2024 JET Returnee Picnic

Welcome back to the states and otsukaresama! \(^o^)/

In honor of your return and officially becoming a JET alumni, we're holding a picnic to celebrate the 2024 JET returnees. All alumni, friends, and family are welcome too.

Date: Sunday, October 27

Time: 1:00pm to 3:00pm CST, but feel free to stay and mingle afterwards

Location: Garden of the Phoenix, which is within Jackson Park

JETAA Chicago will provide light food and drinks, but please feel free to bring something more for yourself or for others to share. Board and other party games are encouraged, and the more blankets/tarps, the better! Nobody likes wet grass.

As the event will be during peak spooky season, costumes are also welcome :)

In the case of inclement weather, we will email out participants the morning of the event, making a call on whether it will still be held or not.

We can‘t wait to meet you and hear about your time in Japan!

Sign up here!

This event is open to JET returnees, alumni, friends and family.

Questions? Contact Sara Brown at philanthropy@jetaachicago.com.

October Book Club Meeting - Real World

The JETAA Chicago and Japan America Society of Chicago YPC Book Club continues with a meeting in October! Join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 30th! (*Please note that the date was changed - it was previously announced as Tuesday, Oct. 29th)

Our book club highlights voices and stories with a solid connection to Japan. For our next meeting, which is so close to Halloween, we have chosen something scary. Real World is written by Natsuo Kirino. In a crowded Tokyo suburb, four teenage girls indifferently wade their way through a hot, smoggy summer. When one of them, Toshi, discovers that her next-door neighbor has been brutally murdered, the girls suspect the killer is the neighbor’s son. But when he flees, taking Toshi’s bike and cell phone with him, the four girls get caught up in a tempest of dangers that rise from within them as well as from the world around them.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the book and join us for an evening of casual discussion in a virtual space via Zoom! Registrations are limited, so grab a spot while you can!

Sign up here!

This event is open to JET alumni, JASC YPC members and friends.

Questions? Contact Joe at networking@jetaachicago.com

Delicious in Dungeon - Anime & Art Appreciation Society

A new adventure! JETAA Chicago and Japan America Society of Chicago YPC launch an Anime & Art Club with a meeting in October! Join us for our first meeting on

Tuesday, October 8th!

Our club will begin by discussing individual anime series. For our first meeting, we have chosen episode 1 of Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi), based on the manga by Ryoko Kui. The story takes place in a fantasy world where a group of adventurers explores dangerous dungeons in search of treasure. After a disastrous encounter with a dragon leaves their party in dire straits, the remaining members decide to continue their quest, but with a twist -- they must also hunt and cook the various monsters they encounter to survive.

Be sure to view the anime in advance (available on Netflix) and join us for an evening of casual discussion in a virtual space via Zoom! Registrations are limited, so grab a spot while you can!

Sign up here!

This event is open to JET alumni, JASC YPC members and friends.

Questions? Contact Joe at networking@jetaachicago.com