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  • Hey guys.

  • So today I want to talk a little bit about being Japanese and making videos in English.

  • Yes, English.

  • We get a lot of comments from foreigners like: I look like I don’t want to be in our videos,

  • or I’m too quiet, or I look like a robot.

  • So I have three things I want to say about this.

  • First of all, people say my English is pretty good or think I’m fluent, but I’m not.

  • I grew up in Japan, I never studied abroad...

  • I’m still learning.

  • I have to think a long time to speak, otherwise I can’t say what I want.

  • So whenever we make videos in English, I’m like all ears and have to pay attention to

  • Rachel very carefully.

  • I mean, I don’t do that when I’m not in front of the camera, but in front of the camera

  • were not speaking normal conversation so it’s just hard for me to catch up with native

  • English speakers in general.

  • So that's why maybe I look bored and tense in the video, but I’m just super concentrating.

  • Plus my face is boring in general which make it even worse…I was just born this way.

  • Second, is that we see lots of comments from people who think it’s normal in Japan to

  • be crazy and loud and outgoing, because that’s what they see on Japanese TV shows.

  • But our TV in Japan is actuallykinda fake.

  • It’s supposed to be entertaining.

  • Those people are usually all actors, and theyre called "tarento", which is from the English

  • word talent.

  • Have you seen the Japanese prank shows, where you can see reactions from normal Japanese

  • people in weird situations?

  • Actually those people are usually tarento or comedians, too.

  • It’s all crazy because it’s supposed to be entertaining.

  • It's an escape from our normal lives.

  • While there are Japanese people who are really outgoing and crazy like that, most of us wouldn’t

  • act like them in real life.

  • Third, it’s very important to us to be able to read the atmosphere and be considerate

  • to the other people around us.

  • And it’s also important to try not to inconvenience other people, so we try not to show it when

  • we are upset.

  • But we want to know when someone ELSE is upset so that we can try to make them feel more

  • comfortable.

  • It’s like a never-ending spiral where Japanese people try harder and harder to hide their

  • negative emotions, and everyone else is trying to understand the tiny signals they have left.

  • So maybe it’s because of these reasons that to Westerners, who have much more emotional

  • responses, we seem like we have no emotions at all.

  • In the beginning of our relationship, Rachel had a very hard time understanding how I was

  • feeling because she could not tell the difference in how my face looked when I felt different

  • emotions.

  • She used to say that Japanese people must communicate telepathically.

  • It was just that hard for her to understand the difference.

  • To us, Westerners seem to have very big emotions.

  • I always thought it was really interesting and fun to see their reactions to everything.

  • Even just watching TV they could get really, really angry with characters.

  • And of course there are Japanese people who have very big emotions, too, but many of them

  • act the same way as I do.

  • So I’m sorry if normal Japanese people seem boring, or if I seem like I don’t want to

  • be here.

  • It’s just how I am.

  • I actually already try really hard to be loud and have lots of emotions in our videos.

  • And sometimes I try really, really hard, and think I’m almost acting crazy, and then

  • when I watch the video later I still look like I have no emotions.

  • It’s so depressing and frustrating for me.

  • And so that’s it.

  • I wanted to say all these things so many times, because it can be very painful to read comments

  • when people say I look like I don’t want to be here, or even worse sometimes, I look

  • like I don’t love my wife.

  • I love my wife!

  • I love making videos and want to do this for a long time.

  • So I will keep trying really hard with my English, and I will do my best to look happier

  • in our videos.

  • Thanks for watching, guys.

Hey guys.

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