Promoting Sino-Japanese friendship through Internet fame

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Yamashita Tomohiro is a Japanese student living in Shanghai. "I learned from the Japanese media that the Chinese don't like us Japanese. I wanted to come and see if that's true," said Yamashita.

When he first came here, he couldn't speak a word of Chinese. Five years later, that has changed.

Not only does he speak fluent Chinese, he now has a different understanding of China. "Yes, many Chinese people don't like Japan. But later I found out that while they hate the politicians, many young people here are very interested to learn about their counterparts in Japan. They just didn't have access to such information,” said Yamashita.

So he did something about it.

Since 2013, he has been making sketch comedy videos and posting them on Chinese websites. He managed to gain huge interests with his distinctively Japanese random humor.

A screen capture from his weekly Internet show. He is now an Internet celebrity in China. /CGTN Photo

A recurring segment each week has been him answering questions raised by his Chinese fans. The questions range from Japanese dating rules to holiday preferences, and everything in between.

Yamashita said he was surprised by the enthusiasm from Chinese young people about Japanese popular culture. "Many young Chinese have much deeper understanding of Japanese comics and anime than I do. During one of our conversations, they asked me who my favorite voice actor was. But I only knew, like, two names. I was quite embarrassed. So I decided to watch more anime,” said Yamashita.

His popularity on Chinese Internet exploded. He now has 3.5 million subscribers across social media platforms in China.

He has been calling for a better relationship between China and Japan. While the two countries' bumpy history and more recent tensions have grasped news headlines, he believes his video content represents a common feeling from both Chinese and Japanese youngsters, which is that mutual interests and understandings outweighs antagonism.

While there are different perspectives on issues, there is also a shared passion for life. "Many Japanese young people don't have much interest in politics and international affairs. Personally, I think that's also true with many Chinese youths. We focus on what we can do better with our everyday lives,” said Yamashita.

Yamashita calls for a closer China-Japan ties in his videos. /CGTN Photo

Now, Yamashita is gaining popularity in his home country too. He will soon publish a book on what he learned about China in Japan. "I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a bridge between China and Japan, but I want to be a lubricant for the two countries' relationship,” said Yamashita.