Eight months have passed

Hello there!

Customarily, JASC ECs stop blogging once their JASC is over.
However, here I am blogging eight months after the 61st JASC.

I'm back in Japan, spending my super-senior year at the University of Tokyo.

As many past JASC participants have put it, JASC is a life-changing experience for me.
My life has been changing because of JASC.

I meet JASCers almost everyday on campus, streets or at Izakaya (Japanese bars).
I cannot imagine what my life would have been like if I had not applied to JASC.

Even eight months after the 61st JASC, my JASC experiences are really vivid, which makes me feel as if the 61st JASC ended yesterday.

The 62nd JASC has been planned by the 62nd JASC ECs since the summer 2009.
The Japanese delegation was just announced yesterday, choosing 28 delegates out of more than 250 applicants.
I sincerely hope the 62nd JASC will make a huge impact on the delegates' life.

I would like to say happy birthday to the new delegation of the 62nd JASC.

I wish the 62nd JASC good luck!!

61st JASC kickoff!

In just a few days, the 28 members of the American delegation will fly into Seattle from all over for the American Orientation (AO). We are all super excited to see you all in person (no more emails and skype meetings)!

Pre-AO begins on the 21st, where the AECs will be preparing for the Amedeles' arrivals. Rachel will be coming from NYC, Karen and Yoshi from Philly, Durkin from Akron, Colin from Connecticut, Mina from Houston, Ed (who lives in Seattle) and me from Tokyo.

The AECs havent gotten together since Spring Meeting in mid-March, so I assume we'll have the same late-night-food-binging-talk-talk-talkingg parties at UW campus. And maybe bump into Ichiro on the streets? (hmm...)

The Japadeles will get together in Tokyo on the 26th and await our arrival to Tokyo on the 28th. I met a few of them in Tokyo and they're all excited to meet the Amedeles, too.

See you all soon~

The Loss America Didn't Notice

The United States was shocked [perhaps too shocked] by the losses of celebrities Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays. Between the three of them, they have the top-selling album, poster and product-pitching business in the world. But there was another loss last week that went largely unnoticed, despite it being that of an American icon. It was due to a slow decay, the kind that the paparazzi would have no interest in. I’m talking about the discontinuation of Kodak’s Kodachrome film.

At this point, you may be chuckling to yourself; how could I possibly have compared the phasing out of a line of film to the death of the King of Pop? I don’t see Kodachrome as a product title, but rather as the representation of an era. The time of analog technology is drawing to an end, and it with it goes much of our culture, our history. Kodachrome was the first mass-marketed color film, going on sale in 1935. Since then it has sold in dozens of variations, including 16mm movie film and 35mm camera film. There’s a halfway decent chance that your parents’ or even grandparents’ wedding photos were done in Kodachrome. It proved to be such an important part of our cultural identity that its name was used for the title of a 1973 Paul Simon #2 hit.

Analog has been creeping out of our lives for years now, and most people have hardly noticed. February of this year marked the end of analog television, rendering more than ninety percent of TVs made since 1946 effectively useless without a special box. The switch was made out of necessity, as there was no longer enough airspace for the broadcasting industry’s rapidly ballooning amount of programming. All the new advanced cell services like 3G have begun to stake their claim over wireless capacity in the United States, and the switch to digital TV helps to free up space. It’s too bad for the estimated three million Americans who didn’t get properly set up before the switch and turned on their sets to darkness on every channel.

Music may be the most swiftly-changing industry, mostly because the modes of recording and selling music change almost constantly. It seems that as time progresses, the technology moves faster. The record player was the primary playback equipment for listeners from the turn of the century until the late 1980s, but the CD may die before it reaches the age of 30. Music download purchasing is expected to overtake CD sales in 2012, and illegal downloading is already one of the main sources for music. There are certainly advantages to digital, like the enormous amount of music that can be stored. My iTunes library is currently 5363 songs totaling 23.69GB and over 14 days of music, which many of my friends consider to be ‘puny’. Still, between my laptop and my external hard drive, I could theoretically store enough music to be played continuously for over one year.

There is a loss, with digital music and picture, in the warmth and depth that is seen in analog technology. Enthusiasts all seem to agree that nothing will ever top vinyl records for musicality, and Michael Mann was blasted for the sloppy and unattractive use of digital film in his upcoming movie, “Public Enemies.” I realized my own switch to digital when in one day this summer the only writing I did by hand was signing a check at a restaurant after I had paid – digitally. It is sad to me that many children growing up now may go their entire lives without ever getting film developed or see an original 35mm print on the big screen. Good luck trying to find a copy of Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” on vinyl!

J_SC: The Japan - ? Student Conference

It's been awhile since we last posted, so I thought I'd write about something current. I like to go to the media for inspiration, so I often look at print news, magazines and online journals for comparison. Tonight, my first stop was the Japan Times. Seeing that front page made me think of a relevant issue that has been under my fingernails for awhile now: JASC has become hugely Japan-focused.

Don't think that this is any real bone of contention for me; I freely admit to applying to JASC mainly to meet Japanese students and learn more about Japan itself. The 'America' part of the Conference's name appealed only to my passport. When I arrived in Portland, Oregon for American Orientation last year, I found that most of the American delegation was just like me. Most of us studied or knew Japanese, many majored in East Asian Studies and I may have been the only Amadele who had never been to Japan before. There was plenty of chit-chat about anime, Genji and samurai, but little to be heard about muscle cars or the NFL.

Looking back, I'd expected more events during a U.S. year to have been about the United States alone. I did a homestay in Montana and visited Boston's city government, but the overall tone of the Conference had a definite Japanese flavor to it. I was thrilled and couldn't help but to learn nonstop. The honeymoon lasted through the first site or so.

Though I cannot speak for all of my American peers from the 60th JASC, my attitude toward the Conference changed markedly as our time together passed. While I had begun as a listener, less willing to contribute, I later found myself speaking up with my own point of view and engaging in our discussions more actively. It occurred to me that to get the most out of this experience, I had to represent the United States as a delegate. There would be no contrast and no discourse if I just wanted to hear about what Japan had to say. I had an amazing time on the 60th JASC because I figured out the give-take premise of discussion in time. I guess on a subconscious level, I just didn't feel like JASC-y sorts of issues would be found in the New York Times instead of say, Asahi Shimbun.

Now I cannot forget the "A" when I introduce myself to someone as the AMERICAN Chair of the 61st JASC. I've been writing about the Japanese economy and Japanese issues, but maybe my next blog post will be about GM's bankruptcy or the powerhouse that is the American film industry. Ideally, JASC is an experience that highlights both nations' contributions to the global community. It excites me to be able to join so many other young Americans in discussing the world's problems and celebrating its beauty; I don't care what anyone says, the U.S. has plenty of globally-minded people who are ready to listen.

Going into the 61st Conference, I know that our delegates will be excited to go to Japan. Many of them probably know a lot about it already. But what I also hope to see in them is appreciation and affinity for that which makes them Amadeles. I am certainly not the most patriotic chair to come down the line, but I do remember what the "A" in JASC stands for, and I recognize that without it we have very little in the way of productive conversation! This year we committed ourselves to selecting a diverse group that would be up to the task, and I honestly feel like we succeeded. We'll have to wait and see how things really turn out, but I'm optimistic!

Colin

Global Entrepreneurship and Us

What is entrepreneurship and how does it affect us? I just read a fantastic piece in the March 14th, 2009 issue of The Economist, and it’s gotten me thinking more about the global state of economic affairs.

Taking stock of the unemployment figures for April of this year, it is abundantly clear that there is a problem in the United States. The number of unemployed has risen six million to a total 13.7 million over the past year, a figure of 8.9 percent and nearly double what has been seen throughout the decade. Many analysts expect the figure to pass the ten percent mark, a bleak outlook for an already beleaguered American workforce. Japan’s problems are much milder, as is usually expected. Though the central bank cannot slash interest rates any further and consumer price inflation is still knocking on the door of zero, the unemployment rate in Japan is still only 4.8 percent, a slight but noticeable increase over last year.

Why then, does it seem that Japan is in deeper than the US in terms of ‘bouncing back’? Everyone knows that Japan has been cursed with stagnant growth for two decades now, but the causes obviously remain unclear, or something would have been done about it. I see part of the answer in the examination of global entrepreneurship.
The United States is statistically the ‘riskiest’ developed nation in the world. According to The Economist, venture-capitalism is more than twice as developed in the US as it is in the EU. An astonishing 22 percent of startups have become top-1000 companies in the US since 1980, compared to only five percent in Europe. I encourage you to read the article, but if I may paraphrase: the United States is an adept at taking risks and derives much of its momentum from such activity. Surely, there is nothing more hip in the states than to be working for a young startup.
Japan, on the other hand, is almost pre-programmed to detest entrepreneurship. Granted, there are startups and there are success stories, but Japan was ranked as the least entrepreneurial of all developed nations. This honor can be attributed to a number of things, including harsh bankruptcy punishments, an inability to innovate and a different set of priorities for top-tier workers and graduates. Even if young companies were able to create exciting new products without the fear of severe penalties, the brightest and most capable minds are attracted mostly to established companies and large banks, as well as government.

The result is a country that exhibits slow but steady growth in the traditionally recognized industries and little progress in new sectors. Large firms and banks take on most of the top workers in the country, starving underdeveloped industries for new talent. Corporations are hell-bent on making their known products better and better to stay ahead of a rapidly growing pool of competitors. In the scramble, it looks like they’ve forgotten to keep making new and infectious products like the iPod. Japan will need its own iPod if it hopes to restore growth to something acceptable. So, in an ironic twist of fate, the same attributes that brought Japan such acclaim during the late 20th century are the same ones that threaten to strangle it during the early 21st century. I would prescribe some inventiveness for Japan; make risk-taking a little more socially and legally acceptable and let Japanese business reach its full potential once again.

And, as an afterthought, the American unemployment woes. Our current nine percent rate of unemployment is only two percent above what was during the 1990s considered to be the non-accelerating inflationary rate of unemployment. NAIRU has changed, though, and so should our policies. I am a proponent of wage subsidies. The Federal government encourages companies to hire less-skilled workers and offsets the corresponding decline in private sector production per unit of labor with a subsidy. In return, the unemployment rate falls, and the burden of crime and welfare programs is slashed. The added bonus and this policy’s advantage over conservative ideas is that unlike increased labor mobility (making it easier to hire and fire workers), wage subsidies develop and train untapped labor. For further reading on the subject, I suggest the works of Nobel Economics Prize winner Edmund Phelps.

Colin

61st JASC START!

Hey guys, it's certainly been a while!

I should apologize for my lack of writing on the blog-- I am afraid that I am just not cut out for such actions. Anyway, I figured I should probably update you all on what went down in Tokyo last weekend... The start of the 61st conference activities in Japan!

From Saturday the 2nd to Monday the 4th the newly selected delegates representing Japan gathered for a series of introductions, OB meetings, informational sessions, and roundtable pre

-conference discussions. I am not entirely sure about the new delegates, but I do know that the JEC as well as Mina and I had an extremely fun time. Each of the new delegates has their own unique personality with lots of hidden secrets to be uncovered... Yesterday I learned that one of our new delegates is skilled at barking like a dog (among other things)... It's something I am looking forward to hearing this summer. Posted below for your pleasure are a serious of pictures and videos from spring camp.

Here are the RTs! Just an FYI, not everyone is pictured. Also, I may have messed up name spellings... sorry!

Globalizing Economies Roundtable

Left to Right: Yuri Takeuchi (leader), Miyuki Nozu, Ayumi Ando, and Satoshi Ibukuro

Public Interest vs. Individual Rights RT

Left to Right: Takahiro Taniguchi, Mari Nakamura, Akari Takagi and Takuma Tanaka (leader)

Educating a Global Citizenry RT

Left to Right: Tohru Omiya, Yoko Iinuma, Midori Nishino, Koji Jimba (leader)

Food Politics RT

Left to Right: Koichiro Yasukawa,Natsuki Sakata, Hiroki Takahashi, Yuna Chou, Moto Ono (leader)

International Development RT

Left to Right: Yuri Sasaoka , Yoshiko Tokuchi, Seiichiro Nakamura, Hidetoshi Tanihara

Environment and Sustainable Development RT

Left to Right: Taishi Asano, Yuri Sugimoto, Keisuke Matsuo (leader), Azusa Kato

Modernized Technology and Health Issues RT

Right to Left: Hiroka Ozawa, Yuki Umemoto, (ignore the guy in purple) Shuta Takada, Sunaho Onishi

BRICs RT Discussion!

Delegate discussion with international students!

For more pictures and videos, check out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25933237@N04/sets/72157617775655871/

That is all for now.