About
Yoshinao Takisaka (瀧坂義尚). Marketer, executive, musician, gardener, cook, father, husband, wild philosopher, seeker of meaning, reluctant essayist.
In my teens I set out to be a musician. At twenty I spent six months at a recording studio in Oxford, living and working on-site. Spent most of my twenties cooking; worked in factories and as a delivery driver too. Just before thirty I moved into IT, then marketing. For over a decade since, I've taken part in the business and management of a range of companies.
No higher education. No degree, no PhD. But from the life I've lived and the world I've seen and heard, I've built my own philosophy, piece by piece. The sweat, the oil, and the mud on this old T-shirt. That's my degree, and that's my Ph.D.
Bon Jovi's "Save the World" plays in the back of my head.
No matter the place or the work, one question sits at the back of my mind.
The essence of things — of life, of intelligence, of this world — what is it, really? That's what I keep pressing into.
What draws me in particular: the signs and meanings that shape, and sometimes shift, people's perceptions and behaviour. Signs of many kinds, not only language. The interest of a semantician, in a manner of speaking. At the same time, I'm drawn to bodily sensation that resists language — to what one might call consciousness, the inner world. Language and mind: dissolving the boundary between the two, and understanding it — that is my life's work.
I grow roses in my garden. Now and then I pick up a guitar and sing. The best hours: cooking vegetables I've grown for family and friends, glass beside me.
Links
- Substack: takisaka.substack.com
- GitHub: github.com/ysnotksk
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ysnotksk