About me

Official Profile (University of Minnesota)

Hello! I am a doctoral student attending the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. I am an ex-advertising professional born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. My research interests are: participatory motivations for creating user-generated contents, motivations to contribute to viral and crowd-sourced advertising, and the Japanese Internet subculture. I approach the first two from a social psychological perspective, while I approach the third from a critical and cultural perspective. In all cases, I take a theory-driven and multi-method approach to my research.

Outside academia, I am a volunteer Japanese translator for Seesmic, bilingual narrator and voice actor, and a pro bono private communication consultant for non-profit organizations and small businesses in the Twin Cities area.

If any of the above ring a bell of interest, please feel free to contact me at anytime :o)