Hi I'm wondering if you know any J-vloggers who are actually Japanese (full or mixed)? It always came off odd to me that a lot of J-vloggers are non-Asians since the word J-vlogger brings to my mind a vlogger who is Jaanese.
You’re right- most J-vloggers are foreign. Like you, I’d rather get information about Japanese culture from Japanese people. I live in Japan, so have this luxury as a daily aspect of my life, I understand that those who want to learn about Japanese culture may well not have access to Japanese people who can teach them about it. That said, I do think that though HelloTalk, you can easily make Japanese friends who want to learn English and ask them to explain some aspect of Japanese culture in English to you. The Japanese person would get great English practise (which they’ve joined HelloTalk looking for) and you get to learn about Japanese culture, whilst helping someone build their language skills.Just to be clear- I think there is a place for vlogs that explain the experience of being foreign in Japan, for sure. I think people talking about their own subjective experiences is great and useful, as long as they’re culturally sensitive and respectful. It’s more when it comes to someone setting themselves up as some kind of mouthpiece for a culture that isn’t theirs that I feel uncomfortable, and I share your feelings that you’d rather learn about a culture from someone who is a native of that culture. I guess most J-vloggers are foreign because they’re sharing a culture that foreign to their own. Obviously most Japanese vloggers blog in Japanese and expect their audience to be predominantly Japanese, so wouldn’t explain cultural points. I haven’t come across many vlogs where Japanese people are vlogging in English (indicating they’re expecting an audience of predominantly non-Japanese viewers), though I’m sure there are some.I know Bilingual Chika is a J-vlog made by a Japanese lady. I’m sure Rachel and Jun would be mentioned by many, but Rachel seems to do most of the talking. Koichi from Tofugu has Japanese heritage and though he rarely vlogs, I think his articles are interesting. I feel like there must be more than this available in English as there is a significant Japanese diaspora who have grown up in an English speaking country and are native English speakers like Koichi and Chika.
Besides HelloTalk, maybe the best way to find out about Japanese culture through vlogs or videos is to watch Japanese people, speaking in Japanese, vlogging about some cultural event I suppose. I’m sure there are lots of videos in Japanese that are designed to explain culture in Japanese to Japanese children. You may be able to find educational TV documentaries subtitled in English, where Japanese people are explaining an aspect of their own culture for a foreign audience too.
If anyone knows any good blogs where Japanese people are explaining Japanese culture (in Japanese or English), please reblog and share the love, thanks!
