Therese Sta. MariaIt might still take a long while before Japan reopens its borders for tourism. The country is well aware that once it opens, foreigners will come flocking once again to admire Japan’s beautiful scenery and lively urban culture. But if you’re really missing Japan right now, you can still bring the Land of the Rising Sun close to you by watching Japanese YouTubers.
I honestly think that Japanese YouTubers are underrated. They’re smart, funny, and all of them are informative. They can teach you a lot of things about Japan that the normal tourist or expat may not know. Don’t speak Japanese? No worries, because there are a couple of English-speaking Japanese YouTubers who are more than happy to communicate with their foreign audiences.
Without further ado, here’s my handy dandy list of Japanese YouTubers for English-speaking viewers!
1. Let’s Ask Shogo
Shogo stands out among the English-speaking Japanese YouTubers because he’s actually a Japanese returnee who spent six years growing up in Michigan, USA. His channel, Let’s Ask Shogo, is dedicated to discussing Japan’s culture and history, the good and bad. What I really like about his content is that he doesn’t mince words when it comes to addressing social issues in Japan nor does he bypass the important details.
Everything he shares is based on research and experience, and he educates his viewers while his bright and kind personality shines through. Although Shogo’s channel is mainly educational, he’s uploaded a lot of amusing videos too. So from pressing issues like The dreadful reality of racism against zainichi Koreans to hilarious videos like What happens when an American completely adapts to Japan?, Shogo’s channel should be your go-to for understanding Japan at a much deeper level.
2. Sora the Troll
When you watch Sora the Troll, you sign up for an afternoon of guffaws. Sora is a voice actor and translator who produces comedy skits in his channel depicting cringey Japanese behaviour and anime stereotypes. His videos are all homemade, so his audience can actually see his messy room in the background 90% of the time. But it never takes away from the humour he puts into his “cringe” skits.
If anything, his personal aesthetic just adds colour to his comedy and punch lines. I especially love his “What if” series, where he presents what the world would look like if Japanese people actually acted like anime characters. Sora’s most popular video is Real Japanese VS Anime Character which has a lot more variations on his channel like If People Charge Up Like Anime Characters. But you have to watch When Japanese Tell You Your Engrishu Is Perfecto, because this ridiculous skit is actually based on his real-life experience in Japan!
3. worldofxtra
Stan Fukase, who goes by the name worldofxtra on YouTube, is a half Japanese and half Filipino YouTuber who moved to Japan in the last couple of years. He’s a member of the LGBTQ community and a drag artist in Tokyo. To date, he’s the only Japanese YouTuber I’ve seen who’s openly gay and expresses it on all his social media platforms.
He is pretty much a jack of all trades when it comes to content. Stan can vlog, he can do makeup, and he speaks about social issues in Japan mostly revolving around the LGBTQ. Thanks to his vivacious personality and skills in editing, watching Stan is never boring. Even his most serious videos are styled with his loud and confident persona. You’d have to watch his videos like I’m GAY in a Conservative Country and watch this if you’re feeling down, to understand just how smart he is when engaging with his audience.
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4. That Japanese Man Yuta
If you’ve been paying attention to Japan’s YouTube community, then you’d definitely know Yuta because he’s one of, if not the first, English-speaking Japanese YouTubers ever. He helped pave the way for the growing number of English-speaking Japanese YT channels now, so to speak. Yuta’s channel is all about Japanese culture, language, anime, and even dating!
Yuta either talks about certain topics himself or goes in the streets to interview Japanese people. His random street interviews have gotten the most attention with more than a million views each. I think this is because Yuta has a talent for identifying the simple questions that foreigners are curious about when it comes to Japan, like Do Foreigners in Tokyo Speak Japanese? and Do Japanese Elders Watch Anime?.
In case you want to know how to date Japanese people, Yuta’s interview series can answer your burning questions too, whether they’re about who pays on a date, or if Japanese like to date foreigners in the first place.
5. Nobita from Japan
Nobita also specialises in interviews; but as a journalist, his videos tackle a lot of social issues and cultural trends that are presented in a semi-documentary approach. In his channel, Nobita interviews both locals and foreigners that are related to current situations in Japan while also presenting data. Examples of this would be Why Many Japanese Women Work in Prostitution, Confessions of Ex-Yakuza Leader, and Asian Foreigners on Japanese People.
It should also be said that Nobita highlights issues that Japan fans don’t often talk about, such as the country’s porn industry and being a coloured person in Japan. You’ll find more discussions on these on his channel.
6. SHUNchan
SHUNchan is a Japanese local who studied college in the United States and now teaches English in Japan. He does a lot of opinionated videos about life in Japan. He covers topics which, once again, not a lot of foreigners talk about. But the good thing is, SHUNchan’s happy to talk about it in English with his viewers as it helps him practice English despite not being around people who speak the same language.
His most viewed videos are controversial angles like Japanese Things Even Japanese Hate, American Things Japanese Don’t Understand, and Teaching English In Japan Is Bullshit. Regardless of the topic though, SHUNchan sprinkles every video with his charming wit and snarkiness that might be the game changing factor which will keep you coming back for more entertaining content!
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There you have it — my personal list of fun and educational Japanese YouTubers who love reaching out to foreign audiences while speaking English. There are definitely more Japan-based English-speaking YTers out there; but for now, I wanted to highlight the country’s talented locals over its expats.
If you have more local Japanese YouTubers to recommend, drop us a comment on our Facebook page!
Featured image credit (L-R): lets_ask_shogo ; worldofxtra | Official YouTube Pages
