"J-Wave USA" at UCLA



Pretty hard to beat Westwood in Los Angeles in March for a lovely locale in which to convene--and talk Japanamericana. Vast thanks to Adrian Favell, whom I first encountered at the Pink Cow in Tokyo, Kristin Surak and the folks at UCLA for hosting the three-day event (minutely detailed info is here). It was an honor for me to be introduced by the Consul General and a pleasure meeting friends old and new, such as Laura Miller, Ted Bestor, Mike Tatsugawa, David Marxy, Patrick Macias, Ai Aota and Jamie Rivandeniera, whose brilliant "Japan LA" shop (see here) I was finally able to visit yesterday. The conference was especially revealing in its focus on entrepreneurship on this side of the Pacific. We all know that what sells in Japan does not always fly in the US, and vice-versa, but it remains fascinating to hear more specific examples of both, and to learn of various strategies for handling the transcultural challenge.
One could do worse than Southern California in early spring.

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