Bi-Weekly Newsletter
December 6 - December 20, 2020
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Now open for registration!
Read more about all our events below!
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For JSB members everywhere, don't forget to use your member discount for these Japanese products for the home! |
1-866-993-9291
J-Life International offers a unique mix of traditional Japanese style products for the home. Handcrafted in the United States, their products showcase their dedication to creating quality products with natural materials imbued with Japanese style and practicality.
JSB members get 15% off online purchases at J-Life! Check out their website here. Please e mail info@japansocietyboston.org to get the coupon code. If you're not yet a member, please consider joining us!
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More Ways to Help
You can contribute to the Japan Society of Boston through your Amazon purchases! Every time you shop through Amazon Smile, a small percentage of your purchase is donated to the non-profit of your choice. Please consider choosing the Japan Society of Boston as your non-profit. |
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Special December Offer: If you become a member this month, we'll send you a free copy of Autumn Light by Pico Iyer! |
Join or Renew your Membership and support us continue this important work of bridge making!
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Keep up with JSB on social media! |
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We want to know what you think! |
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Which JSB program have you enjoyed the most?
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Easy Japanese Home Cooking for Non-Chefs
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Virtual Performances (Kabuki, Shamisen)
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Speaker Series (Yamanaka/Kurokawa, Princess Raiyah, Koshien)
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Experiences (JAL, Ogawa Coffee, Obento, Onigiri)
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Webinar (Post-Abe Japan, Geostrategy)
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Japan Society of Boston Online Events |
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Saturday, December 12, 2020
5:00 - 6:00 PM EST
$10 JSB Members / $15 Non-members
Hosted online via Zoom
Katsukarē (カツカレー) is a simple Japanese dish consisting of a breaded, deep-fried cutlet served with a Japanese curry sauce over rice.
Curry first came to Japan during the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) through the British Navy, which served its sailors curry that was tailored to British tastes. Japanese restaurants started serving curry dishes in the late 19th century, and was quickly popularized and became a staple within the Japanese diet.
We invite you to make your own katsukarē with the help of JSB volunteer Akiko Ghosh. Be sure to bring your appetites for this next installment of our Easy Japanese Home Cooking series! We look forward to seeing you there!
Akiko Ghosh has been living in Boston for over 20 years. Prior to moving to Boston, she owned an Indian-themed home goods store in Tokyo. She learned about wonderful Indian items and cuisine through her husband who is from India. In Boston, she has worked as a relocation consultant helping clients from Japan find a place to live. She is excited to share about how curry got to Japan and her special recipe of Katsu curry.
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Friday, December 18, 2020
6:00 to 8:00 PM EST
Hosted online via Zoom
(you will be sent the meeting code after registering)
Our language gatherings have become so expansive that we now have participants all the way from Japan! We hope you will take part in our community as we strive to bridge Japanese and American cultures.
Please join us for two hours of conversation, where you will be grouped based on your proficiency level.
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Japanese word of the week:
雪だるま (ゆきだるま)
yukidaruma
snowman
During the winter months, one of the most popular pastimes in the cold weather is playing in the snow and undoubtedly, making snowman is probably everybody's favorite!
In English, the word snowman is a combination of snow and man, referencing their human-like figures. However, in Japanese, it is instead a combination of 雪 (snow) and だるま (daruma). A daruma is a small, round Japanese doll used in Buddhism. As a result, the word 雪だるまyukidaruma in Japanese references the round shape of snowmen.
Want to learn more seasonal Japanese vocabulary? We are happy to be offering online Japanese classes with our Japanese Language School this winter!
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JSB Staff Pick of the Week
With more time at home, we've asked our staff to pick some of their favorite Japanese movies and books. Here's the staff pick of the week:
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Marie Kondo is a tidying expert, bestselling author, star of Netflix’s hit show, “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” and founder of KonMari Media, Inc. Discover the life-changing magic of tidying up – and the movement it's inspired.
Marie Kondo's lifestyle brand inspires people to choose joy and complete their tidying adventures.
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As a university student and JSB intern who is homesick for Japanese food, I will be exploring what Boston can offer for my ramen cravings. Please bear in mind that this is not a ranked list or endorsement, but rather the opinions of an intern with a ramen addiction! |
Entry 6: Totto Ramen
Totto Ramen is a New York chicken paitan ramen restaurant with locations in Allston (169 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134), Somerville (463 Artisan Way, Somerville, MA 02145), and Dorchester (20A District Ave, Boston, MA 02125). Currently, they have dine in, take out, and delivery options.
The soup, a chicken paitan, is rich and savory, and very warming on a chilly day. It came with straight noodles, along with negi (ネギ/scallions), tamanegi (玉ネギ/onions), nori (海苔/roasted seaweed), kikurage (木耳/wood ear mushrooms) and chashu (チャーシュー/braised pork belly). Check out our Instagram story highlights to see my Intern takeover where I report about Totto rame!)
Read more from Daiki's Ramen Nikki here!
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Videos to Bridge Cultures |
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Founder of Gohitsu Shodo Kai, an independent western Japanese calligraphy society, Esteban Martinez is a Japanese calligrapher, Aikido teacher, and lay Zen Buddhist. The society aims to build a community of people focused on discovering their inner spirit through training in Shodo. Gohitsu Shodo Kai trains in calligraphy from a Zen and marital arts point of view, reflecting Esteban's own background. You can read more about Esteban Martinez and the Gohitsu Shodo Kai here.
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This origami tutorial is on kabuto! Naoko Takayanagi, JSB Membership and Programs Manager, will walk you through the steps so that you can make your very own kabuto! Kabuto is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors. In later periods, they were worn by the samurai class. Today, the term kabuto may refer to any kind of warrior helmet. |
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Online activities from other Japan Societies across the US |
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Tuesday, December 8, 2020
7:00 - 8:30 PM EST
(4:00 - 5:30 PM PST)
Over the past five decades, the US-Japan relationship in space technology has evolved from one-sided dependence, to commercial competition, to close collaboration and partnership.
Please join us for a conversation with Michael Fletcher, who recently retired from NASA Ames, Hiroshi Nakayama, Associate Senior Administrator at JAXA and Ron Lopez, President of Astroscale, US, a Japanese space start-up, to discuss these changes and implications for future US-Japan space technology cooperation.
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Tuesday, December 8, 2020
6:30 - 7:45 PM EST
Izumibashi Sake Brewery, located in Kanagawa, is one of the few breweries in Japan that grows, harvests and mills its own rice for sake production, assuring the utmost quality and control from start to finish. At this program, sake expert John Gauntner illuminates the unique nature of Kanagawa sake, and Izumibashi president Yuichi Hashiba gives a behind-the-scenes look at the brewery facility through an exclusive virtual tour. The program will conclude with a virtual sake and food pairing.
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Thursday, December 10, 2020
10:00 - 11:00 AM EST
(9:00 - 10:00 AM CST)
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The Pan-Asian Business Forum: Overview of Current Growth Areas, presented by the City of Dublin, provides an overview of business opportunities in India, Japan and China, as well as tax considerations for those doing international business. Following the panel, at 10am, there will be thirty minutes of online networking in virtual breakout rooms for all those who wish to participate. This event is a collaborative effort of the Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO), Asian Indian American Business Group (AIABG), and the Greater Columbus Chinese Chamber of Commerce. |
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Non-JSB Online Activities |
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A Japanese-Themed Hybrid Event
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Saturday, December 12 - Sunday, December 13, 2020
This December, Bow Market and its 32 small businesses, from retail shops to food stops, come together for Bow Zen, a weekend of zen- and Japanese-themed fun and flavors.
The weekend will include a matcha tea ceremony, Ikebana demonstration, Koto performance, mindful doodling and more! There are also specially curated menus and product selections, and gift sets are in the works from spaces all around Bow Market. It will be a socially-distanced event you won't want to miss!
Beginning 12/12 at 10am and wrapping up at 10pm on 12/13, Bow Zen will feature delicious menus like Matcha Hot Chocolate from Gate Comme des Filles (with purchase of mug from second-floor retail shop Crane & Turtle) and Makitate (ramen burrito) by Tsurumen Davis. And with a playlist curated by Bow Market's own record store, Index. Bow Zen is sure to be a hit.
Make sure to stop by Bow Market in Somerville or join the fun online during this hybrid event!
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Wednesday, December 9, 2020
7:00 - 8:00 PM EST
Learn about two very effective yet different not-for-profit enterprises in Japan: Perspective, focused on preserving and celebrating traditional Japanese crafts and the natural materials from which they are made, and the Ashinaga Foundation and its Africa Initiative, focused on education and cultivating the next generation of leaders in sub-Saharan Africa. Find out how the Japanese non-profit sector is creating both local and global impact, and meet two of the change-makers influencing the future.
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Tuesday, December 8, 2020
7:00 - 8:00 PM EST
Featuring Gerald Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Columbia University.
Moderated by David E. Weinstein, Director of the Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia Business School.
With Prime Minister Abe's sudden resignation in September, his powerful chief cabinet secretary, Suga Yoshihide, obtained the support of the party's most powerful faction leaders to become Japan's new prime minister. Come next September he will have to win a party presidential contest if he is to remain as prime minister.
Will Suga remain prime minister after next September or will power pass into the hands of a new generation of political leaders? Is there likely to be a continuation of stable government as there was under Abe or is Japan perhaps heading into another phase of rapidly changing occupants of the prime minister's residence? These are some of the questions Professor Curtis will be addressing in this webinar.
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Friday, December 11, 2020
4:00 - 5:00 PM EST
Speaker: MARVIN D. STERLING, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Indiana University at Bloomington
Moderator: KAREN L. THORNBER, Harry Tuchman Levin Professor in Literature & Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations & Acting Director, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University
In this presentation, the speaker uses the case of mixed-race peoples of black and Japanese ancestry (“kokujin-hafu”) in contemporary Japan to interrogate the existing literature on Afro-Asia.
The speaker argues for the value of a multipolar global approach as advocated by Jan Nederveen Pieterse and others to reflect the more fully global dimensions and dynamics of the Afro-Asian encounter in Japan, and for the particular value of ethnographic work in exploring their lived resonances and effects.
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Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.9 meters, it is the second-tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations. |
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Japanese Art Museum in the Cloud
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The virtual IJC Museum in the Cloud allows visitors like you to enjoy modern artworks by Japan’s representative artists.
You can view works from all directions with 360° freedom and get so close
that you can see the subtlest details and even feel the presence of the artists.
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