News

Greetings in the New Year 2023

Every meeting with a fellow wordsmith—whether it be online, in person, or though the written word—opens a window on a different iteration and niche of our diverse profession. Our awareness expands, our network grows, our work gains meaning and context. This is the stuff of SWET. These encounters generate the pulse of our society, connect us to our past, and... more

SWET Mentoring Program

The SWET mentoring program is a framework for sharing our collective wealth of experience and skills, and for nurturing the rising generation of wordsmiths in Japan-related fields. Our mentoring coordinators play matchmaker between experienced professionals and those in early stages of their careers. A participant may be a mentor in one field and a mentee in another—for instance, an accomplished patent... more

Year-end Meet-up Online, December 10, via Zoom

Date: Saturday, December 10, 2022 Time: 10:00–12:00 noon (meeting open from 9:30)

Register in advance for this meeting (updated URL...there was a mistake earlier): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqduCppjwoGNJuDJ5jLBn8RWi6UOO-GFLS

We’ll wrap up our 42nd SWET year with a casual drop-in-and-visit online meet-up. We hope you’ll join us during this two-hour Zoom to hear what other members are doing, ask questions, suggest topics for 2023 events and activities, and introduce yourself if... more

Japan Writers Conference October 15-16, 2022

Japan Writers Conference 2022 will be held at Tokai University, Shonan Campus in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, on Saturday, October 15th and Sunday, October 16th. The host will be award-winning novelist Charles Kowalski. Hiratsuka is on Sagami Bay, not far from Odawara. As in the past, the Conference will be free and open to all who wish to attend. The program includes sessions... more

Latest Kyoto Journal Issue: Encounters/Transitions

The newly released digital issue of Kyoto Journal, No. 102, brings together accounts of formative experiences in the context of historical momentum. A good example would be Vito Tomasino’s tale of visiting Kyoto as a U.S. Marine on R&R from Korea in 1954, taking the opportunity against significant odds to throw himself briefly into judo training with a Kyoto police... more

Koide Izumi Chronicles Heroine of Professional Japanese Librarianship

On July 23, NCC Japan, The North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources published “Specialist Spotlight: Izumi Koide” recognizing the work of Koide-san, who is known for her long tenure as librarian at the International House of Japan and her involvement with librarianship development. In 2008, she contributed an article about pioneering Japanese librarian Fukuda Naomi to the SWET... more