However, the website administrator recently began enforcing a policy that, as he stated, a lot of people probably didn’t notice before. Essentially, JapanSoc will now enforce this policy:

• abuse the privilege to submit links to your own content, e.g. multiple, back-to-back submissions from your blog, submitting the same content from multiple sources, or re-submitting the same story multiple times

This enforcement will supposedly clear the clutter from the latest news story page and prevent “ego-socing,” the practice of users submitting multiple entries from their own website or blog. In order to prevent these violations, users must submit a story from a non-related source. I addition to preventing the above problems, I also assume that such a practice would “encourage” users to find new materials.

I disagree with this new enforcement, and will break down why this practice will damage JapanSoc over time.

Usability

As far as websites go, the most important factor in gaining and maintaining readership remains quality of content. If the New York Times reverted to a Geocities page, it would still be widely read because of its quality content. Following content, of course, is form. Especially with social news sites, it is of the utmost importance to have easy registration and effortless submission of stories. Dmitry Fadeyev says in an article at Smashing Magazine:

• User participation on your website is affected by how many barriers there are. Removing barriers such as registration will almost certainly increase user participation. Indeed, once users start using your website, they will more likely sign up, because they’re already involved.

However, JapanSoc has now inserted a barrier, not in registration necessarily, but in submitting. This morning I finished a rewrite of an article to help people prepare to return to their home country, and when I went to submit it to JapanSoc, I was informed that I would need to find another article from another domain in order to submit my own work. This barrier stopped me from submitting a unique article (unique in the sense that I am the author and draw from my own experiences). And now, to submit this article, I will have to hunt something, anything, down on the internet and submit that before I can submit this statement.

So, if content is the most important factor in running a webpage, you can be sure that more people will post uninteresting articles in order to get around this barrier. And if it’s important that your users not have barriers to submission of content, then it’s obvious that JapanSoc does not meet this requirement now.

Knowledge: Creation and Resources

There are all kinds of blogs about Japan out there. There are people who write life stories and provide insight into living in Japan (Locohama), there are people who write in-depth articles on a number of subjects (Gakuranman), and people who, for whatever reason, think they can write about Japanese science (ahem…that’s me…or at least *was* me until I got hacked in December). These blogs create knowledge. Locohama often weaves a story, and by the end the reader has learned something. Mike at Gakuranman, for just one example, lets us experience his haikyo adventures. I am currently working on compiling Japanese news sources to bring a Japanese response to worldwide news stories. This is all the creation of knowledge, and should be encouraged at all times, at least in my opinion.

Then there is treating knowledge like a resource. Finding an article on the New York Times and reading it, that’s using it as a resource. You can share it on JapanSoc and let other people read it, and that’s great. But what’s been lost is in this step is the realization of Web 2.0–the creation of user-generated content. There are people reading this right now who are so knowledgeable and qualified that they could write for a major newspaper. But they can no longer submit their own articles to JapanSoc, at least not until they’ve spent their time looking for other resources.

There’s a difference between ego-socing and having an author freely share their knowledge with JapanSoc. Egos require people to pay attention to them. The free sharing of information requires freedom from barriers. Why not just ignore ego-socing and take down the barriers?

So Why Don’t You Just Soc Something Else?

Speaking just for myself (but maybe others would agree with me), I spend a fair amount of time on my blog posts. Sometimes, I’ll spend days finding resources and articles, and by the time I write something and include all of my own content, another person has soc’ed on the same topic. That’s what happened with my recent article on whaling. While the community decided my article was clearly unique, I was still flagged for duplicating content.

There are clearly some people who are awesome at finding news articles, and you can see just how successful they are in the main page side bar. There are also some people that are great at creating knowledge. So, why is it that a user who submits every article that runs down their RSS feed gains rank in JapanSoc and has the freedom to post whatever they want, while a blogger who spends a day or two crafting an article cannot have the same freedom to share?

I don’t “just soc something” because it would be an obligatory submission. You’ll notice that there will be an obligatory post before this one, because I want this message heard. There will not be an obligatory soc after it, however.

Want Some Cheese with that Whine?

So yes, I could just submit something and be done with it, but as I’ve demonstrated here, it’s just bad practice. Doing an obligatory submission will lower the quality of JapanSoc, support the barrier to usability that’s been installed, and take away from being a creative blogger. Of course, there are people that discover JapanSoc and then submit their entire archive about feeding bentos to their cat while dressed as pikachu. That’s their problem. Warn them, ban them, do whatever you want. But to put a barrier in front of me offering advice to returnees because nobody soc’ed the article I wrote last week on the death of Nujabes? That’s just bad usability in my opinion.

Your Savings

I hope you saved up…

When I finished the JET Program in July 2009, I had about 8,000 dollars American in my Japanese bank account. It was gone by December. Not stolen, not taken by greedy uncles, not even given away to charity. Spent entirely on returning costs. The things I spent it on weren’t that unusual, and you might not even think to count up the costs until you realize that $8,000 is gone. So, let’s take a quick look at how I spent that money.

Traveling Japan

From July 27 until August 20, I traveled Japan with my fiancee on the cheap. Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, blah blah blah. Hostels, food, train tickets, ferry tickets, event tickets, souvenirs, all that stuff. No need to explain, traveling costs money. Gave $100 to my friend for letting me stay in his apartment for 10 days. Total cost: about $1,000.

Canceling Phone

When I went to Docomo to cancel my phone, I had a Japanese friend with me to handle all of the discussions. His mouth dropped when he saw the bill. July bill+pro-rated August bill (with inflated data charges)+cancellation fee=$400. Total running cost: $1,400.

Buying a Car

The sad fact about living in Midwest America is that you have to drive a lot. Upon returning, I needed a car and I needed it now. The car I had before I went to Japan was leased and returned, and my family doesn’t exactly have cars sitting around waiting to be driven. So I purchased a 2001 Saturn for $3200 cash. Plus basic inspection charge by a Saturn dealer ($100) and then a follow-up by my mechanic ($150) and an oil change ($30). Don’t forget insurance ($60/month). Let’s call all that $3600. Total running cost: $5,000.

Cribs

Gotta live somewhere, right? In my case, my fiancee had just bought a house, so I already had my living arrangements set up. I gave her $1,000 to cover some set up costs and then my share of the payment is $500 a month. The same could easily be said for an apartment–down payments are often one month’s rent. Total running cost: $6,500, +utilities, +rent per month.

Health Care

If you’re an American, get yourself checked out by a doctor and a dentist before coming back. Prices are ridiculous here.

Living Costs

Eating, drinking, the whole shebang. Adds up to that $8,000 pretty quickly, doesn’t it?

(un)Employment

The world-wide economy is in a rough state, and particularly in America, the job situation is difficult. You need to think outside of the box to land jobs, and try your hardest to find jobs that fit your specific need. I’ve had 4 jobs since I’ve come back, 3 of them part time or freelancing (working for a science exhibition, as a text book writer, and as a consultant to a technology company). I’ve made enough money to stay afloat, but it hasn’t been easy.

Resumes

Work, work, work on your resume. Remember this: your resume should explain your strengths and abilities in as brief a manner as possible. 1 page. Don’t include your job at McDonald’s when you were 17 (unless you’re applying to Burger King…). Don’t include a hobbies section.

You should have a number of resumes that cater toward a specific field. You should have a basic, MS-Word resume ready-to-go at all times. You can e-mail this to potential employers, and print it out to hand to anybody on the street. If you work in any sort of creative field, you need to have a personally designed resume. Research how web designers or graphic artists make their resumes to get an idea. If you’re an academic, you’ll need a curriculum vitae. Your CV can be really basic and look really bland, but you should have it ready on a moment’s notice for your academic job leads.

Applying for Jobs Online

A growing number of jobs are requesting applications online. The basic corporate jobs have lengthy applications and might call you back more than a month after your application. The small companies jobs often ask for a resume in an e-mail. For what it’s worth, this is how I would respond to a test grading job:

Dear Employer’s Name / To Whom it May Concern.

My name is This and That, and this communication is in response to the (job position) listed on (where you found the job). With 5 years of educational experience in public schools, I understand the importance of accurate and timely grading. As a self-starter, I can be trusted to handle a large volume of work in a short time with minimal supervision.

Skills:

• 5 years grading with XYZ Corporation

• 4 years professional communication with ABC Corporation

• Expertise with Microsoft Office, red pens, white out.

Education:

• Grad School, Undergraduate. Mention GPA and degrees conferred and major awards.

Relevant Work Experience:

• Put 2-3 relevant jobs in here.

I look forward to hearing from you. If you need to contact me, please e-mail me at XYZ address or call me at MNOP number. If I do not hear from you within the next business week, I will contact you again through the appropriate means.

With regards,

Me

Contacts

Unless you are applying for another English teaching job in another country, almost none of the contacts you make in Japan will be useful in getting you a job in your home country. That’s because they can’t be easily contacted by phone, so their identities cannot be verified. Nonetheless, have a list of contacts ready in your portfolio with names, companies, and phone numbers, and if you have it, an e-mail address and mailing address.

Graduate School

A lot of people plan to apply to graduate school upon returning to their home country, and here’s the basics about how to apply to grad school (at least in America). Generally, graduate applications are due in December. Here are some things you can think about now.

GRE

There are two schools of thoughts on the GRE: some schools think it’s an important qualifier, while others don’t even consider it. So, try and do well on it, but don’t get hung up on it. You can take it in Japan, but you can also schedule it in America and report the scores quickly to institutions. At the time of your test, you don’t need to know all the institutions you want to which you want to report scores–you can always have the GRE test people send the scores at a later date for a cost of $12 for each report.

Recommendations

This is arguably the most important part of your application. You should contact the people you want to write a recommendation for you sometime in August/September.

Statements, Samples, Application Packet

You have to worry about all of this, too, but I’m just giving you stuff to think about while you’re closing up shop in Japan.

Enjoy Your Return Home

Hopefully I’ve given you some concrete examples of what you face upon return home (particularly to America). The American economy died while I was in Japan, and I had to relearn everything I knew about job applications and resumes and revise my expectations of how people viewed the JET Program.

Let me say it this way: The JET Program was only somewhat useful in getting me a job in America. It did help me get into a Ph.D. program. Perhaps you’ll have a different experience!

Seba was renowned as a hip-hop producer in Japan, and is probably best known internationally for his contributions to the Samurai Champloo soundtrack. His music incorporates a number of influences and relies on sampled riffs and unique instrumentation.

Announcement From the Record Label

Available here: http://hydeout.net/hydeout/2010/03/_hydeoutproductions.html

＜ Hydeout　Productions から　緊急のお知らせ ＞

突然の、本当に突然の、悲しいお知らせをしなければなりません。

hydeout productions主宰nujabesは、2010年2月26日深夜
東京都港区内の首都高速を降りた地点で、突然、車の事故に遭遇し
救急車で渋谷区内の病院に搬送され、懸命の救命治療が施されましたが、
再びその心臓の鼓動を甦らせることなく、天空へと飛び立ちました。
36歳の誕生日を迎えたばかりの急逝でした。

葬儀は、nujabesの音楽とともに、家族だけの密葬として、しめやかに執り行われました。
ここに生前のご厚誼に深謝し、謹んでご通知申し上げます。
突然の訃報に接し、日一日と悲しみ、悔しさがさらに募っております。

nujabesがこれまで世に送り出した数々の楽曲は、音楽への深い愛情、
才能ある先駆者達への尊敬、自由な精神と独創性に溢れ、
聞く人の感情を揺るがすような最良の音楽の領域にまで高まっていたと思います。
彼は、自分の音楽を高めるために、自分自身の心と精神を極限まで昂揚させ、
ひとつひとつの音をやさしく紡ぎ、音楽の新しい地平をめざし、
日々懸命に努力を積み重ねておりました。

幸いにも、nujabesが紡ぎ織り続けた未発表の新しい音源が、スタジオに残されています。
hydeout productionsとしては、今後、このnujabesのメッセージを、
盟友のUyama Hiroto等と共に、多くの方に、一日も早くお届けしたいと思っております。

ファンの皆様、関係者の皆様には、これまでのご支援を深く感謝すると共に、
今後ともnujabesの音楽を大切にご愛聴していただけますことを心より願っております。

Translation:

Suddenly, really suddenly, we have to make an incredibly sad announcement.

The owner of Hydeout Productions, Nujabes, was leaving the highway in Tokyo’s Harbor Ward when he got into an accident. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was given the best lifesaving measures possible. However, his heart could not be restarted, and he went to heaven.

He had just turned 36.

His funeral service played his music and was attended only by close friends and family.

Nujabes gave the world a number of great songs. He was a respected pioneer in the hip-hop genre, his freedom of expression in music that boiled over and affected other people. I think those that have danced to or been deeply moved by his music understand this.

He wanted his music to lift spirits to their highest point. One by one people listened to his music, and his fanbase grew through his eager efforts.

Thankfully, there is unreleased music still present in the studio.

From now on, Hydeout Productions will be releasing statements from Nujabes’ friends probably at the beginning of next month.

Fans and supporters alike, your well wishes are appreciated.

Now, it’s important that you let Nujabes live on in your hearts.

Further Resources:

Steel Closet quick summary

Shing02′s statement

My apologies for a rushed summary, but I’m preparing for a wedding soon. Since 2005, Nujabes is #6 on my list of artists that I listen to most often, so the news hits close to home.

On March 18, 2010, delegates at a UN conference on endangered species decided not to support a ban on trade in the Northern Bluefin Tuna. The proposal was brought forth by the country of Monaco to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Currently, oversight of the Northern Bluefin Tuna trade resides in another multinational organization called the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The major difference between CITES and ICCAT is that the former is a treaty that member nations have signed and must adhere to, whereas the latter is an active multigovernmental organization that oversees Tuna conservation, but with power that is generally in name only.

The Northern Bluefin Tuna is currently listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. It has a range that spans from the Western Atlantic, where Canadian fishers enjoy its spoils, to the Eastern Atlantic, where countries like Italy and France take in huge hauls. Because the Bluefin is considered a delicacy as sashimi, the fish is traded heavily as far as Japan. With such a wide range of regions in which its caught, nations which gather the fish, and the countries to which its sold, oversight of the Northern Bluefin Tuna can only be handled by multinational agencies.

ICCAT scientists recommended that catches of Northern Bluefin Tuna be limited to 15,000 tons per year, but its advisory members set the 2009 catch limit at 22,000 tons, decreasing slightly in tonnage in the next few years. Of course this doesn’t take into account illegal harvests, which some reports claim up to 30,000 tons harvested. Taking this all into account, then, it’s not a surprise that some nations, like Monaco which put forth the initiative and America which backed it, wanted official support from the UN to block the trade of the Northern Bluefin Tuna.

Japan vehemently stood against the ban, supported by a number of developing nations involved in the fishing trade.

Sashimi, the Billion Dollar Industry

The Northern Bluefin Tuna is known to the Japanese as 黒鮪ークロマグローkuromaguroー“black tuna,” and is mostly eaten as sashimi. There are no definite numbers as to the revenue made by the trade of Bluefin Tuna, but a representative of American Samoa is quoted here as saying it’s a 4-billion dollar a year industry.  Given the weak Japanese economy, it’s no wonder that they want to keep investing in a fish that its culture finds delicious, and many people do believe that eating Bluefin Tuna will maintain their health. Moreover, Bluefin Tuna is but one of the many kinds of tuna eaten by the Japanese, but as many news outlets will tell you, Bluefin is most highly coveted with a few specimens selling for over $100,000 at Tokyo’s famous fish market.

Japan hasn’t been alone in its protest against the ban. A number of developing nations see the profit in the trade of the fish, and similarly detest the idea of killing a lucrative industry. Attempts at breeding Bluefin Tuna in captivity are underway, but currently are not commercially viable, particularly to developing nations that wouldn’t be able to afford the infrastructure for cultivation. The countries that stand against the ban, then, are largely doing it for economic reasons.

The Japanese Response

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama sent this Tweet on March 20 Japan Time:

ワシントン条約締約国会議の委員会で、 クロマグロの取引禁止提案が否決されました。日本の主張が理解されてよかったです。乱獲を戒め、養殖など日本の技術の発展も支援しながら、世界の人々にマ グロのおいしさを味わっていただけるように、今後も努力していきます。

Translation:

The ban on Bluefin Tuna was rejected by the members of the Washington Conference (CITES). Japan’s insistence against the ban was well represented. For the world’s people to keep eating delicious Bluefin tuna, however, we need to stop over fishing and look to support domestic fish breeding industries.

A similar voice came from a spokesperson from the fishing industry, quoted in the Asahi Newspaper:

禁輸回避は当然です。大西洋のクロマグロ資源が絶滅するとは、我々は誰も思っていない。禁輸回避を信じていました

Translation:

It was natural to resist the embargo. The Northern Bluefin Tuna stores are being devastated, but I don’t think we’re the ones doing it. An embargo won’t do anything to stop it.

He goes on to say:

はえ縄漁は資源に優しい漁法だ。しかし、これからも日本の漁船は、どの海域でも漁獲枠をしっかり守って資源を大事にしていかなければいけない。政府も漁獲 枠を超えたマグロの輸入はしないと国際社会に表明し、日本は資源保護の先頭に立っていくべきだ

Translation:

Lead-line fishing is really productive. But because of that, Japanese fishers have to respect the catching limits in restricted areas if we are to properly protect the resources. This is essential. The government and fishing industry should point out to the international community that we aren’t exceeding limits. We should be leading the way to protect the species.

So, essentially Japan argues that they’re not the ones that are overfishing, and therefore aren’t the ones that should be punished by a ban. At least, they’re not overfishing in the Atlantic. Plenty of reports surface of their overfishing in the Pacific, however, and those reports aren’t a focus of this article.

There are two points which a number of news outlets fail to mention: 1) That Japan fought against a ban, which meant a complete halt of trade in Bluefin Tuna. To take a billion dollar industry to nothing within a year is a striking move, and if viewed in the light of national interests, can understandably be reasoned out. This is not a nation that is laughing heartily over its dead fish.

2) Japan has made mention that they want to change. Powerful people are strongly supporting domestic fish cultivation and taking a stand against illegal over-fishing. Prime Minister Hatoyama supports these ideals, and if the top-down model has any effect, it might move toward the populace in time. It should be noted by media outlets that Japan expects its source of Bluefin Tuna to change once domestic fisheries have the production capacity.

So What Do I Do?

It’s simple enough: don’t order Bluefin Tuna for sashimi. There are plenty of other options that you can choose from. You can ask your friends and coworkers to do similarly. Because the Bluefin Tuna catch is monitored by multigovernmental agencies, there’s not much you can do besides spread the word about the danger and try to lower the demand via grassroots methods. Still, that’s something.

A lot of people might not know about emulation or translation, so I’m going to take a moment to describe what I’m using. If you know what’s going on, just jump to the next section.

Preparation

Here’s what you’re going to need:

A computer

To be entirely honest, a Mac will be the best because it can use JEDict.

An Emulator

An emulator is a program that emulates one of the old console game systems, like Super Nintendo or Genesis. Emulators are generally considered legal to own and are easy to find. For this entry, I’m using this version of SNES9X for Mac.

A ROM

A ROM is an “image” file of a video game. When you open this file with an emulator, you can play the video game as you normally would on a console. The legality of ROMs has always been a bit touchy, but in the opinion of most people, as long as you are playing games that have no chance of profit and are not reselling them, you should be safe. An excellent site for Japanese ROMs is this one, which does ask that you sign up. I’m using the Japanese edition of Final Fantasy 6 here.

JEDict and maybe an Electronic Dictionary

The reason why a Mac is so helpful here is that it has access to JEDict, which is a fantastic program for quickly looking up Japanese words. A great aspect about JEDict is that if you know one kanji in a compound, you can type in that kanji and search all of its common compounds. Unfortunately, if you have absolutely no idea about a kanji, JEDict isn’t all that helpful. That’s where having an electronic dictionary with an input is really handy. Because I’m cheap, I use the Nintendo DS Kanji Dictionary.

Anki

You want to remember the words, right? Seriously, if you’re studying any language and not using Anki, you’re cheating yourself. Go get it here.

A Word Processor

Because, you know, you’re translating. Again, because I’m a cheapskate, I use Open Office.

Time and Skill

You might want to look at this as Japanese study and not playing video games, because you might spend an hour in real time moving through 10 minutes of game time. It’s a bit sad, really, but just know that the more you do this, the quicker you’ll get. Your Japanese skill can be of any level, but it might benefit intermediate to advance students the most. I consider myself intermediate, if that helps.

Just Let Me Play Already

Holy crap I don’t understand anything!

Don’t worry! That’s the point of leveling up your Japanese with video games. Here’s why I had you go with SNES9X: the pause feature.

Click that button in the lower left, and the game will freeze while you begin your translating. This is why video game translation takes so long–constantly pausing and resuming and pausing again–it’s almost enough to drive you away at first. But after a while, you get familiar with the game’s lingo. You understand what’s going on with just a glance. The repeated words become familiar to your brain, and you really begin to play and understand the game.

My desktop sure looks cluttered…

Wait! What do I translate?

Video Games and Your Japanese Study

You should keep in mind that video game Japanese (or manga Japanese, or anime Japanese, etc.) is not really reflective of everyday usage. If you dedicate all of your hours to studying Japanese through Final Fantasy 6, you’d be perfectly competent having a conversation about Magitech Armor, but absolutely unable to describe the weather. You should do these translations as an entertaining alternative to your usual routine. That said, you can add quite a bit of vocabulary to your lexicon incredibly quickly by translating Japanese games.

How do I know if I’m accurate?

You can usually find the original English game scripts on www.gamefaqs.com. The original English translations might differ greatly from the original Japanese versions of the game because of a number of reasons, ranging from censorship to cultural differences. However, English scripts can be a good resource if you cannot read a kanji at all.