JETs on Japan Forum – Issue 13
Posted by James Elder
The Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade and Evolution of the Japanese Self-Defense Force in Regional Security
Patrick Ripton
Okinawa and Shiga, 2001–2005
As an American JET in Okinawa, I had the unique opportunity of experiencing the presence of U.S. troops there through both the lenses of interactions with my local community and my military friends. Tracing the history of the post-war U.S. administration of the ...READ MORE »
Competition of Provision: How Rivalries between Indo-Pacific Institutions Can Generate Goods for the Region
Rikio Inouye
Toyama, 2017–2020
The US-Japan alliance has remained the keystone relationship in the broader Indo-Pacific security architecture and this bilateral relationship has been the foundation for additional multi- and minilateral institutions like the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). As Chinese-led institutions like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) create alternatives and competitors, it is worth ...
Marriage Equality Trajectories in the United States and Japan
Brian Watson
Saitama, 1988-1991
The path to marriage equality in the United States is a tortuous one that began in 1970 and concluded with two landmark Supreme Court rulings in 2013 and 2015: United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, respectively. The trajectory to marriage equality currently in progress in Japan bears some similarities to the ...
Telecommunication, Intercultural Competence, and Language Development: A Review of Educational Telecollaboration Between the U.S. and Japan
Tiffany Laiyin Lao
Saitama, 2014–2018
Multimodal approaches to language learning and teaching has been evolving along with developments in technology. Telecommunication is one of the multimodal strategies that is becoming more prevalent in the field of English as a Second Language, or ESL. The purpose of this ...
Virtual Exchange for All: Building on U.S.- Japan Relations to Further Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in International Higher Education
Michele Fujii
Shiga, 2010–2013
This paper illustrates the importance of emerging modalities of Virtual Exchange/ Collaborative Online International Learning (VE/COIL) in international higher education. It references VE/COIL programs conducted between the United States and Japan by Kansai University’s Institute for Innovative Global Education in ...
U.S.-Japan Implications of COVID-19
Hayley Hutchison
Gifu, 2013-2014
The COVID-19 pandemic has made an impact on the entire world, affecting each country in very different ways. The response to the pandemic has been of almost equal measure, with the United States having taken the lead in vaccine development and manufacturing to enable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine within one year to countries around ...
Tonari no Piano: On Music, Cross-Cultural Understanding, and All That Jazz
Dr. Jillian Marshall
Hyogo, 2009-2011
My article reflects on the friendship I shared with my neighbor in a rural fishing village during my time with the JET Program and on music’s power to create lasting cross-cultural understanding. In those two years, I learned that life abroad begets an inevitable negotiation once the ...
Finding a Niche in Japan Research: JET Program Participants and Alumni
Jeanne Beck
PhD student in Applied Linguistics and Technology, Iowa State University
Nagano, 2008-2011
Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and alumni are valuable sources of knowledge on workplace relations in Japanese schools. Despite the long history and large number of participants and alumni of the JET Program, limited ...
The following programs were supported by the 
Preserving Traditional Japanese Agriculture in a Modern-Day Global Context
Lillian Rowlatt
Co-founder Kokoro Care Packages
Niigata, 2003-2005
Japan’s agriculture industry faces challenges from a shrinking and aging farming population, an overwhelming presence of small-scale farms, and inefficient structural and political issues. Yet against this backdrop, an opportunity arises for Japan to preserve and support its agricultural communities by increasing the awareness of its traditional ...
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