Pictured: A Typical Solemn Moment at Ainoshima Junior High School

Since it played such an important role in shaping my new comic Tonoharu, I thought I’d devote a journal entry to the JET Program.

The JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) Program was founded twenty years ago by the Japanese Government to:

promote grass roots internationalization at the local level by inviting young overseas graduates to assist in international exchange and foreign language education in local governments, boards of education and elementary, junior and senior high schools throughout Japan… [and] to foster ties between Japanese citizens (mainly youth) and JET participants at the person-to-person level.
Source: JET Program Official Website

Japan is, of course, an island nation, and is ethnically homogenous, with 99% of the population being Japanese. Outside of large cities, Japanese kids don’t have much (if any) contact with foreigners, so it’s easy to understand how English education would seem totally irrelevant to their lives. It’s the job of the JET program participant to serve as a living example that English has actual utility outside of the classroom, thereby (hopefully) inspiring students to devote a little more energy to working on their English skills.

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Image from Tonoharu: Part One 

In an effort to add some more of that all-important “content” to my blog (without going to the effort of actually creating it) I’ve decided to post some slightly edited versions of the e-mails I sent out to people during my stint on the JET Program. I figured I’d post a new one every Tuesday until I run out of them; I have enough for probably two months or so. These Tuesday entries will be in addition to, not instead of, my weekly update of all-new material every Friday (Wow!).

So here’s the first one that I could find, written Mid-August 2003, shortly after my arrival to Japan:

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Pictured: Me, in the Future (???) 

As mentioned in my first entry, I’m currently living off my savings and cartooning fulltime. My hope is to make fulltime cartooning a sustainable reality, and as such, money is the predictable bottom line. If this venture fails to earn me at least a living wage, I’ll be forced to abandon it (or at least abandon its fulltime pursuit).

But as important as capital is, if I devote too much time to the pursuit of funds, then I wouldn’t have any time to devote to my artwork, thus rendering the whole endeavor meaningless. So there’s a delicate balance that needs to be reached, between time spent on my art and time devoted to the logistics of getting by. Only in rare instances are these two factors in harmony with each other. One such instance is in my pursuit of a Monbukagakusho (or “Monbusho” for short) Scholarship.

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Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid… 

Here is the second in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one was probably sent out… Octoberish?, 2003:

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Here is the third in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. Seeing as how there’s a Halloween reference, this one was probably sent out in September, 2003:
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Pictured: The unstoppable Gal Sone eats 40,000 calories in one day

Here is the forth part in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one looks to be from November, 2003:

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Pictured: A close-up of a typical Japanese Christmas Cake 

Here is the fifth in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one looks to be from December, 2003:

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Image From Tonoharu: Part One 

Here is the sixth in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one looks to be from January 2004ish:

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Pictured: Japanese kids preparing for a mustard gas attack lunch 

Here is the seventh in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one looks to be from mid-February 2004: 
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Pictured: Another Day, another ceremony… 

Here is the eighth in my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences teaching English in Japan through the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one looks to be from April 2004:  

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Pictured: The upper right corner of a poster from one of my elementary schools, featuring all the teachers’ photos and names. Yours truly is pictured hovering in the little UFO.

Here is the ninth and final of my Tuesday mini-series of reflections on my experiences in the JET Program, lazily culled from e-mails sent to friends and family at the time. This one looks to be from August 2004, written in recognition of my one-year anniversary in Japan:

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Pictured: One out of five knobs, and a little window.

I’ve been to Japan a few times now. First as a high school exchange student, then as an educator through the JET program, and most recently for as a ”tourist”,  living with my then-girlfriend for three months at the tail end of 2006.

My first night in her apartment she gave me the obligatory tour. The thing that most caught my attention was the shower. It looked like something from straight out of the Industrial Revolution.

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As my loyal readers (all three of you) may recall, several months ago I wrote about my application for a Monbusho Research Scholarship to study in Japan [Link to that entry]. Hoping that the Monbusho would become a big part of my life and that I’d eventually write numerous entries about it, I even gave “Monbusho Scholarship” its own blog category, as you can see to the left of this entry.

For months one lone entry inhibited the “Monbusho” category, because for months I knew nothing new to report. The application process was long and there seemed to be no end in sight. But just this week, I received final confirmation that my bid for a Monbusho Scholarship was successful! Yippie!

I’ll be leaving for Japan in April, for a period of two years. I’ll be living in Tokushima City, studying at Shikoku University. This is an incredible opportunity, and I can’t say how thrilled I am to have been selected.

As I mentioned in the first entry about the Monbusho Scholarship, I intend to write in detail about the application process and my approach to it, in the hopes that such an account might be useful to future applicants. But it’ll probably be at least a couple months or so before I get to that, so interested parties should check back later this year for that.

So now I gotta start getting ready to go to Japan–I’ve only got six weeks to get everything in order. Yikes!

In other news, I’ve just recently gotten copies of Tonoharu: Part One in. An entry about that, as well as details on how to purchase it, will come next week.

Artwork from Katsushika Hokusai’s Sketchbook

Hey Blog Readers,
Below is a press release I wrote to announce that I got a Monbukagakusho Scholarship, hence the use of the third person. If the editor of the New York Times is among my readers (and I can only assume s/he is), please feel free to run this in your publication.  –Lars

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The Future is in the Past
American Cartoonist finds Inspiration in Traditional Japanese Art

For Immediate Release

In 1833, the great Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai wrote about his artistic development. Although seventy-three years old at the time, his ambitions were far-reaching; he predicted that by the time he was 110, his artistic skills would be so great that “every line will surely have a life of its own.”

Hokusai may have been overly optimistic about his own lifespan (he died at the age of 89), but in the opinion of Minnesota cartoonist Lars Martinson, he achieved the level of mastery to which he aspired. And Lars would like nothing more than to follow in his footsteps, albeit in a medium that didn’t even exist in Hokusai’s time: comic books. (more…)

This is the last entry to go up while I’m still on American soil; next Tuesday, I’m boarding a plane and heading off to Japan, to study Calligraphy at Shikoku University for two years!

What’s that you say, Twin Cities residents? You just couldn’t live with yourself if you didn’t see me at least one more time before I go? In that case, why not join me tomorrow, Saturday March 29 from 4pm to 7pm! I’m throwing a joint book release party with fellow graphic novelist Tim Sievert at Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis, to celebrate the release of our respective graphic novels, Tonoharu: Part One and That Salty Air! For more details, see this post.

But in case my imminent departure from the USA isn’t enough to convince the Minnesotans among my readership to come out to my little soirée, then how’s about these reviews/coverage for my book, Tonoharu: Part One?

Reviews
The Daily Crosshatch / Brain Heater
Comics Waiting Room / Marc Mason
Comic Book Bin / Leroy Douresseaux
Read About Comics / Greg McElhatton
The Japan Times / David Cozy
Best Shots / Micheal C Lorah (Review of Tonoharu a little less than halfway down the page)
Booklist also reviewed Tonoharu, but I can’t seem to find a link to that…

Other Coverage
JETAANY / Alexei Esikoff
Roseville Review / George Fairbanks

It’s both bizarre and exciting to have complete strangers comment on my work; it gives me a whole other perspective than friends and family, whose criticisms naturally soften when confronted by my large, puppy dog eyes. I’ve been very happy with the critical response Tonoharu has received thus far. Most of the reviews I’ve seen have been quite positive, and I’m glad that I managed to communicate something successfully with Tonoharu. Thanks to all the reviewers & reporters for taking the time to read and evaluate it.

This entry is pretty short, but I tell ya, this month was exhausting with all the preparations for this trip, the book release party, the book marketing… I’m beat. So I think I’ll end it here. Hope to see you tomorrow at the party, otherwise, sayonara!

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Actually, one more quick note: I figure for my first few weeks in Japan, I probably won’t want to have to worry about updating this blog, so I’ve prepared six blog entries to autopost for the next six Fridays. So continue to stop on by for those, (the first two of which will include shocking revelations that I dared not admit while still on American soil). And to read about my new life in Japan, check back on May 16 when I’ll post an entry about that.

Welcome to the first in a four part series of entries about my experience applying for a Monbusho Research Scholarship (aka the “Monbukagakusho” or “MEXT” Scholarship). If you don’t know what the Monbusho is, I’ve previously written a couple other entries about it which could serve as an introduction of sorts, which can be found here.

I wanted to write about the application process because of the confusion and uncertainty I encountered when I was applying for one. The process is extremely long (about seven months went by from when I turned in my application until I finally found out I had been accepted), and the application guidelines could be maddeningly vague. Countless times I wished I could have access to a couple successful applications, just to give me some idea if I was on the right track on not. But despite tireless internet searches, I could never seem to find anything like that.

So I decided that if I got a Monbusho Scholarship, that I’d write a detailed account of the application process in the hopes that it might be of some use to future Monbusho applicants. I’m pleased to say that I did get it, and so here is my account.

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Welcome to the second in a four part series of entries about my successful application for a Monbusho Research Scholarship. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading the first part (in particular, the disclaimers contained therein). This entry deals with my process for putting my research proposal together.

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The Monbusho Research Scholarship appealed to me for a number of reasons when I first heard about it. On a personal level, I love Japan. I had lived there for three years prior to my application for the Monbusho Scholarship, and have a keen interest in the culture, language, art, food and people.

On a professional/academic level, the idea of studying in Japan appealed to me because of its rich history in the realm of comic books. I’ve wanted to be a cartoonist since I was a kid, and have long believed that the medium of comics are just as capable as film or prose of creating powerful work of real artistic value. It is towards this ideal of creating “literary” comics that I aspire, and I felt confident that studying in Japan would help me in that regard.

Add into the mix that a Monbusho Scholarship would allow me to pursue my research without going severely into debt, and that cemented my desire to go for it.

So when I first resolved to apply for the Monbusho Scholarship, that’s where I stood: I had the vague idea that my research would be geared towards improving the quality of my comics, but exactly how I would spend my time was still very much up in the air.

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Welcome to the third in a four part series of entries about my successful application for a Monbusho Research Scholarship. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading parts one and two. This entry deals with my process for filling out the application and contacting professors.

Filling out the Application
The majority of the application is pretty straightforward; names, addresses, dates, that sort of thing. You can write it in English or Japanese; I went with English. Just go over the application guidelines and follow them to the letter.

Make your application look as pretty as possible. Since I have graphic design training, I was able to import the Monbusho PDF application into Adobe Illustrator and fill in the information there, so everything had a nice, typeset look to it. If that’s not possible for you, I recommend finding a typewriter and typing up your application. Failing that, write as neatly as possible with a black pen. Proofread everything carefully to make sure you don’t have any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Print out clean laser copies of the application on a good quality paper. Separate the different copies in clearly labeled, brand new folders. Again, every aspect of your application should exude earnestness and professionalism.

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Welcome to the fourth and final entry in a series about my successful application for a Monbusho Research Scholarship. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading parts one, two, and three first. This final entry deals with the interview process.

In June 2007 I received word that I had passed the initial application stage and had been selected to for an interview and a series of language proficiency exams. (more…)

This blog entry is about my trip to Japan at the beginning of April, to study calligraphy at Shikoku University as a Monbusho scholar. At that point my ankle was on the mend from an injury sustained in January, and I could put weight on it and get around with a cane. But it was still quite tender.

It was a long trip; I flew from Minneapolis to Chicago via American Airlines, then Chicago to Tokyo via Japan Airlines, and finally flew from Tokyo to Osaka. I spent the night in Osaka, and then took a bus to Tokushima, where my school is located. (more…)