[Image: Logan Paul]
On January 1, the most important day on the Japanese calendar, when families gather and think about the new year, YouTuber Logan Paul posted an apparent suicide on YouTube. That wasn’t the only time he insulted the country’s cultural norms. He started doing that days earlier.
On December 30, he uploaded a clip titled “We Fought In The Middle Of Tokyo!” and in it, Paul goes around city as if its his personal playground. He does that in his other videos in the US, but this isn’t the US. It’s a city that he’s visiting in a country that has allowed him to enter.
“I swear, Tokyo is just a giant playground,” Paul says at one point during the clip. “Maybe it’s not. Maybe I should stop. Probably not.”
He probably should have stopped.
The clip currently has 5.4 million views, nearly 250,000 likes and thirty-four thousand dislikes.
As My Game News Flash, one of Japan’s biggest blogs, points out, the clip starts with Paul walking in the middle of the street, sticking his camera in people’s faces and in their cars.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Japan has strict privacy laws about filming and photography, even in public places. That’s just the first of many cultural rules he breaks. But what does he care, right? He’s a maverick, and being oblivious to cultural norms or common courtesy and decency is the ultimate sign of being a maverick? Or something like that.
[Image: Logan Paul]
He then rides on work vehicles.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Keep in mind, the Tsukiji fish market has long had problems with misbehaving foreigners. Fellow mavericks, I guess!
[Image: Logan Paul]
He stands in the middle of Shibuya with a dead fish and an octopus tentacle.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Holds this dead fish and octopus tentacle against the window of a nearby Starbucks.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Then carries the fish and the octopus into a clothing store.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Looks at merchandise in the store, while again, carrying the dead fish and the tentacle.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Then left both on the back of a cab, which drove away.
[Image: Logan Paul]
Later, while eating pizza, Paul says, “Japanese people are so nice. First of all, they put up with me. Second of all, they laugh with me — sometimes at me.”
“It’s just, I love Tokyo. I love Japan. Americans, we could learn a lot.”
About that… The Japanese comments on the YouTube video are not happy with Paul’s antics. Here are some of the reactions, which I’ve translated into English:
“Go home.”
“This guy is an idiot.”
“He’s insulting Japanese people.”
“I guess this is what Americans think is ‘funny.’”
“You’re bothering Japanese people.”
“Annoying foreigner.”
“Dumb American.”
“Can’t you even follow the rules? If you are just going to come and bother people, please don’t come back to Japan again.”
“I’ll never forgive you for insulting Japan and the Japanese people.”
“Don’t treat food like that. Also, what you think is funny is not.”
“You should never be allowed to leave your own country.”
“I realy hate gaijins like this.”
“Is it that Americans have no sense of morals? How sad….”
“Don’t come to Japan again.” (written in Japanese) “All Japanese hate you.” (written in English)
The Japanese word “meiwaku” (迷惑) appears throughout the comments. The word means “bother” or “annoyance.” As a general societal rule, Japanese people often do as much as they can not to bother or annoy other Japanese people. They do not want to create meiwaku for others. That’s all Paul is doing.
But it’s more than that. It’s disrespectful. It’s as though Paul doesn’t realise he’s in a real city filled with real people. And against this background, Paul uploaded an apparent suicide to YouTube.
[Image: Logan Paul]
About three minutes into the “We Fought In The Middle Of Tokyo!” clip, a man teaches Paul some Japanese: “Amari choushi ni noruna” (あんまり調子に乗るな), meaning “Don’t get too cocky” or “Don’t push your luck.”
He should have listened. He probably should have stopped. But he didn’t.
Comments
19 responses to “Japan Isn’t Happy With Logan Paul’s Tokyo Video, Either”
Wow. What a dickvein. I know the Japanese people woulda hated seeing a dreaded gaijin devil walking around being a dick on public, but isn’t that sort of what Hard Gay and all those Japanese “comedians” really do?
It’s not like they have proper punchlines in their humour… I figured public displays of insolence was their way of getting giggles. Must only be funny to them if it’s done via a Japanese man.
Except Japanese comedians and tv shows know the rules which includes seeking filming permits, bluring faces of bystanders and seeking approvals of all particpants after filming is completed. For Japan the onscreen display is a mask for very professional video productions and business.
This guy is just an unfiltered moron who just ran amok in Japan filmed it and walks away as its his business not anyone elses. Its not acting professional for a single moment. What a jackass.
He has the same issues back home not getting filming permits, operating his professional busibess out of his home etc. Why did he think Japan would like him anymore than his neighbours do.
Hard gay was a character a talk show used, it was prepped and shot within japanese culture standards. This idiot has no respect whatso ever and is not scripted, if he pulled anything liked that any where else he would be worse off.
Comedy and real life exist in totally different world.
Comedy is on screen, the public is the reality. Japanese ppl acknowledge that comedy (or comedians) on tv are there as entertainment, but seeing that in public is totally different matter.
he’s just a gigantic douchebag.
That’s an octopus arm. Octopus don’t have tentacles.
I’ll call them tentacles until the day I die, same as Ladybugs are bugs and Stawberries are berries. Scientists can go and get fucked.
can we seriously stop publishing articles about this loser. hes getting enough free promotion as it is.
I agree, but you and I clicked, so we’re part of the problem.
I get angry when i visit Japan when foreign people (alot of aussies sadly) dont follow basic ettiquette, this guy i would back hand.
I’ve never hated Australian accents more than the time I went to one of the biggest winter festivals in the country. Nothing but annoying, drunk dickheads yelling “Oy Davo did you root that jap bitch or what? SMASH SOME SLANT CUNT MAAAAATE” across the crowd for hours.
Let him be forgotten and become irrelevant it’s over for him. Random fast flashing content with no depth and meaning shouldn’t be celebrated the way it is.
Buuuuuuuuut it is. It’s the same reason why “reality” tv has had the stranglehold over FTA television for the best part of the past 18 years. It’s cheap to create, and there is no consequence for the lack of intelligent/creative narrative. These sheep will tune in and forget their troubles.
I know I shouldn’t, but I hope he gets beaten up.
I already thought he had a punchable face. Now I just want to pummel him to a bloody pulp. Class A douchebag.
I swear a few days ago I didn’t even know this guy existed, now his utterly punchable face is just everywhere…
There’s two of them, and sadly I started hearing about them a few weeks ago.
One second they are atrocious tool bags, the next they clumsily pretend to be cool guy SWJ’s without a shred of believability.
These egomaniacs doxed themselves so fans can come see them and have a rapidly piling list of complaints ranging from property damage to sexual misconduct and only keep getting more popular.
PewDiddlyPopo looks like a bloody Saint in comparison, it’s a train wreak of stupid.
How is this different to when Tom Green was doing the same thing in Japan?
It wasn’t funny then.
Tom Green probably set most of it up because he was on a TV show with a budget and a network. If he didn’t, then there’s no difference except that Tom Green did it a long time ago and people should have learned from it.
people like that should get banned on youtube for life
behavior like that should not be promoted nor tolerated