Another Visit to Japan with YouTube

Written by Sophie, May 2021

 

With the weather lately bring as bad as it has been, I’ve been spending a lot of time on my computer (not that that’s new!). I’ve been watching a lot of Japanese craft videos on YouTube, so I thought I’d share a few of my favourite channels with you.

植物男子 Asu

Asu is a man in his 20s who makes incredible terrariums and miniature Japanese gardens. His finished projects not only look spectacular, but often have some form of running water, whether it’s a waterfall or a fountain. These videos are great to watch at night, as they can help you fall asleep (and I mean that in the nicest way!). There’s no dialogue, and the sound of sawing wood or sprinkling gravel is incredibly relaxing.

 

伝統工芸 青山スクエア (Traditional Crafts Aoyama Square)

If there is a Japanese craft you want to learn more about, then this channel will probably have a video on it. From ceramics to lacquerware, washi paper to bento boxes, the variety of videos available is quite extraordinary. Depending on the craftsperson and their craft the videos vary between narrated and unnarrated, but most feature a soundtrack of traditional Japanese music that transports you to the workshop. There are also a few videos that teach you how to care for some of the products featured – such as lacquerware or wooden bento boxes.

 

Victoria and Albert Museum

I’ve already featured a few of the V&A videos on the NishuraEast blog before, but they have so, so many videos that I would be wrong not to talk about them here. There’s a plethora of material not only about Japanese crafts, but English, Indian, Korean, French, Italian and so many more. They also have some wonderful videos about Japanese fashion and culture so there really is something for everyone.

 

Although the videos that YouTube recommends can vary wildly in content and quality, I love discovering new channels only tangentially related to what I’ve watched before.

What are some of your favourite YouTube channels?