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Describes language learning in Tokyo, tea ceremony practice, koto lessons, and research on katakana usage. Covers relocation to Akita, community support during travel disruptions and illness, and daily responsibilities including interpretation, translating public notices and ambassador letters, and coordinating cultural and school events that connect JET participants with local people.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/from-anime-to-akita-the-jet-programme-experience/144956/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/from-anime-to-akita-the-jet-programme-experience/144956.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Felix Montgomery","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-06","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How did the author’s interest in Japan begin?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It started with watching Japanese anime as a child, later shifting to playing Japanese video games and trying to memorize theme songs.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What learning experiences helped the author improve Japanese skills?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The author studied in Tokyo, where language school intensive training in grammar, kanji, and writing accelerated progress.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What are the author’s core responsibilities as a JET CIR in Akita?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The role includes interpretation and translation, helping participants adapt and live comfortably, coordinating events between JET participants and locals, and visiting schools to teach American History.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},144956,1787713426,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":8,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":81},549768064778,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Series: The JET Programme  \nFrom Anime to Akita  \nAt first I didn't know I was interested in Japan. I’d been watching anime since I was a little child, but not until high school did it dawn on me that anime was Japanese. By then, I had moved from watching anime to playing Japanese video games. I liked to try memorizing the game theme songs, even though I could not understand the words.  \nPerhaps it was my affinity towards Japanese anime that led me to major in Japanese in college. I have to say, I fell in love with my Japanese class from day one. To be honest, however, I did not learn much of the language in my first two years. It was when I came to study in Tokyo for my junior year abroad that I made significant progress. Language school drilled us so hardin grammar, kanji, and writing that I could not help but to fall asleep at my desk doing homework.  \nIn Tokyo, along with language, I learned the tea ceremony from very strict teachers. If I made one mistake, they had me start all over again from the very beginning. My legs ached when I stood up from theseiza kneeling position. But being the last student to leave the room gave me a closer relationship with my teachers. At our final tea ceremony, they presented me with a yukata, a summer kimono. To me, it was a token of both our tight relationship and my hard work.  \nI also took koto lessons in Tokyo. I had played string bass and guitar for many years, so my fingers were already calloused, making it easier for me to press down hard on the horizontal koto strings. Koto’s unique musical notation led to my interest in the katakana  \nwriting system, now used primarily for foreign loanwords. I surveyed different generations of Japanese as to how they used katakana, research that formed the basis for my senior thesis on the evolution of katakana usage.  \nThe day after graduation, the JET Programme accepted me as a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) and I flew to Akita. As my plane was landing, everything looked so green that I felt I had not left my Wisconsin hometown. My state has a lot of nature, agriculture, and beer, and Akita has a lot of nature, agriculture, and sake. Like my hometown in Wisconsin, Akita has that country hometown feel. People know each other and greet on the street.  \nAkita is known for its beautiful ladies, but I am more impressed by the beautiful hearts of the Akita people. After a flood in July 2017, the Shinkansen bullet train I was supposed to take to Tokyo to pick up new JET  \nCampbell balances kanto, long bamboo poles with lanterns, which are used in Kanto Matsuri, a popular festival in Akita.  \nAt an Akita-JET organized sumo wrestling competition.  \nAt Tokyo Metro Museum in Edogawa City, Tokyo. (Campbell studied for a year in Tokyo.)  \nMeeting with colleagues from the International Affairs Division. Official mascots of Akita, Sugitchi (left) and Ndatchi (right), welcome guests at  \nthe entrance of the prefectural office building.  \nparticipants was cancelled. I panicked, but my co-worker’s mother helped me change my ticket, took me to the station at five the next morning, and made sure I had breakfast. At times when I was sick, my co-workers brought food and snacks to my house out of pure kindness, without me asking at all.  \nMy work as a CIR includes interpretation, and translating things like notices for citizens and letters from ambassadors. I make sure JET participants are adapting well and living comfortably, and coordinate events that bring together JET participants and local people. I also visit schools to teach American History, and have students re-enact the Boston Tea Party, for example, to get the feel of the American Revolution.  \nThis job has taught me much about taking responsibility. Along with Japanese culture, I have also learned about Russian, Brazilian, New Zealand, South African and other cultures through interacting with JET participants. I have gained a lot of knowledge about Japan and a huge global perspective. My adv","cbCailazscZgcj9e","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailazscZgcj9e","pdf",520336,"English","# The journey from anime to Akita\n## Japanese interest and language study\n## Tokyo training: tea ceremony and koto\n## JET acceptance and life in Akita\n## Work as CIR and cultural exchange","[{\"question\":\"How did the author’s interest in Japan begin?\",\"answer\":\"It started with watching Japanese anime as a child, later shifting to playing Japanese video games and trying to memorize theme songs.\"},{\"question\":\"What learning experiences helped the author improve Japanese skills?\",\"answer\":\"The author studied in Tokyo, where language school intensive training in grammar, kanji, and writing accelerated progress.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the author’s core responsibilities as a JET CIR in Akita?\",\"answer\":\"The role includes interpretation and translation, helping participants adapt and live comfortably, coordinating events between JET participants and locals, and visiting schools to teach American History.\"}]","From Anime to Akita - The JET Programme Experience | PDF"]