Top Japanese YouTubers By Categories 2021: Gaming, Beauty, Cosmetic, and more
YouTube is a video-sharing service that allows you to enjoy many videos for free. In recent years, many companies and stores have been attracting attention as a means of marketing by using Youtube. It is due to various characteristics such as a large number of users and a wide range of users. That is no different in Japan and Japanese YouTubers as well.
Attracting subscribers and gaining popularity on their own and their own YouTube channels is not an easy task, and it takes time and effort to acquire a lot of popularity. Here we summarized top Japanese Youtubers by category to promote your products and services through videos.
Related article: Ranking of Japanese influencers and their collaboration on Youtube
Growing Youtube Users in Japan
YouTube was born in 2005. In 2017, there were official announcements that monthly viewership exceeded 1.5 billion worldwide, and viewers use YouTube on mobile devices for more than an hour a day. It is penetrating the world with tremendous momentum.
We have overwhelming similar trends in Japan as well. According to a video ad user survey jointly conducted by the research company Macromill and Digital Impact, YouTube ranked first in the list of free video content services that users in Japan usually watch, and 97.8% of the survey respondents as a result of attending. The following are 2nd Nico Nico Douga (27.8%), 3rd Facebook (21.1%), 4th LINE (20.3%), 5th Twitter (17.7%).
According to Nielsen’s research, YouTube is popular in Japan, with over 62 million users. (December 2018) About 80% of Japan’s Internet population is watching.
In September 2021, we also conducted a survey on the most recent social media usage in Japan. This survey also concluded that Youtube is the most used social media by Japan in every age range and gender.
For more detail on this survey, please see our 2021 Japanese Social Media Usage Survey.
Top Japanese YouTubers Ranking by Categories
Here we summarized top and famous Japanese YouTubers by their number of subscribers and their popularity in different categories.
Top Japanese YouTubers (All)
| Ranking | Japanese YouTuber | Total Subscribers (in millions) | Total Playbacks (in billions) | Category |
| 1 | Hajime Shacho (hajime) (はじめしゃちょー（hajime）) | 8.3 | 6.8 | Entertainment |
| 2 | HikakinTV (HikakinTV) | 7.9 | 6.6 | Entertainment |
| 3 | Fischer’s- Fishers – (Fischer’s-フィッシャーズ-) | 5.9 | 8.3 | Entertainment |
| 4 | Yuka Kinoshita Yuka Kinoshita (Yuka Kinoshita木下ゆうか) | 5.4 | 1.9 | Food |
| 5 | avex (avex) | 5.1 | 7.8 | Music |
| 6 | Tokai on-air (東海オンエア) | 4.9 | 5.1 | Entertainment |
| 7 | Travel Thirsty (Travel Thirsty) | 4.7 | 1.8 | Food |
| 8 | SUSHI RAMEN [Riku] (SUSHI RAMEN【Riku】) | 4.6 | 0.9 | Entertainment |
| 9 | Kenshi YONEZU (米津玄師) | 4.6 | 2.4 | Music |
| 10 | HikakinGames (HikakinGames) | 4.4 | 4.3 | Gaming |
YouTuber is popular among younger generation particular in Japan. Thus this ranking shows that channels that are appealing to the generally young audience and entertainment are the most popular on YouTube in Japan.
In the entertainment videos, YouTubers are conducting various pranks and challenges that look hilarious and sometimes shocking and popular from a wide range of audiences.
Example of pranks/challenge type of video
Top Trending Japanese YouTubers
| Ranking | Japanese YouTuber | Total Subscribers (in millions) in past 30day | Category |
| 1 | Rate teacher RATE VFX (れーと先生RATE VFX) | 0.23 | Gaming |
| 2 | Yusaku Maezawa (Yusaku Maezawa) | 0.21 | Celebrity |
| 3 | Ronbu channel (ロンブーチャンネル) | 0.17 | Celebrity |
| 4 | Parker / college students of day-to-day (パーカー / 大学生の日常) | 0.17 | Real Life |
| 5 | And stops a couple (さとまるカップル) | 0.16 | Couple Life |
| 6 | Mirai Asakura Mikuru Asakura (朝倉未来 Mikuru Asakura) | 0.12 | Sports |
| 7 | Kajisakku KAJISAC (カジサック KAJISAC) | 0.11 | Entertainment |
| 8 | Emirin channel (エミリンチャンネル) | 0.11 | Entertainment |
| 9 | Kei-chan (けいちゃん) | 0.09 | Music |
| 10 | Fermilab Fermi Laboratory (フェルミ研究所Fermi Laboratory) | 0.08 | Education |
By taking a look at only the past 30 days of new subscriber acquisition numbers, it reveals that the who is the most trending and also new generation of popular Japanese YouTubers.
From the above list, although it is still the case that entertainment is prevalent, one of the new trends of YouTube in Japan is the participation of already a celebrity and daily-life type (real-life and couple life.) These types of videos are often ordinary people’s daily life at home and nothing particular.
Example of daily life video
Top Gaming Japanese YouTubers
| Ranking | Japanese YouTuber | Total Subscribers (in millions) | Sub-Category |
| 1 | Natsuki Hanae (花江夏樹) | 0.92 | General |
| 2 | GENJ1 Gaming- Genji (GENJ1 Gaming-ゲンジ) | 0.39 | General |
| 3 | Yomii (よみぃ) | 0.68 | General |
| 4 | Juki PaPPa (ジュキぱっぱ) | 0.35 | General |
| 5 | Raibarori (ライバロリ) | 0.65 | Pokemon |
| 6 | Mokou no play-by-play (もこうの実況) | 0.87 | Pokemon |
| 7 | Banbi (バンビー) | 0.09 | General |
| 8 | Odaken (オダケン) | 0.41 | Horror |
| 9 | 28 (Futaba) channel (２８（ふたば）ちゃんねる) | 0.57 | Minecraft |
| 10 | Ambition of Hayato (ハヤトの野望) | 0.14 | General |
Although the general gaming channels are popular because they can attract a broader audience, one should notice the fact is that Pokemon is the most popular single gaming channel among all other similar channels.
Example of Pokemon video
Top Female Japanese YouTubers
| Ranking | Japanese YouTuber | Total Subscribers (in millions) | Sub-Category |
| 1 | Emirin channel (エミリンチャンネル) | 0.78 | Entertainment |
| 2 | Fami. (ふぁみ。) | 0.18 | Music |
| 3 | Choki (Choki) | 0.18 | Daily Life |
| 4 | Hina 5 gratitude (ひなちゃん5しゃい) | 0.11 | Beauty |
| 5 | Copi (こぴ) | 0.12 | General |
| 6 | Tsuji-channel (辻ちゃんネル) | 0.39 | Celebrity |
| 7 | Giddy Three Musketeers (ヘラヘラ三銃士) | 0.21 | Beauty |
| 8 | LiSA Official YouTube (LiSA Official YouTube) | 0.81 | Celebrity |
| 9 | Liao Gate channel (門りょうチャンネル) | 0.08 | Beauty |
| 10 | 3 o’clock heroine of (3時のヒロイン) | 0.05 | Entertainment |
Female YouTubers are growing trends in Japan. Among them, the one stands out are, of course, the beauty-related channels.
However, similar to the top trending ranking, there is a new type of channel gaining popularity, which is daily-life and also celebrity channels.
Example of celebrity video
Top Beauty Japanese YouTubers
| Ranking | Japanese YouTuber | Total Subscribers (in millions) | Sub-Category |
| 1 | Tsuji-chan nel (辻ちゃんネル) | 0.39 | Celebrity |
| 2 | nanako Nanako (nanakoななこ) | 0.87 | Teen |
| 3 | Hee-young channel (ひよんちゃんねる) | 0.33 | Korean cosmetic |
| 4 | Well Taso (まあたそ) | 1.61 | Entertainment |
| 5 | kemio (kemio) | 1.57 | O-ney |
| 6 | shabon (shabon) | 0.04 | Cosmetic |
| 7 | Hinachan’neru (ひなちゃんねる) | 0.94 | Diet |
| 8 | Neo channel (ねおチャンネル) | 0.77 | General |
| 9 | Habit of Momochi was too strong. (ももちのクセが強すぎた。) | 0.19 | General |
| 10 | SekineRisa (SekineRisa) | 1.34 | General |
Among the beauty-related channels, there is no surprise that cosmetic and diet type of channels is popular.
One of the new and popular channels is that O-ney type of channels where very feminine male talks about females beauty. O-ney often appears on Japanese variety (comedy) shows and usually express their feelings and their thoughts straight forward.
Example of feminine male video
Corporate Japanese YouTubers
| Ranking | Japanese YouTuber | Total Subscribers (in millions) | Sub-Category |
| 1 | BabyBus – children’s songs – Children’s Video (BabyBus – 子供の歌 – 子どもの動画) | 3.58 | Kids |
| 2 | Pokemon official YouTube channel (ポケモン公式YouTubeチャンネル) | 1.02 | Gaming |
| 3 | Mako Nari President (マコなり社長) | 0.33 | Startup |
| 4 | GENRYU channel (GENRYUチャンネル) | 0.16 | Chiropractic |
| 5 | Tohoku Safari Park (東北サファリパーク) | 0.83 | Zoo |
| 6 | hololive Hororaibu – VTuber Group (hololive ホロライブ – VTuber Group) | 0.15 | VTuber |
| 7 | PRODUCE 101 JAPAN (PRODUCE 101 JAPAN) | 0.33 | Celebrity |
| 8 | Bright Side | Bright Side Japan (ブライトサイド | Bright Side Japan) | 1.29 | Education |
| 9 | Paradox Live Official Channel (Paradox Live 公式チャンネル) | 0.06 | Music |
| 10 | Tomy TAKARATOMY (タカラトミー TAKARATOMY) | 1.04 | Toys |
As we have seen, even for corporate YouTube channels, kids’ categories are still popular like pokemon, zoos, toys, etc.
But it is also interesting to see that some educational channels that mean adults are also gaining popularity, for example, startups, Chiropractic, Education.
Example of educational video
How to contact and negotiate with Japanese YouTubers
Contact
Once you have selected a YouTuber that wants a tie-up, the next step is to request that YouTuber. YouTubers have a person who belongs in the agency and a person who works individually. If they belong to the agency, the URL of the office HP is listed in the description column of the video and the channel summary column.
Individuals often have their email addresses listed, so it is a good idea to contact them for a tie-up request.
Negotiation
Negotiation happens with YouTubers, or the person in charge of their agent about the conditions, and below are the thing usually you should propose.
- Products you want to promote
- Video content
- Remuneration amount and the due date
- Video delivery date and release date
Many YouTubers who work individually have their own rules for corporate projects. Also, if you request YouTubers belonging to the agent, it will be a business-to-business case. We recommend that you carefully check the YouTuber’s activity form and whether there are any rules for tie-ups.
Once the terms are negotiated, YouTubers will start making videos. If the conditions are not met, you will have to look for other YouTubers or non-YouTuber influencers.
Conclusion
A partnership between a famous YouTuber and a company is getting very popular in Japan as well. This article summarizes still a bit of the famous Japanese YouTubers in each category.
In the first step, decide which YouTuber you want to promote your products in your company. Be sure to look at the average number of views and average engagements per video, as well as the number of subscribers.
Edamame’s market research can help you to find the best Japanese Youtubers.
In order to succeed in product promotion by tying up with YouTuber, it is crucial to know the existence of rules first as well as negotiation.
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