Foreign Influencers in Japan: The Cosplay Problem | The Austin and Arthur Show #185

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Cheers, man. Cheers.

[00:00:07]I see what you mean. This is like kind of weird. So, I picked this out because this is Dea Zakura.

[00:00:12]>> Yeah.

[00:00:12]>> And it's no [clears throat] Kimoto.

[00:00:18]>> And I thought it would be good. It's the Sigori Sakura.

[00:00:25]But >> I'll I'll tell you like like like I was saying just a few minutes ago like before we before we started doing this.

[00:00:32]It's >> I don't hate it. Yeah. But it's just like for me it tastes like nihonu soda.

[00:00:38]>> That's a good way to put it.

[00:00:40]>> You know what I mean?

[00:00:40]>> Yeah. Yeah. You know, you know, actually so normally we drink Jai. Yeah.

[00:00:44]>> But this one is uh Oh, is this one also has like the Jo in it. So it's not Jumai. So that might be one reason why it feels that way.

[00:00:53]>> Yeah. So, I don't know. Like, >> sorry, this is a mess on my side.

[00:00:58]>> Oh, it's all good. Sometimes sometimes we don't get winners. Yeah.

[00:01:01]>> Um I I really like the rice flavor. It's just the the fizzy part.

[00:01:05]>> Yeah. Know, I get that. Sometimes the fizzy works really well, but this one >> But one thing that really caught me was that this is sigori. So, it's not really nigory. Like, when we bought this, >> Yeah.

[00:01:15]>> there was a bunch of stuff at the at the base.

[00:01:16]>> Yeah. So, >> little floaty bits.

[00:01:18]>> Little floaty bits. So, what are we doing today? We are going to be talking about foreign influencers in Japan.

[00:01:26]>> Yeah.

[00:01:27]>> Talking about >> everybody. This is Austin and Arthur, two white guys here living in Japan.

[00:01:34]>> Well, yeah. In in all fairness, I kind of started this podcast with that idea that we were going to be having this go towards the American market.

[00:01:42]>> And then all the Americans were like, "There's a billion of you. Who gives a shit?"

[00:01:45]>> And I mean, literally, they pivoted.

[00:01:47]Yeah. But I think who who was the one that suggested this? Was this you that suggested this idea or was it me? It was like a couple months ago.

[00:01:55]>> I think it might have just been like a conversation we had and we kind of just both came to the conclusion. I think that I think maybe that's what it was.

[00:02:03]But >> um yeah, I don't like it's so crazy when you talk about uh foreign influence foreign influencers here in Japan because >> it's so crazy how different the markets are Yeah.

[00:02:18]>> with the Japanese market in the rest of the world.

[00:02:21]>> Yeah.

[00:02:21]>> Right. If you think of a foreign influencer from like an outsider perspective, if you're like American or European or wherever, >> like and you see foreign influencers living here in Japan, they actually don't go over their daily life.

[00:02:35]>> Yeah.

[00:02:35]>> They go over like the really Japanese things in their life. Like like what?

[00:02:41]You know what I mean? Like I I I'll give you I'll give you the like the stereotype influencer thing. It's like this person who's a jet that's living out in the middle of nowhere in Japan.

[00:02:52]>> Uh >> they live in like a small little house that costs no money and they're just like, "Yeah, okay. Well, let me ride my bike to my work." And they're like riding through like a little >> the rice fields. The rice patties.

[00:03:04]>> Yeah. The rice patties. And like maybe they they go past like a really small market >> and there's like, "Oh, all right. My work day is done." And you know, here's my house. And it's like this tatami house. Like every room is a tatami room.

[00:03:19]And like they don't have like >> doors. They have like the uh like >> the shoe like >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:26]>> You know what I mean? It's like everything is like >> it's like I It's just heavily heavily Japanese to the point where it's just like >> It's like you're almost cosplaying a little bit.

[00:03:39]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. It it feels like you're you're really I don't want to say faking it cuz like these people are still living their lives but in in a way it feels like faking it, right?

[00:03:51]>> Yeah. So like so one thing that really gets gets me so when when I think about >> influencers, foreign influencers in Japan >> trying to introduce Japan to Western audiences.

[00:04:02]>> Yeah.

[00:04:02]>> The first person that comes to mind is this channel Abroad in Japan. Sure.

[00:04:07]>> It's Chris Broad. Yeah. And he actually he moved to Japan the same year I did.

[00:04:11]So he came he came as like a jet I think. Let me let me just bring up a picture >> of it. Can >> Did I Did I lose the screen? I think I lost the screen. No. Here we go.

[00:04:21]>> Yeah.

[00:04:22]>> So So this guy Chris Broad, he's a British dude.

[00:04:25]>> Yeah.

[00:04:26]>> And he came to Japan in 2013 when I did.

[00:04:29]And you know, now he's he's like the number one YouTuber about Japan. He's got like multiple millions of people I think. Like Yeah. So, 3.5 million 3.3 million subscribers.

[00:04:41]>> I know he's got a lot, but the funny thing is is this is his channel. I'm not going to put on too much details, but it's it's funny because he says like, "Oh, you know, Japan starts here. Let me share with you guys what my life is like in Japan, >> but this guy, he doesn't really speak Japanese."

[00:04:58]>> Oh, really?

[00:04:58]>> No, this was actually a really big thing. There's there's another YouTube channel that I like that's quite conservative and has some spicy topics.

[00:05:06]So, I don't want to mention it here, but the guy who's doing that channel is learning Japanese and he used to follow Chris, this guy a lot.

[00:05:13]>> But there was this video where Chris like people were calling out Chris saying how >> you aren't actually integrated into Japan Japanese society.

[00:05:22]>> This is this is exactly what I'm talking about, man. Like, >> yo, sorry, I don't want to cut you off.

[00:05:28]>> I know. So, so what was funny though is that he showed how like I can't find the specific video, but he wanted to show how much in the culture he was. So, he showed a short interview of him interviewing this woman who runs a restaurant or something in Japanese.

[00:05:45]>> Yeah.

[00:05:45]>> And the subtitles >> on it when he's speaking Japanese make it sound like he speaks very eloquently, but his his Japanese level is like N4.

[00:05:57]like it's very basic, very grammar.

[00:05:59]>> Wow. Okay. So, my Japanese is better than >> like, you know, that kind of thing, right?

[00:06:06]>> And his partner is not Japanese, but he's here sitting as like I am here to show you what the real Japan is, >> but he doesn't really >> speak that much.

[00:06:17]>> Yeah. I just personally um I find I find because it's it's it's not just people like him and you know I I don't think there's anything wrong with that because I mean he I mean he's definitely got like his audience and everything right and >> you know it's like you have three million people following you must have some something that people are interested in >> but like for me personally I just I kind of get the iick >> from that.

[00:06:41]>> Get the iick from that. I get the ick from that, man. Cuz it's it's like you see that so much uh in the foreign community here in Japan where it's like there's a lot of you know what you know, here's how I'll describe it. It's performance lifestyle.

[00:06:57]>> Yeah, performance lifestyle.

[00:06:58]>> It's performance lifestyle. You you're not actually doing things that like >> you want to be doing in your daily life or that you would see people here in Japan doing in your daily life. You're you're doing things that you think people want to see.

[00:07:14]>> Yeah.

[00:07:15]>> You know what I mean?

[00:07:16]>> And it's like that. I don't know, dude.

[00:07:19]when I I've met a lot of people like that in my experience here in Japan and not not even necessarily famous people, just people moved to Japan for whatever reason >> and but everything they do is very performance-based like oh I'm going to you know this this shrine this weekend and you know oh you're not familiar with this this thing yeah it's been in Japan for like 300 years like you know it's just like >> everything about them is just showing like how much Japanese culture they participate in.

[00:07:54]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:07:54]>> You know what I mean?

[00:07:55]>> Yeah.

[00:07:56]>> It's like >> I mean I mean so like we can so if we go a little bit more into this like let's look at some of this guy Chris Broad's video. So yeah granted the screen that I'm actually watching this on is actually quite small.

[00:08:07]>> Sure.

[00:08:08]>> So let's see.

[00:08:09]>> Tried Japan's rarest beef.

[00:08:12]>> Yeah.

[00:08:12]>> Or try Japan's insanely expensive fruit.

[00:08:16]>> Yeah.

[00:08:16]>> Um >> Yeah. See, everything's just like sensationalized. And I get it. It's on YouTube, so there's like they're, you know, it's like we do the same thing with our thumbnails, right? But it's like everything is this like >> trying to grab your attention and like really really zoom in on this like >> if you talk to the average Japanese person about what's Japan's tiniest car, no one [ __ ] knows.

[00:08:39]>> Yeah. No one knows.

[00:08:40]>> Like who would know that, right? You know, it's like things like that where I I just like look, if you if you want to be all about Japanese culture, I think there's nothing wrong with that.

[00:08:52]>> Yeah.

[00:08:53]>> But it's like I think there needs to be some honesty with with people who who do this. And they need to not say, you know, I'm living the Japanese lifestyle cuz you're not.

[00:09:06]>> Yeah. I mean, >> you're treating it like Disneyland.

[00:09:08]>> Yeah. I think a lot of like I said, you know, Chris is not the only person like this, but there are lots of other influencers where >> they they're living in Japan, but it's like they're an eternal tourist. Yes.

[00:09:19]>> Instead of actually living Yeah. here.

[00:09:21]Have you heard of um Have you heard of Oriental Pearl at all?

[00:09:24]>> Yes.

[00:09:25]>> Yeah. So, so I feel like um Oriental Pearl is kind of the real deal.

[00:09:32]>> Okay. I would say because I haven't seen her stuff in detail, >> but like for instance, let me just let me just pause this. I don't want to get a copyright strike or whatever, >> but so so the thing with Oriental Pearl is she's actually fluent in Japanese >> and she actually goes out and she talks to people. Oh, that why that disappeared suddenly.

[00:09:52]>> Yeah. Oh, dang it. It just changes. But yeah, so she um so she actually um like interviews people and talks with people on the street. Yeah. Or whatever. And so she's actually getting to know, you know, I I don't want to cut you off, but I just want to highlight like the difference. Hey guys, if you've watched this far, you're going to love our Austin and Arthur friends. In the Austin and Arthur friends, you're going to really improve your English listening, and I mean a lot. As a friend of ours, you will get each episode ahead of time with no ads, so you can watch before anyone else. But not just that, you can ask us questions or leave comments and we will make a special video each week answering questions and responding to comments. These videos will not be released publicly. They are for friends members only. It's a great way for you to ask our opinions directly and for us to respond directly. You'll also get listening practice questions and answers that you can check. Answers are for friends members only. Oh, and so you can check your listening. But not just that, for each episode, you'll get a list of native phrases we said from the video along with practice sentences and pronunciation practice to help your speaking as well. You'll also get access to a membersonly community where you can talk with us, the both of us, mainly me, right? No, I'm definitely not.

[00:11:29]>> This is a great way to support our show, but also get closer to us and improve your English as well. For more information, click on the link in the description box, the guyang, or go to our website, austinandar.com.

[00:11:47]>> And so, she's actually getting to know people. Dude, you know, I I don't want to cut you off, but I just want to highlight like >> the difference between uh her thumbnails >> and uh the previous guy's thumbnails, right? I before before I finish this thought, I want to I want to just compare how how many how many followers she's got? She's got um 1.4 million.

[00:12:09]>> She's about half, right? But still pretty good amount, right?

[00:12:12]>> But if you look at go back go back to her thumbnails, right? Yeah.

[00:12:16]>> Look at look at all these things right here. These are conversations.

[00:12:21]>> Yeah.

[00:12:21]>> Right. We have why leave America. I'm talking with this person. Oh, look at this guy. He's native and Japanese. This person's done with Japan. This person, I'm Japanese now. Like, you're talking with people's experiences. You're not talking about like some stupid freaking fact.

[00:12:37]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:12:37]>> You know, it's like I ate this great food, you know?

[00:12:40]>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Right. And that's I think that is the fundamental difference right there.

[00:12:44]>> Yeah. Dude, I love I love this though.

[00:12:46]So like cuz she's so fluent in Japanese.

[00:12:48]>> So So >> Oh, dude. Uh >> yeah. So the is it? Look at like read this one. The Matrix broke when she suddenly spoke Japanese.

[00:12:57]>> Yeah.

[00:12:57]>> Um what what's it is it is it Longma?

[00:13:01]>> What's what's the guy the the white guy who's completely fluent in Chinese? I don't know that guy. I I want to say it's a Longma or Shangma. Okay, I'm going to Xiao Xiaom. Okay, I'm going to I'm going to look this up. So, so if I type in Okay, I'm going to look this up.

[00:13:16]So, like X O A M A >> X X X O O A Okay, here. Let me Let me type this in. Let's do this. So, he's American. He's He's He's an He's Yes, he's American, but he was born in China and he was raised in China, but then he came back to the States and he's a white guy. Okay.

[00:13:43]So, is this No, that's Disney Plus. I don't know. What the >> American born Chinese? Never mind. Yeah.

[00:13:50][laughter] So, so if you find his if you get can find out his channel name. Yeah, just just look it up. That's fine.

[00:13:55]>> Let me let me let me let me let me search this.

[00:13:57]>> Yeah. So, it's it's funny though because like you do you have kind of like a couple of different um genres of >> I spelled it wrong. X I AO.

[00:14:10]>> Sha Sha.

[00:14:11]>> Yes. Xiaom. Okay, that's who it is.

[00:14:14]>> Okay, so this guy uh I mean obviously he's he's in China instead of Japan, but like it's so hilarious because this guy, if you look at pictures of him, he's the most just like generic looking >> Xiaom. Yeah. Yeah, this way.

[00:14:29]>> Yeah, >> I think that's him. Yeah, that's him.

[00:14:32]Anyways, so he his whole thing is he goes to like just random restaurants or places in China >> and you know the the lady will come over and like you know give him a menu and it's like oh here's an English menu >> and then uh you know he takes it and doesn't say anything and then she'll come back like when he when he signals he's ready to order and just full on go totally fluent natural Chinese and usually the waitress is like super stunned like what what is going on like how Can this guy speak fluent Chinese?

[00:15:03]>> Dude, I had one of those experiences today, actually. So, today, so my my dad and I, my dad's not here because we both have a cough, right?

[00:15:10]>> Yeah.

[00:15:10]>> Um I know it's disrespectful for me to not have a mask on, but this is show business. Um so, so anyways, um so we went to the pharmacy.

[00:15:21]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:22]>> And I guess we got some medicine that had like ibuprofen or some sort of like semicontrolled substance or something in it because when we went to the cash register, there was a little sign that on it says, "Are you 18 years of age or older?" Um, have you bought more than two of these?

[00:15:39]And I was like, both of them were no, right? But it's just a small sign. But when I go up there, >> you're not 18 years older.

[00:15:45]>> Yes. Yes. [laughter] I'm not 18 years a older. But anyway, so I go up to I go up there and um and I pass the woman the the medicine and she takes it and then I can see she's confused. She's like, "Holy crap, I need them to read the sign that's only in Japanese, but they they're they're white. They don't speak Japanese. They can't read Japanese." She starts looking around >> to like find her supervisor. And I'm just like she doesn't even talk to me.

[00:16:14]She's just like like she takes it and it's like >> she looks at the sign that says the two things. She's just like points.

[00:16:22]She looks around for her supervisor [laughter] and then the supervisor comes over and then she's when the supervisor she's like yeah she points to the side and she's I was just like and then she just does it. But like there was like a period of like 20 seconds where things just kind of froze.

[00:16:47]And I I really I mean maybe this is just like my my my privilege speaking out cuz I cuz I speak Japanese regularly, but I kind of wish that regardless of how you looked, they would just try it in Japanese first and then if it doesn't work, then you go to plan B.

[00:17:03]>> Yeah.

[00:17:03]>> Like I wish you would just say >> Yeah.

[00:17:07]>> instead of like freaking out, you know?

[00:17:08]But like it's that kind of a thing that this guy >> has, you know, like people are kind of glitching out like does not compute.

[00:17:14]>> Yeah.

[00:17:15]>> You know, >> um but yeah, I that just reminded me of a story, but I'm not going to bring it up.

[00:17:23]>> Oh, is it a bad story?

[00:17:25]>> Well, it's just I >> should save it for our friends members.

[00:17:28]>> It's a spicy story. No, it it was the train story. I I can't remember if I talked about the train story.

[00:17:34]>> We my my experience getting a new uh take and >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. with the >> I think I talked about it.

[00:17:41]Yeah. Yeah, you talked about that one.

[00:17:43]Yeah.

[00:17:44]>> Anyways, um but yeah, so like [clears throat] circling back into the influencer thing, um one of the things that kind of really annoys me.

[00:17:59]>> Yeah.

[00:17:59]>> Uh that I've seen as a trend >> is uh I don't how do you follow a lot of influencers? like do Okay, so I I like to watch people's YouTube channels um because I mean I just have a lot of spare time uh when I'm commuting. Like I have two hour commute.

[00:18:16]>> Yeah. Right.

[00:18:17]>> Um so I watch a lot of YouTube.

[00:18:18]>> Yeah.

[00:18:20]>> Um I watch a lot of YouTube [laughter] and um a lot a very common trend I would say in the past four or five years ever since probably co uh is uh moving to Japan.

[00:18:34]>> Yeah. And so a lot of influencers right now are moving to Japan. Uh mostly because it's cheap.

[00:18:41]>> Yeah.

[00:18:42]>> Uh and they don't >> Yeah. 60% cheaper than it was 10 years ago.

[00:18:45]>> Yeah. Exactly. Right. Um so they're moving to Japan, but they still uh they still live off an American salary. Oh yeah. Right. Cuz they're they're working for YouTube, right?

[00:18:55]>> Yeah. Geo arbitrage, >> right? Yeah.

[00:18:57]>> And uh I hate that.

[00:19:00]>> Okay.

[00:19:01]>> And I'll tell you why I hate that. It's because um I think a lot of people who do this are moving to Japan not necessarily because they really want to embrace Japanese culture and like kind of integrate themselves. Yeah.

[00:19:18]>> They're moving here for two reasons.

[00:19:20]First of all, like I just mentioned, it's very cheap. Yeah.

[00:19:23]>> Right. Um the dollar goes almost double >> the value here, right? Cuz I think currently >> it's like 160, >> dude. Yeah. It's getting real bad with the Iran war and like the oil prices going up, >> right?

[00:19:36]>> But um >> invest now.

[00:19:38]>> Oh god, life's life's getting hard to leave Japan.

[00:19:41]>> I know. I know.

[00:19:42]>> Even going back home.

[00:19:43]>> Yeah.

[00:19:44]>> Anyways, um but yeah, so it's it's super cheap uh if if you are working off of like an American or European salary.

[00:19:52]>> Yeah. Um, but then the other thing is, uh, kind of circling back to like when when we when we first started showing these YouTube channels is they just use it for content.

[00:20:05]>> Yeah.

[00:20:05]>> Right. There's a lot of people around the world who are very interested in Japan from a very superficial level.

[00:20:11]Yeah. Right. And what do I mean by that?

[00:20:14]Well, okay. uh samurai, anime, uh kimono, um sushi, like that level.

[00:20:23]>> Yeah, >> I I would say I'm I'm going to pull a number out of out of thin air. This is my opinion. I would say 80% of the people who are interested in Japan are interested in those surface level things and have no interest going any deeper than that.

[00:20:40]>> Right.

[00:20:40]>> Yeah. Would you agree?

[00:20:42]>> Yeah. Yeah. Totally.

[00:20:43]>> Yeah.

[00:20:43]>> Yeah. You know, it's it's funny because I kind of see myself in that because >> what really brought me and really attracted me to Japan was the traditional culture and like the like bushido samurai wabishabi that kind of stuff.

[00:20:55]>> And I remember when I first like came here and >> I was look like like looking at how my wife lived cuz every morning what do they eat for breakfast? Toast.

[00:21:07]>> Yeah, dude.

[00:21:08]>> Yeah.

[00:21:08]>> Perfect example, right?

[00:21:09]>> Yeah. Where it's like everyone's like, "Oh, yeah." you know, miso soup, a salad, like just this really maybe some fish. Yeah. Right. It's like what do most people here in Japan eat? Toast and maybe a coffee.

[00:21:22]>> Yeah. Maybe some miso soup on the side.

[00:21:25]Yeah. But it's not really. Yeah. But [laughter] it's just it's just funny cuz I remember thinking like, man, she's not really Japanese. But like [laughter] >> I'm thinking that about her. Like how full of myself do I have to be to be like, oh my gosh, she's not Japanese.

[00:21:39]It's just so crazy. Um, you know, and like it's it's you mentioned you mentioned that like you kind of you kind of initially fell into that thing and I I feel like for me I I came from the exact opposite. Like I I was kind of interested in anime as a kid. I mean like I watched Dragon Ball and like the golden age like Gundam was cool, right?

[00:22:00]But it's like what really attracted me to Japan, like I I was introduced to Japan when I when I took when I joined my Japanese class for the first time in high school. And the only reason I took Japanese was because I thought Spanish was boring.

[00:22:15]>> Yeah. Right.

[00:22:16]>> Right. It's like, dude, freaking half of America speaks Spanish. I hear Spanish all the time. Like I I screw that. I don't want to I want let's try Japanese.

[00:22:24]>> Yeah. And then like I I went on a trip uh to do study abroad that summer and went to a high school here and I'm like, "Dude, people here are super fun." Like >> this is really cool. And >> you know, I like I like the the daily life kind of thing. Like I I like the school system and everything.

[00:22:41]>> And for me, it's like I just get really frustrated when I see these influencers here where they're just like, "Look at this rice patty I live next to. Look at look at the new kimono I bought. I have the authentic Japanese experience.

[00:22:55]>> Yeah. And they have all this crap and it's just like I don't know. Like I feel the same way about America. You know what I mean?

[00:23:02]Like I I'll I'll something that really annoys me about um like when I'm in the US is when uh when I see people like really I don't know how to describe it like They they live these superficial lives.

[00:23:25]Like I I I I had a there was a person that I was roommates with growing up in college or growing up in college >> growing up and going to college. Uh I was roommates with him for a while and this guy was dirt broke.

[00:23:40]>> Yeah.

[00:23:41]>> Dirt broke.

[00:23:43]>> Had a very nice car.

[00:23:44]>> Yeah.

[00:23:45]>> Very nice. Like a $30,000 car. Which is Yeah. That might not seem like a lot of money, but for a college student, that's a lot of money, right?

[00:23:52]>> A lot of money.

[00:23:53]>> Had struggled paying rent for the car every No, just rent.

[00:23:58]>> Yeah, I know. I know. But because Yeah.

[00:23:59]the car.

[00:24:00]>> But Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Struggle paying rent every month. And it was just like this is how I look at those influencers.

[00:24:07]And I'm not saying they're broke cuz obviously they're they're not, but like has definitely got >> It's just like it's all about the image.

[00:24:14]>> Yeah.

[00:24:15]>> Right. It's like, "Okay, well, I want people to look at me and go, that guy's got a nice car." And it's like, "Dude, you're [ __ ] broke." Yeah. Like, >> balance your life out. Like, no one cares about this nice car.

[00:24:27]>> Yeah.

[00:24:28]>> You know, and that's I really feel that way about a lot of these influencers where it's just like, "Look at these fancy things." And it's like, "Okay, but who are you?"

[00:24:37]>> Yeah.

[00:24:37]>> Well, here's the thing. So I I feel like so so the the influencer in Japan living the quote unquote real Japanese life is a performance. That's what we're saying it. But I see, you know, >> I think this is just a byproduct of social media too because >> if you look at what's happening now in the states, you have different movements where people are basically cosplaying.

[00:25:00]Like for instance, you have, >> you know, with the rise of like feminism, you also have a reaction to that. You have the rise of something called tradives.

[00:25:09]>> Yeah.

[00:25:09]>> Which you know what's funny because so trad stands for traditional wife. Yes. But what it is is it's these 20 yearear-old 20 somethings.

[00:25:20]>> Yeah.

[00:25:20]>> Who want to be a traditional wife.

[00:25:22]>> Yeah.

[00:25:23]>> From like the 1950s or something.

[00:25:25]>> Yep.

[00:25:25]>> And so what they do is they watch old movies or TV shows like Leave it to Beaver.

[00:25:30]>> Y >> to find out like what it was like to be a wife at that time. But they don't understand that that was not real life.

[00:25:38]>> No.

[00:25:38]>> So like they wear these sundresses with these aprons and they have like the the hairstyle and they're like, "Oh, I cook I cook breakfast and lunch for my for my husband every day. I make sure my house is spot and [ __ ] and span. I make sure I do the laundry every day and all these things." And they but they show this performance on >> online. And you know it's funny because so my dad was born in 1955. He >> Yep.

[00:26:03]>> He had a tried wife for a mom because it was the ' 50s, right?

[00:26:07]>> Yep.

[00:26:08]>> And it was funny when he looked at that and he looked at them, he said, "Yeah, no one had moms like that in the ' 50s."

[00:26:13]>> Yeah. [laughter] >> Yeah. So, it's like this image of it's not what it really was, but it's this romanticized image. Yeah.

[00:26:21]>> That >> comes out to this. And I think for us because we've seen what real life is like here.

[00:26:26]>> Yeah. You know, but like so for me too, like coming cuz I was like one of those I was like those people, right? Like Japan is like this. Oh, toast for breakfast. That's not real Japanese breakfast. But, you know, after being here for so many years, I'm like I'm more and more it's like, this is going to sound super pretentious or like patronizing, but like Japanese people are just normal people and we all have the same info.

[00:26:56]>> So, I came to the same conclusion. Yeah.

[00:27:00]Um, and >> I a big a big realization point uh which for me uh about this was when I was reading uh one of my favorite books.

[00:27:11]I've I've shield it a lot. It's Farewell to Manzanar.

[00:27:15]>> Farewell to Manar.

[00:27:16]>> Um I' I've talked about it a couple times on this channel. Um but it's it's one of my favorite books. Basically, it's it's a story of this girl who s goes through Japanese internment in World War II >> in America.

[00:27:26]>> In America. She's Japanese American. and both her parents are from Japan. She's >> I read this book middle school.

[00:27:32]>> Yeah, she it's it's a it's such a good book. I I could not recommend it enough.

[00:27:37]>> Um it really captures like the whole experience. But anyway, I want to talk about that, but >> uh there's there's a big part of when she gets she gets out and she's kind of reflecting on her life as an adult after having experienced all this. And uh you you kind of see her her dad go through this like really dark arc in his life.

[00:27:56]Um uh cuz he was like interrogated by the US government cuz >> he was a Japanese national, right?

[00:28:02]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:28:03]>> And um anyways, so like the whole thing is when like she's talking about his life when he when he first moved to America and when he first moved to America, uh his his family came from like a samurai family.

[00:28:19]>> Yeah.

[00:28:20]>> Right. So, everyone everyone's like kind of fully embraced into like this bushi code and >> um like they were really struggling back in Japan because you know you know at the the turn of the century in the 1900s samurai were all out of the job.

[00:28:37]>> Yeah. Right.

[00:28:38]>> Right. And so a lot of a lot of samurai at the time really struggled with like okay what am I supposed to do with my life? I don't want to be a merchant.

[00:28:45]That's so beneath me.

[00:28:46]>> Yeah.

[00:28:47]>> Right. And so uh he was also struggling with that. So he decided to move to America and to start a new life, right?

[00:28:54]And like he he first moved to Hawaii and then he moved to se uh yeah he moved to Seattle and like worked at a farm in eastern Washington.

[00:29:03]>> And like a whole thing for him was like being humble and like >> uh still sticking to his Japanese code and not like really embracing America.

[00:29:14]Yeah. And then after World War II and like doing the Japanese internment and being interrogated and everything, he was so um he was so desperate to try and prove that he was American that like he would embrace like all of these American cultures and participate in everything American. And um you see that a lot in the US where it's like especially people who immigrate over to the United States, they they enter this kind of like performative phase in their life where there's like I want to be American. So, you know, yeah, we're going to participate in Fourth of July. We're going to go to all the local festivals.

[00:29:53]We're going to hang a flag up in our yard and we're going to do all these really like things that show that we are true Americans, like that kind of thing.

[00:30:01]And it's just like when I look at that and it's like that's I don't know some some Americans will actually do that but but that for me that that's not being a real American.

[00:30:13]Yeah.

[00:30:13]>> Right. And when I see when I see people over here in Japan >> living these performative lifestyles on YouTube, but not always on YouTube. I see people doing this and not even like advertising it. That's just how they live their life. And it just is like >> it's it's less Japanese than someone just coming here and living.

[00:30:33]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:30:33]>> You know what I mean? So that that's how I feel.

[00:30:35]>> So I'm kind of curious to hear from you though. So I mean we're there's going to be a whole another episode but but give me the cliffotes version on >> Wow. Cliffnotes man. Do you remember that?

[00:30:45]>> Now we have chat GPT.

[00:30:46]>> Yeah. I know Cliffnotes is dead. Um yeah. So >> what is a true American? What is a real American? Because you said that performative stuff is not American. What is a real American? Um, dude, that is a whole episode.

[00:31:00][laughter] That is a You know what?

[00:31:01]That's a good That's a good segue.

[00:31:03]>> If you guys want to hear our thoughts on that, please leave a comment. And also, I'm kind of curious cuz we've been talking about >> foreign influencers in Japan. Do you guys follow any >> uh influencers who Japanese influencers who've moved to America or to another country? And I'd love to see we could make a whole other episode where we react to those >> dude too.

[00:31:25]>> Yeah. So, yes, I I think that would be kind of cool because um I I don't really follow any of those channels, but I have looked at them in the past uh for for kind of reasons like very similar to like our discussion here.

[00:31:41]>> And it's kind of funny like there there was a channel that was like van life.

[00:31:46]>> Yeah.

[00:31:46]>> Do you know what van life is? Yeah. And so this Japanese influencer was just like traveling across America in van life and it's like this is this is this is the true American experience. Like dude, who the what what are you talking about?

[00:31:58]>> Yeah, I know.

[00:31:59]>> No one does this.

[00:32:00]>> I know. [laughter] I know. I know.

[00:32:02]>> That'd be interesting to look at.

[00:32:04]>> Yeah. Anyways, so yeah, and also so what we can probably do for that is in our in our question and answer video that we released for our our friends members, we can talk about that. So, especially for our friends members, if there's any influencers you follow, let us know cuz we can probably talk about them in the Q&A video, you know?

[00:32:21]>> Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, it's good talking to you. I'll see you next time. Yep.