JET and The Title of This Blog:

JET is an acronym, meaning Japanese Exchange Teaching. The Japanese consulate arranges the job after an intensive application process, which began in November of ’04 and was finalized in May ‘05. I will be an assistant language teacher, meaning that I will be co-teaching English with a native of Japan. Here is the link to the detailed and official explanation of JET:http://www.jetprogramme.org/

A Japanese Miscellany, written by Lafciadio Hearn, inspired me the title my blog. There is a small section in Hearn’s studies of Japanese culture that describes the significance of Dragonflies in Japan. He says that in Japan the change of the seasons can be calculated by the hatching of the dragonflies. As spring transitions to summer, different dragonflies hatch because of the change in temperature and humidity, and as a result of their prevalence, Dragonflies are a salient symbol in the arts, especially poetry. Supposedly, twenty-six hundred years ago, Emperor Jimmu was hiking in the region of Yamato, and looking over the land, he felt it resembled the shape of a dragon-fly. Thus, the ancient name for Japan is Akitsushima – Island of the Dragon-fly. In a later incident, another Emperor, Emperor Yuriaku, was hunting when a gadfly landed on and bit his arm. Suddenly, a dragon-fly swooped down and gobbled up the gadfly. At that moment, Emperor Yuriaku composed this ode (Hearn 79):

Even a creeping insect
Waits upon the Great Lord:
Thy form it will bear,
O Yamato, land of the dragon-fly.

I'm interested to see how many insects still wait on the Emperor. My guess is that his power is more subtle and symbolic now, and in the meantime, the dragonflies still hatch.