NagaZasshi

A New NagaZasshi project – The Nagasaki Calendar! Photo submissions wanted!

Greetings all! We’re happy to announce a new project from the NagaZasshi team: A NagaZasshi Nagasaki Calendar!

Many of us involved with the NagaZasshi as readers or editors are involved with the JET Programme, and a long-time tradition — the annual JET Calendar, showcasing the best photographs from JETs around Japan — has not continued for 2012. Seeing as there’s now a calendar-shaped gap in our lives, we’ve decided to do something about that and commission our own Nagasaki NagaZasshi Calendar!

What’s more, we’re looking for photography submissions for the calendar!

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2012

Submission Requirements: Pictures must be taken in Japan and should be high-resolution JPEG images in landscape orientation.
Anyone who wishes may submit photos, but please limit entries to 3 per person.
In the case that you submit photographs including people’s faces, please receive permission from those featured BEFORE submission.

Submission Process: Please send all entries to nagazasshi@gmail.com with the subject in the format: [name - title - picture location (City, Prefecture)].

For example: [John Doe - Night View from Mt. Inasa - Nagasaki City, Nagasaki]

We look forward to your submissions! Remember, the deadline is April 30th!

Catching up – issues 4.3 and 4.4 out now!

Hisashiburi, NagaZasshi faithful! Hope you’re surviving the chilly Nagasaki winter. Nothing better than huddling under the kotatsu with some nabe and something to read!

And that’s where we come in. Here’s links to the online copies of our two most recent issues: Volume 4 issue 3 from November, and fresh off the presses, volume 4 issue 4! Issue 3 has a feature on volunteering in Tohoku, a guide to traveling in many popular southeast Asian countries, and an investigation into the origin of Turkish rice.

The brand new Volume 4 issue 4 features articles on staying warm in the winter (how topical!), Sapporo Snow Festival, a travel guide for Bali, and a guide to Setsubun. Pass the word along and give these issues a read!

AJET Publication Award

The NagaZasshi Team is proud to announce that we have been honored with an award by AJET. The award is for the best prefectural publication. We went up against some very impressive publications throughout Japan, so, needless to say, we are thrilled to have won the award.

We would like to thank all of our article contributors, our sponsors, and all of you for reading the NagaZasshi. This award inspires us to continue making the best, most informative magazine we possibly can.

Below you can read the email we received from AJET. We’ve posted links to the other publications around Japan on our Links page, so make sure (Read more)

NIB Piece on NagaZasshi

Check out this piece about the NagaZasshi that debuted on NIB (Nagasaki International Broadcasting) last October starring our very own Mutia Adisoma.

You can also view it directly on YouTube.

Haiti Donation Update

This is an update for you on the status of the donations you made to Haiti at the last NagaZasshi party. We recently received a confirmation email from the Canadian Red Cross, which you can read at the end of this message. We decided to donate through the Canadian Red Cross because the Canadian government vowed to match any donation made to Canadian charitable organizations between Jan. 12 and Feb. 12, 2010.

We collected about 47,000 yen in donations at the party, and with a few more donations within the next week or so, we ended up with an even 50,000 yen. Since the Canadian government matched donations dollar for dollar, we were able to send roughly $1,000 in relief aid to Haiti.)

Our donation was made on (Read more)

The All Souls Procession

Note: This entry is an addendum to Vol 1.4′s Wacky Festivals Article.

Good ‘ol Tucson: the heart of the Southwestern United States. Where Wyatt Earp and his boys participated in the infamous gun fight at Tombstone. Where Saguaro cactus take the place of trees in a harsh dry landscape. And where one of the most unique U.S. festivals takes place every first weekend of November, The All Souls Procession. It was started in 1990 by a local artist name Susan Johnson who wanted to honor her deceased father with a festive celebration. Inspired by Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos holiday, she gathered other local artists to perform a small ceremony on 4th Avenue and 4th Street of Tucson. The ceremony was well received and today over 20,000 people participate in what is now known as the All Souls Procession.

Let’s list some of the elements that make a festival fun (Read more)

5 Ways to Avoid the Most Depressing Christmas Ever

Pretty depressing, to say the least.

Regardless of where you are, and what the locals do, ‘tis the season to be jolly. However ‘tis also the season not to be broke, which is inevitably what a plane ticket home for the holidays will render you. If you’re staying put this Christmas, here is a heads up of what to expect, and some tips on how to spend your holiday season without crying into a Colonel Sanders bucket.

1. Get busy sending your new Japanese friends and co-workers Christmas cards. They’ll surely be sending you some for the New Year, so stock up on (Read more)

A Reasonable Rhyme: Shining a Little Light on a Japanese Custom

So many times in our daily lives here in Japan we may find our selves wondering, “Now come on, why would you do that? That just doesn’t make any sense…” One such instance as pointed out by Ms. Marika Galadza in her list of “5 Humbling Gaijin Moments” is the fact that you are, generally speaking, expected to pay an equal share for your own welcome/farewell party. For many of us foreign types that seems a little out of place when it is common that your bill will be covered by the rest of the group any time that you are the center of attention (i.e. birthdays). Well, it turns out that it’s not just an over-stinginess on Japan’s part and actually has a genuine basis in Japanese cultural history. This was kindly pointed out to us by a reader of ours, Mr. Shigeto Miyazaaki, an English teacher at Isahaya Commercial High School.

As he explains, “Have you ever heard of “お樽”, which literally means, “O(an honorific article) + Taru (a barrel of sake)? A long time ago, (Read more)

Stop Looking At Me!

Physical insecurities are something that most of us have dealt with at one point or another in our lives (glasses and braces in junior high school, anyone?). However, these insecurities are sometimes exacerbated in Japan due to the fact that we look completely different from everyone around us, not to mention we’re stared at all the time!

I asked some foreigners about thoughts they’ve had regarding their physical appearance since living in Japan. Here are some of the things they had to say:

“It’s ridiculously frustrating to go shopping! Sometimes I’m afraid to try things on, even though I start with the largest size because I don’t want to be disappointed.”

“I feel like Pam Anderson because I have a bust!”

“Big nose. Big ears. No hair. I’ve been told that I look (Read more)

Night Views in Nagasaki

Enjoy night views, but don’t like cold weather or paying for gas? Then you need to check out this website.

I just came across it today, and it appears to be dedicated to night view photography from all across Japan. In Nagasaki-ken, make sure to check out: Sasebo, Omura, Nagasaki (Inasayama), and my personal favorite Nagasaki (Nabekanmuri-yama).

Cheers,

- Jason Howard