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The story
On October 5, the official X account of business media outlet “PIVOT” posted a new interview video featuring management consultant Sean Kawakami (58), widely known as “Sean K.” The topic: “Why Japanese People’s English Doesn’t Get Through.” He’s rarely been seen in the public eye since allegations of a fabricated background surfaced in 2014, so this rare update drew a mixed reaction on 5ch — plenty of warmth (“that voice is still perfect,” “welcome back”), but just as many comments rehashing and mocking his old “Horatcho” scandal.
Mon, Oct 5, 18:10
Business video outlet “PIVOT”‘s official X account posted an update by the 5th: a video featuring “Sean K,” management consultant Sean Kawakami (58), talking about his current activities.
The official X post read: “【Why doesn’t Japanese people’s English get through?】Japanese speakers are considered weak at English even by global standards. What’s stopping them from improving, and why doesn’t it land? We asked management consultant Sean Kawakami about the logic and structure needed to build ‘English that actually gets through.’” The post came with an interview video featuring him.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Horatcho (Sean K's old nickname, basically "Big Talker") got mocked for exaggerating everything, but apparently Chris Peppler is shockingly tiny in person too — kind of freaks people out
That's Mamoru Samuragochi you're thinking of, lol
There's no seat left for you
Isn't he the narrator from "Jet Stream"? (the famous late-night radio show known for smooth-voiced narrators)
I want to see him on "Datsuryoku Times" (a satirical fake-news comedy show)
If Horatcho and Mamoru Samuragochi teamed up as YouTubers, they could probably pull in like 700 views
Feels like he belongs in some anthology of legendary weirdos
Funny, because your whole shtick as a commentator was "vaguely wrap things up without ever hitting the core point," lol
He's like a million times more capable than unemployed me
People probably showed up half for laughs
Sounds like something the Junior Chamber would book
Something about watches or cars, I think
There wasn't a single true thing about him
Not even his face
You'd be hard pressed to find someone this made of lies
Well, that's the people behind the scenes doing that
All flattery, flattery
He's got a real talent for that
That's literally a con artist's talent
Right? He never directly hurt anyone, and what he actually does is genuinely entertaining
I don't know if I'd want to hang out with him long-term, but I'd love to grab a drink with him once
He's clearly going for a more "Western" look, but
his original, more Japanese-looking face was better
Though I guess it's a hassle sometimes when your face doesn't match your ID photo
Background and context of this story
Sean K, whose real name is Sean McArdle Kawakami (now going by Sean Kawakami), had his fabricated academic and career history exposed by a weekly magazine in 2014, and he disappeared from public view right before he was set to become a news anchor. At the time he picked up the nickname “Horatcho” for his habit of spinning tall tales (“hora”), and he’s often mentioned alongside Mamoru Samuragochi, the central figure in another résumé-fabrication scandal that broke the same year. This latest video isn’t about the scandal itself — it’s a segment from a business media outlet on “why Japanese people’s English doesn’t get through,” and he’s currently working as a “management consultant.” His first real public appearance in about a decade drew both warm welcomes (“great voice,” “welcome back”) and jabs at his old scandal at the same time; notably, outright hostility was rare, with most reactions leaning toward finding him “hard to hate” or just plain “entertaining.”
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Sean K’s New Video Sparks Huge Buzz — “That Voice Is Still Perfect,” “Welcome Back” — Official Site Reveals His Current Job.”
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