July 19, 2005

Summer Vacation

After turning in one four-page paper today (four pages?! do they think I'm some sort of academic machine?), spring semester is over, and I've officially entered summer vacation until late September. All is not fun and games, however, as I've got a huge stack of books on legal and industrial organization to go with my huge stack of data. Good news is that I've recently found a Japanese fansite with detailed information about every artist appearance on every music show of the last decade, and I have some government-subsidized student assistants who do all the data-input dirty work while I crack a whip, drink a piña colada, and read Schumpeter.

As for this blog, I will be updating more regularly now, and I apologize for the lack of content for the last few days. Also to come: a Radio MXUT podcast by me and u.t. (from Kiiiiiii). And I also need to get final production on this second album rolling. Going to be a busy summer.

Posted by marxy at July 19, 2005 9:32 PM
Comments

came across your site a month ago and have been impressed by your knowledge and insightful commentaries into [japanese] culture and society as a whole. while you describe yourself as a writer and musician, may i ask what your educational background as well as any other professional involvement (research?, as that's what i seem to infer from your entry) are?
reason i'm asking is because i'm deeply humbled after reading your blog; i have lived in several countries my entire life but i now regretfully realize my knowledge into each culture amounts to nothing more than the superficial of what it takes to get by.

Posted by: david at July 20, 2005 3:19 PM

Marxy doing a podcast is something that's getting me really excited. Most podcasts about Japan are kinda bland and don't really delve into Japanese culture, pop or otherwise.

Yeah, and I hope and pray that you have some sort of Japanese indie music section.

Posted by: Emmanuel at July 20, 2005 3:43 PM

may i ask what your educational background as well as any other professional involvement?

I did a four-year undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies at an American university, with two summers spent in Tokyo doing internships at Japanese corporations. I then worked for Tokion Magazine in New York City for a couple of years, and after that, moved to Japan in 2003 to pursue a Master's Degree in Marketing, which I will finish next Spring. Japanese graduate school is not very demanding, so I've been mostly preparing for my Master's thesis and reading lots and lots of social science books.

Yeah, and I hope and pray that you have some sort of Japanese indie music section.

Ha ha. I wouldn't expect too much. What we've put together so far is pretty insane.

Posted by: marxy at July 20, 2005 4:24 PM

i was under the impression from reading your blog that you've been living in japan for many, many years.

would you be kind enough to recommend a few social science books on japanese culture.

thanks.

Posted by: david at July 21, 2005 12:29 AM