Category: Blog

Beach party, cabins, and games: a joint OitaJET and MAJET summer event

Summer is officially in the Kyushu air and we’ve come together with Oita JET to bring you the first event to celebrate the season’s arrival. Where else should one spend summer but by the beach?

On the weekend of June 13th and 14th, join Miyazaki AJET and Oita JET at Sumie beach, one of the best attractions in Nobeoka and a beach famous for its facilities, cleanliness, and clear waters. We will be renting either the cabins or the campgrounds at the Sumie Family Village, based on your stated preference! (Note: OitaJET and MAJET will be booking cabins separately, so your roommates will be your fellow Miyazakians.) Naturally, there will be barbeque grilling in the evening, so remember to bring your favourite foods and drinks!

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Miyazaki’s “summer” fruit is actually best enjoyed in spring

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The following is an article that was written by one of your fellow MAJETers. It was published in AJET Connect Magazine’s April 2015 issue.
It is posted here with the author’s permission and some extra pix 😉.

 

If you’ve ever visited southern Kyushu, but especially if you’ve visited Miyazaki, you’ll no doubt have seen the vibrantly yellow omiyage boxes on display at the train and bus stations. Miyazaki has a few claims to fame when it comes to food, including apple mangoes and charcoal grilled chicken, but its shining star is without question the hyuganatsu. Mangoes are incredibly expensive and the chicken takes a special hand to get just right, but hyuganatsu are readily available at any grocery store, if not your neighbour’s garden. So what is the story behind this citrus, seen suspended like little suns across the orchards of southern Kyushu?

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The Amazing Race – One does not simply walk through Miyazaki

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The time has finally come for the Fourth Annual Amazing Race Miyazaki! This is one of our biggest events of the year. Some of you may already be familiar with the American TV show, The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race Miyazaki is loosely based around this televised competition, except that teams will follow clues which will take them to different “Quests” within the boundaries of Miyazaki City. This year, each Quest and their Clues are inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and their movie counterparts, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. So go watch the movies or read the books to get yourself in the mood! amazingrace2015_logo 今年もやって参りました －ＭＡＪＥＴの第四回目のアメージング．レースみやざき！ ＭＡＪＥＴのイベントの中でもっとも主要なイベントです。アメリカのテレビ番組、The Amazing Race をイメージとしたイベントで、アメージング．レースみやざきの参加者はチームと一緒で、ヒントに従って「クエスト」を完成させる宮崎市内の場所にたどりつく競争です。 毎年レースの「ヒント」や「クエスト」はテーマがありまして、今年は J．R．R．トールキンの「ホビットの探検」/The Hobbitと「指輪物語」/ロード．オブ．ザ．リングのシリーズがテーマになります！ Continue reading →

MAJET 2015 wants YOU!

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Have you ever attended a MAJET event and had ideas on how to make it even better? Maybe you have an idea for an event that doesn’t exist yet and want to make it happen? Perhaps you’ve seen the MAJET website or perused the Facebook feed and had ideas for content that other JETs and foreigners living in Miyazaki would find interesting and helpful? Now’s your chance to make it all happen!

 It’s time for a new MAJET Board to take the reins for 2015-2016!

Whether you are interested in volunteering
or know someone that would make a great leader for the community,
write to us at miyazakiajet@gmail.com to let us know!

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Kero Kero Bonito – The Bilingual Beats You Need To Hear

The following is an article that was written by one of your fellow MAJETers. It was published in AJET Connect Magazine’s March 2015 issue.
It is posted here with the author’s permission and some extra pix ;).

 

Gus, Jamie, and Sarah, the trio that make up Kero Kero Bonito, are a group of young people in London whose music has been taking off at laser speeds. They recorded their first album independently in the summer of 2013 and re-released it through Double Denim Records last August. It brought nods of approval from producers like Blackbird Blackbird, features by The Guardian, DIY Mag, and Pitchfork, plus special edition album art commissioned by Tower Records. It’s clear that the beats are resounding across the globe and that the message, in all its bilingual glory, is coming through.

Their music is fresh – it’s really the only word that comes to mind. Light and poppy, nostalgic but new, and above all, unique. Fittingly, no one has seemed able to nail just how to describe it, with tags ranging from “contemporary J-pop” to “turn-based RPG soundtracks.” Kero Kero Bonito, though, have wrapped it into something that commands listening to: bilingual schoolyard dancehall.

Click on Sarah’s awesome artwork throughout the article
to listen to the debut EP!

Small Town

Sick Beat

Pocket Crocodile

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Masquerade Madness!

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January marks the middle of the JET contract, and what better way to celebrate half a year in Japan than with a great big bash? ALTs, CIRs, and our Japanese friends gathered from far and wide for MAJET’s Midyear Masquerade! We even had a few people come in from neighboring prefectures 😉 This was certainly an event to remember!

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Call for Volunteers!

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We are proud to announce the Fourth Annual Amazing Race! It will be held on April 18th in Miyazaki City this year, so mark your calendars! (Please note that we originally had this planned for March, but have since changed the date to April!!)

The Amazing Race is an event based on the popular TV show (Japanese explanation here) of the same name. The yearly event was started by a group of ambitious JETs who came together to create an event that would combine the knowledge and intellect of both English and Japanese speakers by bringing together Japanese culture and a yearly theme. This year’s theme is still a secret (shhh! 😉 ), but past themes have been based on popular books, TV shows, and movies.

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Let’s Skate!

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Hello, friends! It is now February and the plum blossoms are beginning to bloom, which means spring is just around the corner! It’s almost time to pack up the winter clothes and break out the spring jackets.

plum blossom

However, winter is still hanging on in the highlands, where there is even a bit of snow! So why not join us for one last winter bash? Come join MAJET for their annual ice skating trip in Ebino! We’ll meet at the ice rink to skate our hearts out, and afterwards we can head over to the onsen to relax before making our ways back home.

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Nabé Time!

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Another winter season has almost come and gone, but before it ends, we were wondering:

Have you cracked out your nabe pot yet?

These little beauties are wonderful for dropping everything that you love into a pot and letting the magic work. If you’ve never made nabe before or are looking for something new to inspire you, we have two recipes to share today! Take them as a starting point to work off of: substitute dashi with chicken broth or miso, chicken with pork or stay vegetarian, and swap out noodles in the pot for rice on the side, carrots for sweet potatoes, plus anything else you can think of!

どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare) !

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