Hey J-Leaguers,

We have started to preview shows for next year. So be sure to show up so you know what your voting for the spring.  Reminder that next year we will have two 3-hour meeting day’s, Tuesday and Thursday.  We will watch movies next year and show atleast three shows; four depending on the length of the shows voted in.

Thanks

Jennifer L

Speaker

From The Washington Post by Blaine Harden - Salarymen — the black-suited corporate warriors who work long hours, spend long evenings drinking with cronies and stumble home late to long-suffering wives — have danger waiting for them as they near retirement.

Divorce. A change in Japanese law this year allows a wife who is filing for divorce to claim as much as half her husband’s company pension. When the new law went into effect in April, divorce filings across Japan spiked 6.1 percent. Many more split-ups are in the pipeline, marriage counselors predict. They say wives — hearts gone cold after decades of marital neglect — are using calculators to ponder pension tables, the new law and the big D.

Skittishly aware of the trouble they’re in, 18 salarymen, many of them nearing retirement, gathered at a restaurant here recently for beer, boiled pork and marital triage.

The evening began with a defiantly defeatist toast. Husbands reminded themselves of what their organization — the improbably named National Chauvinistic Husbands Association — preaches as a sound strategy for arguing with one’s wife.

“I can’t win. I won’t win. I don’t want to win,” they bellowed in unison, before tippling from tall schooners of draft beer.

The pork was scrumptious and the mood jolly, but throughout the dinner meeting there was an undertow of not-too-distant domestic disaster.

“The fact that a wife can now get 50 percent has ignited guys to think about their fragile marriages,” said Shuichi Amano, 55, founder of the association and a magazine publisher in this city of 1.3 million in western Japan. The word chauvinist in the group’s name, Amano says, is not intended to refer to bossy men. Instead, it invokes the original meaning of the Japanese word that today translates as chauvinist, kanpaku, a top assistant to the emperor.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

Japanese 10,000 Yen (~$94) Gold Coin From Times Online by Leo Lewis - Japan’s high-tech rubbish dumps - the vast “urban mines” of landfill outside every big city - have grown so huge that the country now ranks among the biggest natural resource nations in the world.

Tens of millions of defunct mobile phones, discarded televisions, PCs and MP3 players conceal a “virtual lode” of hundreds of tonnes of precious metals. An even greater seam may be lurking forgotten - but not yet discarded - in Japan’s attics and garages.

According to new calculations by the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) in Tsukuba, Japan has unwittingly accumulated three times as much gold, silver and indium than the entire world uses or buys in a year. In the case of platinum, Japan’s urban mines may contain six times annual global consumption.

The institute’s leading urban mine expert said that if these electronics-rich treasure troves were properly tapped, supposedly resource-poor Japan would suddenly join the likes of Australia, Canada and Brazil in the top five producers of some elements.

The mines have been accumulated because of the extraordinarily high speed at which Japanese consumers replace gadgets. Of these, the 20million mobile phones replaced by the Japanese each year are especially attractive “ores” for urban miners. Only 13 per cent, about 550 tonnes a year, are recycled, with the remainder thrown away or stored in drawers and cupboards.

The circuit boards of each phone contain a smorgasboard of precious metals: in minute quantities there are silver, lead, zinc, copper, tin, gold, palladium and titanium.

Read the rest of the story at UK Times Online

Dr. Tucker, our club adviser, had an article written about his latest Japan trip in the ECU faculty and staff newspaper!

Way to go Dr. T!

LIFE (Japanese Drama)Hey everyone!
Upon review of the Fall 2008 ballots, I realized that I miss counted some of the votes. I recounted the votes correctly and there was a tie between two shows:
Nodame Cantabile and LIFE with a total count of 59 points for each show.
Since Nodame Cantabile was the only true comedy choice among the shows that were picked I made a presidential decision and picked Nodame Cantabile over LIFE.
So these are the shows for Fall 2008:

Anime: Black Lagoon and Basilisk
Live Action: Liar Game and Nodame Cantabile

Please know that I didn’t pick Nodame because I like it better or like LIFE less. I picked Nodame because I didn’t want to have a semester of Japan League without any comedy shows.
If you have any questions or concerns please email me.
Thank you guys for a great year!
-Ashley Oles
Japan League President

For all that missed what shows were voted in for the Fall 2007 semester:
Anime- Gantz and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

Live Action- Kiwi wa Petto and Hana Yori Dango 2

Classes start up again on Wednesday, August 22.

Nate will let us know when the first meeting will be closer to that time.

-Jennifer, Speaker

By Laura Huhn, from The East Carolinian - We often get so caught up in our own culture that we forget the global community outside of the periphery that is just brimming with culture.

On Wednesday, April 4, ECU students and faculty will have an opportunity to learn about one of the most advanced cultures in the world, when the Japan Center East hosts the seminar entitled “Work in Japan,” which will be followed by a performance of the traditional Japanese dance, Bon Odori. This evening-long event will give the ECU community the ability to experience the traditions of a relatively unknown culture.

“Work in Japan,” which will be held from 3:30 - 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Murphy Center, will provide information on both work opportunities in Japan and with Japanese companies in eastern North Carolina. The seminar will be followed by a light Japanese meal for all who attend.

The event will feature Scott Ralls, the president of Craven Community College, who spent several years in Japan following his graduation, and who has been instrumental in bringing Japanese companies into the professional landscape of eastern North Carolina.
(more…)

So we are starting to preview shows, anime and live action, for next year and we invite everyone to come and watch. We will be voting on the shows in the beginning to middle of April. The shows with the most votes will show next year so vote carefully and know what your voting for.

Also, we will be having a meeting at 2pm on Sunday March 4 in the Mendenhall TV Room to discuss what movies we’ll be watching for the following meeting. Anyone is invited to come.

Thank you.

Speaker, Jennifer

By Kimberly Bellamy From The East Carolinian - Speakers addressed congress and introduced services available to them to help organizations coordinate and plan events.
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Another service presented to the congress was the upcoming Event Planning workshops. Ashley Hudson spoke on behalf of Adeea Rogers, assistant director of event planning, and delivered information about the dates of the workshops and what topics will be covered. Hudson said that Event Planning works directly with student organizations, SGA and student life to assist them in coordinating events for their organizations. Topics being covered at these workshops includes; how to use webviewer, cancellation policy for events and how to plan events. According to Hudson, the workshops will be held from 12 - 12:30 p.m. and 5 - 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22, Feb. 26, March 26 and April 23. To get more information on the workshops available, you may call the Office of Event Planning at 328-4731 or e-mail them at MSCEventPlanning@ecu.edu
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To find out more about SGA you can call the office at 328-4742 or visit the Web site at http://www.ecu.edu/sga/