Abroad in Japan

Chris Broad (born 21 April 1990), known online as Abroad in Japan, is a British YouTuber, filmmaker, and podcast host. He focuses on videos about Japanese culture, Japanese food and travel in Japan, primarily in the Tōhoku region.

Abroad in Japan
Personal information
BornChristopher Broad
(1990-04-21) 21 April 1990
Maidstone, Kent, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationYouTube influencer, filmmaker
Websiteabroadinjapan.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Genrevlog, podcast, documentary
Subscribers2 million
Total views249 million
Associated actsRadio Stakhanov, Tokyo Creative
100,000 subscribers 2014
1,000,000 subscribers 2018
Updated: 3 December 2020

Personal life
British YouTuber and filmmaker Chris Broad

Broad was born on 21 April 1990 in the English county town of Kent, Maidstone.[1] He briefly appeared on the TV series Robot Wars in the UK, where his father and team were regular contestants, with their robot Killertron.[2]

Broad studied English and business at the University of Kent from 2009 to 2012. While attending the university, he developed interests in film making and Japanese culture. Broad moved to Sakata, Yamagata to teach English as a part of the JET Programme in 2012 while creating videos about his life and experiences in Japan.[3] He has since left the programme and moved to Sendai.[4]

YouTube channel

Upon moving to Sakata, Yamagata to teach as a part of the JET Programme in 2012, Broad decided to vlog about some of his experiences as a foreigner living in the rural Tōhoku region.[5] One of Broad's first videos to gain widespread attention was his review of the Japan-only McDonald's McChoco Potatoes.[6] Other subjects of his early videos included topics like what it's like to drive in Japan, KFC as a mainstay of every Japanese Christmas, and love hotels. He later moved to Sendai to remain in the region, but to be somewhere better connected to the rest of the country to expand his business opportunities as an influencer.[7] As the channel grew in notability, Broad began to make more travel-themed videos, such as a video describing a trip to Aomori where he visited the city's Nebuta museum and another where he visited Hokkaido with his close friend Natsuki Aso, who often appears in Chris' videos.

On 29 August 2017, Broad was visiting a town in Aomori Prefecture near Shirakami-Sanchi wilderness area when he was woken up by the J-Alert being triggered by the North Korean August 2017 missile launch over Japan. He posted a video about how rude it was that they would carry out their test so early in the morning and proceeded to criticize the regime of Kim Jong-un. The video was featured as "Trending" the day it was posted.[8] It then went on to attract national attention in Japan, with Broad being selected to represent the word "J-Alert" in Japan's annual Words of the Year event.[9]

On 31 May 2018, Broad released the documentary film Natsuki: The Movie telling the story of Broad and his friend Natsuki's journey to Europe.[10][11]

In 2018, Broad started his "Journey Across Japan" series featuring various YouTubers, such as The Anime Man, and his friends as he travels across Japan by bike, documenting local customs and daily life along the way.[12] A sequel to the series was made in 2020, featuring The Anime Man and Natsuki in a road trip adventure originating in Tokyo, but taking place primarily around the Chūbu region called "Journey Across Japan: Escape to Fuji".[13]

Documentary work

The channel also has featured some documentary-style videos. In addition to the Natsuki movie mentioned above, one focused on the effects of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on the citizens of Kesennuma and how they and external powers are working to rebuild their city's image and livelihood.[14] Broad noted that the aversion to the area because of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster bothered him and that caused him to work on documentaries about the area, including one that is in development that will focus on the positive aspects of life in Fukushima.[15] In December 2019, he released a documentary interview of the rock artist, Hyde during the artist's performances at Zepp Tokyo.[16] Broad revisited the disaster area in a second documentary uploaded in 2020 about the region's recovery.[3] YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki praised Broad's documentary work in reference to this second documentary about the 2011 disaster in a tweet she posted on 1 December 2020.[17]

Podcast

Together with Pete Donaldson, Broad presents a twice weekly Abroad in Japan series of podcasts on Radio Stakhanov about Japanese culture, current events, and cuisine. Some recurring topics of the series are the Lotte soft serve, Coolish and a pizza vending machine that was once functioning in Hiroshima.[18] The pair also talk about Japan-related stories and questions submitted by their audience by email in a segment they call the "Fax Machine" as a jest towards the obsolete method of communication that is still commonly used in many Japanese workplaces.[19][20]

Other work

Broad spoke at a TEDx conference at Tohoku University where he spoke about the power of YouTube and encouraged the audience to share their experiences with the world through the platform.[21] In 2017, Broad was the host of a documentary about cats in Japanese culture called Cat Nation (despite being allergic to cats) where he travelled throughout Japan to document the cat-centered activities or places, such as visiting the Wakayama Electric Railway where a cat named Tama became a tourist attraction after it became the station master of Kishi Station.[22] Broad hosted an episode of "Explore Regional Flavors - Visiting the Hidden Village", a documentary about Japan's local cuisine broadcast on NHK World in August 2017.[23]

Collaborators
  • Natsuki Aso (阿蘓 夏樹, Aso Natsuki) – presenter, amateur musician and owner of a beauty salon in Yamagata, Japan
  • Ryotaro Sakurai (櫻井 亮太郎, Sakurai Ryōtarō) – Co-presenter and Director of LifeBridge Inc[24][25]
  • Sharla (formerly Sharla in Japan and now known as Sharmeleon) – Guest (various appearances)
  • Pete Donaldson – Podcast co-host, former London radio DJ and Japanophile
  • The Anime Man - Guest (various appearances)

References
  1. Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007, 16, General Register Office for England and Wales, p. 1930
  2. acast (4 April 2018). "Abroad in Japan: Myths about Japan! | Abroad in Japan on acast". acast. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  3. Fujita, Hana (23 November 2020). "British YouTuber Chris Broad spotlights resilient locals in Japan in wake of 2011 tsunami". Mainichi Shimbun. Sendai. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  4. "A foreigner living in Japan. A charm of Miyagi from a YouTuber. Interview / Mr. Chris Broad". Stories of Miyagi. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  5. Atsuko Matsumoto (13 July 2019). "Videos 'like a party' look for the real Japan". The Japan News. Retrieved 13 September 2019..
  6. "McDonald's Japan's chocolate covered fries: 'it works' – video review". The Guardian. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  7. Anderson, Shizuka (30 March 2018). "Get To Know Chris Broad from Abroad in Japan". Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  8. Saunokonoko, Mark. "Japan wakes up to TVs being taken over as North Korean missile whizzed overhead". Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  9. "2017: The Winning Words". nippon.com. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  10. Abroad in Japan (31 May 2018). "Natsuki: The Movie (Life in Japan Documentary)". Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  11. Tessa Randello (9 June 2018). "Japan's YouTubers go long with crowdfunded content". The Japan Times. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  12. "Journey Across Japan". Tokyo Creative. 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  13. "連載：クリス・ブロードの「ガイドブックに載っていない日本」（第0回）　外国人YouTuberである僕が「日本人が見落としている日本の魅力」を伝えるためにできること" [Series: Chris Broad's "Japan Not Listed in Guidebooks" (Chapter 0) What I can do to convey "the charm of Japan that Japanese people overlook" as a foreign YouTuber?] (in Japanese). Real Sound. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  14. "What Happened In Japan After The Tsunami?". 1 February 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  15. Atsuko Matsumoto (13 July 2019). "Videos 'like a party' look for the real Japan". The Japan News. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  16. "British youtuber spends a week with HYDE". J Rock News. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  17. @SusanWojcicki (1 December 2020). "Susan Wojcicki on Twitter" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. "Pizza vending machine attracts crowds in Hiroshima". The Japan Times. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  19. Martin Fackler (13 February 2013). "In High-Tech Japan, the Fax Machines Roll On". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  20. "Abroad in Japan- A Japanese culture broadcast". Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  21. "Your audience is waiting". 18 May 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  22. "Cat Nation: A Film About Japan's Crazy Cat Culture.". Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  23. "Explore Regional Flavors - Visiting the Hidden Village - Part 2". Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  24. "Ryotaro Sakurai's LinkedIn". Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  25. TEDx Talks, Learning outside Japan, telling Tohoku to the world | Ryotaro Sakurai | TEDxTohokuUniversity, retrieved 21 December 2018
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