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.

SPFUSA/USJETAA Partnership to Promote JET Alumni Engagement in U.S.-Japan Relations

This project aims to encourage American JET alumni in deepening and strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance through soft diplomacy and educational activities that promote mutual understanding between the United States and Japan. Since 2016, SPFUSA and USJETAA have offered a competitive mini-grant program vis-à-vis the 19 JET Alumni Associations (JETAA) chapters and sub-chapters aimed at increasing their capacities to host meaningful and impactful programming that highlight the bilateral relationship in their local communities. In 2018, SPFUSA and USJETAA expanded their partnership to include programming that enabled JETAA chapter leaders and individual JET alumni to stay engaged and informed on current issues within U.S.-Japan relations.

How to Apply

• Interested authors should submit an abstract of up to 300 words on your proposed topic, your bio, and a writing sample to USJETAA via email to director@usjetaa.org, Subject: JETs on Japan. Abstracts will be accepted until February 1, 2021.
• USJETAA, in consultation with Sasakawa USA, will select authors on a rolling basis. If selected, the final article written for publication should be between 1,000-2,000 words. The word count does not include the title, abstract, author biography, or footnotes.
• Selected authors will have 30 days from the time of acceptance to send a completed article draft to USJETAA.
• Submitted articles will go through an editing process between USJETAA and Sasakawa USA. Edited articles will be returned to the author prior to publication for review. USJETAA reserves final editing privileges.
• Authors will receive an honorarium of between $250 and $500 (depending on word length, amount of research, etc.) from USJETAA upon the article’s publication.
• All articles must be published by February 26, 2021.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should provide in-depth commentary or analysis from the JET alumni perspective of political, economic, or diplomatic ties between the United States and Japan. It should highlight the positive impacts of U.S.-Japan relations on both U.S. and Japanese communities. Abstracts are selected based on proposed topic, writing quality and style, and how well they fit with current issues being prioritized by Sasakawa USA.

USJETAA suggests abstracts focused on the following topic areas:

• U.S.-Japan Grassroots and Public Diplomacy
• U.S.-Japan Economic/Business Relations
• U.S.-Japan Sister City/State Ties
• U.S.-Japan International Exchange Programs
• U.S.-Japan Cooperation in Education or Language Learning
• U.S.-Japan Issues on Social Justice
• U.S.-Japan Sports Diplomacy
• U.S.-Japan Implications of COVID-19
• U.S.-Japan Cooperation in Disaster Resilience
• U.S.-Japan Cooperation in Environment and Sustainability
• U.S.-Japan Cooperation in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• U.S.-Japan Security Alliance and Military Cooperation
• U.S.-Japan Relations in Global and/or Regional Geopolitical Context

Eligibility

• You must be an alumnus/ae of the JET Program to apply.
• You must register as a member of USJETAA (free!).
• Submitted articles must be original content and not previously published elsewhere.
• Content and citations within submissions must be formatted per the Chicago Manual of Style Notes and Bibliography citation and format style.

Published items are the opinion of the author and do not reflect the views of USJETAA or Sasakawa USA. Submission of an abstract or article for consideration does not guarantee the article will be published on the JET Alumni Writing Series. Furthermore, communication from USJETAA staff, including requests for edits to a submission, are not a guarantee that a submission will be published. USJETAA reserves the right to edit all submissions for length and clarity.

Articles posted on USJETAA’s website may be cross-posted on Sasakawa USA. USJETAA and Sasakawa USA retain the rights to all content published. Articles should not be published elsewhere without written permission from USJETAA.