Hello. I’m Joseph Tame, a Tokyo-based Digital Media Producer, artist, photographer, public speaker, marathon runner, inventor, husband, Apple user & change enthusiast.
TameGoesWild started life in a youth hostel in Istanbul in 2002. It’s a personal space that I use to share my journey. The vast majority of it is stuck in a time warp that prevents it from being migrated to this new(er) site, but for now I have a couple of articles available, including the story of how epilepsy changed my life.
A few facts:
Occupation
In 2011 I established Wild Tame Co., Ltd, a digital media production company, through which I now provide a wide range of services for companies both in Japan and overseas.
Past and present clients include
- Yomiuri TV (Running Art feature for ‘GariGeru’ with Kanpei-san and Nishino-san; voiceover for Downtown DX)
- Nike Japan (Creative PR campaign, Digital marketing, photography, translation services)
- virgin earth, inc. (Film & video production)
- Dentsu (Presenting, consulting)
- W+K (Creative PR Campaign)
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Animation production, creative direction)
- MTV Japan (Live event video streaming)
- CBS News (Fixer)
- J.P. Morgan (Consulting)
- TEDxTokyo (Digital Media Team Lead)
- Le Web 2011 (Main stage Speaker)
- Fiat Japan (Live event video streaming)
- Tokyo American Club (Social media campaign training)
- Antelope Audio KK (Photography)
- Akoni KK (Video editing, Live streaming, website development)
- 21 Foundation (Marketing, film production, admin)
- Total Football KK (IT Infrastructure, Lean system integration, website creation)
- EA International (Live video streaming, social media training)
- The Tyler Foundation (Website coding, consulting)
- Peeta Planet Social TV (Dubai: Social Media Team Lead)
- Mori Art Museum (Consulting)
- The Japan Times (Photography)
- Mobile in Japan (Writer)
Public Speaking & TV Appearances
Over the past couple of years I have been requested to give live presentations at a wide variety of events, usually whilst operating the latest version of my ultimate social live-streaming machine, dubbed the ‘iRun’. These include:
- NHK, Fuji TV, CNN, Yomiuri TV
- Le Web 2011 (Paris)
- J.P. Morgan
- Dentsu (Japan’s no.1 ad agency)
- Wieden + Kennedy
- Roppongi Hills Breakfast (MORI Building Co., Ltd)
- PechaKucha Tokyo (twice)
- American Chambers of Commerce, Tokyo
- Mashable Social Media Day (twice)
Personal Projects
In addition to the above work for clients, I continue to work on my own digital art projects. These include:
- Extreme mobile live stream broadcasts – the first to broadcast a continuous live stream of the full Tokyo Marathon from multiple iPhones to an audience of over 42,000; the first to live stream from the summit of Mount Fuji during a solar eclipse over a special 3G network
- The iRun: The Ultimate live video streaming machine (as featured in much of the media listed below)
- The Art of Running: large-scale pictures drawn on the streets using my feet, multiple GPS devices and mapping / imaging software. (The Art of Running: Ishinomaki featured on NHK’s Necchu Stadium, January 2012)
- Elephant Art: A series of hand-drawn cartoons featuring the exploits of an adventurous heard of elephants
- The original Remote-Controlled-Car-and-Wooden-Spoon-Mouse-Trap (didn’t quite perform as hoped)
- Numerous photography projects
Previous work experience
- Producer, virgin earth inc (Japan)
- Marketing and Production Director, White Rabbit Press (Japan)
- Administrator, Overseas Broadcasting Center (Japan)
- Data Analyst, EDF Energy (UK)
- Waiter, Scheidegg Hotels (Switzerland)
- Gardener, responsible for restoring the Yew Tree Garden following 15 years of neglect
- Plus a heck of a lot more…
Voluntary work
- Livestreaming for many Tokyo based charitable events / organisations
- Social Media Lead for TEDxTokyo
- Translator for Meguro Ward Office
- Organic farming in France, Switzerland, Japan
- Camp Counselor for adults with physical and mental dissabilities (USA)
- Minibus driver for University of Sheffield nursery
- Translation / office work for OXFAM Japan (Tokyo)
- Participant in OXFAM Japan Trailwalker 2007
- Security staff working with OXFAM (GB) at Womad Festival
- Regular feature writer for international children’s magazine
- Author of numerous articles for university publications
Media coverage
In addition to the list below, I have made numerous appearances on Tokyo MXTV, Fuji TV, NHK, TBS, BBC Radio.
- iPhone Magazine: ‘i’ no hitotachi [Print magazine]
- CNN.com: Marathon Man streams, tweets run [Video]
- CNN.com: Runner completes ‘online’ marathon in Tokyo – CNN.com [Text article]
- CNN.co.jp: 「市民ランナー」が世界選手権へ、iPhone実況ランナーも完走
- Engadget: Man will run Tokyo Marathon with dizzying array of gadgetry, amazing lack of shame
- The Telegraph (via AP): iRun lets you experience the Tokyo Marathon [Video]
- Metro.co.uk: Joseph Tame completes Tokyo Marathon covered in iPhones
- New York Times: Sports Replay [Photo]
- New Scientist TV: DIY Contraption lets others experience your run
- Discovery Channel: Planet You [Video]
- Rocket News 24: iPhone4台とiPadを駆使し、「東京マラソン」をUst生中継するテイムさんがスゴイ!
- Daily Mail: iRun Fast
- CNET: Man to run marathon in wacky iPhone harness
- Time Out Tokyo: Go go gadget! We speak to the inventor of the iRun / “iRun”開発者、東京を走る
- IT Media News: “Ust実況ランナー”がパワーアップ、今年も東京マラソンに iPhone4台で「iRun」
- Japan Times: Ganbaru Gadgets
- TUAW: Marathon Man prepares for second live stream
- Japan Times ‘Ustream goes mainstream‘
- J-Select Magazine ‘Running in Tokyo‘
- IT Media News [one] [two]. reposted on Yahoo News Japan [one] [two] [Yahoo opinion piece]
- Fuji TV’s ‘Tokudane’ (1st March 2010)
- Nippon TV ‘Zoom in Saturday‘ (3rd April 2010)
- BS-TBS/CNBC/SunTV: ‘Turning Point – Business Lab‘ (30th May 2010)
- Shuukan Ascii [print] [online] (29th June 2010)
- Sheffield Star
- Hereford Times
- TUAW: TUAW reader livestreaming Tokyo Marathon from head-mounted iPhone (March 2009)
- Runners World (Holland)
- Trailwalker: Hereford Times
- Sheffield Star
- BBC: Body Hits
Education
- University of Sheffield (School of East Asian Studies)
- Rikkyo University (Tokyo)
- City of Bristol College
- Hereford Sixth Form College
- Hereford Waldorf School
Formal Qualifications
- Aug 2008, University of Sheffield: CELTA – Cambridge TEFL certificate, 4 week intensive (1 year p/t equivilent), Grade B
- 2004 – 2008, University of Sheffield: BA Japanese Studies
- 2007 – 2008, University of Sheffield: Sheffield Graduate Award
- 2003 – 2004, City of Bristol College: Access to Combined Studies (2004)
- 4 GCSEs (including English and maths, 1994)
Hobbies
Pushing mobile technology to the limits, Photography, writing, mountain biking, skiing, website creation, Japanese language, reading, positive thinking, empowerment of others.
Married to: *Twinkle* Tame
Brief History:
I was born into the Tame family sometime in the late 1970s. I must admit to remembering virtually nothing of my early years, in fact my memories are almost entirely formulated from old family photos. There is an exception to this: my little plastic peddle police car to which I was strongly attached and miss to this day.
When I was three our family of five children and two parents moved a few hundred miles north to Yorkshire, where the tea was strong and the local accent was completely incomprehensible. We spent the next few years moving house on an annual basis, before returning to the south – this time to the quiet farming county of Herefordshire. There I was enrolled at the local Waldorf School, and until the age of 16 I had the most fantastic educational experience within the walls of that community.
Age 16: “You have ultimate control over your life Joseph!”
In September 1994 I moved on to the local Sixth Form College. There I chose to study English, Photography, Geography, Theology and Theatre Studies.
Looking back I now recognise that it was in Theatre Studies that I learnt one of the most important lessons of my life so far. It was the first session when our tutor (who had a reputation for being completely mad) put a simple question to us. He asked us, where would you like to be right now? The most common reply was either On a beach in Hawaii or In bed with my girl/boyfriend. He then asked, Well, why aren’t you? Our reply – Because we have to be at college of course!
Why do you have to be at college? he retorted. Because, because, because we have to…!
So the conversation went on, until it was made adequately clear to us that in fact that was all complete rubbish. After all, weren’t we the ones who ultimately had control over our actions?
This struck me somewhat forcefully at the time, and has become a deep-rooted belief. If you want to be somewhere enough then you can be there. Do not grumble about your situation. If you don’t like it, change it. Don’t wait until you are ‘ready’ for that big change – you could wait forever. Live for today, shape your reality, be happy.
Age 17: Epilepsy changes the course of my life
Halfway through college I was diagnosed as having epilepsy, resulting in the end of my first round of formal education. Upon leaving college I signed a five-year contract as trainee manager of my local convenience store, but only lasted eight months as a two-week break on a Greek island kindled my passion for travel. The following winter I spent in Switzerland, before moving on to work in America for three contemplatative months. I learnt some valuable lessons there, with the aid of 150 individuals from 30 different countries.
That led to my ‘settling down’ with my first serious girlfriend – we bought a house, a car, and soon had a leaking washing machine to complete the set.
Age 22: I Sell half a house for £1
It turned out that I wasn’t really ready for all that, and so after a year sold my half of the house to my (ex)girlfriend for £1 pound. In March 2000 I packed my rucksack once again, and soon found myself shovelling cow manure on a Swiss alpine farm – perfect for getting over a traumatic breakup – before returning to the hotel at Kleine Scheidegg where I would once again work as a waiter.
It was through interacting with hundreds of Japanese tourists who visited the hotel on a daily basis that my interest in Japan was born: in late 2000 I spent 6 weeks travelling from Kushiro in the north to Kobe in the south. With that I was hooked, and in October 2001 returned with a one-year working holiday visa. I soon found a job teaching English to 300 students over the telephone… the 15 or so set conversations I had over & over again continue to occupy my darkest dreams.
In late April 2002 I returned to the northern island of Hokkaido to escape the summer typhoons and high-humidity of Tokyo. There I worked near Niseko at a family run guesthouse, cooking meals, cleaning, driving a big tractor and teaching school children traditional English country dancing.
A tumultuous relationship combined with a fruitless fight for a visa which would allow me to stay in Japan, led to my returning to the UK with £17,800 of debt, and a subsequent bankruptcy. Then, in September 2004 I embarked upon a 4-year BA degree in Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield; during that time I spent two months doing voluntary work in Japan in the summer of 2005, and a further year in Tokyo on my ‘year abroad’ at Rikkyo University. During this time I also recorded the podcast A Year in Japan, and took part in Oxfam Japan’s first ever Trailwalker. In 2007 I returned to the UK for a year (taking a 9000 mile overland route) and finally completed my degree program.
It was whilst carrying out my duties as secretary of Sheffield University Japan Society that I met my future wife, Satoko. Three years later, in the summer of 2008, we married and returned to Japan together to start a new life.
Whilst I had already been offered a job from outside of Japan with a well-known English Conversation School, I was not keen to take it – poorly paid, and with little job satisfaction. I blogged about my search for a job, and was fortunate to have one of my ex-colleagues read that post, and then go about securing me a job with my former employer. There I took on an admin role working as the middleman between a Japanese sales team and about 50 English instructors.
It was a very Japanese company, allowing me to learn a lot about how business is done here. However, after a little over a year I could no longer stand the ridiculous rules and power games, and so started to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, a concerted effort to make myself known in the Tokyo tech community was starting to pay off – not only did I now have a lot of friends, but I also had a network whom I could call on in my search for work. It was through this network that I came to work as Production and Marketing Director for White Rabbit Press.
Following that I spent a year working freelance on a variety of digital media projects, before joining Tokyo-based video production company virgin earth inc.
My Tokyo Marathon livestream project (now in its fifth year) and associated craziness has led to my becoming known worldwide within the tech and running communities as the madman with an unhealthy obsession for live streaming. This has led to numerous opportunities for multiple national TV networks and major clients such as Nike.
For all enquiries, please contact me here.
Joseph Tame
January 2013