Japanese YouTuber Says Harassment Drove Her Out of Hokkaido

An onsen YouTuber living in the country in Hokkaido, Japan says she had to flee the entire island after enduring severe sexual harassment.

By Jay Allen

Life can be hard and unsupportive in a small town. For one YouTuber in Japan, sadly, it seems to have turned downright dangerous. Here’s why a popular onsen YouTuber felt she had to flee the entire island of Hokkaido for her own safety.

Content warning: This story discusses harassment.

Rin’s country life

As we first reported on X (Twitter), Rin is the owner of the YouTube channel Rin Japanese Country Life (りんの田舎暮らし). A so-called onsen YouTuber, Rin relaxes in a hot spring or similar hot bath while discussing her lifestyle as a “poor girl” (貧困女子; hinkon joshi) living in the village of Tsurui (鶴居村; tsuruimura), a small town of 2,516 people in eastern Hokkaido.

Despite being a “poor girl”, Rin is pretty rich in attention. Her YouTube channel has over half a million subscribers, with some videos garnering between 500,000 and one million views apiece. She publishes messages to her channel in English and Mandarin Chinese as well, and has amassed a worldwide following.