2024-04-05 04:41:55
I could only speak simple Japanese such as ‘Konnichiwa’, but I suddenly became an overseas sales representative and came to Japan. However, I liked Japan so much that when my stay in Japan ended, I quit my job and became a YouTuber living and working in Japan. In particular, the strength of his channel is that he can indirectly get a glimpse into the inner thoughts of Japanese people through honest, informal conversations with Japanese friends.
“Japan-related YouTube channels mainly feature eating shows and travel destinations. I wanted to create content that could be found elsewhere. In particular, there is a lot of very provocative material on YouTube, and I wanted to convey the point that ‘ordinary Japanese people live their lives thinking like this.’”
Through my career as a YouTuber, which started in Japan, I made many Japanese friends, and now I have started a local real estate brokerage business by partnering with a Japanese friend. This is the story of Kim Hyeong-sik (31), an MZ generation YouTuber who introduces the perceptions and values of MZ Japanese people through the YouTube channel Breadcoon. I met him at the UC JAPAN real estate office in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo.
-You said you came to Japan as an expatriate for a Korean company. Were you originally good at Japanese?
“no. I spoke some English and Chinese, but I barely knew Japanese. It was just a greeting. I had never lived in Japan and only traveled there. However, while I was working in overseas sales at a Korean company, they said they needed an expatriate in Japan, so I came here. In fact, I was single, the youngest in the company, and I liked living abroad, so I came here. “At the end of my three-year expatriate period, I decided I wanted to continue living in Japan and start a business, so I received a work visa and continued living there.”
-I guess you liked life in Japan.
“Japan was an attractive country, but I actually wanted to do business, and I thought it would be best to do so in Japan. I came as an expatriate in September 2017, and started producing YouTube a year later, and uploaded a lot of videos of myself having fun with my Japanese friends. “It was difficult to produce videos like this when I returned to Korea, so I decided to stay in Japan.”
-There are many videos that introduce the perception and values of Japanese people.
“Honestly, when I first came to Japan seven years ago, I did not have a good image of Japan. In particular, Korean friends around me said, ‘Be careful. They told me a lot to be careful about living in Japan, saying, “I’m getting stabbed in the back,” and “They say the front and the back are different.” However, in real life, at least in my opinion, it is difficult to find such points, so I take pictures of things that Koreans misunderstand about Japanese people and introduce them.”
-If it is a misunderstanding, what can be an example?
“For example, Japanese people often say ‘the front and the back are different’ in Korea, but I think that’s a way for the Japanese to live a certain social life. For example, as a way of life to avoid causing inconvenience to others, we often say and do things that are a bit rude. I think we need to think more about whether to view such things as only a bad thing. Also, as you get deeper into the relationship, when you become really close friends, the back and forth behavior seems to decrease.”
-It also talks a lot about the differences in views on love and marriage between Korea and Japan. However, it seems that there is mainly an atmosphere of goodwill between Korean men and Japanese women.
“Actually, just looking around me, it seems like the majority of Korean-Japanese couples are between Korean men and Japanese women. I don’t think I can say for sure whether it’s because of some fantasy or whether they really fit together well. However, for example, when there is a Japanese couple, it is rare for the man to open the door for the woman. However, Korean men recognize this as normal manners. “I think there are aspects of Japanese women that are moved by such ordinary and trivial considerations from Korean men.”
-I look at both the Korean and Japanese MZ generations, and what I feel is the most different is
“I think it’s an issue of marriage and childbirth. At least around me, there are only a handful of people who say they will not get married or have children. Also, there are quite a few people who get married and have two or three children. However, in Korea, there are many people who will not get married at all, or will not have children even if they do get married, or will only have one child. “I think there is definitely a big temperature difference in this regard.”
-Why do you think there is such a difference?
“I think in Korea, there is a lot of pressure on marriage itself. In particular, many people think, “How can you get married if you don’t have a house?” In Japan, if you get along well, they say start with a small room, and there are also many people who don’t even consider buying the house itself. In Korea, people are cautious about buying a house as soon as possible because they have experienced prices rising as soon as they buy a house, whereas in Japan, after the bubble burst, it is common to think of a house as something whose value decreases over time, like a car. “I think this difference in perception between Korea and Japan about houses also affects marriage and childbirth.”
-Do you feel a change in the Japanese MZ generation’s perception of Korea?
“I think the internet world and reality are a little different. Relations between the two countries had been bad for a while, so even when people often talked about being a fan of No-Japan in Korea and anti-Korea in Japan, I didn’t feel any difference while living in Japan. “I haven’t seen anyone around me say they don’t like Korea, and I think that’s the same in Korea as well.”
-The Japanese friends who appear in the video seem to speak very honestly.
“There is that part. In fact, not long ago, a Japanese friend shared his honest opinion regarding a famous male entertainer in Japan being embroiled in the #MeToo controversy. However, Korean subscribers have left comments such as ‘How can you be on the side of the perpetrator?’ However, there were quite a few people who left ‘likes’ on the video. This is a Japanese person’s personal opinion. “I hope my Japanese friends will talk honestly, and I hope subscribers will understand and make judgments about it.”
-200,000 subscribers are just around the corner. If you have a goal
“In the past, there were thoughts like, ‘Let’s become a million-dollar YouTuber,’ but I don’t think that actually achieving that goal is something you can achieve. Also, in order to increase subscribers, I have to post only what subscribers want to see, but I don’t want to do that, at least not right now. While talking comfortably with my Japanese friends, I want to convey that ‘ordinary Japanese people live their lives thinking like this these days.’ Also, it is only a two and a half hour flight between Korea and Japan, and since I am doing well at what I do, my hope is to set up a home in Japan and Korea and travel back and forth to do business there.”
※This article was written with support from the Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Fund, a public interest foundation.
Tokyo = Reporter Hwang In-chan [email protected]
2024-04-05 04:41:55