Benjamin Boas

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

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. 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.

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.

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

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

Bibliography

Books

  • 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.
  • Boas, Benjamin; Aoyagi, Chika (2016). 大人のためのやり直し英会話 [Re-Learning English for Adults]. Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-388461-7.

Articles

Documentaries

  • Journeys in Japan (NHK WORLD)
    • "Yanai: Old Town of Goldfish Lanterns"
  • TOKYO EYE 2020 (NHK WORLD)
    • Jul. 2017 "Countdown to 2020: Enhancing Tourism with Technology"
    • Sep. 2017 "Nakano: A Subculture Paradise"
    • Jun. 2018 "A Martial Arts Tour of Tokyo"
    • Jan. 2019 "Exploring Tokyo Underground"

Translations

  • Battleship Island Building No. 30, Between Dreams and Reality by Takahashi Masatsugu. Daiwa Shobo
  • Dance Time (2016), directed by Mariko Nonaka

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. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. 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, ed. (30 March 2016). "I, Tokyo: Benjamin Boas". Time Out Tokyo. No. 9. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  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. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "OEMC 2007 Results". Open European Mahjong Championship 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2010. 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.