Starting a Japanese Literature Channel: BookTube Newbie Tag

This month's episode is a sort of announcement, I'm gonna be taking a break from the podcast for a bit to focus on YouTube. If all the same content as video essays and booktube videos sounds interesting to you then I'd love for you to subscribe to the Like My Anime YouTube channel

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Music: SUMMER TRIANGLE by Sharou

Transcript

Why I Finally Start BookTube

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I've wanted to start a YouTube channel for years now. Unfortunately, I'm an introvert with ADHD, a full-time teaching job, two small kids, and editing skills you could describe as amateur-ish on a good day. So naturally, I decided to join BookTube. Hey, I'm Tom and welcome to Like My Anime, the channel where we talk about Japanese media, language learning, and life in Japan. And today I'm gonna be doing the Booktube Newbie Tag. So in 2025, I started a podcast specifically about using Japanese media to learn Japanese and figured I should have a YouTube channel, so my podcast was on all possible distribution platforms. Then I burnt out pretty hard in July of that year, but my goal for 2026 has been to take YouTube more seriously, and BookTube seems like a natural fit for the kind of videos I want to make. If I'm honest, I wanted to do YouTube for years, but always thought of excuses. It'd be too hard to find time with working kids, I'd be too scared to talk on camera, and my editing would be too terrible compared to the booktubers and video essays I love. So far, all that's been true.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

But Dude, sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Uh probably that I live in Japan with my wife and two kids. I'm dyslexic and have ADHD too, but I feel like those are the most unique reasons why my planned release schedule will inevitably slow down. But yeah,

What I Want This Channel To Be

SPEAKER_01 1:46

since I'm in Japan, on this channel I primarily want to talk about Japanese books and manga, but I also want to cover other Japanese media like dramas, movies, and some games too. My day job is teaching English, and I studied linguistics and Japanese in college, so I'd love to do some pop science videos on linguistics and language learning too. I don't know if I'll ever get to that level of quality, but I'd love for this channel to be like reading Rainbow for Japan, using books and other media to talk about Japanese language, history, and culture, and also the most obvious part in this video, uh a lot of employers in Japan don't take kindly to people moonlighting as YouTubers. So uh unless or until I can do this full time, I'm gonna have to keep my face and full name off this channel. But to that point, I haven't seen too many other book VTubers out there, so that's pretty unique, right? I

Reading Taste And Why Stories Matter

SPEAKER_01 2:51

went through an annoying college phase where I only read non-fiction books. I thought fiction was somehow less productive, which is funny because now I unironically believe books are the best way to teach empathy and compassion. But now I basically read anything I can get my hands on. I definitely default to sci-fi and fantasy. The Sword and Laser podcast was a big help in breaking me out of that non-fiction funk, but I'm trying to expand my horizons. I've been trying to read more romance and shoujo manga, but I'm not really sure even where to start. Like sometimes I get super into a drama series my wife is watching or a manga she likes. So if you have any other recommendations on where to start, I'd love to hear them. I love stories, whether that's a history textbook, an anime, or a good novel, and it's really cliche, but I love how books let you get inside another person's head in a way that other media don't do as well. I can't remember if this was a Tyrion Lannister quote or a scholastic book fair bookmark, but a reader lives a thousand lives where the average person just lives one. At any rate, the philosopher and linguist Ludwig Wittgenstein probably put it better. The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.

Childhood Books And A Mystery Series

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Probably the DK Eyewitness Guidebooks or The Adventures of Tintin. Those were the first books I'd grab whenever I went to the library, and I spent a lot of time at the library as a kid. I can't quite remember the order anymore for chapter books, but I definitely read The Hobbit, The Magic Tree House, Goosebumps, and a series of unfortunate events as a kid. Oh yeah, and this is probably the series that nearly made me stop reading, though, but Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Also, I have this memory of a middle grade historical fiction series of people keeping a journal as they live through specific events in US history. Like I remember reading one about the Transcontinental Railroad, one about the Civil War, and I think one about someone immigrating to the US through Ellis Island. But I can't, for the life of me, get Google to help me out. If you have any idea what I'm talking about, I'd love to know in the comments. They actually might be pretty fun for my daughter to read one day.

Finding A Kind Community Online

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Honestly, it's probably being able to build my little corner of a larger welcoming community. Everywhere online has drama, but the Japanese language learning community, in English anyway, is super toxic. I guess it makes sense when you think about it, but basically take all the toxic gatekeeping nonsense of video games and anime and subreddits and then add in ego and proficiency tests. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to having an open, welcoming, and supportive place to talk about my nerdy hyperfixations.

Murakami Plans And Creator Comparisons

SPEAKER_01 6:35

I've actually been planning a big Haruki Murakami video all year, and I keep having to push it back because I still haven't finished the books I want to cover. Maybe it's not that true anymore, but ten years ago when I first started trying to get into Japanese authors, Murakami just took up so much oxygen. And despite also liking whiskey, baseball, jazz, and magical realism, me and Murakami just don't get along too well. I definitely watch too much YouTube and have a bunch of favorites, but I'm not sure which ones are booktubers and which are just video essayists that talk about media. Creators like Jacob Geller, Hello Future Me, and Quinn's Ideas. But I did just find Willow Talk's books and Colleen's manga rex. But I guess, yeah, my my biggest question is will I ever stop comparing myself to you and just be happy with the stuff I can make? Everybody has influences and people that came before them that they look up to. So it's normal to feel self-conscious at first. But the way Jacob Geller can tell a story or those motion graphics of anime panels that Colleen does are just so dang cool. I don't think I could do it.

Real Life Reading Habits And Ebooks

SPEAKER_01 8:17

So I was already trying to read way before I knew why it was hard. Uh wherever I can. I have a four-year-old and a five-month-old, so there's no real set time or place. And despite living in Japan, I live in rural Japan. So I actually drive most places. So no reading on the train for me, unfortunately. A mess. Most of my books are actually still in California, and the small collection I'm rebuilding here is scattered all around our relatively big for Japan apartment. I've actually been collecting more ebooks recently, mostly as a way to compromise with my wife, but also because something like 70% of manga sold in Japan is digital. So while Japan has a huge and thriving physical book market, too, ebooks are also just a big part of life here. I still prefer reading physical books though. But yeah, thank you for letting me answer all these questions, and I hope you have a great day.