Presentation by the Consul General of Japan in Boston, Takeshi Hikihara The Consul General of Japan in Boston, Takeshi Hikihara, will be in Portland on Friday, March 16, 2012 to deliver a special presentation, “Japan: One Year After The Earthquake,” about the current realities in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and to detail how the recovery is proceeding. The event will be held at CIEE's offices at 300 Fore Street in Portland, Maine. JASM will be hosting a short reception beginning at 6:30PM. We will provide light refreshments. The presentation will begin at 7:00PM. Two of Japan’s Kizuna Ambassadors, Keiko Kiyama and Tetsuya Myojo, will accompany the Consul General and discuss Japan’s situation and outlook. Kizuna Ambassadors are officially charged with strengthening the bonds of friendship with those who came to Japan’s aid after the earthquake and continue to support the country’s recovery efforts. “Kizuna” is the Japanese word for bond or connection. Keiko Kiyama is the co-chair of Japan Platform as well as the Secretary General of JEN, originally “Japan Emergency NGOs,” a group of Japanese NGOs active internationally in care and assistance programs for victims of wars, internal conflicts, and natural disasters. JEN has relief operations underway in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, Haiti, and Tohoku, Japan. Tetsuya Myojo is the Director of Japan Platform’s Tohoku office. Japan Platform Greeting the Consul General delegation will be members of several Maine-Japan organizations in addition to JASM, including the Maine-Aomori Sister State Advisory Council and its action arm, Friends of Aomori; the Friends of Shinagawa, Portland’s official Sister City; and the Bath-Tsugaru Sister City Program. Prior to taking up his post at the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston in January of 2011, Consul General Hikihara served as Secretary-General for the Japan APEC meeting held in Yokohama in 2010. In that capacity he was responsible for hosting a yearlong series of conferences for heads of state and ministers from the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. In his 29-year career as a diplomat, he has served in the Embassies of Japan in Senegal, South Korea, and Russia, in Japan’s mission to the OECD in France, and in various posts in Japan, including the Prime Minister’s Office. As seating may be limited, all are encouraged to RSVP at JASM’s website: maine-japan.org. For further information, please contact Matt Laney at (207) 200-1775. -JASM Facebook Twitter LinkedIn |
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The 2012 (2nd) Annual Japanese Language Contest 1. The Japanese Language Contest is comprised of two areas: Participants may enter only one area of the contest. 2. The Japanese Language Contest will be held on April 21, 2012. 3. The contest is open to students who are currently enrolled in a Japanese language course at a university/college within the six New England states (CT/MA/ME/NH/RI/VT) and have not: 4. The deadline for entries is Wednesday, March 14 at 5:00pm EST. Essays or speech texts must arrive by this time at the Consulate General of Japan in Boston. While submission by postal mail is fine, email submissions are strongly encouraged. Send the essay or the text as an email attachment (Word or pdf preferred) to: infocul@cgjbos.org 5. Each entry must include a fully completed Entry Form, which indicates the exact character count. The Entry Form should be filled in by the author of the essay or speech, checked and signed by the author’s instructor and sent as a scan with the essay to the email address above. 6. Each university/college will be allowed three entries each for both essay and speech contests. 7. Students should choose the appropriate contest level: 部門（スピーチ・エッセイとも） A. Speech Contest: ● Intermediate Division: students who have completed fewer than three years of Japanese language study. ● Advanced Division: students who have completed three or more years of Japanese language study. B. Essay Contest: ● Advanced Division: students who have completed three or more years of Japanese language study. (Two years of high school Japanese is counted as one year at the university level.) 8. The essay’s topic must be either “The Great East Japan Earthquake (東日本大震災について思うこと)” or “Cherry Trees” (私にとって「桜」とは). 9. Any topic is acceptable for the speech. 10. Both the essay and speech must be written in Japanese. 11. Both the essay and speech must be typed. 12. The length of the essay or speech should be no more than 800 characters. Essays or speeches which do not conform to the character limit will be disqualified. Students must write their name and the title of their essay or speech on the page, neither of which will count toward the 800 character limit. 13. Entries will not be returned. 14. Finalists of the speech contest will be notified individually by the first week of April. Speech contest finalists will compete at the Japanese Language Contest on April 21, 2012 in the Boston area. 15. Copyright of all essays and speech will be retained by the Consulate General of Japan in Boston. 16. Only previously unpublished essays and speech will be accepted. 17. If plagiarism is found, the entry will be disqualified. |
Through a magnificent gift from the Lunder Foundation (based in Maine), the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is now offering free admission to all students at Bates (as well as students at other Maine institutions). All current students at Bates can now make an unlimited number of free visits to the Museum by showing a valid Bates ID card. The Museum of Fine Arts, located at 465 Huntington Avenue in Boston, is a great treasure-house of art, history, and culture of the world, with splendid new wings devoted to contemporary art and to its matchless collection of American art. It is open seven days a week from 10:00 am until 4:45 pm (until 9:45 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays). Information on its collections, special exhibits, and programs can be found at www.mfa.org. |