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Hikakin
Hikaru Kaihatsu (開發 光, Kaihatsu Hikaru, born April 21, 1989), professionally known as Hikakin (Japanese: ヒカキン), is a Japanese YouTuber, human beatboxer and businessman who is the co-founder of UUUM,[1][2] a Japanese multi-channel network. He is also a member of the Japanese music group Hikakin & Seikin. His popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage has made him one of the most prominent online personalities and content creators in Japan, and he has been portrayed in the media as a pioneer of YouTubers in Japan.[3] Born and raised in Myōkō City, Niigata Prefecture, Hikakin opened his YouTube channel "HIKAKIN" in 2006, where he mainly posted beatboxing videos. In 2010, he posted "Super Mario Beatbox," a beatboxing medley of Super Mario Bros. background music, which garnered over 3.8 million views by mid-September of that year.[4][5] He, along with fellow Japanese YouTuber Megwin, quit his job in 2012 to focus on his channel.[6][7] In 2015, he began producing music with the song "YouTube Theme Song," which he co-wrote with his brother Seikin, and in November of the same year, his channel "HikakinTV" surpassed 2.57 million subscribers, making it the most-subscribed YouTube channel in Japan.[8] Early lifeOn April 21, 1989, he was the second born son to his parents in Myōkōkōgen, Nakakubiki District, Niigata Prefecture (present Myōkō City, Niigata Prefecture).[4] As a child he was noted as a strange boy in the corner of the classroom.[9] Growing up in the snowy Jōetsu region, when he was an elementary school student, his dream was to participate in Olympic ski jumping, and he continued to ski jump until high school.[4] During elemetary school, he also became interested in Human Beatboxing through the segment "FULLPOWER GOGOGO!!" on the Fuji TV variety show, "Hamonepu League".[4] After studying at Myōkōkōgen Minami Elementary School (later Myoko City) and Myoko Junior High School (present Myoko Municipal Myoko Junior High School), he entered Niigata Prefectural Arai High School. In March, he graduated from Niigata Prefectural Arai High School and went to Tokyo. Many of the supermarkets in Tokyo were founded in Niigata Prefecture, and they made a living working at a Yoshiike, a Japanese supermarket that happened to hire high schoolers.[10] At that time he had no bank account of his own, therefore had no savings, and went to Tokyo with only 20,000 yen given by his parents. The supermarket at which he worked had a company dormitory and the rent was deducted from his monthly salary, so he didn't have to worry about finding a place to live.[‡ 2] Career2006–2008: Career beginningsHe started his official channel "HIKAKIN" on YouTube in December 2006. He originally made an account to watch videos of overseas beatboxers, but he thought that if he posted his own videos, people would watch them, so he started uploading.[11] He started posting videos soon after making an account, but since he deleted it, very few videos from that time remain. The oldest video is a beatbox video he filmed in his bathroom in 2007 (he was a high school senior at the time).[‡ 3] In 2015, a remake version of this beatbox video, "2015 ver.", was posted, which was shot in the same bathroom and clothes as the original.[‡ 4] Since then, He was recording a number of beatbox videos using a cheap microphone in the bathroom of the company dormitory or in his room at night, carefully selecting the ones that he thought were good, and uploading one or two videos a month.[12] He once applied to become a YouTube partner (a system for earning advertising revenue), but was rejected at the time. After that incident, he began to think, "I'll do it so that I can get offers from YouTube," and began to make videos from the viewer's point of view.[13] Although nothing major happened for about two years after his arrival in Tokyo, the number of views gradually increased, and the most popular video at the time had about 200,000 views. At the time, YouTube was still not well known in Japan, and most of the views were from overseas, with only about 10-20% coming from Japan.[14] 2009–2014: Rise to FameIn 2010, he uploaded "Super Mario Beatbox", a beatbox medley of background music from the Super Mario Bros. This video reached the number 1 spot on YouTube for the month in Japan and was featured in the top story of CBS News in the United States.[15] After reaching 200,000 views 24 hours after uploading the video and 1 million views a week later, Hikakin received an offer from YouTube to become a YouTube partner,[13] He said that he thought, "I have YouTube, even when customers get angry at me in the supermarket or when my boss gets sarcastic with me." Furthermore, he was selected as one of the top 500 best YouTube partners in the world in 2010[16] and won the "WOW Star Project 2010" and was invited to Las Vegas.[17] These events led to a gradual increase in requests to perform live and on TV shows as a performer.[14] In June 2011, the YouTube Partner Forum was held in Japan. At the time, he did not even have the idea of posting videos for a living, but meeting American YouTuber Michelle Phan at this event and being impressed by her speech was a turning point, and he began posting videos in earnest.[18] Later, an opportunity presented itself when a contest called "YouTube NextUp 2011" was held, with 10 winners and a prize of 2 million yen (about 12,800 USD). At the time, he had the largest number of subscribers in Japan, and people around him thought that he would win. He entered the contest with the confidence that he could quit his job and concentrate on YouTube, but he did not win.[19] After this humiliating setback, he sought advice from Tomohiro Sato, who works as an advisor to YouTubers. There, he received a handbook outlining the basics of video creation and lots of individual advice. On his own, he studied videos by top creators in Japan and abroad, and imitated their editing skills, such as their titles and thumbnails. After about three months of doing so, he realized that his income from YouTube exceeded his company employee's salary.[19] After achieving success with his beatboxing videos, Hikakin soon realized that he would reach his limit if he continued like this, and in July 2011, he opened a new channel, "HikakinTV," to show his daily life.[20] The channel quickly became a success, and by the end of 2011, the "HIKAKIN" channel had the most subscribers in Japan for the first time.[20] In 2012, he left the supermarket Yoshiike, where he had worked since moving to Tokyo, and began to make a living from advertising revenue through uploading videos.[21] Regarding his time as an office worker, he said, "It was hard because I wasn't doing what I loved. But I was able to continue working thanks to my determination, thinking, 'I'm not just an office worker. I make videos and people from overseas are watching them.'"[12] In December 2012, Hikakin released his first album, a collaboration with video game music composer Hideki Sakamoto, for the soundtrack of the Echannel drawing application of the PlayStation Vita.[22] In May 2013, Hikakin participated in the Social Star Awards and the subsequent Singapore Social concerts, performing with Aerosmith during their stage set and beatboxing before performing with the band on "Walk This Way".[23] A month later, he founded the YouTube agency UUUM and became its founder and chief advisor.[24][25] In February 2014, Hikakin made a collaboration beatbox video with American singer Ariana Grande, beatboxing to her song "Baby I".[26] On June 27, 2014, in collaboration with Google, Hikakin started a live video project called "HikakinGames with Google Play" for game apps available on Google Play.[27] Hikakin and several other creators affiliated with UUUM will be live commenting on popular titles that are trending on Google Play.[28] In October 2014, Hikakin was one of the performers for the first YouTube FanFest in Tokyo, Japan.[29] At the same YouTube FanFest, Japanese breakbeat music duo Hifana performed with their instruments and using Hikakin's beatbox broken down into several parts, and created a new combination with Hikakin's beatboxing and their instruments.[‡ 5] In December 2014, Hikakin went to New York City to do another collaboration video with Ariana Grande, doing beatboxing with her, while she was singing "Break Free".[26] In the same month, Hikakin uploaded a beatbox video that featured American singer Ne-Yo. They performed Ne-Yo's song "Coming with You" and his famous 2007 hit "Because of You".[30] 2015–2023: Mainstream success On August 14, 2015, he released "YouTube Theme Song" which was produced in collaboration with his older brother, Seikin. Taking this opportunity, he began to produce music as Hikakin & Seikin.[31] The YouTube Theme Song reached number 78 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. As of 2024, it has surpassed 100 million views, which is by far the most viewed video on HikakinTV.[32] On December 22, 2017, he became the first YouTuber to appear on Music Station Super Live.[33] On May 12, he collaborated with members of SMAP on Fuji Television's SMAPxSMAP.[34] On April 10, 2020, Hikakin met with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. As of 2024, his video with Koike has been viewed approximately 11 million times and has received 450,000 likes. The meeting was made possible by Governor Koike responding to Hikakin's suggestion. The video was not meant to be monetized and can be viewed ad-free, making it easy to spread.[35] On December 8, 2020, the video was ranked No. 1 in the "Domestic Annual Top Trending Ranking" announced by YouTube official.[36] His channel kept growing consistently since then, and it hit 9 million subscribers on April 8, 2021.[37] He set 10 million subscribers as his next goal. When his HikakinTV channel reached it's 10th anniversary, he announced that he will post 10 videos with extra effort, from August 1 to 20. It has an official playlist. Additionally, he changed his intro animation to one where he encourages himself to reach his goal and celebrates HikakinTV's 10th anniversary.[38] At 12:11 on September 10, 2021, the number of subscribers to his YouTube channel "HikakinTV" surpassed 10 million. On the day of the event, he made a live broadcast, and at the moment he reached the milestone, he was so moved that he cried.[39] Later, on September 17th of the same year, Hikakin announced that he would donate 10 yen (about 0.06 USD) for every additional subscriber for the rest of his life.[40] For every additional 1 million subscribers, he would donate 10 million yen (about 64,000 USD).[40] Regarding this, he said, "I am able to earn money thanks to all of you who watch my videos. That's why I wanted to contribute to society, even if just a little."[40] On August 7, 2022, Hikakin released a video of a large-scale project in which he rented out Fuji-Q Highland, titled "Catch the Popular One! Hikakin Tag 2022 Summer" (人気者を捕まえろ! ヒカキンおにごっこ 2022夏).[41] This video is a tag project that he planned and held with 130 million yen as a "dream video that he really wanted to shoot" after his channel surpassed 10 million subscribers.[42] The video was premiered on YouTube, and after its release, it set a record by ranking first overall on YouTube's trending rankings, receiving 280,000 simultaneous viewers, and exceeding 5 million views in one day after its release.[43] On August 16, 2022, his channel "HikakinTV" reached 10 billion total views.[44] On December 6, he was ranked first in the "Top Trending Videos of the Year in Japan" officially announced by YouTube.[45][46] This marks the third consecutive year that he has been ranked first in the "Top Trending Videos of the Year in Japan." He also ranked ninth in the gaming category.[46] In early 2023, he posted a video of his visit to his alma mater, Myōkōkōgen Minami Elementary School, for the first time in 20 years, which is scheduled to close due to its integration with Myōkōkōgen Elementary School.[47] At the request of the principal, he was accompanied by his older brother Seikin, who also graduated from the same school, and his childhood friend and classmate YouTuber Masuo,[48] who accompanied him as surprise guests and created a commemorative painting and sang the school song together with the current students.[49] 2024–present: Increasing subscribers and starting streaming on TwitchAround April 2012, Hikakin posted a popular short "counter video" celebrating the moment when his channel reached a certain number of subscribers. This caused his number of subscribers to skyrocket, with his subscriber count increasing by 1 million in the week from April 28 to May 4.[50] In addition, in May 2024 alone, his subscriber numbers increased by 4.08 million,[51] and he commented, "I made counter short videos popular and ushered in a new era for YouTube."[52] In May 2024, Hikakin posted a video recreating the opening movie for the second season of the TV anime series Mashle: Magic and Muscles, which uses the Japanese hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' song "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born" as its opening theme.[53] The video features the character he plays. The production cost about 50 million yen, and it was shot over a total of 70 hours over four days, from morning until late at night.[54] During the four days of filming, he averaged two to three hours of sleep per day.[55] He said that he only got about ten hours of sleep in total over the four days, and played more than 30 different characters, making it a "tough shoot."[56] The video was praised by fans and was viewed 10 million times within a day of its release, making it Hikakin's most viewed video of 2024.[54] On December 22, 2024, Hikakin opened his own channel on the American live-streaming platform Twitch. On the 24th, he held his first broadcast, playing Minecraft hardcore mode for 12 hours.[57] After that, on January 17, 2025, he announced that he had opened a channel called "HikakinClipTV" on YouTube to post clips of his Twitch live-streaming.[58] In a YouTube video, he said that he created this channel because his clip videos were popular on social media, and that "you can see a Hikakin for adults."[59] This is the first time he has opened a channel in 12 years since he opened "HikakinGames" in 2013.[60] YouTube content
He have opened 6 channels on YouTube,[61][‡ 7][58] and as of December 2024, the total number of subscribers across all channels is approximately 28 million, with approximately 22 billion views.[‡ 8] The "Bzz bzz" in his video greeting, "Bzz bzz, hello YouTube, I'm Hikakin," is a nod to the American beatboxer Rahzel.[‡ 9] He says that his fan base is mainly elementary and junior high school students, and he wants to create content that the whole family can watch while having a meal.[14] The origin of the name Hikakin was given to him by his senior ski jumper, who started calling him Hikakin, a twist on his real name.[‡ 10] He asked his senior why he was given the suffix "Kin", but he was never told why, so the meaning remains unclear. When he was in junior high school, he began posting beatboxing clips on bulletin boards under the name Hikakin, and the name gradually spread, so it stuck.[9] StyleEarly in his career, Hikakin's content consisted primarily of beatboxing videos. While beatboxing was what he was best known for in his early days, in 2011 he began posting product review videos on his channel, HikakinTV, and eventually branched out into other genres.[62] As his channel has grown, his content has become more diverse, and in addition to traditional beatboxing videos, he now uploads content in a variety of genres, including vlogs, DIY, gadget introductions, travel, and food. Around 2017, he began to emphasize the direction of entertainment that "families can enjoy together in the living room," and uploaded more content for kids and families.[62] Since 2020, his video production system has scaled up dramatically, with more planning effort and editing costs put into each video, and the length of each video has become even longer due to more advanced visual expression and large-scale collaborative projects.[62] Production and outputEarly on in his career as a YouTuber, Hikakin said he didn't hire any editors or outside assistants to help him produce videos, and "I did it for years without getting enough sleep."[63] He uses the editing software Final Cut Pro.[‡ 11] He now hires an editor for his videos and edits with a team. In a 2022 interview, he said, "Compared to when I was doing it alone, working with a team is hard because it requires different skills."[64] Hikakin frequently uploads videos, sometimes posting two or three a day in the early days.[65] Between 2012 and 2015, he posted more than 800 long videos a year.[63] As a result, videos titled "Fatigue Kin Collection", (疲労キン集) which were collections of strange statements made by him due to fatigue, began to spread on social media,[66] and in a video from May 2024, he said, "Around this time, I was taken away in an ambulance once. I was working without sleep, and once. I had some terrible hives all over my body, so I had to be taken away, around this time."[63] In an interview, he spoke from his own experience, saying, "What you need to become popular on YouTube is frequency and consistency in posting."[65] Other venturesAnyone is a video creator! HIKAKIN BOXOn August 3, 2019, "Anyone is a video creator! HIKAKIN BOX" (誰でも動画クリエイター! HIKAKIN BOX) a toy collaboration with Japanese toy maker Bandai, went on sale. This toy is a sound box toy that you can play as if you were Hikakin.[67] It contains many BGM, dialogue and sound effects that are actually used on his channel "HikakinTV." When you speak into the voice change microphone, it's converted to "Hikakin Robot Voice," and you can play lines like "Hikakin TV Everyday" and "Bunbun Rock, Paper, Scissors," which are often used in his videos.[68] Hikakin PremiumHikakin Premium (stylized in all caps as HIKAKIN PREMIUM) is an original brand established by Hikakin. The brand is managed by P2C Studio (a Uuum subsidiary) as a joint effort between Hikakin and Uuum Inc.[69] As the first step in the establishment of the brand, they sell cup noodles and cup rice as well as T-shirts as commemorative products.[70] Background
—Hikakin[71]
On April 21, 2023, the day of his 34th birthday, he announced that he would suspend all activities, including social media, for a week. He released a video titled "I will take a break from activities for the first time" on his channel HikakinTV.[72] As a final preparation to realize the dream of his original brand, Hikakin Premium, he took a break for the first time since he started activities.[73] On April 27 of the same year, he announced the reason for his suspension in a video together with a special video that he made.[‡ 12]  On May 9, 2023, Hikakin Premium launched its first cup ramen, "Misokin Rich Miso Ramen," (みそきん 濃厚味噌ラーメン) and cup rice, "Misokin Rich Miso Meshi," (みそきん 濃厚味噌メシ) which garnered attention on social media.[74] Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. was in charge of manufacturing the products, and sales began at Seven-Eleven stores throughout Japan.[75] ImpactIt was reported that it sold out on the first day of release,[76] and words related to "Misokin" trended on X (formerly Twitter),[77] and posters titled "Apologies" were put up in each store.[78] Hikakin was so influential that they released a video on the day of the release.[79] There were also reports of high-value resale on Mercari.[80] On May 29, 2023, Hikakin uploaded a video titled "After a lot of discussions with related parties, it was decided that we could… restock the misokin!" in which they reported that "I am happy to report that I can restock it!".[‡ 13] Restock was scheduled to be around the middle of August 2023,[81] and limited quantities were sequentially released at Seven-Eleven on August 10.[82] This time around, some stores also restricted purchases.[83] In the following year, 2024, it was resold on May 25 and 30th.[84] On November 24, 2024, he revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that the cumulative sales of "Misokin Rich Miso Ramen" and "Misokin Rich Miso Rice" had exceeded 10 million meals.[85] Public image and influence Since his breakthrough with his beatboxing videos on YouTube, Hikakin has emerged as one of the most notable and influential online personalities in Japan. He has also been featured in various publications as Japan's "Top YouTuber".[86][87][88] Forbes Japan stated that "Hikakin has pioneered the possibilities of video posting in Japan as a 'front runner'. The products and goods he introduces sell like hotcakes, and he has the power to move the economy."[89] As of 2024, he have been no major scandals and social trust is extremely high.[90] Most of his videos are moderate. He is also known as "unfamiliar with controversy" (炎上知らず), and when the scandals of other popular YouTubers come out, his reputation increases and he is even called a "saint".[91] Even if he did get stir controversy, most of it was minor, and on the contrary, the voices of his defense were louder.[92] In addition, in 2015 and 2020, false rumors were spread by viewers and caused a stir,[93][94] and he posted two videos at the time to clear up misunderstandings.[‡ 14][94] On the other hand, in a live commentary video of Apex Legends that was uploaded on July 12, 2022, he repeatedly yelled abusive words at his teammate, and in the comments section, he exposed the player's name and said, "If you find him annoying, please press the like button." As a result of the post, he was flooded with criticism on social media and became a hot topic.[95] On the 19th of the same month, he deleted the aforementioned comment and apologized in the comments section. On August 13, he called the aforementioned person directly in a video to apologize and reported that they had reconciled.[96] At first, he expected that the comment section of the video would be filled with criticism of the other party, but in reality, he himself was criticized, and he apologized, saying, "It was all my fault." In addition, in June 2024, a video in which a camera was turned in a public restroom was included, which drew criticism.[97][98] According to Noko, the frontman of Shinsei Kamattechan, who is an old friend, he describes Hikakin's personality as "There is not another person who is this open-minded." He is kind to everyone from an ordinary person's point of view, and doesn't care about profit or loss. He says that Hikakin is a person who can take action.[99] "The first time I met him was at a party hosted by Takafumi Horie in 2013, and when he told me that his goal at the time was that he wanted to exceed the number of subscribers on a corporate channel. "Normally, if I were to see him as a rival, I wouldn't have to be an individual." "It's amazing that the other party was a company."[99] Hiroyuki Nishimura, the founder of 2channel, said during the 2021 banquet scandal involving multiple YouTubers, "I've been saying from time to time that 'personality' is what is needed to do well on YouTube in the long term, but it is important to properly handle situations like this. It's amazing how Hikakin is avoiding scandals..."[100] Takafumi Horie describes his impression of Hikakin as "an ordinary person." He also said, "There aren't many people who are popular on the internet who aren't very pushy, and even though they weren't really outstanding during their school days, they're just average people. So it's just as I expected."[101] PhilanthropyIn 2014, he donated 597,840 yen (about $3,800) collected at a charity handshake event and 1.4 million yen (about $8,900) of his own to the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.[‡ 15] In 2017, through the Central Community Chest of Japan, he donated 1 million yen (about $6,300) to the areas affected by the torrential rains in northern Kyushu.[102] In 2018, he donated 1 million yen to areas affected by the 2018 Japan floods.[102] In 2019, he donated 1 million yen to the Typhoon Hagibis disaster area.[103] On January, 2020, in response to the Black Summer bushfires outbreak, they donated $15,000 to the Australian Red Cross and $15,000 to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.[104] On May 21, 2020, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, he established the "Coronavirus Medical Support Fund" in partnership with Yahoo! Japan.[105] At the event, he donated 100 million yen (about $690,000).[105] Celebrities also contributed, including Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa,[106] and soccer player Yuto Nagatomo,[107] Hikakin said that he would donate all proceeds from YouTube videos he posted during the fundraising period. In the end, from May 21 to June 30, 216,295 people donated, bringing the total to about 370 million yen (about $2.55 million).[108] In 2021, he donated 5 million yen (about $31,000) worth of Super Chats to "Support for Preventing COVID-19 Medical Collapse (Yahoo! Fund)" after it failed to reach 10 million subscribers. He also donated 10 million yen of his own (about $63,000).[109] In March 2022, 11 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, sales of the Line stamp "3.11 Things I can do in the future." sold by Yahoo! Japan and Line as part of a joint project to support the reconstruction of areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and to raise awareness of disaster prevention reached 121,032,20 yen (about $77,000), all of which was donated to prevent the disaster from fading and to support future generations.[110] In December 2022, the organization donated 5 million yen each to the National Children's Cafeteria Support Center Musubie, an accredited non-profit organization, and the Singlemothers forum.[111] In 2023, he donated 1 million yen to the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes.[112] In 2024, he donated 10 million yen each to the areas affected by the 2024 Noto earthquake and the Hualien earthquake.[113][114] Personal lifeIn July 2018, he adopted a male Scottish Fold cat, "Maruo", and in September, he adopted Maruo's brother, "Mofuko". He has always liked cats since he was a child, and he had been thinking about getting one for a year.[115] His brother, Seikin, born 30 July 1987 is also a YouTuber with more than 4.6 million subscribers.[‡ 16] On August 1, 2023, a video was released of his new 2 billion yen ($13 million) rental home. This is Hikakin's first house, and it features an indoor heated pool and a 71-tatami living room. He said that this is his second base, leaving his previous home behind.[116] On January 1, 2024, Hikakin announced his marriage on his channel.[‡ 17] On August 1 of the same year, he announced the birth of his first child on his official YouTube channel. He revealed that he and his wife were already expecting when he made his marriage announcement earlier in January. However, he refrained from announcing their pregnancy at the time, as he felt that it would be a burden to his wife both mentally and physically.[117] On January 19, 2025, he announced in a video that he had been diagnosed with eosinophilic sinusitis, a designated intractable disease, and had undergone surgery. The video also showed his hospitalization, surgery, and post-discharge episodes.[118] Filmography
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