The quest for the "J" of JASC

JASC cannot operate with just the AECs. We have a counterpart, the JECs who reside somewhere far far away in the Pacific Ocean surrounded by lush blue waters. Without them, we are simple ASC and that is pitifully sad.

They are intellectually stimulating to talk to, have charming and witty personalities and in general, amazing people. As most of them attend universities in the Tokyo area, they are able to meet up more frequently than we do (they have a monthly weekend retreat – this is especially important as the 61st is a Japan year and so they are planning most of the site coordinating). Attached is a pic of them during their retreat in mid October.

(Starting from back row left to right)
Keisuke Matsuo
Kouji Jimba
Moto Ono
(Front row left to right)
Emi Yasukawa - Secretary
Hideya Matsumoto – JEC Chair
Yuri Takeuchi – JEC Vice Chair, Liaison
Yuri Honda – Treasurer
Takuma Tanaka

We miss them a lot. However, due to a lovely phenomenon called globalization, we are able keep in touch with each other fairly often. The RTs, site coordinators, chairs, and committees communicate on a regular basis via e-mail, chats, phone calls and skype sessions. Modern technology has conquered the challenges of physical distances...maybe?

If you’re interested, here is their blog (in Japanese)

http://ameblo.jp/jasc61/

日の丸

I came across an English-language article about the hinomaru flag recently. Briefly, a finance minister intends to display the hinomaru in his press briefing room and there is, naturally, controversy over the hinomaru's symbolism.


I find this particular political issue pretty fascinating. What do you think?
Should the hinomaru have been made Japan's official flag?
Is the hinomaru (with or without sun rays) a symbol of militarist Japan?
Is it ever offensive for a country to display its national flag?
Does the symbolism of the gesture change if it is displayed by a known rightist/nationalist?

Also, did you notice that Kiichi Miyazawa was quoted at the end of the article?

Tokyo site!!

Hello!

Since I'm coordinating Tokyo site with my cutest partner, Karen, I'd like to advertise Tokyo.

First of all, Tokyo site will be the best of all sites!!! (Any oppositions?? <AECs

As you all know, Tokyo is the centre of Japan. (my spelling of "center" is already Canadianized...)

Here is a wonderful introduction of Tokyo by Riyo Mori who won the 2007 Miss Universe beauty pageant.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/09/29/riyo.interview/index.html
You can also watch the video material.

Tokyo is a really awesome city. I lived in Tokyo for only two years, but I have no hesitation to say that.
Are you excited about Tokyo??

Of course, it would be fun just to visit Tokyo as a tourist.
But I can assure you that JASC is the only way to maximize your experience in Tokyo!

I can't specify at this moment, but there will be tons of activities that can be experienced ONLY through JASC!!

You wanna apply?? Then, You MUST! (^^)/

Technology at its Finest: It's Not THAT Funny

So my roundtable is "Modernized Technology and Health Issues."
There are so many aspects to the topic.
On my iGoogle about a month ago, listed under CNN.com was "Cell phones affect sperm quality,..." and I just had to read!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/09/18/cellphone.sperm/

(Let me just remind you that the article says the study is not 100% because of small sample sizes, experiment condition, etc.)

...hey dude, are you talking on your phone right now?

Hey Everyone!

I have not started using this blog yet...

That's bad!

So, I'll introduce myself. My name is Colin Moreshead and I'm the 61st Japan America Student Conference American Executive Committee Chair. I just wanted to write that out to see how long it was. At the moment, and for every moment over the next 10 months or so, we AECs are going to be working with the Japanese Executive Committee to make the 61st JASC the best yet! We're working hard and staying optimistic even with all the recent indications of impending apocalyspe:

1. Financial crisis
2. The top box-office hit is "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"
3. OJ Simpson has been convicted

All of these things are INCONSEQUENTIAL! So please stick around and take a peek at what we're up to from time to time. I hope we'll be using this more frequently than we have been, but let's face it; we've got a job to do.

Colin

I had a brain spasm today...

Today, after the urgings of the professor of my Japanese Transnational Corporations class, I finally decided I should begin thinking about just what I am going to do for our final paper. The final paper should be roughly 3000 words and should, obviously, be in regard to Japanese Transnational Corporations.

It was when I finally started to think about it that I realized I could very easily tie this in with my roundtable. If you don't remember, my RT is Globalizing Economies: The Rise of BRICs in Relation to Japan and the US. As such, I have received a moment of inspiration and have really begun researching Japanese foreign direct investment in BRICs.

The initial research is exceedingly interesting for me. I find the push and pull factors behind why I country decides to invest in another to be both exceedingly complex and mindnumbingly simple all at the same time. In a way, it's representive of the concept known as simplexity. I could delve into the meaning of simplexity, but I think I might just leave that post for another day. For now: RESEARCH!!!