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Kei Ibaraki: Busting Asian stereotypes by the upload
YouTube channel Asian Boss seeks to present a different side of Asia.
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Hustling: Kei Ibaraki (second right) works with his crew on the Asian Boss YouTube channel. (instagram.com/asianbossk/-)
Asia is host to innumerable, nuanced cultures, but mainstream, Hollywood-oriented pop culture fails to show the whole picture.
Times are changing, and Asian representation is slowly increasing worldwide, but stereotypes still abound about the region and its peoples.
Japan, for example, is known for its blend of technological wonders and old-world traditions. YouTube has an abundance of videos on ninjas and samurai but far fewer about, for example, the experiences of a biracial schoolgirl.
Those seeking a side of Asia rarely captured on screen may enjoy Asian Boss’ YouTube channel. It features quirky characters like a Japanese professional apologizer alongside on-the-street interviews about topics such as Peppa Pig’s unexpected popularity in China.
The brainchild of Stephen Park and Kei Ibaraki, Asian Boss got its start in 2013 with a street interview asking young Asian women in Australia whether they preferred dating Asian or Caucasian men. While the channel’s focus was on relationship topics at first, after six months it branched out to other kinds of stories.
Ibaraki, who spoke at Jakarta’s recent Ideafest, said his team eventually realized that as the numbers of subscribers grew, the channel had to grow too.
