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はい、こんにちは、彦左衛門です
今日は作ろうと思っていたテーマと違うブログを作る事になって
なにがあったかというと
この若い日本コミュニティーで、
YouTube自体が2006年ぐらいから存在していて
その中で結構若い人が多く
特に日本においてはブログを作っている人はほとんど
目立のは海外から来た日本で冒険していて
冒険動画として日記として作る人は
動画を撮って自分の家族とか友達とか
海外にいる人が「これは本物日本」だと
伝えるように自分の「愛する日本」をみんな一人一人紹介する動画を作っていて
それで最初少ない人数から広いまで今、十何人から
今数百人の人はこういう動画を作っていて
俺もその一人でですね
最初からもある程度コミュニティーになっていて
どういうふうにこのコミュニティーを最初気づいたというかと
RodgerSwanという人は2007年から日本に来て
彼は動画日記を作っていて
本当に新鮮に、ほぼ初日から日本を紹介していて
それを見ると俺は逆に10年前から来たけど
それを見ると「ああ、そういうところが面白かったな」とか、「そういう気持ちだったね」とかって
自分でもそういう気持ちが思い出す事を彼の動画を通じて
ああ、良かったねと思って
そしてあの時は遊び気分で動画を作り始めたけど
彼のその時点での、たぶん十何人のYouTube動画(ブログ)を作っている人の
花見の集まりで「あ、こういうコミュニティーが存在するんだ」と
彼を通して他の日本の動画を作っている人が初めて見つけた、基本的に
まぁ、あっちこっち人を見つけていたんだけど、こういうコミュニティーが存在するって初めてわかったのは
この人の動画を通じて
この人の特徴はなんだったのかというと
非常に、たぶん、日本人にとって、理想型の外国人留学生みたいな
本当に凄く真面目で、凄く日本文化とかも尊敬していて
日本の事を純粋に愛していて
例えば、日本のホラー映画レビューとかを作って
インターネットに載せて、日本の映画が大好きな外国人には彼のレビューが凄く好評で
彼がよくわかっている人として
その日本の文化を海外の人に紹介したり
日本の日常生活を海外に見せて
すべてが日本が大好きな人として、純粋な心で日本を海外に紹介していて
よく聞かれるのは「外国人は日本をどういうふうに見ているのか?」って
その事が知りたい人だったら本当に彼のような動画
外国人ブロガーの動画を見ると
それはそういう人の目で日本を見るのは
自分の国を新しい目で見るのは、新鮮で良いと思います
よくわかると思います
そしてそのチャネルが面白いと思ったら
登録してよく見るよう薦めるんですけど
この人はですね、この人の道はなんだったのかというと
本当はそれを2008年から発見してから
どうやら2007年から初めて、慶応大学の留学生として
頭良い人だったんだよね
それで留学生としての生活で最初動画をアップして
その中で最初には「この人はモルモン教じゃないか?」と思うぐらい人は良い
一番最初の印象を与えて
そんな事ないだと後でわかったんだけど、
本当にすごい緊張気味の一生懸命さとか真面目さが出てきていて
そうやってどんどん成長して、日本にも慣れて
日本をわかるようになって
それで2年ぐらいが続いて
それでアメリカに戻って、それで最近英語教授のアシスタントとして戻ってきて
岩手県で学校で活躍していて
そこで最近まで、25日には一番最近の動画をアップして
その動画の中で、その雪とか住んでいた町を紹介して
小話をしながら、アメリカにいる家族に対する気持ちや
彼女と彼女の親が彼にクリスマス・プレゼントを送ったので
感謝のカードの封筒を探していたようで
そういうくだらないことで歩きながら周りを見せて
面白い話をしたりしていて
このようにいつも他の人を考えていて、日本を良いふうに見せている人間として
僕は彼の動画から非常に「ああ、そういう形があるな」とわかって
彼のように、自分なりの、10年経験者だから新しい目じゃないけど
自分の生活をそういうふうに面白く伝えれるならと思って
彼からも影響を受けて、動画を作り始めた頃から
非常に俺だけじゃなくて、数百人の彼の後から来た動画をやる人はほとんどかれの存在がわかっていて
彼は結構大物の、みんなの先輩の存在があって
23歳の若い年なんだけど
まぁ、会った事ないけど、ずっとフォローしていて
すごい人として
それでこの動画のきっかけはこの人は最後の動画を作った25日の次の日に
あの動画で元気で生き生きしている23歳の若い人で
次の日に急性膵炎で急に亡くなったらしいです
これは非常にみんなショックを受けていて
特に、どれだけ彼は良い人で愛されていたかって他の動画でも今みんなブロガーが作っているんだけど
ブログとか色々あるんだけど
非常に特別に期待できた、日本と海外の交流に対して期待出来ていた人として
そして愛されて、日本を愛した人として
亡くなるのは凄く残念で
貴重な、彼の日本の生活、日本の人生をブログに記録していて
本当にちょっとチェックしたら、特に最後の動画だけ見たら
これはどんな良い人だったかと見てわかると思います
で、みんなが色んな形で、彼のことが直接知り合っている人とかも動画を作っていて
あまり最初には遠慮しようと思ったんだけど、
でも、彼に会ってなくても俺のような数百人の人は非常に彼の影響を受けていて
そしてかれを尊敬していた、真剣ね
そして日本人にもね、この動画をなぜ作っているのかというと
日本人もこのような人がいっぱい日本に来ていて
で、こういう良い人がいたっても認識して頂きたいと思います
みんながどういうふうに彼を覚えるかって
動画を作ったり、メッセージしたり、しているんだけど
俺は自分のチャネルにも今彼の動画を流している
一つのアイディアはなるべく多く、自分だけじゃなくて、他の人に呼びかけて
彼のチャネルを登録させて、アメリカにいる彼の家族がどれぐらい愛されていたかって伝わるように
できるだけ多くの人が彼の存在と彼の動画をちょっと流して
彼のチャネルを登録して、登録した人数で
彼の家族としては考えられない、海外にいる若い息子が急に病気になっていなくなるなんて
想像できないですようね、大変な事で
本当にテーマも彼が最後までに家族を思って動画を作っていて
本当に、色々人生も本当に毎日いっぱい生きないといけないねと、色々考えさせる
とりあえず、彼のためにはまずこの動画を見る人、みんなちょっとリンクをチェックして
彼の動画をちょっと是非見てください
そして、これは尊敬できた良い人だったとわかるんだったら彼のチャネルを登録入れてください
家族が見れるように、これだけ尊敬されている人として、そのメッセージが伝えれるように
是非そういうことをしてください
家族にも、非常に残念な事で
ご冥福をお祈りします
ちょっと暗い話題なんだけど、本当に最高の人で
もっとこういう人が日本を発見してきて欲しいなと思って
彼の動画も記憶にみんなを影響し続けると思うので
是非ちょっと見て良かったら登録してください
Hi, this is Hikosaemon here
Today, I'm going to go off the topic I was planning to do for a blog
So, to start explaining why this is
Within this young Japan community we have here
That's only really existed within YouTube since about 2006
This community is generally made up of lots of young people
And it's true that the vast majority of video bloggers within Japan
What stands out are people here from overseas travelling
Who record blogs as a kind of diary of their adventures here
They can shoot videos for their friends and families
So they can show people overseas the "real Japan"
Everyone tries through the vids they make to communicate the Japan they know and love
In the beginning, this started from a handful of a dozen or so regular vloggers
Now there are hundreds of such people making videos
I'm one of them
But this all grew out of the small community that existed early on
One of the ways I first become aware of this community
Was through discovering the vids of Rodger Swan who arrived in Japan in 2007
He made his own video diary of his times here
His perspective was truly fresh, he started vlogging about Japan almost from the day he arrived
In contrast, I was looking at his vids as someone who had already been here 10 years
But watching his vids took me back and made me think "Ah, I used to find that funny" and "Ahh, I rememember feeling that"
Through his videos, they helped me to remember how I felt when I arrived
It was fun for me to watch
At that time I was just starting to play around with making vids
When he first started out, there would have only been around a dozen or so regular Japan vloggers
In his 2008 Hanami vid, I suddenly realized "oh, there is this kind of community here"
Through him, I basically first become aware of other vloggers in Japan
I mean, I had founda couple of vloggers before then, but this is the first time I found out about the coherent community here
It was through his video
So I guess that in terms of describing Rodger as a person
I think in many ways, he was a kind of ideal exchange student from a Japanese perspective
He was a diligent kind of guy, with great respect for Japanese culture
He had a genuine love for Japan
For example, he made reviews of Japanese horror films
He posted these on the Net and gained a following among people overseas interested in Japanese film
As someone interested in and knowledgable about Japanese culture
He would show people overseas the culture he knew
And show what everyday life in Japan is like
All as soeone who loves Japan, showing people overseas a simple honest view of his life here
I often get asked "what do foreigners think about Japan?"
If you are interested in that, I really think you should check videos lik ehis
By watching the vlogs of foreigners in Japan
You get to look at Japan through the eyes of people like Rodger
You get to view your own country through knew eyes, which I think is a good refreshing view to have
You'll understand if you watch
And if you find find channels you enjoy
I recommend subscribing to them and watching their updates
So looking at the journey that Rodger made through his videos
I only discovered him in 2008 actually
It seems that he came to Japan originally in 2007 as an international student at Keio University
He seems to be quite smart
And he started uploading videos about his life as an international student
At first, he seemed luck such a nice guy, I thought "is this guy a Mormon or something?!"
That was my first impression of him
I later found out that wasn't the case
His videos gave off an aura of a slightly nervous sincere guy
And through his videos he grew and became more at home in Japan
Gradually coming to understand Japan better
And so two years passed
He returned to America, and then came back recently as an assistant English teacher
He worked at a school in Iwate Prefecture
And there, on Jan 25th he uploaded his most recent video
In that video he is walking around showing the snow and the town he is in
And making small-talk about his life, and his thoughts of his family back in America
And how his girlfriend's parents had sent him christmas presents
And he was looking for an envelope to send a thank you card back to them
So in what was really a video about not much in particular, walking and talking
Talking about little funny things that had happened
He showed how he is always thinking of others, and being someone who shows off Japan in the best light
You quickly form a strong sense of the type of guy he is from his videos
And so I decided myself that I wanted to do vids like him in my own way, as a 10 year veteran
And show off the best bits of my own life here in a similar way to him
That's how he had an influence on me, and from the moment I started making vids
It wasn't just me, but he has a similar impact on hundreds of other vloggers in a similar way
He is seen as one of the giants, a kind of senpai to later Japan vloggers
Even though he was just a young fella at 23
I mean, I never actually met the guy. I just quietly followed his vids from the very beginning
As someone I really respected
So the reason for this video is that on the day after his last video on January 25th
Where he was his normal chatty young 23 year old self
It turns out that he passed away without warning the following day of sudden accute pancreaitis.
This has really come as a terrible shock to everyone
You can see how he was loved and respected just in all the video tributes being posted by other vloggers right now
In blogs and through various othe rmeans
I thikn he really was someone with great promise, as someone for the future of relations between Japan and the rest of the world
As someone loved by many, and who genuinely loved Japan
It's really trully sad to have lost him
The treasure of his life in Japan still lives on in his videos
If you check his vids, especially even just his very last vid
I think you'll understand right away what kind of a nice guy he was
Many people are doing their own things to remember him, among them many people who directly knew him
Because of this, I thought I would wait a bit before doing anything myself
But even for those who had never met him, there are hundreds like me who have been profoundly influenced by what he did
And who have sincere respect for him
And for Japanese people, the reason I am making this video is that
I really want Japanese people to know that there are lots of people here in Japan like this guy
And I really want people to know about who this guy was and a bit of what he was like
People are all chosing to remember him in their own way
Through videos, messages and so on
I have his last video playing on my main channel page right now
One idea that came up was to get as many people as possible together
And send a message to his family and loved ones of how much he was respected, by having others watch his videos and subscribe to his channel
We really want as many people as possible to find out about him
And to have people subscribe, and through the number of subscribers
My thoughts go out to his family, to have lost a son so young of a sudden illness while overseas
It is just impossible to imagine how tough that is
Right to his final vid, he was thinking and talking of his loved ones
It makes you thin, about how you need to live each day to the fullest
For now, I'd really like anyone who sees this video to click on the links below
And please go and check out his videos
If you watch it and think that this was a guy worthy of respect, please subscribe to his channel
I think it is a nice way to send the message to his family of how respected he was
So it would be great if you could do that
My thoughts go out to his family
And may he rest in peace
I realise this is a bit of a dark topic, but he really was a great guy
I really hope more people like him discover Japan and come here
He will live on in our memory of him, and the influence of his videos on us
So please go check out his channel and if you like, please subscribe to it.