The time has finally come for the 7th 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. In this event, teams race to solve clues, complete challenges, and earn points! Continue reading
December is almost here, and with it comes many great holiday volunteer opportunities!
This year, MAJET has been asked to participate in three exciting international events for the holidays, and we’re looking for some bright, energetic people willing to spread some holiday spirit.
Check out the opportunities below and sign up for whichever one(s) you’re interested in! Continue reading
Miyazaki is known as the sunniest place of Japan (the original name of Himuka literally means “facing the sun”), so many people think that summer is the best time to visit. However, the autumn can be just as exciting, if you know where to look. 😉
Many of Miyazaki’s hidden gems are tucked away in the mountains to the northwest. Forests boasting beautiful foliage, hidden rivers and waterfalls, excellent hiking, and much more await the intrepid explorer! Here, the towns are small and unique customs are passed on from generation to generation. The locals are friendly and eager to share their experiences with passersby. And lucky for you, MAJET has planned an event to show you all of these wonderful things in a single weekend! Continue reading
Get your tare sauce ready, Miyakonojo’s annual Yakiniku Festival is coming up on the 7th of October! The festival showcases Miyazaki beef and celebrates Miyakonojo as “the best place for meat in Japan” (which it definitely is). But instead of just telling you about it, we’ll let some Miyakonojo and southern Miyazaki locals do the talking. We’re sure you won’t want to miss the biggest fireworks and meat festival in Kyushu after you hear our seven guests’ favourite things about the event…
When: October 7th, 11:00am – 8:00pm
Where: Kannon-ike Park, Freedom Plaza, Takajo, Miyakonojo. (map)
Cost: Reserved table and meat package tickets cost ¥2,000.
But if you don’t mind waiting for a table to open up, the event and grill use is free, and you can buy meat packages at various stalls on the premises.
Transport: There will be shuttle buses running between Miyakonojo Station and the festival grounds. A schedule can be found here, but only in Japanese. Contact MAJET at miyazakiajet@gmail.com for translation services.
For all those high school ALTs out there, the Miyazaki Prefectural High School English Speech Contest is only one week away! Soon, the extra after-school hours and lunchtime practice sessions will be over, but until then, we’re sure everyone is working hard to make sure their students can give their best performances next Wednesday.
Veteran ALTs have probably got their tricks and strategies down, but for those just starting out, they may not be sure what to focus on. So, we’ve put together some advice and strategies to use to help you really boost your students’ performance. At this point in time, nothing can be done about the manuscripts themselves, so we can only focus on three things: pronunciation, time, and delivery. Continue reading
The final weekend of summer holidays saw over 50 JETs and our friends attending MAJET’s 2017 Welcome Weekend. Spread across a Beach BBQ, the Cape Toi Fire Festival and Sakaematsu Camping, there was something for everyone! It was the perfect event to welcome the new JETs to our beautiful (and HOT!) home prefecture. Continue reading
One of Miyazaki’s biggest and most exciting festivals, the Cape Toi Fire Festival, will be held on the 25th-26th of August this year. For those who don’t know, the Fire Festival features locals slinging lit torches towards the top of a 100-foot pole in order to light it: a sight not to be missed!
So that our new arrivals don’t miss out on this amazing festival, MAJET is planning a nearby welcome barbecue before the festival, so it’s a truly unforgettable weekend! Senpais, reach out to our newest additions by offering them a lift and let’s give them a proper welcome to beautiful, sunny Miyazaki!!
Continue reading
One of the most difficult parts of preparing to come to Japan is figuring out what to pack! This can be especially difficult for those of us who are more outgoing with our fashion choices. Japan is often viewed as a very conservative culture, and in many ways, that is true. There are many outfits which would be considered work-appropriate in the US and other western countries that would not go over well here. However, this doesn’t mean you have to completely abandon your personal style.
It is important for us to try and fit into our workplaces, but it is also important for us to be ourselves and feel comfortable. The question is how to show off your unique fashion sense while still being office-appropriate. To help you with your planning, we talked to a bunch of current and former ALTs to get their perspective on “the clothing issue.” Continue reading
*For information in Japanese, please click here
Sea Day (海の日) is coming, that lone public holiday in the long, hot month of July. It’s a day this island nation sets aside to show its gratitude and respect for the sea, and lots of people spend the weekend getting in some beach time.
A day at the beach isn’t easy for some, though. That’s why Marine Blue organizes a volunteer event each year called Sea Festa (海フェスタ)! This event started years ago to help encourage people with muscular dystrophy to enjoy the sea. The event has grown to include many other disabilities as well. Some guests are blind, some have brain injuries, and some have other physical impairments. Continue reading
While rain threatened most of the week, we had clear sunny skies all day long for this year’s Amazing Race, and an amazing event it was!
The participants arrived bright and early–all 74 of them!–eager and ready for a day of fun games and challenges. This was definitely our biggest race yet! We were very happy to see so many local college students participating and getting a chance to have some real-world encounters engaging with foreigners.
miyazakiajet.org 