Top 10 Japanese YouTubers (Updated)

YouTube is growing every year with users logging on to tune into their favorite YouTubers from countries around the globe. With millions of viewers, Japanese YouTubers and influencers are reaching audiences of all genres in the millions on social media. Check out the top 10 Japanese YouTubers taking over the internet:

1. Hajime

• 8.33M subscribers
• 6.9B views
• Joined Aug. 30, 2012

 Hajime Syacho is a Japanese YouTuber who has the largest number of subscribers in Japan as of March 2019. He is a part of the multi-channel network UUUM, created by Hikakin, another Japanese YouTuber. He has three channels on YouTube where he films experiments, hidden camera videos, Q&As, product reviews, lifestyle videos, and promotional videos. Besides YouTube, he has the fifth-largest Twitter following in Japan.

2.  HikakinTV

• 7.91M subscribers
• 6.7B views
• Joined July 19, 2011

Hikakin is a Japanese YouTuber and co-founder of UUUM, a Japanese multi-channel network. He started making videos on YouTube in high school, becoming one of the first content creators on the platform in Japan with his beatbox covers and tutorials. He rose to stardom for his beatboxing videos in 2010 when a video of his Super Mario Bros. beatbox went viral, reaching over 3.8 million views. He has collaborated with Ariana Grande and Aerosmith alongside running his gaming channel, Hikakin Games, which has 4.45 million subscribers. 

3. Fischer’s

• 5.94M subscribers
• 8.5B views
• Joined Aug. 23, 2012

Fischer’s is a comedy channel including seven Japanese YouTubers that formed their group in high school. The group, who post skits and other comedy videos. post vlogs, which are usually food or gaming related. In 2019, they broke a Guinness World Record for the largest game of tag, made up of 10, 908 people.

4. Yuka Kinoshita

• 5.42M subscribers
• 1.9B views
• Joined May 21, 2014

Yuka is known for her mukbang videos, where she films herself eating while answering her subscriber’s questions. She is also known for starring in a Japanese TV program called “Ogui”(大食い) which translates to “heavy eater”. Since her videos are accompanied by English subtitles, she has gained popularity in other countries besides Japan.

5. Tokai OnAir

• 4.89M subscribers
• 5.2B views
• Joined Oct. 12, 2013

Tokai OnAir is made up of a group of YouTubers who post popular prank videos and comedic stunt videos, like their human bowling video from 2017. They quickly rose to fame in 2017 and rose to the top of the Japanese YouTube charts in terms of subscriber growth and view count.

6. SUSHI RAMEN (Riku)

• 4.7M subscribers
• 967M views
• Joined Oct. 23, 2013

 Riku Horiuchi has been active on YouTube since 2013 as SUSHI RAMEN (Riku). The main content on his channel is experimental videos, and he also has a second channel called Sushi Ramen (すしらーめん) 2nd, which boasts 981,000 subscribers. His videos feature extreme challenges and stunts, reminiscent of Jackass.

7. JunsKitchen

• 4.43M subscribers
• 265M views
• Joined Nov. 11, 2012

Jun’s Kitchen is a YouTube channel by a Japanese vlogger Junichi Yoshizuki. On this channel, Jun merges two of his favorite things: cooking and his cats, which perfectly resonated with the internet. Besides Jun’s kitchen, Junichi maintains another YouTube channel with his wife, called Rachel and Jun, which currently has 2.6 million subscribers.

8. Mizutamari Bond

• 4.2M subscribers
• 2.9B views
• Joined Oct. 6, 2014

This channel takes on a Japanese variety-show style with overemphasized subtitles and superimposed images. The YouTuber Kanta of Mizutamari Bond gained popularity for the channel when he pulled off a viral prank. The picture of Kanta flipping a massive pan of fried rice took the internet by storm, even though the rice was artificial as a part of the prank to surprise his partner Tommy.

9. SeikinTV

• 3.76M subscribers
• 3.1B views
• Joined Jan. 29, 2012

The brother of Hikakin and coined the “master of product reviews,” Seikin reviews a variety of products from strollers to chocolate molds. He also posts occasional vlogs and challenge videos. He gained a large following from the popularity of his vlogs, which include comedic sketches and DIY project tutorials.

10. Hikaru

• 3.53M subscribers
• 2.3B views
• Joined March 18, 2016

 Hikaru’s videos are fun retellings of urban legends, supernatural experiences, and more. He also runs another channel, Hikaru Games, where he films playthrough videos of him playing popular Japanese games.

Want more of the top Japanese YouTubers? Check out these channels that didn’t make the cut: