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Up for the fresh topics from Japan? Here are the liveliest voices of "CoFesta Ambassadors", the international students studying abroad in Japan and active Japanese media content followers at the same time. We are delighted to announce the launch of series named Interviews with "CoFesta Ambassadors" aiming to provide ideas and inspiration for both exhibitors and buyers. To begin with, we interviewed Berekk from the US who is a member of the administration team of the "CoFesta Ambassadors" program.
---- Hello Berekk, first of all, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
"My name is Berekk Blackwell. I'm from Arizona in the United States, I went to Fort Lewis College in Colorado and studied business finance. I'm currently living in Japan for about a year and a half, and I have been working for Revamp Corporation, involved in "Cool Japan" promoting Japanese contents in foreign countries. It covers many different things but one of them is the 'CoFesta Ambassadors' program."
---- What exactly is "CoFesta Ambassador"?
"CoFesta is a group of contents events like Japan Content Showcase, Tokyo Game Show, Digital Contents Expo and many events in different fields of Japanese media contents . We formed a group of international students called the 'CoFesta Ambassadors'. We call them 'ambassadors' because they are ambassadors of Japanese media contents going abroad. The aim is to take them to the events, give them some exclusive experiences where they can see a different perspective of Japanese media contents and in turn, they are expected to share their experiences with their friends in their home countries. Japan is a very domestic market and it's hard to really see what is actually inside of Japan, so I think it's a very good effort to spread Japanese contents in other countries through this kind of program, even if it's through their Facebook.
Another aspect of the CoFesta Ambassador program is the ability to give Japanese companies the opportunity to seek advice from an overseas consumer who resides in Japan via the international students. By providing　the opportunity to exchange opinions with overseas consumers before making the monetary and physical commitment to enter a foreign market, we support companies' marketing activities.
Overall, the 'CoFesta Ambassador' program is dedicated to the Japanese contents industry by providing promotional assistance as well as marketing support for Japanese companies."
---- What Japanese culture are you particularly interested in?
"When I first came to Japan, I was more interested in the food and the cultural contents like tea ceremonies, temples and shrines. But once I was exposed to more of the anime and manga contents, it started to open up a new door to the creative content industry which is very interesting to me. In the US, we don't have many wild ideas for anime or manga. Cartoons or comics are really focused towards small or younger demographics. So seeing people in suit jackets reading manga is very interesting to me. It shows the creative passion that a lot of people have in Japan."
---- Were you somewhat exposed to Japanese media contents when you're growing up?
"Of course, we had 'Dragon Ball Z' and 'Pokemon', they were really popular. There weren't many manga really, it was very dominated by Marvel Comics, for example the big Spider Man franchise. There were video games as well. Also, I was a big fan of trading cards, I had tons of Pokemon trading cards with the display binders and everything. "
---- Can you think of any Japanese media content may potentially appeal to media market abroad in the future?
" 'Attack on Titan' is one that could do very well in western countries as long as it is marketed towards the older demographic. Cartoons in the US, they are pushed towards a younger audience, so 'Attack on Titan' is something that is a bit more gory and for older people, so it could be interesting.
---- What is the main source of information to Japanese media contents?
"I get most of my information from the Internet. I read 'Japan Times' a lot, or 'Wall Street Journal' which has an Asia and a Japan section. For cultural contents news I get a lot of information from Facebook communities. There are a lot of groups that are online. Once you like them they push content on your wall every day. I'd say a lot of information I get is through my Facebook newsfeed when it comes to the cultural media creative contents. For example, I follow 'Tokyo Otaku Mode'."
---- How much time / money are you spending on Japanese media contents?
"Outside of work, between 1000 - 2000 yen (9 - 19 USD ) per a week, and 2 - 3 hours a week."
---- Thank you very much Berekk! Stay tuned for the next issue; Interviews with "CoFesta Ambassadors": vol.2 << Indonesia>>!
More about "CoFesta"
http://www.cofesta.jp/
