Hiroshi Ikushima
“I get up around 4 a.m.,” says Ikushima, describing a typical day. “After my radio program finishes at 6:30, I take a power nap until 11. Then I am ready for whatever the rest of the day brings. I can usually last until midnight.”
Ikushima says the Internet is changing the face of journalism. “The speed of journalism is totally different today. The Internet is having both a positive and negative effect. There is such a rush to post stories that nobody checks details and facts like we used to do. Personally, I still enjoy reading newspapers.”
A congenial man, Ikushima is nevertheless quite opinionated, which is one reason why he is sought after as a columnist and guest speaker. “I probably give 100-150 speeches all over Japan each year about health, financial and business management issues,” he says.
These days, Ikushima says he now thinks of himself as an entrepreneur. When he became a freelancer in 1989, he established his own production company, Ikushima Planning Inc. “I have expanded it since then. We are now a PR company for up-and-coming ‘talents.’”
Fostering young talent helps him remember how tough it was when he was waiting for his big break. “I remember talking about this with Tom Cruise during an interview. I told him how I was a busboy in California and he said he was a busboy in New York. We recalled how poor we were. That was probably my most memorable interview.”
External Link:http://www.ikushimakikaku.co.jp
© 2008 GPlusMedia
August 25, 2008
JAPAN: Keeping pace with changing times
TOKYO (Japan Today), August 25, 2008:
By Chris Betros
Hiroshi Ikushima has never done things the easy or conventional way. When the TV presenter was growing up in Miyagi Prefecture, his grandmother wanted him to become a public servant, but his father told him that the future would be a global society and wanted him to see the world.
“I was at Hosei University during the student movement of the 1960s. We all wanted an equal society,” recalls Ikushima, 57, who speaks fluent English. “But I gave up on it and didn’t know what to do with my life. I was studying business management but my interest was in media.”
Having practiced karate since his high school days, Ikushima set off for America to teach karate. “I got a one-way ticket to Hawaii with $30 in my pocket. I couldn’t speak English, so it was an adventure. I eventually got a job doing karate demonstrations at an amusement park at Knott’s Berry Farm theme park in California. After that, I worked as a busboy for Disneyland hotel.”
Ikushima finally got into media when he started going to Fullerton Community College and then Cal State at Long Beach to study broadcasting journalism for two years. “I worked for a Japanese TV station in LA. I was a writer and quiz show emcee. By 1975, I was ready to come back to Japan and was hired as a radio DJ by TBS. Then I moved to TV and was an emcee for music shows.”
Since those days, Ikushima has long been a fixture on various TV programs. He became a freelancer in 1989 and has since worked for Fuji, TV Asahi, NTV and TV Tokyo, among others. Currently, he hosts a 5-6:30 a.m. radio news show on TBS each weekday. He can also be seen occasionally on NTV at 10 p.m. Mondays, on Nikkei CNBC’s “Money Salon” on Thursdays and Sundays, as well as other programs with Chiba TV and TV Kanagawa.
As if all that isn’t enough to keep him busy, Ikushima writes a column in the Nikkei newspaper, is a licensed financial planner, health care adviser, environmental awareness ambassador, a specialist in prevention of disasters and has somehow found time to write 40 books.
Hiroshi Ikushima
“I get up around 4 a.m.,” says Ikushima, describing a typical day. “After my radio program finishes at 6:30, I take a power nap until 11. Then I am ready for whatever the rest of the day brings. I can usually last until midnight.”
Ikushima says the Internet is changing the face of journalism. “The speed of journalism is totally different today. The Internet is having both a positive and negative effect. There is such a rush to post stories that nobody checks details and facts like we used to do. Personally, I still enjoy reading newspapers.”
A congenial man, Ikushima is nevertheless quite opinionated, which is one reason why he is sought after as a columnist and guest speaker. “I probably give 100-150 speeches all over Japan each year about health, financial and business management issues,” he says.
These days, Ikushima says he now thinks of himself as an entrepreneur. When he became a freelancer in 1989, he established his own production company, Ikushima Planning Inc. “I have expanded it since then. We are now a PR company for up-and-coming ‘talents.’”
Fostering young talent helps him remember how tough it was when he was waiting for his big break. “I remember talking about this with Tom Cruise during an interview. I told him how I was a busboy in California and he said he was a busboy in New York. We recalled how poor we were. That was probably my most memorable interview.”
External Link:http://www.ikushimakikaku.co.jp
© 2008 GPlusMedia
Hiroshi Ikushima
“I get up around 4 a.m.,” says Ikushima, describing a typical day. “After my radio program finishes at 6:30, I take a power nap until 11. Then I am ready for whatever the rest of the day brings. I can usually last until midnight.”
Ikushima says the Internet is changing the face of journalism. “The speed of journalism is totally different today. The Internet is having both a positive and negative effect. There is such a rush to post stories that nobody checks details and facts like we used to do. Personally, I still enjoy reading newspapers.”
A congenial man, Ikushima is nevertheless quite opinionated, which is one reason why he is sought after as a columnist and guest speaker. “I probably give 100-150 speeches all over Japan each year about health, financial and business management issues,” he says.
These days, Ikushima says he now thinks of himself as an entrepreneur. When he became a freelancer in 1989, he established his own production company, Ikushima Planning Inc. “I have expanded it since then. We are now a PR company for up-and-coming ‘talents.’”
Fostering young talent helps him remember how tough it was when he was waiting for his big break. “I remember talking about this with Tom Cruise during an interview. I told him how I was a busboy in California and he said he was a busboy in New York. We recalled how poor we were. That was probably my most memorable interview.”
External Link:http://www.ikushimakikaku.co.jp
© 2008 GPlusMedia
