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One thing that I miss about living in Japan is having that Mochi texture in all sorts of other foods. Whilst you can buy mochi at import shops in the UK, there are very few bakeries or restaurants that bake things to have that soft and squidgy texture.  Here is an easy vegan recipe to have that same experience at home. More than just mo...

National  . .   ​​​There will be national event this summer that everyone is encouraged to go to. The North West chapter will be hosting a Matsuri at Tatton Park (Knutsford WA16 6SG) 

We had our AGM in March and had a lot of new faces taking over JETAA Roles. Ryan Keeble, previously head of the London chapter, is now the National chair. You can read his thoughts here. Joining him is Kay Webber, taking over as national treasurer. The...

  Dr. Tomoko Lisa Kate Kitagawa (who usually goes by kate) is the newly appointed director of the Space Education office of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. She helps inspire students from Nursery to High school to get interested in the cosmos, as well as organise events for adults. In the past she has also been a writer, histori...

I currently serve as CEO of Ashinaga Association in the UK. Ashinaga Foundation is one of Japan's largest charities and has supported over 110,000 students who have lost one or both parents. Ashinaga UK was established in 2017 and registered as a charity as 2019. We predominantly support the Ashinaga Africa Initiative. This program aims to recru...

QUAD in Derby will hold a celebration of Japanese culture in June. Japan Fest is a brand-new event organised by Otaku World in association with QUAD. Besides Anime film screenings there will be performances of Kendō, Japanese drummers and a Japanese Folk dancer and sin...

Meat or quorn- 200g  Potatoes - 5  Carrot - 2  Onion - 1  Dashi powder - 1tbsp  Sugar - 3tbsp  Mirin - 3tbsp  Soy sauce - 3tbsp  Sake - 3tbsp First, peel and chop your potatoes into quarters. Then chop your carrots and onions into large chunks too. Cook all the vegetables in...

image by Ma Shimaro Pancake day is one of the most fun and universally loved UK holidays. When I was in Japan, Japanese people loved to hear about the holiday and always wanted to have a go at joining in with the cooking (or just the eating). If you're not be able to introduce pancake day to Japanese students this year, why n...

Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan is a fascinating and exciting documentary series about the unification of Japan.    Netflix has gathered a large group of historians from Japan, the UK, and America to tell the tale of the Nobunaga and the feudal lord's who used his conquest to try and gain power for themselves. One of...

Please give us a brief introduction to who you are and what you do I’m a writer, historian, speaker and occasional broadcaster, focussing on Japan, and also a freelance journalist with a much wider brief. I’ve written some 14 books on Japan and fronted two television programmes on 

JETAA UK is a volunteer organisation, and thus we depend on people getting involved to keep things running.  Every March, at our AGM, we vote for who will take each role. Anyone can run for any role, but some roles are going to become vacant soon.   Each chapter has at least a Chairman and a Treasurer. These roles require ...

Japan and the UK are united in their status as constitutional monarchies. Whatever your opinion on the royal families in modern times, they were profoundly crucial in history.    The relationship between the British and Japanese royals informed the relationships between the two nations. The first official contact between them w...

Newcastle has a lot of great places to eat, but down Leazes Park Rd, just a couple of minutes walk from Haymarket or Monument metro stations, you can find Tea Sutra.  Run by a Japanese tea enthusiast this tea house bends Japanese cooking with vegan styles from all around the world. From the moment you enter, you're hit with an ai...

We recently got word of a new wave of JETs departing for Japan from the UK. It has been a turbulent time, to say the least, with no one quite sure what the future holds, but another batch of assistant teachers have nonetheless embarked on a journey that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Events were held up in all of our c...

Callum Forbes is currently the Coordinator for cultural affairs at the Embassy of Japan. A role that he has held for the five years since returning from his time on the JET Programme.    Why did you decide you wanted to be on the JET Programme and Where did you go?   My motivation was that I...

UPDATE!  BFI is offering 20 tickets to a film of your choice in their Japan 2021 season this autumn. To  grab your pair simply email Victoria.humphrys@bfi.org.uk with JETAA in the subject header by 30 Oct.   Tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis! ...

We sat down and chatted with ambassador, lecture, interpreter, coordinator and promoter of Japan; Angela Davies. She spoke with us about her time on JET and how it led to some of the great opportunities of her career.   Where did you go on JET? I went to Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku, so I was in Takamats...

Soba & Somen, $20: Busshari, Potts Point. Sydney Food Blog Review by insatiablemunch   This Summer has been intense, to say the least. Whilst not many of us have been able to go abroad, it sure seems like we...

we interviewed Ayae Sensei, the Japanese teacher who has been offering group lessons with JETAA North east. All of our readers have expereince teaching English in Japan, but what is it like when the languages are reveresed?  An introduction to Ayae sensei I am from Hokkaido prefecture in the far north of Japan. ...

JETAA North East have teamed up with Ayae-sensei from NCL Japanese lesson to bring you friendly and casual Japanese language lessons based around Japanese culture and your time in Japan. Classes will be on a first-come, first-served basis and are aimed at around N4 Level.  Ayae Sensei is a Japanese teacher from Hokkaido now living in Ty...

I thought I’d start everyone off from scratch, assuming you have absolutely no knowledge of sake at all. (You are like Manuel from the British Comedy Classic Fawlty Towers, “I know nothing”.) I also want to keep these posts short and sweet, giving you small snippets and quick facts about sake and not a long, tedious...

Kaya Holder is an Ex JET who still has a passion for education that she has used to write her own children's book, that is soon to be part of a series.    Please, tell us about your new book.  My new children’s book ‘Tawny and Maya: Unique Me’ came from an idea I had during JET to create a visual...

Whilst many restaurants have transitioned to some sort of open-aired seating or takeaway system over the last year, I still find myself eating out considerably less than I would have two years ago. Sainsbury's sushi and Aldi tempura can only serve as a substitute for authentic Japanese cuisine for so long. Luckily I have found a way to have a de...

Recipe  from Rob Gorton   Buta-no-kakuni (requires a pressure cooker ideally...)   This is a bit of a long recipe so I tend to make it at celebrations in winter - new years particularly! It's great served with white rice, a little english mustard and maybe sprinkled with chopped green onions  

Work culture in the UK has never been more changeable. Many people are working from home, Furloughed or unemployed and none of us know what the next week will bring. With an unstable job market, many are making their own opportunities and starting businesses rather than waiting for companies to start hiring again. With this in mind, we interview...

“Soon morning will break on the far side of night”                                                                        Lyrics from Hana wa Saku (Flowers will Bloom)   This month marks 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the tsunami that struck...

JETAA Scotland are hosting a MEXT Scholars JETAA UK Academic Special Interest Group (SIG) Event all about how JET has been beneficial in changing attitudes towards Japan through grassroots diplomacy.   It is supported by the Embassy of Japan, The University of Sheffield, School of East Asian Studies And Japan Local Government Ce...

Come and join JETAA: London at a specially discounted gyoza making class, with the talented Tokyo cook Kei! For an exclusive, subsidized price of £5 (the class is usually £11 pp), you’ll learn to make gyoza from scratch, as well as meet & chat with other JET alumni from all over! Kei-san is an experienced host-mother who taug...

Korokke or Japanese Croquettes are a wonderfully moreish food, especially in these colder months. The fried potato patties may have started as a French food, but Japan has definitely put its own spin on the potato croquette, as many of you will now. Korokke ...

London . .   On Saturday 20th March, JETAA London will be going international, with an online gyoza-making class taught by Tokyo cook Kei, all the way from Japan. This comes at heavily subsidised price of only £5, but is only limited to 30 attendees, so make sure to book quick if that sounds up your street. Pl...

Please, tell us about your career. I am a Lecturer of Applied Linguistics At Newcastle University. So, I do a lot of teaching, research and supervision.    Teaching:  I lead modules on learning and teaching second languages on an 

London . .   Last month JETAA London held a Netflix party where we watched Makoto Shinkai's acclaimed anime, 'Your Name'.  And had a Second Lockdown Social where JETs hung out and, played online games (Jack in the Box, Among Us, cards) More events like this are coming up soon, contact 

Hello everyone and welcome to the winter edition of jetlag. This year has been unlike any other, and we have all had to adapt to a new way of life as we adjust to a post-pandemic world. As 2020 draws to a close, I would like to focus on the positives that JETAA has achie...

Mochi is Japan’s favourite sweet. You can eat it all year round, but it is primarily linked to New Year’s Day. Whilst it is a typical food in Japan, it can be challenging to find in the UK, and the options are very limited. It’s surprisingly easy to make your own mochi at home in the microwave, all you need is:  

If you have lived in Japan, then you know about the bizarre interpretation of Christmas they have over there. For the perfect 25th of December, you need some fried chicken, hot sake and a strawberry cake. When I used to teach in Japan, my students would always tell me that the Christmas cake was the most important part of Christmas. I’...

How did you end up on the JET programme and where did you go?

Do you have a flair for creativity and want to help U.K. people learn more about Japan? Then why not contribute to the new website for The Fuji Festival?  The Fuji Festival is a volunteer-led educational initiative that aims to expand the horizo...

JETAA Scotland are still running online sessions welcome to all, on the first Friday of every month. In Novemeber we had Mio Shudo, a famous, Scottish based, Japanese storyteller, run an event. She dazzled attendees with dramatic, live storytelling in English and Japanese. On the 4th of December there was a great session about ...

JETAA is expanding with a chapter for the North East. The chapter has been relaunched by Jess Williams, a 2016 JET who lives in Whitley Bay. They had their first meeting on the 27th of the month, with a very successful origami session and online hang out. The plan is to...

Jet Alumni Chris Broad's YouTube channel has rocketed to success over the last eight years, with almost 2 million subscribers.  His latest popular web series, Journey Across Japan: Escape to Fu...

  Studio Ghibli announced a released date for their next feature film. Earwig and the Witch, known as アーヤと魔女 (Aya and the Witch) in Japanese, will be shown on NHK at 7...

Do you love Japanese food? Do you know a great recipe or a fantastic Japanese restaurant near you? We want to hear from the JETAA community and how they have kept in touch with the culinary delights of Japan since returning to the UK. If you would like to write a food based article to be featured on the site please conta...

A classic Japanese dish that is sure to make great comfort food this autumn. This dish is not as fast as the Katsu, but it's not difficult either and could be an impressive recipe to add to your

Chicken Katsu   This is a great way to get a taste of Japan with easily available British ingredients. Katsu just means cutlet, an...

1. How and why did you end up on the JET Programme and where did you go?   I had just finished my master’s degree in English literature, and w...

For lovers of Japan, cats, Street Fighter and okonomiyaki (and the debate about where the best one comes from), this book is difficult to put down once started.  The Cat in the City, the debut novel by JET alumni Nick Bradley...

To all JETAA UK members Around 2000 Martin Sel...

  London Green Chain Walk

This year's JET Returnees Careers Fair will take place on the 23rd of October 2020 from 11:00 to 16:00. The event will be held online, using the event platform Whova, and will be accessible both on the web app and on t...

A wish for peace and good health During lockdown JETAA North West decided to fold paper cranes to combine commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the A-bomb in Hiroshima with a wish for good health and peace for all across the world during the pandemic.  The number of cranes started small.