Japan-America Society of Tennessee

2022-2023 のスケジュール 

Upcoming Prgoram

Robotics and the Future of the Automotive Industry

DENSO, Technology and Tennessee

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

2:00-3:00 p.m. CDT // 3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT

This is a virtual program.

The automotive industry, Tennessee’s largest manufacturing sector, has long adopted technology, with robots being prevalent for almost 60 years. As one of the world's largest automotive parts manufacturers, DENSO has been a pioneer and industry leader in robot design and manufacturing automation since the 1960s and has played a major role in helping Tennessee become an automotive production leader for more than 30 years.

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Past 

Japanese Arts and Culture in the Classroom: How Tennessee Students Are Discovering Japan

教室での日本の芸術と文化：テネシー州の学生はどのように日本を発見しているか

January 24, 2023 6:00 p.m. CT

Register here for this online event. 

Please join these passionate educators talk about how they use Japanese language and culture in the classroom. 

Margaret Price, Moderator

Marketing and Podcast Launch Management

NPR

Margaret Price is an international marketer with a passion for brand work and the B2B space. With over 10 years of experience working in Japan, she is particularly invested in the the relationship between Japan and Tennessee, her hometown. She currently works in marketing and podcast launch management with NPR. 

Kyoko A. Hammond, Lecturer of Japanese

Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages

University of Tennessee at Martin

Kyoko A. Hammond, Lecturer of Japanese at the University of Tennessee at Martin; M.A. (Japanese Pedagogy and Culture) California State University, Long Beach., B.A. (English Literature) Hosei University, Japan. Mrs. Hammond came to UTM in 2005 and teaches all levels of Japanese, including a Japanese culture course taught in English. Before she came to UTM, she taught Japanese at the middle school and high school levels in Fitzgerald, Georgia, for two years, then taught at the University of California, Irvine, for five years. She is a native of Japan who enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, watching Japanese television dramas, and, of course, visiting her family and friends in Japan.

Katie Jones

Art Educator Kindergarten through 5th Grade

Memphis Area Teacher

Katie Jones is a Memphis born and raised art educator with over a decade of experience in the classroom that began with working for summer camps at the age of 14. Her love of Japan, manga, and anime began early on with an early introduction from her older siblings in the 1980s which exploded into a full-on study and obsession with a random gift of Gilles Poitras’ The Anime Companion from her friend Mary during a small Christmas party in 1999. Katie would later go on to develop a full career in the arts and study Japanese art and artists, enabling her to write her thesis on Anime in the Classroom at the Memphis College of Art, where she received her BFA in Painting and a Masters of Art in Teaching in Art Education. Katie currently teaches kindergarten through 5th grade art and enjoys regular speaking engagements at conferences and conventions on the topics of art education, anime, and manga. Twenty-two years later, Katie and Gilles Poitras are online friends, and Katie credits Gilles Poitras and her friend Mary for her offbeat career path.

Dr. David Meredith,

Japanese/ELL Instructor, World Language Lead Teacher

Antioch High School

Dr. David Meredith is a writer and educator originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. He received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts from East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, Tennessee. He achieved his Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. On and off, he spent nearly a decade, from 1999-2010 teaching English in Northern Japan, but currently lives with his wife and three children in the Nashville Area where he continues to write and teach English. He is also currently the World Language Lead Teacher and Japanese Language Teacher at Antioch High School for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Maika Yamaoka

Japan Outreach initiative Coordinator

The University of Memphis & Memphis Botanic Garden Maika Yamaoka is a Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI) Coordinator at the University of Memphis and Memphis Botanic Garden. JOI is a program that promotes awareness and understanding of Japan and brings Japanese coordinators to regions of the U.S. where Japanese culture has been less accessible. Since the summer of 2021, Maika has been providing various kinds of programs for Memphis and other Tennessee communities. She has reached out to more than 3,700 people in one year from elementary schools to universities, libraries, and large festivals. Maika believes that cross-cultural understanding broadens people's horizons.

When Maika was in Tokyo, she was involved in the management of international exchange programs for youth. Now she is proud to contribute to providing opportunities for people in the U.S. to experience new worlds and cultures. A native of Tokyo, Japan, Maika has visited 27 countries. Traveling to learn about new cultures is her passion. She also likes to cook and walk with dogs.

Proper Sake Co.: 伝統を重んじ、現代技術を駆使

利き酒会テネシー州唯一の日本酒蔵にて

  8月16日２０２２年

JAST members and special guests have the unique, exclusive opportunity to meet and talk with Byron Stithem, Proper Sake Co.'s founder and brewmaster, and enjoy excellent sake and delicious food at Rice Vice, Proper Sake Co.’s new bar and tasting room.

Byron has a passion for sake, working on recipes in the culinary and fermentation business for more than 10 years. He opened Proper Sake Co. in Nashville’s Pie Town neighborhood in 2017, and his business has since outgrown that space, due to the popularity of his sake. Byron spent the last year building the expanded Proper Sake Co.’s new brewery and Rice Vice, the adjacent bar reminiscent of inviting spots in 1970s and 1980s Japan.

Proper Sake is available at local liquor stores, restaurants, and bars, but the best place to sample it is in the new tranquil tasting room decorated with natural materials.

This is a registration only event open to members and special guests. Please contact jastninfo@jastn.org with any questions.