Video creator ISSEI / GIVER Inc. CEO Hitoshi Kakunami

Facing your own heart can give you hints for video production

ISSEI has achieved 10 million followers on TikTok and was ranked number one in Japan in the 2022 YouTube channel total views ranking. He has been viewed an incredible 5,657,320,000 times, which is hard to believe. ISSEI is currently active globally, focusing on short videos, but behind this success lies thorough research and tireless challenges. We spoke passionately about where he is currently aiming.

Ever since I was a child, I loved to stand in front of others and aim to do things. I would take the initiative to take on prominent positions, such as the main character in a school play, the cheer leader at a sports festival, or the chairman of a committee.
Therefore, ever since I was a student, my dream was to become famous. I would constantly declare to my friends that I would become big in the future (laughs). My father was an actor, so I had always dreamed of becoming an actor myself. Of course, the main part of an actor's job is acting, but I thought it was appealing that I could work in many different directions, such as appearing on variety shows and working as an artist.
After that, I joined an agency and began my acting career, but I struggled to find work. It was then that I realized I needed to take a more proactive approach, going out and getting work myself, rather than just being passive and accepting work. That's when I became interested in TikTok. In 2019, YouTube was already saturated with video creators. Professionals with editing skills and other skills were seeing an increase in subscribers and views, and I felt it would be difficult for amateurs to succeed. Meanwhile, TikTok was still relatively unknown, and selfies were the norm, rather than the current mainstream camera-based filming method. Sensing that this was a way for me to become famous, I immediately started using TikTok.

■ "Feelings" give you the push you need

To be honest, I struggled a lot until I started getting more advertising jobs through social media work. At the time, I was attending university while also taking acting lessons, so there were long periods when my income was negative and I continued to live a tough financial life, but I never once thought about quitting. I just faced the challenges in front of me, and by repeatedly posting, even though it was all down to intuition, I built up a wealth of know-how within myself. I also researched and thought about what kind of videos were popular and what I could do to get results. When watching other people's videos, I often found that facing my own heart, such as when I felt like swiping or what moments moved me, gave me hints for video production.
This kind of steady work may seem like a hassle to many people. But for me, who is always positive, this action of getting even a little closer to my ideal is nothing but exciting. To me, making videos is merely a means to an end. I believe that as long as the underlying purpose and passion don't burn out, humans can keep working hard.

■Try anything that excites you

I have an ambition to try my hand at music production in the future. A while ago, a video I made using a certain free music source went viral, and creators all over the world started making videos imitating that sound. Thankfully, at the time, many users associated that sound source with ISSEI's videos. I was honestly happy to have had such a big impact on the world, but I would have been even happier if that sound source had been a song I had produced myself. I have many more fantasies like this that I inflate every day, so I have many goals for the future. I also believe that the scope of my work will expand as I continue to improve, so I would like to continue taking on any challenge that excites me.

■Message to university students

"Live your life as you please." If you have something you want to achieve, I want you to focus 100% on yourself first until you see results. I myself was active on social media while also attending university and working part-time, so how I used my time and money was important. And once I declared to those around me that I was going to "become big," I didn't want to compromise in any way. That's why at the time I focused entirely on my social media activities and never took any detours. I may have caused trouble for those around me, but it'll be okay as long as I can repay them in the end. Anyway, live your life as you please first.

Student Newspaper Online, May 15, 2023, Interview by Miyu Ito, 3th year student at Keio University

Have the courage to take a step forward on a journey to discover your potential

"Communication is my source of inspiration," says Kakunami, who runs an influencer marketing business. His desire to provide content that will delight many people is reflected in the name of his company, "GIVER." We spoke to Kakunami, who is involved in the management of two companies despite being a university student.

Inspired by his older brother who became the number one boat racer in Japan, he started boat racing in high school and eventually enrolled at Meiji University. After retiring from competitive boat racing, he took a leave of absence from university. He then began making videos as part of his efforts to promote boat racing, a minor sport.
Furthermore, in order to broaden my horizons, I started meeting various people, and that's how I met ISEEI. His TikTok subscribers had just exceeded 1000 million, and he asked me to help him change his profile picture, which was how we met. Meeting him, I think, greatly changed my perspective. To put it in perspective, if I'm aiming to reach the top of Mount Fuji, then ISEEI is like a man aiming to reach the top of Mount Everest. I wanted to aim even higher together and see new scenery. As I continued to communicate with him, we hit it off, and we decided to work together as influencers.

■ I want to create a chain of "thank yous"

Ever since I was a child, I have lived my life by the principles of "excitement" and "thank you." To receive "thank you" from others, you must first give yourself. Providing exciting content moves people's hearts and earns them a "thank you." I believe that this chain of events can be realized through video production, influencer management, and marketing. Furthermore, the first video production job I undertook was also the result of connections with people. I am who I am today because of connections with others, so I am conscious of communicating well. When meeting someone for the first time, I don't put up any barriers; if the other person also removes their barriers, I am always ready to hit it off. To achieve this, I need to have a thorough conversation and find the wonderful things about them. This will naturally lead to more friends.

■ How to make the most of individual strengths

My mission is to create an environment where creators can easily pursue their dreams. I propose plans to companies and provide support so they can focus on the task at hand. I believe this will increase views and followers. I'm good at proposals and communication, while ISSEI is good at research and publishing. We tend to see better results when we delegate our weaknesses to others and focus on our strengths. Even so, there are times when views stagnate, but these are also important experiences. I believe it's important to learn from failures and think about how to apply them next time. I also have a big goal I want to achieve in the future: to further expand my current business, build a business that is appreciated by more people, and change the social media industry. Trends in the social media industry are constantly changing, making consulting and research more difficult. While there are companies that specialize in consulting, creators know more about trends than companies. By connecting companies in the same industry and leveraging the power of creators, we can complement each other's weaknesses. This will surely revolutionize the social media industry.

■Message to university students

All I can say is to just take a step forward and act. My decision to take a leave of absence led me to video production, which opened the door to influencer management. I also believe that life becomes more fulfilling as we accumulate experience. First, take action, learn from your mistakes, and gain experience. By repeating this process, you will begin to see what you essentially want to do, and you will also gather friends who will support you in your weaknesses. And by all means, try to communicate with a variety of people. Expanding your world and absorbing new values ​​and ways of thinking will surely be useful.

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on January 15, 2023, by Yaku Sakai, a fourth-year student at Meiji University