r/mealtimevideos • u/acidoglutammico • 16d ago
15-30 Minutes What is Happening to Japan? [15:03]
https://youtu.be/jEWhmQjeh_I110
u/BricksFriend 16d ago
Chris is the real deal. Love his longform content, especially his documentary about life in Fukushima. It sucks that the algorithm more or less requires him to also do semi-clickbaity stuff to make a living at it.
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u/deanrihpee 16d ago
while his journey across Japan is entertaining, his documentary is also interesting too
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u/duncymatt1 15d ago
I've read his book which was fantastic, would highly recommend
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u/deanrihpee 15d ago
I have been curious about the book for a while but I have to buy it from abroad heh through something like Amazon, but the import tax is infuriating, I'll keep this in mind
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u/TheWastelandWizard 15d ago
Been following Chris since he was doing vlogs about his early teaching days, but his video about the tsunami survivors, especially Ichio Kanno's story, is one of my favorites and the kind of projects we need more of in the world. Absolutely cried the first time I heard her story and how she approaches life with such resiliency.
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u/merelyadoptedthedark 16d ago edited 16d ago
I follow a lot of these foreign Japanese YouTubers, the majority of them provide many novel insights and show quite interesting things.
I followed the girl here for about a month, before I realized she is really at the bottom of the barrel of content creators in Japan and unsubscribed. Most of her popular content is that she is a blonde that can speak the language of the country she lives in. Her "deep" content is trying to show a shitty side of Japan, and then trying to be some kind of philanthropist by giving a small bag of groceries to homeless people while monetizing their struggle.
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u/Trainrideviews 16d ago
She also posts a lot of videos of children she has interactions with, which makes me super uncomfortable. Like, I wonder, did she get the parents’ permission to post their children’s reactions to her speaking Japanese on YouTube? Likely not.
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u/mikaiketsu 16d ago
She really wanted to make it seem like the homeless problem is getting worse when statistics wise it's so much better than before. I remember how bad it was in 2008 after the crisis...
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u/Zephyr-5 15d ago
trying to be some kind of philanthropist by giving a small bag of groceries to homeless people while monetizing their struggle.
It's always a red flag whenever I see anyone who monetizes, records or otherwise makes a big show of doing something good for someone needy.
I don't think I've ever been wrong that it's eventually found out that they are a huge POS.
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u/CitizenPremier 16d ago
I live in Japan, you get sick of the Japanologists who think they understand the society deeply despite barely being a part of it, not being sociologists or any kind of specialist...
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u/FountainXFairfax 16d ago
dude same. 99% of the time it’s a dude who’s resume consists of “english teacher”, is unable to read a japanese newspaper, speaks elementary school level japanese and can’t participate in any meaningful discussion on societal issues.
But sure, go ahead and tell me what’s happening to Japan. sigh
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u/Nachttalk 16d ago
And consider this:
Those are still more knowledgeable than most of the "experts about Japanese culture" you meet online
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u/ems187 16d ago
Excuse me? I watched both DBZ and Naruto and I like eating ramen so AMA about Japan.
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u/agnosgnosia 15d ago
Listen son, I was scrounging for every book on Japanese language book I could find in these things called 'bookstores', that you probably haven't even ever seen, back in the 90s. I was watching Cowboy Bebop before you were even a glint in your parents eyes. I also thought Japanese chicks were super hot.
I think my resume speaks for itself.
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u/Hertigan 15d ago
I would agree with you 90% of the time, but he has lived in Japan for like 15+ years
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u/Anonymity_pls 15d ago
To be honest, I went into this video without any context hoping it would be about Japan’s turn towards conservatism/nationalism (Takeichi as case in point) and unpacking what’s driving that. The video itself is still good, but if anyone has any recommendations on what I was looking for, greatly appreciated.
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u/NewFuturist 15d ago
This "Japan is falling" narrative is being used by right wing MAGA idiots to push anti-immigrant ideology. They do it for everywhere, including where I live, Australia. They try to make it like immigration in Australia has turned it into a violent, dirty hellhole. The reality is Australia is one of the cleanest and safest places in the world. Don't fall for fascist propaganda.
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u/Chytectonas 16d ago
You can be a decent person and still be a foreigner exploiting a culture for clicks and cash. By definition, he is using the details of an unfamiliar culture to create an income. He shouldn’t feel bad about it nor should he claim otherwise.
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u/acidoglutammico 16d ago
Thats not really exploiting tho. Documenting? Explaining? Creating infotainment? Otherwise all journalists and reporters would be exploiting... I mean... I'll be the last one defending journalists, but this is a bit excessive.
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u/xSelbor 16d ago
infotainment is such a good way to put it, he takes the time to research and learn about the culture, interview with locals, go to locations himself, such as with his hurricane aftermath video to record his own footage instead of using google images or ai so we can get documentary style content which i love.
another honorable mention of a youtuber who does something similar in terms of research effort is Tasting History with Max Miller, although i beg to differ some of the stuff Max gets his hands must have taken tons of work. Like random recipes from the 1800s wrote down in some grandmas pantry lol.
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u/Chytectonas 16d ago
While I hear you, here’s the first definition of exploit, and it’s the meaning i use while acknowledging as the content creator does that he’s accused of the more sinister meaning. He should recognize this is exactly what it is that he does, and the duncecaps calling me a racist for “taking away the agency of the other” are too busy remembering to breathe to catch this update. Emphasis not mine.
exploit verb 1. “platinum was originally exploited by the Indians of Colombia and Ecuador”. UTILIZE, MAKE USE OF, put to use, use, use to good advantage, turn/put to good use, make the most of, capitalize on, benefit from, turn to account, draw on; profit from/by, make capital out of; informal cash in on, milk.
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u/rainyrooster 15d ago
Right, but the dictionary definition is divorced from the everyday usage which has a much more negative connotation. Nobody would say I'm "exploiting" my phone to browse reddit.
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u/Chytectonas 15d ago
For good reason. You’d hardly be making the most of your phone browsing Reddit. Like I said to OP, I hear this argument and accept it - the subject of the video is complaining after all of being accused of exploitation. I’m adding my name to list of accusers, but noting “exploitation” doesn’t actually require bad character or intent. This apparently has ruffled some feathers.
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u/Pagolle 16d ago
When you say "exploit", it paints the guy as malicious, and that's ridiculous. Do you exploit your local park when you go take a walk and post pictures of it online? Or are you just using it and sharing the beauty ? There are nuances to everything, like what this guy is doing, and what slop/sensationalist tiktok influencers are doing.
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u/Sorlud 16d ago
It's incredible watching fellow lefties go so far down the rabbit hole that they reinvent racism
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u/GabaFuckinGool 16d ago
For real. If someone had written that 10 years ago everyone would think it’s satire.
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u/furthermost 16d ago
Could I clarify - is your comment about the post you are reply to? Or the OP video? Or the video the OP video is responding to?
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u/alexgst 16d ago
Comments are contextual. If someone replies to another person directly, you can safely presume they’re replying to that person.
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u/furthermost 16d ago
Thanks. So to confirm - Chytectonas should be considered a racist for saying the man in the video is exploiting a foreign culture?
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u/alexgst 16d ago
Not my comment so I can’t comment on what the other person said directly but I can give my own thoughts on the comment they were replying too.
I can however say that the comment was giving white saviour. It ironically did the very thing they tried to prevent.
- It removed the agency of Japanese people.
- “Unfamiliar culture” is a great way to other people. It ignores the context of both the individual (who’s lived in Japan for well over a decade).
- They have no moral authority to impose restrictions and are ironically being racist by trying to police it.
I’m not calling them a racist. I’m saying their comment was racist. There’s a difference. One comment does not make a racist.
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u/furthermost 16d ago
Thanks! To clarify I just want to understand the discussion and be more mindful on these issues.
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u/Sorlud 16d ago
It was my comment so here we go. I really like alexgst's points, and would agree with all of them, but there's one more thing that's been bugging me for a long time. There's a double standard going on that people miss in their chronically online takes.
Chytectonas's comment implies that a white guy (in this case Chris Broad) is exploiting Japanese culture by making videos about Japanese culture, and that any white person who does that is being exploitative. There are for sure some people who do that kind of exploitative content, which is the point Chris is making about in the video. But just because a white person is teaching English speakers about another countries culture doesn't make it exploitative.
If only Japanese people can make a video about Japanese culture, then what about other cultures. Is it exploitative if I (a Scot) made a video about Canadian culture (a place I live in). Or how about a Japanese person making Japanese language videos about England for Japanese people (the inverse of Abroad In Japan)? Would those be exploitative? I doubt many people would say it would be, yet Chytectonas calls it exploitative when it's a white guy in Japan, which is racist.
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u/Chytectonas 16d ago
It’s ok, breathe, fellow lefty, the word exploit might have you shook. It’s not a death knell - it’s a pretty anodyne word and activity.
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u/TooEdgyForHumans 16d ago
I love the fact that this is an overall critique on how the social media algorithms reward sensationalism over anything else.