Along with other work at the time, I was also a part-time lecturer in the Computer Graphics Department at Japan Electronics College (JEC). I taught math and science, mostly so students could understand how to calculate simulations for animations. To tell the truth, teaching has always been what I enjoyed best. Most of my teaching was from 1990-2000, with a little bit in the 1980s.

I still keep in touch with friends (both teachers and students) from those days, and some attended my “40 Years in Japan” party last October.

This past Saturday, the JEC Alumni Association celebrated its 50th anniversary with a huge party (500 attendees!) at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. I was invited to join in and had a great time.

This sign says, “Japan Electronics College, Reunion.” It was in the large “Hana” (Flower) hall on the 4th floor of the hotel.

Here it says it’s the “50th Anniversary Ceremony” for the alumni association.

And this one says, “Geijutsu” (Art) which is the division that includes the CG Department now.

As you can see there was quite a crowd. I was lucky to find people I knew.

Here is Ogawa-sensei, who was also a lecturer at the college. He found me by the entrance!

Standing next to me in the next photo is Keiko, a former student, and an old friend.

Joining Keiko and me, is Kim-sensei, a teacher at the college. Both also attended my 40 Years in Japan party last year.

This is a former student from the ’90s, Hirofumi Takeuchi. This was a particularly moving, nostalgic get-together. He remembered me after all these years and struck up a conversation, commenting on how he recognized my name, but not me at first because I lost so much weight. That got the conversation off to a good start.. 🙂

But what was especially nice were his detailed memories of my lectures, and the lecture hall, and how he learned simulations for computer graphics from my classes, and how that eventually carried over to his professional work. He’s at Omnibus Japan now. Having a conversation like that made my time at JEC seem all the more worthwhile. It was very moving.

Here’s a brief sweep of the room so you can get a feel for what it was like there.

Another note – today (Halloween) marks the 41st anniversary of my coming to Japan.It was initially supposed to be just one year. But I hate packing.

Finally, here’s an album of photos of students and teachers from 1988-2023, including lots of photos of students busy at terminals in the 1990s. Please click the picture to view the album!