Member Profile: Noriko Namikoshi
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I have been with DCAJ (Digital Content Association of Japan) since 2001 and am now the Senior Executive Director.
DCAJ is an organization that conducts research on markets and the latest trends related to digital content, promotes the digital content industry and international collaboration, and has a long friendship with ACM SIGGRAPH.
DCAJ has had a memorandum of mutual cooperation with ACM SIGGRAPH since the days of DCAJ’s predecessor organization more than 30 years ago.
2. What was your first job?
After graduating from a university, I worked for Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. and was a member of the Overseas Sales Department for semiconductor products.
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
I received my Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Culture from Seikei University in Tokyo.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
Since DCAJ had a cooperative relationship with ACM SIGGRAPH, I attended SIGGRAPH 2003 in San Diego for the first time with my boss.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
SIGGRAPH is wonderful in its own way every year. It is hard to pick one out.
The one that left the biggest impression on me was Preshow at CAF led by Terrence Masson, I’m not sure what year it was, maybe 2005 or so.
Also, FJORG! a game hackathon type event in SIGGRAPH 2009, was a lot of fun, I remember Miho Aoki walking around with a very cute pirate hat on!
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
DCAJ operates “TechBiz,” a project to support startups with content-related technologies. https://dcaj-techbiz.com/en/
Each year, startups jury selected exhibit at DCEXPO, SIGGRAPH Asia and other events, and participate in an online pitch contest called the “TechBiz Pitch Battle.”
The judge team includes Tomasz Bednarz, and in the past, members closely associated with SIGGRAPH, such as Jacki Morie and Paul Dietz, have also served as judges.
This year’s Pitch Battle will be viewed starting on November 1 at:
https://www.inter-bee.com/ja/forvisitors/conference/session/?conference_id=2700
Each of the selected startups has a unique technology or service, and they are working hard to take it to the world, contribute to society, and make it into a business.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
I would like to have dinner with Eddie Suzuki if possible.
He is my ex-boss and we used to come to SIGGRAPH together every year.
He loved SIGGRAPH, contributed to SIGGRAPH, and was always the host at the DCAJ Party in SIGGRAPH. I loved attending SIGGRAPH with him, but he passed away three years ago from cancer.
If I could, I would like to have dinner with him again at a restaurant near the LA Convention Center, or stand in line to buy a lunch box at a cold, air-conditioned venue with him.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
When I was in elementary school I could hardly swim.
However, in my first year of junior high school, we had a long-distance swim as a school event during summer school. It was a 2 km swim in the ocean. It was a truly reckless challenge for a non-swimmer like me, but I took part. I finished last among the hundred or so participants. It took me more than twice as long as the first student to finish. I still remember how everyone congratulated me when I finally reached the goal. Since then, I have always believed that there is nothing I can’t do if I try. Even if I couldn’t do it, the challenge will be a good memory for the rest of my life.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
It is very difficult to choose one person to answer this question. Many mentors and friends have taught me many important things.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
From the very beginning of my involvement with SIGGRAPH, my organization, DCAJ, was fortunate enough to partner with SIGGRAPH and have round table meeting opportunities.
The Executive Committee members at that time, Scott Own, Alan Chesnais, Jeff Jortner, and Alyn Rockwood, were, for me, the icons of SIGGRAPH and people I admired.
And one of the people who has been most helpful to me in my relationship with SIGGRAPH is Miho Aoki. She always takes care of everything for me, and thanks to her, I am able to maintain a good relationship between SIGGRAPH and DCAJ.
There are also many of my favorite people that I have met at SIGGRAPH. Just the fact that I get to meet all of them makes me really excited to attend SIGGRAPH.
Lucky for me, DCAJ invites important people from SIGGRAPH to our event DCEXPO every year. We have had some very nice people come to DCEXPO in the past. The first one was Jeff Jortner. We were so happy to have him. And I will never forget the good times I had in Tokyo with all the great people who came after him. Last year we were able to invite my great friend June Kim to join us.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
I am very happy and very proud when someone is pleased with something small that I have done, either in my work or in my daily life. But most of the time, I am the one who has been saved or had a good time because of something someone else has done.