April 12, 2025

WATJ hosted the 42st Japanese Speech Contest for high school and college students. 7 first-place winners gave their speech at the Sakura festival on April 12 (11:30-12:00PM at the Fisher Pavillion Center Stage). Details are here.

ACTFL Teacher of the Year

Kei Tsukamaki was announced ACTFL 2025 National Language Teacher of the Year. The award was presented during the Opening General Session of the 2024 ACTFL Convention & World Languages Expo on Friday, November 22, 2024 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Thank you for all that you continue to do for us Washington Japanese teachers, and all of the teachers of the USA. We wish you luck on your 2025 ToY Tour Kei Sensei! 

August 15-16, 2024

The 2024 Summer Institute will be held at JCCCW  (1414 South Weller Street, Seattle, WA 98144) from Thursday, August 15 - Friday, August 16 (9AM-4:30PM).  Yo Azama sensei will be the presenter for the workshop. We are grateful to the East Asia Center at University of Washington and Hyogo Business & Cultural Center for their generous donation for this year's special event. The detail will be announced soon.

March 16, 2024

The 41st Japanese Speech Contest for high school students, which was the very first Speech Contest that was hosted solely by the WATJ, was a huge success! Click here for more details.

February 10, 2024

Kei Tsukamaki sensei was awarded the 2024 Leslie Birkland Award at the annual WATJ Conference. For over a decade, Kei Sensei's unwavering commitment to supporting Japanese teachers has shone brightly, leaving an indelible mark on the educational landscape. As our esteemed (past) President, she has tirelessly championed the professional growth and development of educators, fostering a community of collaboration and excellence. Through her boundless passion and tireless efforts, Kei Sensei has empowered countless teachers to excel in their craft, enriching the lives of students and advancing the field of Japanese language education. This well-deserved recognition is a testament to Kei Sensei's enduring legacy of leadership, mentorship, and profound impact on the teaching community.  

October 14, 2023

Kei Tsukamaki sensei won the Washington Association for Language Teachers (WAFLT) Teacher of the Year for her outstanding efforts to help build up world language teachers across the state and endless hours of hard work and dedication to improving our world language teachers.  Congratuations and thank you!

August 10-11, 2023

The 2023 Summer Institute returns to IN-PERSON with Yo Azama-sensei, Lead Instructional Coach for the Salinas Union High School District and 2012 ACTFL Teacher of the Year! WATJ is thrilled to partner with the University of Washington's East Asia Center for this year's special event, held at UW Thompson Hall, Room 317 from Thursday, August 10 - Friday, August 11(9AM-4:30PM). The theme for this year's Summer Institute will be " Promoting Learner Engagement with Feedback".  Register: https://forms.gle/Y9VcaVZQdBETDZ4HA 

March 6, 2021

WATJ board members Kei Tsukamaki, Gwen Johnston, Kim Roberts, and Alicia Ceban presented at the PNCFL Virtual Conference! We are happy to make available to all the recording of our presentation, entitled "WATJ: A Sustainable Collaboration Model". The presentation shares the history of WATJ, a summary of our annual events, and details how to implement and sustain regular, meaningful professional development opportunities. In this presentation, WATJ board members discuss our monthly benkyokai "study group" sessions and reflect on our successes, growth, and learning. Click here to watch our presentation!

February 25, 2021

High school, college, and university teachers in Washington: There is still time to encourage your students to register for the upcoming Japanese Language Festival on Saturday, March 6th! Registration and event details are available at https://jassw.info/event-4145726.

February 6, 2021

Congratulations to our 2021 Leslie Birkland Award: Izumi Matsuda-Kiami sensei of University of Washington! We are honored to recognize Matsuda-sensei for her leadership and contributions to WATJ.

January 17, 2021

Be sure to register for the first VIRTUAL WATJ annual conference on Saturday, February 6th! Registration deadline is January 30th. Register online https://forms.gle/zHR2TEv6UbFQyyYT9. Find full details on our Events page.

December 19, 2020

As 2020 winds down, we at WATJ wish you all a happy holidays! We are excited to announce that registration and workshop proposals are now open for the 2021 WATJ Annual Conference, to be held virtually on Saturday, February 6, 2021! Please see our 2021 Conference Event page for details.

September 26, 2020

Congratulations to Taeko Tashibu-sensei (retired) on her reception of the Continued Distinguished Service Award from WAFLT! Tashibu-sensei is a founding member and former "every board position" of WATJ. She has served as President of WAFLT and has been the recipient of multiple awards, including WATJ's Leslie Birkland Award and has been WAFLT's and PNCFL's nominee for ACTFL Teacher of the Year in 2014. Well-deserved, Tashibu-sensei!

September 7, 2020

We are so grateful to Yanagimoto-san of the Consul-General of Japan in Seattle for her three years of enthusiastic, dedicated service and her active support of Japanese language education in Washington State! Yanagimoto-san will be returning to Japan in mid-September. お疲れ様です！

August 24, 2020

We wish everyone a wonderful start to the 2020-21 school year! With unprecedented challenges and remote learning for many, this is a time to truly come together to support each other and innovate our teaching practices. Check out the Events page for updated information about our continuing benkyokai series!

August 6, 2020

Please check the calendar and the Events page for updated information about our upcoming benkyokai series and the September workshop!

July 15, 2020

Please stay safe and healthy! We are continuing our online learning benkyokai, so members please check your email for the latest scheduled events.

March 25, 2020

Want to learn about online learning? Check out our Online Learning Benkyokai page!

March 6, 2020

It's job posting season! Check out our new Job Openings site for the latest updates.

February 8, 2020

Congratulations to Kayoko Kasai-sensei, 3rd/4th grade Japanese immersion teacher at John Stanford International Elementary School on her receipt of the Leslie Birkland Award for excellence as a teacher leader in WATJ!

Kayoko-sensei has served as Secretary, Vice President, and Conference Co-Chair for WATJ. Her selfless willingness to volunteer and her positive enthusiasm help make WATJ a loving community for all.

佳代子先生、おめでとうございます！

Photo credit Kim Roberts

In photo: Leslie Birkland, founder of WATJ; Kayoko Kasai, LBA recipient 2020; Kei Tsukamaki, former WATJ president