How Chris Broad makes an Abroad in Japan video | Abroad in Japan | Why Come Japan #61

[Music] hey hey it's that time again for the weicome japan show i'm your host mr. rad rewrite interview creatives inside or outside japan and today i take you all the way to Sendai or computer screens through Sendai yes welcome to send are ladies and gentlemen this is a Sendai bookshelf this is a paper screen in Sendai this is a cup which I've just discovered has a face on it and it's absolutely terrifying look at that do you know that for our audio listener so Chris is holding up a coupler has it looks like that's a key a little bit it looks like a tea and that's key had a child yeah basically for for Christmas and viewers sent me some gifts and one of them was this mug and it's I forgot that it's a mug that as he hates it as it gets hot a face appears in it and a face of Lasky has appeared quite by surprise and it's it's horrible huh I don't know if you were here during that time like you know how the UFO catcher machines they always like change out the items inside of there yeah it had toilet paper like was written by the guy who wrote you know ding goo or methodical movie and he wrote the entire story on toilet paper that's amazing I forgot your dicks what's this stupid boots when we can have toilet rolls everywhere come on have another if you want it if you want to just about what a great thing to win usually I just win some reasonably priced mediocre chocolate inside the UFO country sometimes like really alright if you could put in there but I should probably introduce my guests if nobody knows who he is he's a strong zero fish annatto frantic and sore coffee drinker interesting video maker i guess i have to ask about that with the interesting videos that you make for the youtube machine you have to have like a checklist when you make those all right you're probably saying use a prod in Japan there you go free like who stumbled across this and has you know lives and I don't know where's leaflet where's a place where nobody would know who you are it's Somalia Somalia and I did make a joke about Somalia once in a video and then I got a viewer from Somalia he was like how dare you make fun of my country and that was the point I realized that the review is in every country so there's no escape there's no escape at least one person every country on Earth is hopefully watched and abroad in Japan video for better or worse yes it's been very clever and said bread maybe no Geum bread worrying about people don't do that yeah oh you're saying like in another podcast if it was like deep-dive podcast with the Japan Times but you say you don't like going public sometimes particularly Tokyo no you know what I it's jarring and strange sometimes because I am in the middle of nowhere like now I've been send eyes not technically the middle of nowhere but we thought that many foreigners around but you know when you go to Tokyo you die I do bump into people like 10 15 20 times a day and I do I've never had an encounter where I've lost my temper with anyone or where it's gone bad I love it you know I'd love the interviewers hearing their story why they came to Japan what they're doing but if you're having a bad day and I've had times where I've got off an airplane after a 12-hour flight landed in London gone into the washroom and like splash water over my face and I look like I've come out of a [ __ ] horror film and then someone go Chris and I'm like no no no god no and you know I love talks it's great but when you know if you're in if you're in the wrong place of mind at that point it's not good but you you adapt to it you get over it but no I do like meeting people and I was just come back from the Sapporo Snow Festival where I was for three days and I spoke to more viewers there that I've ever done in you know a 2 or 3 day - at least 150 viewers walking around and I loved it it was really fun you know it's always great to hear people's stories you know that's that's the bet one of the best parts of doing YouTube right right right I don't get the impression that I'm like this grumpy person where if you meet me I'm gonna be like [ __ ] off a date I've never I've always been composed with them with viewers and I think I think I have a little right I know I have snow I've casted but I'm a normal guy at the end the day right well you know how with some famous people like for lack of a better example like you know the TV show Dexter the yeah yeah I know I've never seen it though I've always wanted to watch it I'm eight literally told me entire plot once at a coffee shop I really want to watch it is it the guy who is a murderer but it's also a forensic scientist or something forensic science he's killing people are bad right well cuz people would see him in public and they're like hey can you pretend you're killing us you know like I don't know if they have a thing with you like hey could you uh you have anything like requests from you not really just a cell-free you know it's never can encounter we've not you don't end up in a selfie even if you have flown for 12 hours and you look like crap you have to do the selfie I got some hate the other day I did my first live show in Sapporo the separate snow festival my first live show in public you know walk down the street holding a knife I'm not a stick which is a you know not a great fun thing to do necessarily and it's so intense there were 2,000 people on it and I'm trying to host this live show whilst people in real time are watching the show and actually bumping into me in the park and coming over giving me beers chatting to me which was great you know there's a really nice German guy turned up because I've been complaining the first part of the live show I said ah I really want a drink I've started this live show I need a drink but I can't get one while I'm filming and about ten minutes later this German guy turned up it was like okay a beer and I was like yes this is amazing thanks man I checked him for a minute or two but then I had to like get back to the live show and I had to kind of be like ah sorry mate I just have to do the live show and some people were like you are so mean to people honestly like really that's not fair like I was on ice literally abroad in Japan or nice try not to [ __ ] fall over it was minus five I had 2,000 people to try and engage in a live show the first I never done in public and people were talking to me in real life and it was so intense and jarring and confusing and yeah a few people thought I would read it yeah but like yeah a few people thought I was read and that's the first time that I ever felt offended or like upset by comments that people thinking I was read when I don't think I am you know I know I'm snarky in a [ __ ] on camera but in real life you know I like to think I'm nice normal relatively polite person right well I mean with live-streaming it just feels like it's so much at one moment it takes a while to get used to like the first time I did this kind of show really freaked me out like yeah they can be really self-conscious it can be pretty intense and especially if you're on the go moving like I've done live shows like this before and it's nice sitting in a chair with a bit of coffee it's great but when you're walking down the street it's really intense but I enjoyed it so much that I'm definitely gonna do it again like I will like make it into a thing going forward oh right right so let's talk about the origins of what led to this interview today so this all started like when I noticed there was a notification on my phone saying abroad in Japan followed you back what like this can't be right like this must be like some Russian BOTS or something and so I'm like say and I went to and like no it's really him it's really Chris broad so I asked what brought me to your Twitter hit might your my twitter handle free publicity I thought yes I could be in a live show and catch some free no I am what you know I've seen your videos for you yeah you've been you've been doing this for a long time and that's something you look for as a creator you know if you are gonna be in being an interview or do any sort of collaboration you look for people who are consistent and I've seen your videos pop up for years you've done great interviews with people at Hickey Simon Patrick semi shelf Japan times I like the one you did with made a sad the other week but yeah you've been around for ages and you know I really respect that and I thought I mean I didn't know I didn't think ah let's do a live show there and then I think you message me and I said hey man like you're awesome if you want to do something in the future let me know you said you wanna do a live show I said yes and that was it yeah I think there's this myth isn't there that if you are a big youtuber you're untouchable if you have over you know a few hundred thousand subscribers and it's not it's not untrue I suppose you know I do know a lot of youtubers who will not be under like a hundred thousand subscribers or something ridiculous like that but and in the day alright YouTube is a great way to meet people that make freely is I mean discriminate on the number of subscribers i discriminate on the color of your character if you've done something consistent well for years as the earth then it's only a matter of time before people reach out to you yeah I guess we're not gonna be seeing you on login Paul's podcast anytime soon right the character that's yeah I don't think I want to be essentially with him either so well no I mean I remember when he did there when he was in now pika hara forest i worried that he'd seen my alkie Tahereh forest before that because he said a line at his one that sounded identical to something I'd said in my one I thought oh god did he watch my video in preparation for going to the forest I was a scared mare and Japan him because maybe you will never know but after he did all the terrible stuff filming the body in the in the woods and terrorizing half of Tokyo there I was on Japanese TV Messimer sheet ellaby you know the biggest origin check they came to my apartment and I interviewed me about what I think about Logan pull he's really surreal so I got something out of Logan Paul being a [ __ ] and also that same week literally I think two or three days before Logan Paul did what he did I released a video called twelve things not to do in Japan and that video went viral it's now I biggest video like ten million views or something ridiculous and like every other comment on that was don't be Logan Paul don't be Logan Paul it was so lucky that video came out just before that happened but it's a bad exact example of you know how something terrible can be played you can can work to your benefit even if it was completely unplanned see you had your viral moment quote unquote yes yes I think it was mainly the topic of the video it's one those topics isn't it that always does well what not to Division one year Rachel when you have a video on that as well mm-hmm a single crater that that doesn't have a video about it somewhere in the history part from you maybe yeah I don't I don't want to make J vlogging content there long and hard about this and I'm like it just seems like an I mean I know this is your creme de la creme but or is that the right term I don't know is your your thing every time someone kills me a J vlogger I'm instantly sick all over their face I hate the [ __ ] term J blog what do you hate the word vlogger I mean I gave log it puts you in a category that has been stained by the history of certain individuals who aren't good I can't I can't do I don't like it I don't like to be put into a category of something I'll admit that I'm a vlogger I'm a video maker living in Japan and also I don't like this to see myself as a vlogger because I'm a snobby terrible person always like to see myself as a as a film as a aspiring filmmaker right on the path towards doing something a documentary filmmaker to me vlogs are a little bit lazy but I don't know I feel like the j vlog that term has been dragged through dirt over the years you know there was once a prospering community and it kind of fragmented and failed and went down the pan right well it seems like a lot of people are starting to take a little bit more seriously because I remember when I first started doing it in 2009 the the school you went and gave a lecture at her workshop Temple University oh yeah I'm alumni and when I started doing it in 2009 people were saying so like oh he does this quirky thing called the youtubes and he makes the videos in the and he talks to people and like no nobody says that anymore everybody has different image of you - absolutely I mean it's I hate the word influencer somebody you know it's my influence so I can't I can't deal with that that sounds horrible I met someone who is the incredible photographer and I said what do you want to do and I was expecting to get I want to be photography I'm into my art I like to do cinematography went to be an influencer I said don't say that horrible it sounds so manipulative and [ __ ] I just hate it and don't be an influencer there's nothing there's nothing about that what it just be be something else be something more be a photographer be a filmmaker be a writer be an artist don't be an influencer I don't want to be an influencer I want to start a an email service that sends viruses the people all right Oh usually when I go on vacation somewhere I tried to scour the internet for things that I want to do like manned up web sites like TripAdvisor and the like and they all include like the same categories to do or see your hotels to stay at or things to eat and such and I was looking at you know some of your popular uploads and they seemed to be like perfect video companions a lot of these categories was this logged-in channel or were they just topics you really really wanted to talk about I mean do you have any videos in minds they're talking about that I've done there I mean I I don't I don't really I mean my dream there was a point once upon a time why I like the idea having a big map of Japan right and you could look at that map and every single part of that map would have at least one video from the abroad in Japan Channel we could click on it watch it you could see it and the reason I wanted that was because when I came 2012 few years after yourself there was there wasn't a lot on YouTube about Japan there are a few vlogs like Tokyo Coony he of course interviewed and well you know there wasn't really much going on certainly where I was going in Yamagata prefecture I remember typing that in looking for information and the only thing I saw was Yamagata has cherries and I was like I'll write Japanese around the world I I didn't know Japanese at the time just English and Lonely Planet and all the other guidebooks didn't bother covering tour hockey North Japan at all it's just not on the map series like there was a hope you know you'd have a whole guidebook about Japan and about 30% of it would be Kyoto 40% of it'll be Tokyo and the other you know the other 30% of it would just be everywhere else in between but it was very rarely the north and I thought you know it would be quite fun to be able to build up this portfolio of videos where you could see pretty much any corner of Japan and I am actually rolling out a website in a few weeks it's still undergoing a few things bits and pieces but on that website which is just a kind of a place where you can see all the Bron Japan videos there is a map and on that map is covered in all the dots where you can see all the videos and that feels like my dream has kind of been realized in one way or another so I'm quite excited about that coming out and yeah I guess that's the main reason they because the motivation was basically like I wonder what this place looks like and what I can learn effectively I mean yeah definitely I'm someone who always looks at mountain and thinks that's cool what's the other side of that I want to know I want to go there I'm gonna drive so I've been lucky I've visited at least how many there's what 47 prefectures in Japan like 47 and I visited about 39 of them so I think about seven or eight left to go but yeah I've been very lucky to see a lot of Japan and it's kind of fun to take people along for the journey as a vlogger as a filmmaker right right I remember one of your videos where you're saying like I can remember exactly I think it was like a listicle video that you made but it's like one of them was like the things that you love about Japan and one of them is like sometimes you visit these places in Japan and then you discover something and like what is that and you know what it just completely fascinates you well like yeah I feel like a lot of people coming to Japan they come for two weeks unfortunately you do the same things right you go to Tokyo Kyoto Osaka you go to Temple you take a photo from the temple and go yeah and there's a crowd of a million people and you don't really feel anything I for them Wow it's Japan but you don't feel anything here but out here in the countryside where I live for you can hop in a car [ __ ] off into the mountains find your own temple and they'll be like one person there and you can feel something you can sit in silence on a bench on the mountainside with a beautiful view in a temple you can reflect and think and feel something in a way that most tourists don't get to do and so that's another reason I do the videos out in the countryside we can try and pull people out we could get them going off the beaten path and trying something new because the best holidays are where you where you know you experienced something profound not just being dragged through Tokyo riding the Ginza line between Shibuya and Akasaka backwards and forwards over and over sorry right so I'm a bit curious like when you approach the subject that you're really interested in like what that kind of forms the storytelling do you like apply to your videos in general because I noticed like with your last day of the the drifting one there's like there's a what is it there's a drone shot there's just there's a reaction shot of you in the car obviously that's like a GoPro or something right yeah well actually no in the in the car is a nightmare I was filming most people use a GoPro right so we're drifting a hundred 60 km/h around this track first time I've ever done anything like that I didn't know how to film it and I was stupidly didn't bring a GoPro so I've got my big camera like on a little tripod I'm trying to hold it as the cars you won't place and I'm holding it so hard it's still going like this but luckily we had a drone going as well when I could intercut it with that I did still the drain shots myself but by sheer luck sheer good luck it was a really nice bloke I think this from the US or Australia there that day and he was just filming with his drone as well and he was filming my laps and then after as I paid him some money and he gave me the footage so that was really lucky Wow otherwise how that would have looked I don't know how I would have cut it together but ya know as for me if boil it for a narrative you do wanna have some sort of narrative in any video right there needs to be a reg middle amend and there has to be some sort of structure to make it work who would you say is like kind of really inspired you like or help you like make like the direction of your videos like well I wrote the question here was [ __ ] which one is one of them here like what was like I know this like the shitty interview question you asked like you go who is somebody that influenced you to make you look your videos I I mean I don't really have any influences any influent head influences any influences that are from YouTube itself they usually you know British TV and stuff I like top gear that probably influenced my editing style on the recent drifting the net year okay yeah one of my favorite shades was a scream wipe in the UK by Charlie Brooker and he's he's a great critic and satirist and he actually wrote Black Mirror he's the writer behind all of Black Mirror abroad I'm a big fan yeah before that he's just sit on the sofa and take the piss out of TV and film so I love that so my influences all come from television they don't come from YouTube but I don't really watch a lot of YouTube myself oh yeah I've never really got into it I've like I said I'm a bit of a snobby person I can't really watch a vlog unless there is some degree of editing because a lot of lungs are kind of spontaneous right there in real life vlogging you walk down the street you film what you're doing I can see why people like that but it's never really appealed to me I don't know I feel like times limited and the only videos i watch are the ones that had to you know they've been kind of scripted out and planned in advance so I don't feel like I'm wasting my time okay it's kind of Rick was it Richard what's-his-name at burg I got a feel to it yeah the very much so it's a lot of your kind of the abroad in Japan Channel videos I'll take a great compliment I love that right yeah I like some of his stuff as well I mean it's kind of like where he he's a character in the show like I was watching another documentary series that was about Japan actually I quite liked it was a Japan Arama by Jonathan ruse I think his name is Jonathan Ross Ross yeah yeah I was pretty good with doesn't lose his breath he's raised I think the best shows that you see about Japan are the ones where the presenter actually as an interest in Japanese culture and knows a little bit like there was one recently with James May from Top Gear of Top Gear Fame or the Grand Tour it's called James Mays man in Japan and he traveled the country for the five or six episodes but he knew all about Japan and he had a deep appreciation for the culture as Jonathan Ross did the worst shows the ones where they take a presenter who doesn't know anything about Japan they walk them through Shibuya crossing and they go in different amazing oh no it's so busy oh yeah and that's literally all they do and I find that drives me mad I remember we used to watch some of these shows with these to come Japan back in the nineties or in the early 2000s and they'd always film these large crowds and they say things like isn't this exciting okay I guess why I'd say like nine times out of ten every TV show I've seen set in Japan they start it should be a crossing and ship is all right there's some cool stuff there but there's way more to Japan than should be a crossing and what I like trading may James Mays recent show man in Japan the opening shot he's just standing in front of a boat or something in the middle of a frozen lake in Hokkaido doesn't even look like Japan but at least it's original it's just him you know out doing something original and refreshing rather than oh it's just so different oh it's so busy and there's lights and there's a road that's busy Wow Japan yeah you can do you really tell when somebody cares about something they're talking about absolutely like a different like a difference in tone to the video um don't say okay so you've mentioned on your abroad japan podcast that you're interested in creating your own short film i assume this would be a fictional story like is there any stories that you want to tell I'm not so sure really yeah I mean that's the problem thinking of a good original narrative I don't want to go out and just make it crappy short film for the sake of it I don't know I can't be Donaldson one you made that's kind of funny coming around osaka only quite fun to do something with Netsky i'm you know for those that don't know they're listening for the first time I've got a crazy erratic Japanese friend called netsuke he is the most eccentric man I've met in Japan so far and I just love putting him in wild and wacky situation so I nearly killed him the other day with some hot sauce oh that's B feast the last dab his mouth burst into flames it was hilarious I loved it I loved doing a short film with him doing something maybe like walking around Osaka at night or in Tokyo but you know the main thing with a short film you need a plot day and that yeah only I wasn't down to think about one of my friends had like the greatest idea for a short film I think I think actually is former guest on the show Tomic boy X fYI Tokyo but he was saying you should do a short film or I don't know if you've ever been to a convenience store where you watched some of these Japanese people when they go in and they they read the ingredients on whatever it is they're buying and they take forever I think they're just carefully reading it and then sometimes they they look at it and then they put it back they put it back on the shelf and then they come back five minutes later they pick it back up again they start looking at again I'm like thinking what is their inner monologue saying to them right now like like they say something how would i look eating this without with my wife feel bad if I was eating yeah I mean what would the narrative the narrative be just them just walking through looking at some chocolates going ah sugar 20% content like that but it that'd be a fun little sketch definitely definitely and that's it there's the only like kind of a short film I guess I could think of the that would work I think and I've had other ideas for short films cuz I have some filmmaking buddies and filmmaking friends it's I want is part of making a film I think won't do me anything thinking up an original story with a plot twist that you know is rewarding at the end of there especially if you've got a short film where it's only between 5 to 20 see got a crab something in ya I've not yet succeeded in thinking up something good hopefully if someone live comments watching this can give us ideas last night give some ideas give me an idea I could steal speaking of things aren't your normal content like the short film have you ever felt like doing something completely off-brand like that's something not something you normally do what would your definition of off-brand be I don't know you you review Japanese films or you do an ASMR channel or that's what so I I it's a good question I suppose them more just by doing rough paying or something the voyage of Han channel is very defined isn't it it's just me and Japan doing stuff that's why supper second channel a few years ago which have really I've started getting getting it back and up and running recently and the second channel a broad perspective that's right stick more spontaneous experimental videos like I did do an ASMR video with Netsky right right ASMR video he sat down and he read out a list of 20 famous people he'd want to go with on a picnic but he [ __ ] up all the names so he you know I was written a huge a huge Ackman and he read him it's the microphone red caged Jackson like just screwed up all the names and the ways that I can come boy I think you ran out James Bond double-oh-seven as James Bond 0:07 I think that and I did another one like it's trying to experiment on that channel and do things I wouldn't normally do I did another one where it's just me sitting the other side of a room in their traditional Japanese in I'm just sitting alone on the far side the room but I'm wearing a radio mic so I can talk see you know you can hear me really clearly and that was just an experiment to see what that would look like and if you could still make a vlog by being so far away from the camera because usually you have to be up place right right so I guess the the second channel is my testbed for things and ideas and originally would I style I wanted to be I wanted it to be a comedy channel not a channel necessarily about but over the years I've kind of gone more towards being a Travel Channel by very bad that is what people want I think although I am kind of going back to the old way right now I'm in the process of scripting more comedy content because that's the sort of content that I really love making you know originally I was just abroad in Japan I was just a guy living in Japan but the brand is so synonymous with all things Japan now that right unless a part of it in many ways Sony just saw that out wouldn't you argue that that's what people want to see more of more of Japan and I mean people haven't told me this they say well they want to see the more of Japan and less of you not not huper ticularly I'm just saying me is like a creator you know yeah well I've worked that out it's taken me a long time to work that out but yeah I think people what people want is just me in a room talking about things those videos always do much better they get way more likes and they do better at the same time they would be it would be a bit limiting right you know you want to go out you want to do new things you know I like to experience new stuff try and get the balance right from now on so the next video I've got coming out is just me sitting here talking about my time as a teacher in Japan all the bad [ __ ] that happened and I think it's quite a fun videos when the funniest videos are probably made in a long time and then after that I've got a travel video and then after that I'm gonna make another one just me sitting in the room talking about weird japanese english engrish like japanese weird english marketing so I'm gonna try get the balance more this year right poorly get that but yeah I think you're right though people do want to see the creator more depends on the channel though certain channels do it better without the presenter okay um let me ask you this is there anything that you consider to be like Japan content that's evergreen evergreen meaning like it's yeah it's perfect all year round like you can upload it any time and it's always a successful video there anything like you said like that your go-to topics it's like I'd say like capsule hotel videos I've never seen it yeah link it up with there and I'll give the real say in a small capsule it's all a bit odd but people love that so if you go out tomorrow a million views job done it's insane like I did it once and it went viral and I didn't know why but like every crater I've seen it's done a capsule hotel video always gets a million bees second I'd say love hotel videos they always do well I've done - they've both gone viral both got my interviews as of all the other creators I know feed videos Eric in the comments says food videos wag you videos about Wagyu beef always get millions views videos about what not to do in Japan of course I'm guilty of that earlier okay I guess I guess this quest this question is obvious what I think it's not necessarily obvious but it's something I've had to think about a lot as a creator right I always tried my previous strategy was always to make videos that were evergreen not time-sensitive you could watch it three years later and it would still work no no that's a good strategy for any new creator because you can quickly both build up a portfolio of videos that will stand the test of time very true yeah and we've seen creators like Paolo from Tokyo day my life series stuff that series that mental in it well I actually have not seen a single episode I should watch one of those I've not really watched a single episode I kind of flick through it they always come up everywhere but that was really interesting that taught me that that is something people want to see they consistently do well oh I'll do it I don't think I think he's already nailed that he can do that I'll do something else huh all right so you've previously said on the I ignore excuse me I've previously said that the broad Japan show is like the gold standard in terms of like what a foreigner in Japan content should look like like when people ask me do you agree that you look what's the Hat what's your definition of gold standard what what I mean like if you're gonna make a good on Japan or like some sort of introduction video on Japan it should look something like what the wait abroad in Japan does it because I mean that's just my opinion but do you feel like you grieve made some of the best foreigner in Japan videos while you finish I think they're I think the broad Japan Chan there is a lot of good stuff on there I did used to put a lot of effort and I still do into the videos you know I don't just sit in a room bash out a video and afternoon and upload it there's a careful process it's English video right coming out hopefully tomorrow fingers crossed it better [ __ ] come out I already got myself you and control those how I'm so stupid oh I'll think things through too much I'll script it and I'll look at it and I'll be like yeah then I'll film it then I watch it then I'll go next [ __ ] script and film it again and that's the kind of process that goes into it this war itself basically but war in myself every video is a project right it's not a quick disposable thing it's something that needs to stand the test of time it needs to be something that works in five years it still needs to be funny it needs to be education or at least a tick certain boxes there needs to be like a joke every 20 seconds there needs to be educational tangible information so you walk away feeling like that was funny but I learned something and I am a x'd how many youtubers don't do that because that's the simplest thing make it kind of witty but also have a point say viewers walk away feeling like they've learned something and that's my formula and because I you know I started YouTube back when I was a teacher you know I first three years a youtuber only made about one video every five weeks I think right I virtually I was busy teaching English to students that didn't want to learn English and I had no choice but that would be good because if I made just quick rubbish videos they might just get lost and they wouldn't do well they wouldn't work against other YouTube channels the thing that I had the USP unique selling point of raw Japan was that all the videos were well edited because they had to be to succeed and stand out really right right well would you say you used to be a jet and you were used to deny the fly around used to be an airplane yes word to the wise folks you heard it here was a Japan exchange teacher is that what's that stand for again I don't even remember yeah Japan exchange teaching programs Yannick gain:feed your program thing and so used to be parted yet and you were I'm gonna say stations I don't think that's the right word you were placed were placed up in Sendai right no I was based in Yamagata just there that's right Yamagata yeah okay yeah all right and I was gonna ask you so at what point did you start to realize like hey I can quit this English job and I can start doing YouTube full-time was there any moment or like finally nothing I would say well I think I I never expected YouTube to really take off for me I didn't think you would no I guess not it's quite a weird thing to experience but I I remember when I said to myself in the second year when I had a guide about ten fifteen twenty thousand subscribers in my second year and I get a hundred thousand subscribers 100 thousand then that is the point where you could legitimately consider doing it as a full-time thing because with that number of you is for that audience you can either get the ad revenue or get sponsors in place that could you know get the income into to live off so once it hit hundred thousand I was like right yeah maybe no need to quit my job as a teacher by third year by my third year because I felt I could hit the ceiling as a teacher I think I felt like I'd done everything I could and I wanted to move on and I wanted to still live in Japan but I didn't want to do it by the you know I don't want to be manacled to Yamagata manacled to the role of being a teacher or to go off and their youtuber but yeah a hundred thousand subscribers I would say that to anybody even today once you've got a hundred thousand subscribers then you can consider doing YouTube fault it's not easy by that point by any standards yeah so you're kind of taking a risk there almost it was recent I'd be cheap I'd have been stupid not T you know how much would I beat myself up if I'd have said I got a hundred thousand but that's not enough better go back to the UK now and eat some fish and chips and then give up like I was like oh I came back to Japan on a gap year not gap year what do you call it a working holiday right my teaching job I came back on a work in a holiday and that was my move in 2016 and I had to take out a big bank loan because I had no money and I took out a big bank loan and use that to fund the production of videos and fund my life my life in Japan it was a pretty tough thing yeah yeah I imagine dairy it takes a lot of confidence it took a lot of confidence but more than confidence it's just regret that worry I always worry way more about regretting something then anything else you know how would you feel you know fifty years old sitting in a room in London going I could have had a YouTube channel and lived in Japan for longer and they would have beat myself up about that my imaginary London apartment in the future well it's good to know that you've would you say you've made it do you feel like you've made it or you don't even know what that means anymore I don't know that means I mean yeah um I don't know I would say I made it because you know could all kid all go the instead could blow up tomorrow and I'll be stuffed I think you may be something well I think you've made it once you've got a nice house paid off and you can not do anything and not worrying losing a house and I'm very far from that but I'm very lucky and fortunate in the position I'm in it's it's been a bumpy road it took me four years before I turned over enough money to really live off without subsidizing it with bank loans or a teacher's salary took about four years to get to that point and that's why I say to anybody considering each you've got to be careful with it because it's not an easy pathway and you've really got to be into it the reason I do it is because I love the process of making a video right I don't do it for views I didn't do it for money I do it because I love the process of scripting filming and editing that whole thing it's just something I love and if I didn't then I would have the motivation to ever do it or put myself through a lot of the things I put myself through to get to this point it's all about the journey what you're saying the journey which I'm still very I hope you're still wearing white sari I think the internet cut out there for a second I'm still I'm still on the journey but Mike are you still on the journey okay if you want to get a refill all right for now I all right yeah I don't know I like three cups of coffee Rodri is not a good read real tea that much I get like delirious and like I get headaches and things usually only wears off when the caffeine wears off it's an absolute shame so I can empathize so this is so you this is you Chris at like two cups three cups which one are you on less like two cups okay all right but that's probably ideal or at least in my opinion so I was talking to a friend of the show Chris carlier of mondo mascots whom of which you've collaborated in the past Oh grace and he was telling me that even as a big creator you sometimes struggle making content for YouTube a lot can you paint us like a picture of like what kind of challenges come with doing YouTube full-time opposed to like us that just do it as a hobby I feel like for me personally there's a constant battle between making videos that I want to make and making videos that will do well once you reach a certain point doing eg after seven years in my case you know what video will do well right you put a gun to my head and said Chris increase your turnover by 300% by the end the year blow right and I'd go off and make twenty videos about capsule hotel more love hotel videos someday my like videos following yeah doing some stuff in Tokyo I do all that [ __ ] because yeah it's easy but what I really want to do it no probably not and so I've you know you've got to get the balance right you've got to do what you enjoy and I know a lot you Sheba's that get burned out from it you feel like you can't take a break you don't to let down viewers you know and as the week's go by if you don't release a video three weeks you can feel the heat you know your viewers will be like where's the video and you'll feel it here you'll feel anxious you feel like [ __ ] I've got to release something and do something so you can never really switch off I every day I wake up I go through twitter facebook Instagram YouTube and you you know you interact with people you look over the statistics the comments you try and speak to as many people as you can but by doing that you feel like you never really switch off I can be in the mountains in the most northern far-flung remote place in Japan but as long as I've got my phone with me and it switched on there's no escape you know you're very much in the matrix you very much plugged in you're doing it you're interacting with all these things and that's my biggest flaw that I struggle to switch that off and really be in the moment and I felt like as the years have rolled on as it creator as a youtuber as an influencer or whatever you want to call it I feel like I've been left and life has sped up and become faster and faster and I'm 30 years old in two months and I don't know where the last three years [ __ ] when they've been a good three minutes generally but they've got Sophia and being an influencer just puts life on fast-forward so I have a lot of nightmares is often influencer um nothing anymore I have a lot of nightmares where I'm like 80 years old and I'm about to die oh [ __ ] that life went quick what have I done and so that's telling me something that's telling me that I need to be in the moment a bit more I need to switch off a bit more not stop making videos necessarily but take a step back from social media and you see that with a lot of youtubers who do things like Twitter twitch is a great place to never feel like you can switch off and that's why we see people like PewDiePie you've taken a step back from Twitter and YouTube entirely he's not even on Twitter anymore is he is there left Twitter you know I think so yeah it's a tough thing I guess but at the same time I've got the right to complain about it because I do live a lucky great life has its ups and downs but it's pretty good for the most part so you feel like there has to be a limit on how much you can complain about it right uh-huh otherwise just do something else yes I went on Twitter and I found PewDiePie and it says yes his bio says I don't use Twitter this account is just to prevent fake accounts yeah that's that's him yeah he switched it off so he stopped doing anything yeah burnout is a real thing because whenever I try to like even comprehend or try to reason why I don't do J vlogging content or want to do J flocking content it's just if I go somewhere like let's say I go to I don't know tech house on right I go to the mountains like I just want to enjoy the day I don't want to like look at this from like a story point of view you know it's not if you ever have that might I yeah what I'm traveling with friends I never normally vlog or do anything right I just want to enjoy it I did vlog the recent separation a festival trip with my friends I'd myself Netsky Pete from the podcast Sharla in Japan and Jackie give Japanese French a key with a good team a people right well thank you Avengers well you're all meeting up yes the disappointing Avenger I would have beat myself up if I hadn't film that day because there's so many good friends there semi-great yeah yeah been a shame not to have done it so I did vlog that and it didn't get in the way because I used to go pro for once rather than my big camera with the microphone all the equipment I literally took out a GoPro on a stick and just filmed it was so much more relaxing and dynamic you know I didn't try to overthink it and that'll be going on my second channel because it's not this meticulous work of art that's been scripted and planned this it's filmed and it's a vlog right second channels for you know right right hard to switch off and I don't disagree when you're a vlogger you know you can't it's it certificate it's a difficult thing to just say no I'm not gonna film it I'm just gonna enjoy it right right okay so I want to talk a little bit about Natsuki your oh we don't mind me saying this is he kind of like your Japanese sidekick is he's right here isn't he good it's drawing some we did a viewer he came to an event a meet-up event in February last year they drew this you can see netsky with the balloons Reata who in the cloud and me and my pocket there yeah neski is a song like you're a Chewbacca or something he's my senior Han Solo kids burn s keys drunk he sounds like Chewbacca I don't know I'm just trying to think because it's like when you you speak to somebody in English like a Comanche who's talking to not ski in English need understand but maybe he'd speak back to you in Japanese you know how like Chewbacca always some wookie language that's a good comparison I like that from now on he will be Chi back here I guess yeah it's good like if it was just about me I don't I think one of my favorite things about doing this is that I've been able to take that ski along for the ride you know he's just a guy he works and lives in a very rural place where the Internet I don't even know if the Internet's been existed been invented sorry in that part of Japan yet and yet he's been seen by millions of people because he's been on the channel when he's come along for the journey for the last six years now if I carry through that his reactions to things through the way he deals with life so yeah I guess he's a sidekick but he's a big part of the channel right oh you're saying on your want your podcast that you wanna make Natsuki famous right yeah it's been three years you know I said to netsky what four or five years ago we used to go out every Thursday for yakitori grilled chicken it was amazing it was the highlight of the week we'd go to a you know this little yakitori shop and we'd sit and eat and drink for three hours and talk about life and our future dreams and YouTube and always said to him don't worry we're gonna make you famous one day we're gonna do it and I've tried I've done what I could we've been seen by millions he's got his own unofficial fan club the nasty fan club and it's got quite a big cult following he's got 50 I think he's almost got 50,000 followers on Instagram the last time I checked as well that's key the man is his Instagram name and he always uploads weird photos there but I think for me that would be like the ultimate dream to give netsuke some degree of fame that isn't too reliant on the abroad in Japan Channel but I'd whether it will happen or not I don't know he's getting on a bit now and yeah I'm not so sure whoever hit our I've got another shot this year gonna put him at the forefront of more videos and see if we could do it like what do you want to make him famous for just his personality here is music I mean he's a musician right he's musician but I think the thing I want to make him famous for is he just brings joy to a lot of people cuz he is a very unique way of looking in the world he's very laid-back he's very relaxed he is somebody who wasn't wannabe rock star I think he still is so he just kind of chilled out and you know I've found and a lot of people have found that if you having a bad day you can watch Nats key just big nasty bumbling around doing silly things being quite innocent and naive with the world and it's quite refreshing almost like watching a child in many ways in the same way people like watching children mess around and discover the world I feel like that with netsky so yeah I just find him relaxing to watch and so I think the world could benefit from that with the world's all falling apart and everyone's got coroner virus or coronavirus everything it'll be nasty having a drink having a laugh and we can all watch him and all cheer up before we die great a virus we're relevant now you could time stamp this like I'm sure he's pretty sure like this I like swine flu or all those other diseases you could tell when this interview was recorded but definitely so my last rich in question they had for you was I always like to end in like a silly like a silly question so on your bookshelf you have this book uh and your book and say yeah Lassa fever big it says the philosophy book Big Ideas simply explained yeah I mean I just have this book to look smart why do you have it it's quite a strange reason actually I I never really studied philosophy I always thought philosophy was just something people oxford university did round the fireplace and tried to one-up each other with their knowledge of various Greek philosophy probably true theories and yes but I I bought it because I learned memorization this memorization technique or I could memorize like everything really effortlessly and brilliantly and I bought this book my aim was to go through and I think there's like 250 theories in this book 250 theories of philosophy or as they're gloss furs or something like that and I was going to go through every single page and memorize all of them like when they were discovered or when they would like theorized who the person was where it was all the key details and you know what I made it about 20 pages in and I could recall them from memory okay they do what did play to him I could bash out the facts but then I gave up and that was the end of that right story is that their many careers in philosophy so I think you're fine no but I find philosophy is a great great tool for practical application you know I had a tough time as a teacher in my second year I guess I'd like a little crisis for a few months I didn't know what I was doing in Japan for some reason I didn't know why I was teaching English I had this moment of what the [ __ ] am i doing and I there's not a lot you can really do in that situation I don't want to tell my friends about it I don't want to go to a doctor or a counselor or anything like that so I just bought some books on philosophy and I suppose if you're an atheist like I am you don't really have a framework for life you don't have anything to fall back on so I tried to dive into philosophy and try to reset my way of thinking and after about two or three months of study it did work and that book was actually useless didn't help me at all it looked cool you have it there yeah it looks good it really helped me by to get some other good books on philosophy that did help and yeah philosophy is a great way to work out roadmap what's my favorite book called as a great book when you love what's that thing called it's a great book called philosophy for life which talks about applying philosophy practically as he would a bandage to a wound there's the obstacle is the way by Ryan holiday that's an incredible book and it draws upon stoic Greek Greek stoic philosophy obstacle is the way because I think most of us when we've got a problem in life we dwell on the problem rather than the solution and you shouldn't do that anything gets in your way try and work out how to get around it rather than getting depressed about the problem itself that's the entire book summarized in a sentence it's great obstacle is the way Ryan holiday I give it to anyone who's there who's having a bad week you know having a bad time huh all right all right then well we have some questions from reddit because I put made a subreddit like ask questions and there was another question in the chat here where'd that go I don't know if anybody's said on the other questions where that go let me find that there's something about yeah my god okay the Cathal zan a I'm so sure from finessing that name right kai Kai CD please predict correct my pronunciation what is there to do in Yamagata um eat cherries eat cherries really that's it cherries hey this lady's to do Yonezawa has some amazing hot springs and some of the best Wagyu beef in Japan there by bullet train from Tokyo in about two and a half hours two hours maybe yamadera one of most beautiful temples in North Japan it looks like the place from Batman Bruce Wayne trains in Bhutan you know the temple he burns down it's right right it looks a bit like that so I like that there's mount choke I the tallest mountain volcano in North Japan amazing climb I've climbed it twice and it's way more fun than Mount Fuji and Ginza Ginn's and hot springs beautiful hot spring drenched in snow it's one of the most snowy places in the country I love it there's no hot spring quite like you or quite as picturesque so there's lots of stuff to do in Yamagata and of course cherries eat lots of cherries so if I guess if I learned anything it's go there for the cheeriest of cherries and the winter what is it Femi from the subreddit asks when is reset the dog in and get his own like read there right um he's looked at all right how did we get that name somebody said somebody referred to MS risotto a once like a resort a and it stuck okay Britt grudgingly just brought with that basically and now he's risotto I love it I see they're asking when did he get his own cooking show when hell freezes over broke coming said what it won't be happening okay he likes to cook right or is that not true I've never seen him cook I don't cook in his life him try to brew some sake once the only did was blow up the bottle because you overfill with it would suck it okay he goes on to say family says I seriously though when did you pants stop being this foreign country and actually feel like home I'd say second year for me when I my first year was rubbish I because I didn't know Japanese I was a bit shy and awkward and I didn't really get much out of it I just sat in my apartment in my free time and studied like a maniac in my second year because I knew some Japanese I have more confidence you know I started meeting people like netsuke at that time I got a Japanese girlfriend and that kind of integrated into the culture more but I just died networking more and I kind of transitioned from feeling like a tourist to being a part of the community by volunteering and getting out and about and I think that's the the main thing most people or a lot of people I know in Tokyo do you get depressed because they just contain themselves in their apartment or keep themselves and it can be difficult yes it's in Japan to meet people everybody knows it's difficult but luckily in the countryside because you are a rarity people take advantage of that and once I got out and about and started volunteering people like yeah Chris come to this event come to this come to that I remember in my last week in my third year there was a local newspaper for the region and I'll open it and I was on every single page for the first five pages for doing something well why can't run an event an international centre I'd won a speech contest on the second page was about some volunteering I'd done a much school and that was like wow this is mental but not even I realized I'd got so stuck into the the neighbourhood and got stuck into the local area so two people who don't feel like they are a part of Japan I'd say you have to make Japanese friends to bring you in to the culture more and you have to make an effort yourself you have to get out there and network rather than just sit in a room and that's the main advice I have and make youtube videos I'll make a youtube video to do that the Kaito kid 1 to 0-5 asks I assume you probably never have been a teacher in the UK but could you and compare the teaching routine in Japan and the UK which one has more benefits in which one is more time-consuming which one would you recommend the five part question Thank You Caillou kid we know what I'd say the Japanese education system prepares students for Japan very well indeed right they come out they're well disciplined they stand in line they're collectivist they're a group it does rob you of your individuality it does rob you of your creativity a bit I fired a kid which I probably won't I would never want to put them through Japan's education system because it would just take their dreams and just put them in a blender and that's the good thing about the British education system be prepared for the world right you're prepared go up take on the world you can be placed you you could come out Japanese come out with British school and you could end up any country in the world and you could handle it but I think in Japan they don't repay for the world they pay for Japan that's rigid which is good and bad we have low crime here low crime people play by the rules that's what makes Japan's they're good people work hard they don't cut corners on the other hand limited individuality so yeah roundabouts really swings and roundabouts yeah yeah all right so the next question we have here is endeavour 1g2 well they wrote me at a letter hi Chris I'm super excited to have this chance to have a two-part question that's been on my mind for a while now it is my goal to I guess so alright it's it's a long one it is my goal to go to the Japan and teach English and after I get it fluently with the Japanese language is the first part of my question is how welcoming are the Japanese people in schools both on the staff team and students to foreign language to foreign English teachers in your years of experience how would you accurately describe the dynamic between both sides of the spectrum the spectrum being the students and the staff that's the first part you already read the second part you want answer the first one first it's the second power related I guess the second part of my question okay the second part of my question is what do you personally think about the schools that are specifically catered to teach English compared to regular schools I cannot remember the Japanese name for of these specific schools but I hope to have a good enough description of what they are thank you for taking the time to read my question if it doesn't end up replying to it I apologize for its length you better apologize no I'm joking thank you endeavour 1g2 a lengthy question well I would say it's just watched my brownie video who teaching in Japan yeah gonna cover that in the video in depth what I will say is I never had any bad problems really at my school it was never disrespectful to me personally I always felt valid the teaching the English teachers that I worked with the Japanese English teachers were good and they never really put me down some of them didn't know how to use me and they just used me as a broken [ __ ] accord repeating the same words over and over for students to listen to repeat but for the most part it was good and yeah I think the main problem was given I lived in the middle of nowhere in rural Japan where English isn't needed or used a lot of people did feel like a lot of students felt like why is this relevant why are we learning English they should have spent more time telling students why English is good and why they should learn it because they don't bother but if the most part was great but they check out my new video answers are coming in that video I have some weird comment in the chat feel free to answer this however you want green cyclist says can you ask risk if he's still in Tokyo creative and if Japan is accepting a sexual orientation when he first arrived what does that mean no idea I don't know maybe had you identify his trans private life extra special and so I was fine no problem there and I still would take Aki do stuff at them obviously they had a transition period last year which means Chris Rock and I left the company and moved to Korea but for some reason didn't feel the need to make video or tell anyone about that you know I've had people for [ __ ] months going what's going on take it crave what's going on with Tokyo creative and I'll tell you because I'm fed up because Chris or can they didn't [ __ ] say anything about it right if you were leaving a company at least tell people if you build a company around yourself for two years right disappear one afternoon you think you'd be like oh where the management falling out and then I moved to Korea by and then that'd be it but instead he just disappeared it didn't say anything and then everyone's just been asking me every day for a year now or whatever it is what happened to take a creative and that's what happens you know just just work Chris is a good friend of mine I still like Chris I still like Chris but I feel like he should have handled that better because a lot of people felt like he thought he owned take a creative but he didn't write the the CEO right but take a creative still exists it's more shrunk down now it's more down to a core group of staff but it's still doing stuff and I still work with them and I like the people that work there but you know it's changed from what it was going to be Chris Chris had a good vision credit where it's to you to him he had a decent vision he wanted to turn into something really big and special but that didn't happen yeah a fool I think yeah falling out or a disagreement with the owners and that was that and they cut the staff down from double digits to single digits I think well yeah but it's still going by and it's still you think I like to take it great for and they are good I mean there's some great people that work there really nice people friends by all accounts and the reason I like take it grave was I could go take it right yeah you making the video and I don't have a cameraman and I could be like hey guys can you help me film this and then they'd send someone to help me film it and that's what I liked about take it creative and they still do that sometimes but as I said this stuff numbers are a bit more refined but I think they're focused now on making a profitable company rather than just making a brand that wasn't sure what it was doing so right here's a very well you're gonna answer this one if you want Brandon Popovich asks how do you get the money to be able to do what you do well at revenue and patreon mainly I guess like as I said the first four years didn't really make any money from Gucci but I had to subsidize everything with my teaching salary and then in the fourth year took out a nice big bank loan which I paid off as if he quickly wants things ago up and running and then after that ad revenue from YouTube and patreon has been invaluable like I've got a pretty strong abroad in Japan patreon community I dedicate a fair bit of time to that to making like exclusive videos behind the scenes stuff so they feel like they're in the loop and I'm proud of that but yeah it's the combination of those things a merchandise which has made about $5 it's that's I've been doing I've been selling merchandise for what three years now yeah right but it's kind of faded off and I've never promoted it and not bothered about that really are you I was gonna ask you this are you much of a coffee snob or is any kind of coffee fine okay boss a drink okay I need to stay awake see you're okay with like the can coffee because I can't I personally can't stand that stuff like this I'm desperate for coffee it makes me physically sick now does it well I used to just get the vending machine on them like as I ran into the classroom downward talk mediocre English for 50 minutes for like yeah as I said they like making money as if it's easy it takes a lot of time they start YouTube with the aim of making money you should start with the aim of making videos that get viewed and people can relate to and go from there yeah I've been very lucky they take a long time but yeah it's worked out pretty well in the last few years I guess hard work it's worked out alright it's the last of the reddit comments spooker two three one asks hi I recently got an offer to study in Japan and I would like to work there after graduating however I came to know a work culture and Japan is horrible is that actually true would you recommend people to go to Japan to live and work there as a foreigner main thing about Japan is that I like the friendly and helpful people hopefully where culture won't get too much in the way PS I I would never work for Japanese company the end no I only work for a company in Japan if they had like that either had overseas experience with the work culture by Japan or if it was run by out foreigners because the Japanese work culture is brutal there is no clear line between work and life there is no balance from what I know I don't know many people work in Japanese companies that have that balance it's quite rare so be aware of that be careful who you work for because you might have to spend five hours a week going out after work drinking those a beer with your colleagues and you will probably never get much free time like you know I know a lot people that can't even take holiday because it's bad to take holiday in Japan right you've seen as the week worker and many people don't like leave I have the whole year and they still have their 20 days work holiday their 20 days work leave still intact they don't use them because you suddenly when you leave work you're seen as letting down your working your your colleagues right if you take two weeks off it's a big deal in Japan like you're letting down your colleagues you're causing problems so most people don't and that's a really big problem it's a real shame but now I would have a hard time working for a Japanese company and so therefore who you work for here because you could end very badly indeed yeah I can I can second that be careful you work for here with one out all right right you have a good you okay now honey yeah no English teachings simple I mean that's what I probably still do it it's simple and it doesn't remand too much from you like a normal like if you worked at like Sony or any of these big-name places a realistic look for you would be like you you finish at twelve at midnight or no you take the last train maybe not midnight you take the last train and then you get home and then you have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. to catch first train no that's how horrible it is that's not the dream yeah yeah it's not a dream I mean unless you really love working at Square Enix or Sony or any of these big name brand companies unless you get a lot of kick out of it then do it but yeah I know that was a question for you but that's just my two cents added to it yeah it's important to hear these things all right Chris but that's pretty much it for today anything you want to say before we go now subscribers they brought Japan Channel and watch the new teaching video given that there seems to be so many questions about it should be up on Sunday which means it probably up on Monday but yeah check it out but thanks for watching and listening guys no matter where you might be out there and yeah thanks for joining the chat or people who sent their questions it was a lot of fun next week here on why come Japan blk UNK will be on the show Blanc Uncas name he's been making videos forever it'll be a person in person interview it won't be one of these through the internet but but sometimes you you know you have to do person in person or what is the internet videos cuz you are what do you call this live stream through hangout live straight hangout live screams I had some people tell me like I don't wanna listen to the show if you got like if you're not that the persons not there they're not physically there oh oh okay but well otherwise work great Berkeley it was like you were in my ears for the last two hours for better aware yeah worked out pretty well quality wise say God bless Japanese speedy Internet yeah although it can be okay you don't think so I'll [ __ ] no internet there's dreadful well then what's the upload speed there is it really low it's nothing there's just there's just nothing weirdoes is there any bad yeah god bless your hands it tonight alright so yeah until then I'm rad REE and I'm Chris have a good one bye have a great morning afternoon night whenever you're listening to this [Music]

Channel: Radrey

Views: 14,999

Keywords: abroad in japan, chris broad, abroad in japan interview, why come japan, radrey, abroad in japan natsuki, abroad in japan love hotels, abroad in japan learning japanese, natsuki abroad in japan, podcast, abroad in japan travel tips, tokyo creative, japan, japanese, abroad in japan why come japan

Id: 20q2P_N9qsE

Length: 72min 58sec (4378 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 12 2020