＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
I did not know much about “YouTube” until recently. However, I had previously written an article about the popular children’s “YouTube star” HIKAKIN, so I thought I had an idea of what it was all about.
Just recently, however, I was surprised to hear that many “child YouTubers” have appeared, some of whom are earning “hundreds of millions” of dollars.
YouTube” is also high on the list of ‘professions that elementary school students want to be’ today. (Ranked 6th in the 2017 survey)
１．What kind of people are Japanese “child youtubers”?
Here, “child YouTubers” refers to “YouTubers who are elementary school students or younger.
The top 7 “child YouTubers” in Japan and their annual income in 2017 are as follows
No.1 : Princess Princess Suite TV (annual income over 100 million yen)
No. 2: Kan & Aki’s CHANNEL (annual revenue: over 100 million yen)
No.3 : Kids Line (annual revenue: approx. 74 million yen)
No. 4: HIMAWARI Channel (annual revenue of approximately 25 million yen)
No. 5: 70cleam (annual income: approx. 22 million yen)
＜70cleam＞
No.6 : The Gacchannel ★The Gacchannel (Annual income: approx. 20 million yen)
＜がっちゃんねる★The Gacchannel＞
No. 7 : Koko Nacchan (Annual income: approx. 20 million yen)
＜ここなっちゃん＞
２．Who are the “child youtubers” of the world?
There are even more amazing “child YouTubers” in the world than in Japan. The world’s top earner is 8-year-old Ryan from the U.S., with an estimated annual income of 2.5 billion yen. His father is Japanese (Japanese-American?) and his mother is Vietnamese-American. and his mother is Vietnamese-American.
In second place is Jake Paul with an estimated annual income of about 2.4 billion yen, and in third place is the channel Dude Perfect with an estimated annual income of about 2.2 billion yen.
Ryan’s channel, launched by his parents in March 2015, has nearly 26 billion views of videos posted and 17.3 million followers.
The content (theme) of his video is called “Ryan’s Toysreview” (Ryan Toysreview).
＜「ライアンのおもちゃレビュー」＞
He loves trains and cars, and plays with Legos and Disney characters. But what makes him different from other children is that his parents make videos of him and post them on YouTube.
These are “unboxing” type contents that not only play, but also explain the functions of toys, IT equipment, and other products while opening them with great delight.
His mother (previously a high school teacher) quit her job to focus on Ryan’s YouTube activities. She then hired a professional to film and edit the YouTube videos.
Ryan’s future dream is to become a “game developer.
３．Risk of “YouTube Addiction” in Children
Kids today seem to love YouTube so much that some have become “kid youtubers,” but is there any risk?
４．The problem of “smartphone addiction” and “smartphone dependence” among young people
While “smartphone addiction” and “smartphone addiction” among young people have become a problem, “YouTube addiction” and “YouTube addiction” among children may also become an educational and social problem in the future.
In everything, “don’t overdo it.
In an interview about his educational policy for his sons, Shintaro Ishihara said, “I made a day when I did not let them watch TV or read newspapers or books at all. I believe that he taught his sons that being immersed in TV, newspapers, and books, they tend to feel as if they cannot do without them, but this is not the case.