One way you can take advantage of your time in Japan is to get involved in some of the structured leadership positions available on JET. Several opportunities exist to build leadership experience at both the local and national levels, from becoming a Prefectural Advisor to taking on responsibilities through Hiroshima AJET or National AJET (Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching). These can be excellent resume builders and networking opportunities. I talked to many of the people in these leadership roles to learn more about how they got their position and what they do. For the first-year folks, this article will be a bit of a primer on what opportunities are available, and for everyone else this may clear up how things work and what the jobs actually entail.

Following on from the great success of the Tyler Battles the Cactopus gig in July, Jimo Cafe and PEPY present a live performance from JindaLee Lehmann. The event will be 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, at Jimo Cafe in Hatchobori, Hiroshima city. The event was organized by Hiroshima city JET Laura Graham. JindaLee is musician from Montreal, Canada, and currently a JET in Fukuyama.

In 1865, the world marveled at Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a groundbreaking work stretching the borders of our imagination. But it seems that the author’s vision of perplexing insanity has never been pushed to its limits until now. No, I’m not talking about the new film version starring Johnny Depp to be released in March 2010. I’m talking about a little known children’s musical version set to run in Hiroshima-ken’s city of Shobara on Oct. 18.

It’s been almost a year since I climbed to the summit of Mt. Fuji (富士山), an unforgettable journey I made alongside my fellow Hiroshima JETs in early September. To those JETs considering the climb this year, I’d like to offer a little background on the significance of the mountain, as well as some friendly advice about the climb, should you decide to take the challenge (and I hope you do!).

Acting on a gut instinct, Keiko Ogura’s father kept her home from school the day the atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima. Just 8-years-old at the time, she was outside her house, 1.5 miles away from the center of the blast. She recalls a bright flash that knocked her off her feet, followed by a loud sound, violent wind, darkness and black rain. Climbing a hill by her house after the blast, she was astonished to see the flattened city laid out before her. Ms. Ogura is one of four hibakusha – atomic bomb survivors – who will tell their stories in English following the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park on August 6.

Reflecting on Hiroshima’s Lantern Festival, Hiroshima City JET Michael Bacon shares his thoughts on the significance of this time both as the anniversary of the atomic bombing and as a time of change for JETs entering and leaving Japan.

I discovered Hiroshima’s famous Toukasan Festival last year, when my students’ journals suddenly became peppered with desperate pleas for new yukata. Before long, Japanese teachers and students alike were asking to dress me up in yukata and eagerly telling me all about Hiroshima’s huge annual Toukasan Festival. Downtown, the stores on Hondori were bursting with colourful yukata, lightweight summer kimono. Instantly, I was hooked!

Teams from around Hiroshima-ken worked together to create an eclectic mix of films for this year’s 4th annual Fukuyama Let’s Film Festival on May 30. We received seven entries, including one from an ex-JET in Tokyo and the festival’s first entry from our neighbors in Okayama-ken.

Every year this festival attracts hundreds of people from around Japan who come to watch as brave young men risk being burned as they carry bundles of burning sticks up to the shrine. Each group chants and sings as onlookers douse them with protective water. It’s a very strange and very exciting event that you have to see to believe. Words cannot express the intensity of this ritual, so I’ve included a video below. If you’re looking for something very different, check it out.

Every year during the month of May the historic port city of Tomonoura hosts the Taiami Fishing Festival. During this celebration of traditional fishing methods, groups of Japanese men board old wooden boats and cast their nets into the Seto Inland Sea, scooping up many a fish. Come check out a festival where everyone walks away a winner with their own fish…