A Letter From The Editor

Sometimes, I forget I live in Japan. Not necessarily in a literal sense, but more in a “getting lost in a routine” type of way As life is, it is easy to get lost in the moment Sometimes, I have to remind myself to pause and take a breather to appreciate everything around me For me, this magazine is a way to take a step back and appreciate what we have, what we can do, and what we can accomplish.

For the past six years, this magazine has fallen into disuse We hope now it will be a staple within the Asian-Pacific Islander community in the JET Programme To commemorate this fresh start, we thought it would be appropriate to rename the magazine We thought of the name API.ARY would be appropriate as this magazine is meant to be a sort of “diary” for Asian-Pacific Islanders during their time on the JET Programme. To document and express our lives across Japan’s forty-seven prefectures through our art and writings

API ARY is also a play on words of the word apiary Like humans, bees are social animals, working together for the community. For us, API AJET is a community separated only by distance. We aspire for this magazine to be a way to connect the Asian-Pacific Islander community, celebrate our talent, and share our stories

This magazine is made by us, for us

NATHAN CLEMENTE CREATIVE DIRECTOR AND EDITOR