YouTubing in Japan: an interview with Stu in Tokyo

I first discovered Stu in Tokyo while I was surfing YouTube looking for tips on things to do and places to go for my first trip to Tokyo. While I ended finding some amazing resources, I also stumbled across Stu’s viral video about the craziness of life in Tokyo as a Salaryman. The way he explained Tokyo work culture in the video through an expat’s eyes really helped me connect with the experience as a third culture kid, and I’ve been a regular viewer of his channel ever since. Stu’s channel is part travel and life vlog and part observational, surreal, and improv comedy. His style is quite difficult to classify but it’s very entertaining to watch.

I had an interview with Stu to learn more about his experiences in being a Youtuber, and how viral fame has potentially impacted his life.

Hi Stu. Let’s start with the typical “work interview” question: tell us a bit more about yourself and how you started making videos. How fluent is your Japanese and how long did it take you to achieve fluency?

I was watching Battle Royale with subtitles with a friend and he said, “Stu, imagine if we could ACTUALLY understand what they are saying?” We did some research into the JLPT exam and my friend was pretty adamant that he could pass it in 2 months time. My friend and I are quite competitive and I don’t actually have any sort of special Japanese skillset – I had previously studied French, German and Latin, and don’t remember a single thing anymore.

I think my drive came from just wanting to beat him. So we studied Hiragana Katakana and Kanji. This was around the time we were in Sixth Form, when we also had to study for some serious exams. At the time, JLPT had 4 levels, with 4 being beginner and 1 being fluent. To take the test, we had to travel to London, which was 2 hours away from our hometown. I took the test, and actually came away with a Level 3 pass.

Later on, I completed a mathematics degree and thought, “What do I want to do with my life?” I had been talking with a friend about the JET program and thought that teaching English might actually be something I could get into. I had also traveled to Japan and that was the time I really fell in love with the language.

To take this back to the videos, they’re actually a good representation of my personality… I do strange things. I also thought Japan was quite weird and that it would be a great fit. I then joined JET and taught in Kyushu and fell in love with the country. I think that because I lived in southern Japan in Kyushu and not Tokyo, it also forced me to learn Japanese faster.

Stu being interviewed by CNN about work culture in Tokyo.

I think your “Week in the life of a Tokyo Salaryman video” is something that fits perfectly for a medium like YouTube. The video says a lot for its short length. It’s incredibly meta, being somehow hilarious, yet profoundly sad at the same time and provides more commentary on Japanese culture and society than you probably intended. What were your thoughts on making the video and what was the reaction from Japanese and non-Japanese people? Have you seen a difference in the way Western and non-Western people react and connect to your videos?

The reason I made the video was that during the busy season of my work I’m not able to speak to my friends and family. Many wanted to know what I was doing – was I ignoring them? Of course not! I literally had no time. I wanted to show everyone how busy I was creatively. I also had the idea that, “if only I could visualize how manic it was, they’d probably understand my situation a bit better.”

In terms of the world reaction, I know a lot of people work in the same way, with similar hours, in different industries and cities all around the world. I know people in Tokyo that work even more hours than me, so I thought in Tokyo, they would relate rather that react.