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The story
Garshi, a former upper-house lawmaker now working as an influencer and rakugo performer, posted his personal take on X on October 3: “There’s definitely a reason TV won’t use YouTubers or influencers.” The post sparked a thread on 5ch’s Geisupo Sokuho+ board, where posters floated several theories: “YouTubers who can’t edit their own footage are hard to use on TV,” “the TV industry is a closed village that won’t accept outsiders,” and “they’re wary of ties to anti-social forces (organized crime).” Meanwhile, the claim that “even HIKAKIN couldn’t cut it on TV” drew pushback, with some arguing “there’s no way Japan’s No. 1 streamer, HIKAKIN, is boring” — leaving opinions split on how to judge a YouTuber’s actual talent.
Garshi shares his take: “There’s a reason TV won’t use YouTubers”
Garshi, an influencer and former upper-house lawmaker who also works as a rakugo performer, updated X on the 3rd, sharing his personal views on YouTubers and television.
In his morning post, Garshi began: “There’s definitely a reason TV won’t use YouTubers or influencers… Good morning!”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Heard the big names are starting to turn down TV appearance offers.
TV staff: "Okay, amateurs this way please."
Dumb YouTuber: "I'm not an amateur!"
TV staff: "…? Amateurs, this way please."
Dumb YouTuber: "GRRRR!!"
Ah, I see! Like having an arrest record, for example.
Well, going on TV would just expose how incompetent they actually are.
Isn't that true of the entertainment industry too?
True, but there's a big difference in whether it actually shows. YouTubers just look shady at a glance.
YouTuber logic just doesn't apply there.
According to Takemoto, the well-known wild-foraging YouTuber (known for eating foraged and unusual foods), TV stations are skilled at editing things into exactly the shape they want. Takemoto's work originally has goals like promoting the culling of invasive species by turning them into food, and preserving regional food cultures — but TV appearances often turn him into just 'the YouTuber who likes eating gross stuff.' He also takes the stance that 'anyone who doesn't want to eat insects doesn't have to,' but somehow on TV he ends up cast as an advocate who force-feeds insects to people who don't want them. So he said he's done with TV.
Soshina, maybe? He's also ranked No. 1 in Japan for Super Chat earnings as a streamer.
Funny, since there are plenty of posts on this board saying TV has gotten boring and online videos are more entertaining. So is Japan's most successful streamer, HIKAKIN, really boring? lol
Nagano: "But YouTubers actually want to get on TV, don't they? And when they do get on, they go home defeated — Kajisac being the prime example."
Kajisac is… well, honestly both guys from King Kong [the comedy duo] ended up going in a really weird direction. Though I guess it's fine since they're actually making good money off it.
TV viewers are mostly elderly, so they care about this stuff a lot. They're also the ones who love second- and third-generation celebrities — they want to know exactly whose kid you are and where you come from.
Nah, there was a YouTuber boom for a while and a bunch of them showed up on TV, but overall they were underwhelming. They all just have bad comedic timing, somehow.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Garshi is a former upper-house lawmaker who was expelled from the Diet over remarks he made on YouTube, and he now works as an influencer and rakugo performer. Given that background, his latest post can be read as a wry jab at “the TV side.” In the thread, posters offered several competing explanations without reaching a consensus on which was the real reason: a technical one (YouTubers can’t edit their own TV segments, so they don’t fit the format), a structural one (the TV industry is a privileged “closed village” that shuts out outsiders), and a risk-management one (concerns over background and associations). The sharpest disagreement centered on the claim that “HIKAKIN didn’t work on TV,” which drew pushback questioning whether someone with one of the biggest track records as a streamer in Japan can really be dismissed as “boring.” A point readers may easily misread is that “doesn’t work on TV” here is about ratings and fit with TV’s style of production, not a blanket verdict on a YouTuber’s actual talent. Some pointed to counterexamples like Soshina, who has found success in both worlds, underscoring that the thread’s real tension is over how “success” is even defined across different media.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisupo Sokuho+) thread “Garshi Shares His Take: “There’s a Reason TV Won’t Use YouTubers or Influencers”.”
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