The JETs on Japan Forum is a new partnership between USJETAA and Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA (Sasakawa USA) that features selected articles of JET alumni perspectives on U.S.-Japan relations. The series aims to elevate the awareness and visibility of JET alumni working across diverse sectors and provides a platform for JET alumni to contribute to deeper understanding of U.S.-Japan relations from their fields. The articles will be posted on USJETAA’s website to serve as resource to the wider JET alumni and U.S.-Japan communities on how alumni of this exchange program are continuing to serve as informal ambassadors in U.S.-Japan relations.

Submissions are encouraged from mid-to-senior level professionals who are established in the current fields OR current/recent graduate degree students in both masters and doctoral programs. Click here for mores information on how to submit a proposal for consideration.

Gift-Giving as Relationship Building between the U.S. and Japan

Mary J. Eberhardinger, PhD

JETs on Japan Forum Issue No. 1

January 4, 2021

In issue 1, Dr. Eberhardinger demonstrates the significance of the role of gift-giving in the omiyage industry in Japan.The role of gifts in the omiyage industry will be situated and argued as an extension of U.S.–Japan grassroots public diplomacy.