Where were you in Japan as a JET and when?  I lived in Mihama, Mie as an ALT from 2012 to 2016, and I taught elementary and junior high school. What sparked your interest in applying for the JET program?  When I was studying Japanese at Oberlin College, someone came to hold a session and speak about the JET Program. For most of my life before that, I never thought I could move across the country, let alone to the other side of the world. Suddenly, after that info session, something clicked...

Nintendo's first headquarters in Kyoto, Japan in 1889 As the creator of major franchises like Donkey Kong, Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Pokémon, to name a few, one may think Nintendo is a company founded in the 1980s, when it was actually started by Fusajiro Yamauchi in the 1880s. The eldest son of Sosuke Fukui, Yamauchi was born in November 1859 in Kyoto, Japan, but was adopted at the age of 5 by Yushichi Yamauchi. In Japan, these types of adoptions were used as a way to continue the family...

Please introduce yourself. My name is Koji Hellman (they/he), and I’m a Japanese-Swedish graphic designer and illustrator from Seattle, WA! I’m a junior studying graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI. My website is kojihellman.cargo.site and I’m @eepykeepy on Instagram! What drew you to become a member of JSB? I really wanted to become a part of a Japanese-American community in New England after moving here for college, so I decided to join JSB! It’s been...