Fieldwork Journal

Nov 1st Playlist “No Theme”

  1. Sk8er Boi / Avlil Lavigne
  2. Liberty Drawt / Tricky Woo
  3. Hageshii Ame Ga / The Mods
  4. Beautiful / Plasticine
  5. The Miracle / U2
  6. Come as you are / The Dustkickers
  7. Route 66 / Makoto Ayukawa
  8. Down by the beach / The Madronas
  9. I Fought The Law / The Clash
  10. Welcome to the Black Parade / My Chemical Romance
  11. Anna / Dr. Smokin’ Frog
  12. Mellow / Ringo Shiina
  13. You are welcome / Breath Underwater
  14. Creep / Radiohead

Nov 8th Playlist “Punk Rock!”

  1. WANIMA / Signal
  2. Downbelows / Philthy By Association
  3. Sanbo Master / Sekai ha sore wo Ai to yobundaze
  4. Skinjobs / Burn Your Rainbow
  5. Hi-STANDARD / MY FIRST KISS
  6. Jeffery Sez / Don’t you
  7. 10-FEET / Little More Than Before
  8. Flashlight Brown / Ready to Roll
  9. Going Steady / Baby Baby
  10. S.O.B. / TD Bank
  11. ELLEGARDEN / Red Hot
  12. Downways / August
  13. The Blue Harts / AOSORA
  14. LAUGHIN’NOSE / BROKEN GENERATION
  15. The Mods / Furyoshonen no Uta
  1. Signal / WANIMA
  2. Philthy By Association / Downbelows
  3. Sekai ha sore wo Ai to yobundaze / SanboMaster
  4. Burn Your Rainbow / Skinjobs
  5. MY FIRST KISS / Hi- STANDARD
  6. Don’t you / Jeffery Sez
  7. Little More Than Before / 10-FEET
  8. Ready to Roll / Flashlight Brown
  9. Baby Baby / Going Steady
  10. TD Bank / S.O.B.
  11. Red Hot / ELLEGARDEN
  12. August / Downways
  14. AOSORA / The

Nov 15th Radio Playlist “New Release Music”

  1. Sowelu / Moon on the Water
  2. Tokyojihen / Rakujitsu
  3. Chilldspot / Neon wo Keshite
  4. Oranje / Recess
  5. Eiji / HUMAN
  6. The Wandering Off / R U OK
  7. Suchmos / Miree
  8. Pastel Barbo / J’hallucine
  9. No Buses / Ecohh
  10. Perseide / Les couleurs d ete
  11. Cody・Lee / Odoru Hikari
  12. Karma Glider / In Deep Ocean
  13. Imahori Yoshiaki / Red Experience
  14. Northmberland / Keep on Keeping on
  15. Sandiest / IT’S YOUR EGO

Nov 22th Radio Playlist “My Favorite”

  1. Post Public / Anohibiwo
  2. QBIC / Sandwiches
  3. Shytope / Rendezvous
  4. Tensions / Chocolation
  5. Hitsujibungaku / Ano machi ni Kaze fukeba
  6. milet, Aimer & Rira Ikuta / Omokage
  7. Oranje / Ankara Messi
  8. The Complaints / Chasing Light
  9. Teresa Jemes & The Rhythm Trammps / I’d Do It For You
  10. Michael Jerome Browne / Monday Morning Blues
  11. Steve Dawson / Long Time To Get Old
  12. The Groove Krewe / Lightnin’ Done Struck Again
  13. RC Succession / Ameagarino Yosorani
  14. HERO COMPLEX / Feel Life Goes On

I undertook fieldwork at a radio station called CFBX. My fieldwork days were limited to Wednesdays and Thursdays, with a work schedule from 9 AM to 4 PM every day.

Upon my initial visit to CFBX, I was handed an extensive amount of paperwork. This primarily outlined the responsibilities at CFBX and a multitude of essential rules for the job. The document spanned 45 pages of A4 size paper. Alongside this, I was given a test called the “Programmer’s Test.” It was explained that to broadcast on the radio, one had to pass this test. Although I was allowed to refer to the received documents during the test, the sheer volume of paperwork and the usage of challenging vocabulary made it difficult to comprehend. Reading took a considerable amount of time, and it was genuinely challenging. Consequently, my weaknesses became apparent, and I initially hesitated to tackle the task. However, driven by the goal I set before studying abroad, which was to host a radio broadcast, I persevered and dedicated myself to the challenge. Despite having to reread the material multiple times and resubmit it a few times, I managed to complete the task. It was quite a challenging experience.

Even after passing the test, the hardships continued. The primary tasks were CD organization and radio broadcasting.

CD Organization: CD organization involved precisely what the name suggests – organizing CDs. I inserted cards into CDs for recording purposes, documenting the track number and date. Before inserting the cards, I had to write “Track#” and “Date” on all of them. Although this was a seemingly simple task, it was time-consuming and quite challenging. When inserting the cards into the CDs, I used my left pinkie to hold the part with the tape hole, manipulating the CD with both hands. I took a pre-prepared card from my pocket and pasted it inside the CD. I did this for approximately 5,000-6,000 CDs, marking the most extensive interaction with CDs in my life.

Radio Broadcasting: Radio broadcasting proved to be a demanding task as well. As a rule, explicit content was strictly prohibited. Moreover, 35% of the music played on the radio had to be Canadian, and songs that had ever made it to the top charts, such as those of Ariana Grande or Justin Bieber, were not allowed. Contrary to my initial assumption that I could play popular songs, I had to rethink my plans. Therefore, I immersed myself in the CD library beneath the radio station, searching for music created by Canadians. Finding music that I personally wanted to play on the radio was incredibly difficult. I had to re-read the material many times, and there were several resubmissions, but I somehow managed to complete it. It was a challenging experience.

In the broadcast, I also had to introduce Canadian content. This involved providing information about the artist, explaining the musical style, and sharing my impressions after listening to the song. Additionally, within the one-hour broadcast, I had to record the broadcast content on the computer. This included recording the broadcast time, start time, the genre of music played, public information shared, advertisements aired, songs played, the number of songs from the playlist, and the number of Canadian content songs, among many others.

Of course, for broadcasting, I had to operate the machines. I manipulated various faders on a large machine, adjusting volume, switching, and adjusting the microphone for my speech. While understanding these machines was easy for me because of my part-time job at a live house, I sometimes got flustered during broadcasts, making mistakes in operations as I had to think about what to do next.

Through this fieldwork, I learned that “you can do it if you try.” This fieldwork was incredibly challenging. Unlike other groups that had multiple people, I was the only one, and the tasks, although seemingly simple, were difficult, leading to moments where I wanted to give up. However, surprisingly, trying it out and doing it became everything. It was a valuable experience to host a radio broadcast in Canada, something I had never done in Japan. I also achieved my goal. I don’t know how many people I made happy with my radio show, but I hope it reached as many people as possible.