News

A former JET broke major ground last year when he became the first non-Japanese person to have his own sitcom on NHK.  BJ Fox – a comedy alias – is the star of Home Sweet Tokyo. The show focuses on the lives of the British Bryan Jenkins (played by Fox), his Japanese wife Itsuki and their daughter Alice after the family mo...

The first Japanese-owned sake brewery in the UK is on the cusp of opening. Dojima’s purpose-built facility on the grounds of the Fordham Abbey estate in Cambridgeshire promises to be a 'taste of Japan in the heart of the English countryside'. It’s been nearly 200 years in the making. The Hashimoto family behind Dojima first started b...

Europe’s largest Japanese food hall has just opened in Westfield London. Ichiba combines an array of food stations with retail space for Japanese culinary staples, sweets and treats, kitchenware and ceramics, sake, books and beauty products. All in all, 3000 Japanese products are reportedly on sale! Diners can choose between a ...

Submitted by a former JET: Hokkaido 2007-2009 The pitch: Award-winning, high quality Japanese food Review: I’ve actually visited this place a number of times over the years and have been constantly impressed with the high quality food offered. The menu does get refreshed every now and then and...

The Japan Society of the UK recently held its first regional business event: ‘Japanese Business Links in the North of England’, hosted by PwC in Leeds. Sarah Parsons, Managing Director of East West Interface, who is also a Trustee to the Japan Society and JETAA UK Chair, invited speakers within Japan-related businesses in that area to come ...

For Damon Mitchell, JET helped him to create and realise a lifelong connection with Japan, a connection he continues to nurture back in the UK as Games and Community Director of Ludorati, a board game café in Nottingham. JETLAG caught up with him to learn how he first made it to Japan (via Slovakia) and why he recommends the film Y...

On 22 May the first JETAA Midlands Japanese-Themed Board Gaming Social took place at Ludorati in Nottingham.  It was conceived as a joint event including both JETAA Midlands and students of the Japanese Society from Nottingham University to promote participation in the JET Programme. The idea was to create an informal atmosphere where...

The JETAA Scotland Chapter has been seriously busy since spring, organising several events promoting Japanese culture and intercultural interaction, with the support of JETAA, Japan Society of Scotland, Japan Society UK and The Sasakawa Foundation and supported by the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh. Fuji Festival ...

JETAA UK’s annual Welcome Back Careers Event will be held at Asia House in London on Friday, 21 September 2018, 13:30-18:00.  This event provides an invaluable opportunity for former JETs to receive advice on developing their careers post-JET and the ideal forum to learn about job opportunities and industries where their skills ...

On June 3rd JETAA North West attended Japan Day as an exhibitor.  We had a stand where we exhibited paraphernalia from our time teaching in Japan, kimono and Japanese culture books.  Japan Day is Japan Society North West's free all-day festival celebrating the many fascinating aspects of Japanese culture.  Since 2006, it has been held every ...

JET Pre-departure Events in the North West On June 16th and 23rd JETAA North West held get-togethers in Liverpool and Manchester respectively for those in the area who are due to go out on JET this summer.  We also invited alumni along to give advice from their first hand experience of Japan. The Liverpool get-to...

The JETAA London pub quiz returned again this year for an evening of trivia fun. Over 30 people turned up to The Somers Town Coffee House (between Euston and Kings Cross) making up 7 teams competing against each other for the pot. The teams were put to the test with 6 rounds of challenging questions, followed by some casual catch-up time over so...

JETAA is creating a Japanese restaurant map of the UK, and we need your help. The goal is to create a resource showcasing the best Japanese and Japanese-influenced food the length and breadth of the UK. So, if you know of a yummy or interesting Japanese restaurant in your area, whether it's just-opened or an established favourite, we'd love to ...

Heaven's Wind, published by The Japan Society, is the world’s first dual language anthology of Japanese women’s writing. The authors were born over fifty years from 1929 to 1979, and their stories written over the past five decades. Tales of deceit, loss and self-affirmation are set against pre-war to post-tsunami backdrops,...

This year’s JETAA UK Annual General Meeting took place in Edinburgh in March, giving committee members the chance to meet up and discuss the JETAA UK calendar of events as well as enjoy the beautiful capital city of Scotland. As well as JETAA UK committee members and chapter representatives, delegates from the Japan Local Government Centre (CL...

The idea of the ‘furusato’ or hometown still holds strong sway in Japan. The JET Programme represents a unique opportunity for participants to become embedded in a local Japanese community and, though they can stay for a maximum of five years, many continue to feel a strong connection to where they were placed after finishing the programme....

In the 1985 cult film Tampopo, one of the main characters goes for a meal with a ramen master who’s “studied noodles for 40 years”. Two steaming bowls are placed before them. The younger grabs his. He is about to dive in, before he turns to ask the still motionless old man, “Sensei, soup or noodles first?” The master turns slowly, rep...

24 March, 2018 Iconic Architecture Photography Walk The Saturday before last the JETAA UK London chapter took a stroll around the City, taking in the new and old architecture and London's landmark buildings. Ryan, our vice-chair, led the 90 minute walk which started at Sir Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral, and ended at ...

Greeting Happy Easter from JETAA North West! We hope everyone has had a nice few days off and the sugar has helped recharge your batteries. The new year got off to a very good start here in the NW. In January we collaborated with World Museum Liverpool to put on a Study Day exclusively for JETAA and Japan Society members...

JETAA UK’s next ‘Welcome Back Careers Event and Exhibition Space’ will be held on Friday 21 September 2018, followed by an evening reception co-hosted by the Embassy of Japan and Japan Local Government Centre (JLGC). This event provides the opportunity for former JETs to receive key advice and insight on the post-JET experience a...

After studying Japanese at university, Caroline Klein spent five years in Japan, first as a CIR and then working for CLAIR in Tokyo. After JET, she spent nearly ten years working in marketing and communications for Daiwa Capital Markets before joining the (at the time) Japanese-owned Canopius Group. JETLAG caught up with Caroli...

Alison Bond was an ALT in Shingu, Hyogo Prefecture (the above photo was taken on a recent visit to her old apartment!). Returning to the UK, she continued to work in education, coordinating partnerships for Warwickshire County Council and then Warwick University. She is now Director of External Relations at Oxford Brookes University. Ali...

It begins with a flash of lightning. Hanako (Kirsty Rider) and Reiko (Kae Alexander) are squabbling sisters living with their mother, Estuko (Rosalind Chao), on the west coast of Japan in 1979.  Their classmate Tetsuo (Leo Wan) comes round to study that stormy evening, heralding a proxy battle between them. The rebellious Hanako follows...

Hinamatsuri in Liverpool   On March 6th, JETAA NW held its annual Hinamatsuri at the usual location, Sugar and Dice Board Game Cafe.  Though Hinamatsuri is known as Girls Day, and our get-together usually falls just before International Women’s Day, the event was open to all and we were pleased to ho...

94% of Japan’s population now resides in urban areas. This radical demographic shift contains a hidden violence. Communities are hollowed out and old traditions and ways of life severed from reality.  Where I Belong begins with an explicit act of violence. Its protagonist, Izumi (played by Kento Hayashi – star of the Netfli...

JETAA NW and JSNW Netsuke Study Day On January 20th JETAA NW helped organise a Study Day at World Museum Liverpool exclusively for JETAA and JSNW members.  The chosen subject for the Study Day was netsuke and we were pleased to see that this provoked a very fast response from JSNW members and drew in JETAA members from as far as London....

Peckham, London might not be the first place that springs to mind when you think of sake. But in 2017 it became ground zero of a budding ‘sake revolution’ when Tom and Lucy Wilson started Kanpai, the UK’s first brewery of Japan’s national drink.  Kanpai’s backstory is endearing. The couple first fell in love with sake – whic...

Restaurants in the UK can play pretty fast and loose with Japanese culinary terms – I’ve lost count of the number of ways I’ve seen yakitori spelt. So as I walked into ‘Pan-Asian Kitchen and Bar’ Umame (umami is a Japanese word for savouriness), I felt ready for surprises. Umame opened in Kingston, south west ...

JETAA UK held its second Academic Special Interest Group (SIG) at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures at the University of East Anglia in Norwich on Friday 8 December 2017. This event was organised by Dr. Simon Kaner, Director of the Centre for Japanese Studies at UEA and Head of the Centre for Archaeolog...

Friday, 17 Nov – Sunday, 19 Nov JETAA Scotland has been busy again, organizing its second JLPT Bootcamp retreat in Edinburgh.  The Bootcamp fun began in July this year when JET Alumni Jess Brown and Emma Boardman teamed up to start organizing the second JLPT Bootcamp retreat after the success of the first, held in November 2...

Happy New Year to you all. 2017 was an exciting year for JETAA UK. We celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the JET Programme at the Houses of Parliament in March, we organised a successful Careers Day for returnees in October supported by many ex-JETs from companies such as Toshiba and Toyota, we held our second Academic Special Interest Group in...

Want to reconnect with JET? Oscar Wrenn works at the University of East Anglia and is looking to get ex-JETs in the region together to meet up at Shiki – Norwich’s premier Japanese restaurant – at 7pm on Friday 26 January. For a great chance to reminisce about old times and make new connections, please contact Oscar at

On December 16th, JETAA NW had our annual bounenkai at Yuzu in Manchester.  It is a nice little izakaya with authentic food and drink that will take you right back to your time in Japan.  We highly recommend it. We had a nice turnout of people: current committee members, previous committee members who want to get involved again, and ...

This year the Fuji Festival presented 10 events, involving all of the 700 students at Law Primary School in East Lothian. Events also included several school...

London's cultural event proves big success JET alumni were among attendees and volunteers at Japan Matsuri 2017, which celebrated its 9th anniversary this year. Held on Sunday 24th September in Trafalgar Square, the event was energetic and fun, featuring Japanese food, music, dance and other entertainment. Hig...

Autumn 2017 update Greetings from JETAA North West! The summer months brought us lots of opportunities f...

Autumn 2017 update Welcome home to all the recently returned JETs in the Midlands. We try to meet up every few months, varying our location from among Derby, Leicester and...

Bringing a taste of Japan to the UK In this JET Spotlight, Jetlag caught up with London-based Japanese chef and cookery book author Timothy Anderson. Read on for his story.  

Returnees need you! Transitioning back to life in the UK after a period of time on JET can have its ups and downs. That's why more and more JET alumni are becoming mentors for fellow alumni who are returning to the UK.  If you are keen to help other former JETs settle back into the UK, by providing hints and tip...

One-on-one support for returnees  Transitioning back to life in the UK after a period of time on JET can have its ups and downs. That's why more and more JET alumni are becoming mentors for fellow alumni who are returning to the UK. This month, three more mentors have joined the ranks.   

A look at employment and social innovation SOAS, University of London is hosting two Japan-related events in November that will explore employment in Japanese companies and tackling the challenges of an ageing society. 1: Foreign Graduate Employment in Japanese Companies - Implications for Japanese...

A JET's research By Clare Anderson                   

Behind the scenes of Hijacking Japan By the book's author Christopher Hood

On Friday 6th October we held our annual JETAA UK Careers Forum at Asia House in London. It was wonderful to welcome back all of the newly returned JETs and JET alumni from a range of indu...

The JETAA UK annual mid-year meeting was held at the London office of our main sponsor, the Japan Local Government Centre, in Whitehall on 19th August. Representatives from the UK’s cur...

For information on attending, submissions of current research, and about potential funding available for accommodation and travel expenses, please contact this year’s convener Simon Kaner, Director of the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute ...

On August 20th, JETAA North West organised a mini matsuri to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the JET programme. As well as JETAA NW, we invited members of Japan Society North West and local Japanese families and friends. The turnout was p...

The Diploma in Communicative Japanese programme at SOAS Language Centre in London is designed to prepare students with no previous knowledge of Japanese to live and work in an Japanese-speaking environment. Rohit Gupit-"My first experience with Japanese was as a language te...

On June 3rd and 16th JETAA North West held get-togethers in Liverpool and Manchester respectively for those in the area who were due to go out on JET this summer.  We invited alumni along to give advice from their first hand experience of Japan.

On July 8th a Tanabata festival was held at The Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight.  Volunteers from the Japan Society...