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Big In Japan seminar takes place at BFM

On November 22, the SuperNova cinema at BFM hosted Big In Japan, an international seminar organised as part of the FinEst Sounds R&D project. The seminar focused on promoting music and brands from Estonia and Finland in the Japanese market.
FinEst Sounds to Japan is an R&D project which aims at developing new cooperation models and cross-sectoral value chains between music sector and sectors already successfully exporting to Japan (e.g. Finnish and Estonian design, lifestyle brands and technology companies) in order to enhance both parties’ visibility and to boost sales in Japan. The aim of the seminar was to provide insights into, and provoke a discussion on the specificity of the Japanese market, the challenges and strategies of targeting it, and the branding of Estonia and Estonian products in East Asia.

The seminar featured Koko Kondo (University of Westminster), who provided an introduction into the field of audience studies, John Williame (SmallFish Agency) who discussed the success story of Estonian electropop band I Wear* Experiment in the East Asian market, and Maret Nukke (School of Humanities, Tallinn University) who focused on recent changes in the music scene in Japan and some traditional cultural aspects important for understanding the market.

MEDIT was represented at the seminar by two speakers.
Ulrike Rohn discussed the findings of her research project on the cultural barriers for foreign content in China, India and Japan. Mikhail Fiadotau addressed some of the particular features of the Japanese pop culture market, focusing on otaku culture, the wide use of characters (including so-called yuru- chara), the peculiarities of Japan's 'media mix', as well as the fan-driven dōjin culture. See the full programme here.

The seminar concluded with a presentation by the students involved in the project outlining their current idea for promoting Estonian music and a range of products, followed by a discussion. 

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