the dis-­ are interested in coming.
criminatory laws passed to limit Asian immigra-­tion, the internment of West Coast Japanese dur-­ JLGC will closely follow these developments anding WW II, and various social and economic pres-­ ZRXOGOLNHWRDFWLYHO\VXSSRUWWKHDOXPQL·VDFWLY
sures leading to assimilation after the war, and ities.
then a new wave of immigrants arriving from Ja-­
pan in recent decades. Dr. Yamashiro spoke about
her research into Japanese Americans living in the
US and Japan.

Alan Nishio
CLAIR Receptionϱ-$18$5<,668(  4. JETAANY Career Forum and JET Welcome Back Reception in NY
Tatsuya Matsumoto
On October 15, JETAANY, the Consulate General of Japan in New
York, and JLGC held a Career Forum for recent JET returnees. Intotal, 15 new alumni attended. At the forum, members of JETAANY
covered topics such as writing a resume and performing well in aninterview, in addition to sharing their experiences through a panel
discussion. The members also mentioned the importance of being
involved with JETAANY because of its connections.
The following is a sample of some of the practical advice given on
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・First take some time to analyze your own experiences and strengths;;
・While resumes show your background, you do not need to write in detail about the JET Program,rather, focus on using concise, specific keywords that get straight to your experiences and abilities;;
・Write your strengths and/or the things you want potential employers to see the most at thebeginning of your resume.
The speakers also emphasized the importance of staying connected with the JETAANY chapter, as ex-­amples of former JET participants finding work through JETAA connections are far from rare.
As for interview tips, speakers touched on some of the following points:
・0DQ\SRWHQWLDOHPSOR\HUVFKHFNDSSOLFDQWV·/LQNHG,QSDJHVSULRUWRWKHLQWHUYLHZVRHQVXUHWKDWyour information is up-­to-­date;;
・Be careful about what information (especially that which could reflect upon you negatively) you put
on social networking sites;;
・If having a Skype interview, test your connection before the call and pick a place with adequate
lighting and an appropriate background in order to make a good impression with the interviewer;;
・Following the interview, send a thank you to the interviewer as soon as possible.
After the presentation on interview skills, there was a panel discussion featuring members of JETAANY,where the panelists shared their own experiences and responded toquestions from the audience. Participants also had the opportunity tomeet with representatives from six Japanese recruiting companies.
Following the Career Forum, there was a Welcome Back Reception
for the recently returned former JET participants. The reception,
which welcomed 88 attendees, including representatives of Japanesecompanies and members of the several New York Kenjinkai(associations for people from the same prefecture), served as not only
a welcome back to the recent returnees, but also provided an opportunity for them to expand their net-­
works. Many of the JET attendees expressed a desire to find Japan-­related work, but also to keep theirconnections with Japan in other areas. We wish them the best and hope for their continued success.

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