STUDENTS CREATE YOUTUBE CHANNEL FOR FOREIGN TRANSFER STUDENTS

Seniors Luna Takamatsu and Mika Tominaga created a joint Youtube channel on June 12 in hopes of winning a Japanese video contest. As students who moved to the U.S. from Japan two years ago, Takamatsu and Tominaga make videos on their channel with the intent of bridging the gap between Japanese and American culture by offering viewers, particularly Japanese transfer students, a glimpse into their new American lifestyles. Takamatsu and Tominaga’s channel, which focuses primarily on life at Peninsula and various online challenges, had amassed over 200 subscribers and a combined view count of over 14,000 views in little more than a month after its creation.

According to Takamatsu, her firsthand experience adjusting to American culture motivated her to produce content on Youtube.

“Moving to [a] different place is already hard,” Takamatsu said. “But moving to [a] different country and [speaking a] different language [is an even harder] experience. I wanted to give [foreign students] information about America so [they] would know what they should do before and after [transferring].”

The influence of Takamatsu and Tominaga’s videos has not been limited solely to their viewers. Their videos have had a personal effect on Tominaga; participating in videos has helped her become more extroverted and step outside of her comfort zone.

“[While Takamatsu and I] wanted to [make a YouTube channel], we were [hesitant] to do it alone so we decided to make a channel together,” Tominaga said. “I was a bit scared to [attempt] new things, but creating a channel changed my mind in a good way. [It was] trying something I have never done before, [similar to when] I had to talk to people to improve [my] English [when I moved from Japan].”

Making videos has also impacted Takamatsu, as it has allowed her to improve her video editing and filming skills.

“By filming videos, I got to know a lot about cameras and editing, which I never thought I would [learn about],” Takamatsu said. “Editing is [part] of my daily routine now.”

Junior Kota Ichiban, who helps Takamatsu and Tominaga film using drones and is featured in their videos, feels that the videos positively affect the lives of Japanese transfer students who want to learn more about American culture.

“When I learned they were on Youtube two months ago, I was very happy for [them],” Ichiban said. “Since they came to the U.S. for high school, they [wanted] to inspire others to come [and] study abroad. I am very proud of [them] for going out of their way [to generate a] strong impact.”

After seeing the success of their videos, Takamatsu and Tominaga envision their channel growing to over one million subscribers in a few years, as they create more lifestyle videos and participate in more online challenges.

“After [uploading videos], we receive [more] views and comments everyday,” Takamatsu said. “[Tominaga and I were] very excited when [we saw that we were] inspiring people all over the world; some people who [comment or like our videos] are even from Europe or Africa. That gives us more energy and passion to make [even] better videos. ”