Chapter Roundup: Midlands

Greetings from JETAA Midlands!

We cover a wide area across the centre of the country, and have held events in Nottingham, Birmingham, Leicester, Sheffield and Derby. These range from networking and career-focused events to cocktail parties and meals in top local Japanese restaurants. We also hosted the first JETAA UK academic special interest group in Sheffield at the end of 2016.

We’re always on the lookout for JET alumni who would be interested in taking part in—or even organising—events across the region.

There is a surprisingly high number of Japanese people living in the Midlands, both expatriates working for locally based multinationals such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and long-term residents.

JETAA Midlands has links to local Japanese associations, and has worked with them to organise both business and social events.

A key part of our purpose is to help JET Programme returnees to the Midlands—whether recently or many years ago—to maintain their links with Japan. Please get in touch and help keep the relationship between Japan and the Midlands strong.

Our next “formal” event will be our JET pre-departure event, to be held in Nottingham Contemporary Art Gallery Café on the afternoon of 3rd June. It will be followed by the Midlands JETAA AGM. These events are a great opportunity for alumni in the area to connect with the next generation of JETs who are leaving for Japan and with ex-JETs in the Midlands, so please put the date in your diary. We hope to see you there.

Rob Gorton

JETAA Midlands Chair