Benjamin Boas

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Benjamin Boas (born 1983 [1] ) is an American author, translator, and contemporary Japanese culture consultant. He has been appointed as a Cool Japan Ambassador by the Japanese government [2] and as a Tourism Ambassador for Nakano, Tokyo. [3]

Contents

Biography

Born in New York, he grew up with a fondness for Japanese games and comic books, which motivated him to study the Japanese language and culture. [1] [4] [5] After graduating from Brown University, he studied at Kyoto University on a Fulbright scholarship from 2007. He has also held research positions at the University of Tokyo as a Monbukagakusho scholar, at the Osaka University of Commerce, and at the anthropology department at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. [6]

In 2015, he published his experiences of learning Japanese culture and language into a manga from Shogakukan. The same year, he was appointed as a Tourism Ambassador by the Nakano Tourism Association, to spread word about Nakano City. [5]

In 2016, after Studio Ghibli commissioned him to write a critical essay on the Japanese government's self-promotion activities, [7] he was appointed as a Cool Japan Ambassador by the Japanese Cabinet Office as part of their Cool Japan initiative. [2] In this role, he regularly appears in programs on Japan's public broadcaster NHK, such as Tokyo Eye 2020 [8] and Journeys in Japan. [9] While spreading the appeal of contemporary Japan through these activities, he also writes critically about how the country could improve its efforts, [10] and has been quoted in news articles for his views of the Cool Japan strategy. [11] He is a frequent speaker at universities and institutions in Japan and the United States. [12] [13] [14]

Boas holds a 2nd-degree black belt and instructor certification for aikido from Yoshinkan. [6] He also represents the United States in international competitions of mahjong and took third place in the 2007 Open European Mahjong Championship [15] [16] and second place in the 2008 European Riichi Championship. [4] [17]

Bibliography

Books

Articles

Documentaries

Translations

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References

  1. 1 2 Boas, Benjamin; Aoyagi, Chika (2015). 日本のことは、マンガとゲームで学びました。[Learning Japan Through Manga and Video Games]. Shogakukan. ISBN   978-4-09-388395-5.
  2. 1 2 "Cool Japan Ambassador : Cool Japan Strategy". Cabinet Office. Government of Japan. 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "観光大使紹介" [Introducing the Tourism Ambassadors]. Nakano-ku Tourism Association (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 Galbraith, Patrick W. (28 August 2009). "Q&A Benjamin Boas: Game researcher, mahjong player and Fulbright fellow". Metropolis. No. 805.
  5. 1 2 Time Out Tokyo Editors (30 March 2016). "I, Tokyo: Benjamin Boas". Time Out Tokyo. No. 9. Retrieved 1 March 2020.{{cite magazine}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  6. 1 2 Boas, Benjamin (10 May 2019). "What's Cool about Cool Japan?: An Insider's Look at a Domestic Reaction to an International Phenomenon". Asian American and Asian Research Institute. The City University of New York. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Boas, Benjamin (2015). "'クールジャパン'はクールじゃない!?". Neppū. 'Cool Japan' is not cool!? (in Japanese). Vol. 13, no. 10. Koganei: Studio Ghibli. pp. 12–23.
  8. ↑ "Exploring Tokyo Underground - TOKYO EYE 2020". NHK World-Japan. NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). 9 January 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Benjamin Boas at IMDb
  10. ↑ Boas, Benjamin (24 April 2016). "'Cool Japan' needs to listen to its target market". The Japan Times. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. ↑ Chandran, Nyshka (22 August 2016). "Super Abe was a taste of Tokyo's 2020 Olympic campaign". CNBC. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "How an American Geek's Love of Cool Japan led him to an Exciting Life in Japan". Japan Society of Northern California. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. ↑ "Examining the Cool Japan Policy – Is it Actually Cool?". Vital Japan. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. ↑ "What's Cool about Cool Japan". Kyoto Inspiration: Popular Culture & Traditional Arts. Kyoto Seika University. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "OEMC 2007 Results". Open European Mahjong Championship 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  16. ↑ Rep, Martin (31 March 2009). "Benjamin Boas talks: Mahjong has a great potential in Europe". Mahjong News. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "EMA Rankings - Tournament Information". European Mahjong Association. 22 June 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  18. ↑ Yanai: Old Town of Goldfish Lanterns at IMDb
  19. ↑ Nonaka Mariko Office. "ダンスの時間" . Retrieved 1 March 2020.
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