Use of AI Images here and my feelings on the comments: 1) I feel very bad about artists losing work because of AI and this is not an issue I hear often in Japan. RUclips is an amazing platform where I get to interact with my audience (you) and if there is an aspect like the images you didn't like, I am very grateful for the feedback! My goal is to make each episode enjoyable so you learn something incredible about Japan. 2) I did not rely on AI images to make this episode. It accounts for about 1% of the video which is 33 min long. Each image was just a canvas and required much more work in Photoshop because AI is far from perfect, as you can see. I get some don't like it - and thank you for letting me know why - but also if you are an artist upset, respect the work I took a year to make about an inspirational man and story I researched for a long time, traveled to these locations - for you and the story - to see first hand. I would very much appreciate comments on the story as well. 3) I DO NOT intend to use AI images often in my work. It is not a crutch to make content for me. I LOVE to leave my house and explore. No one has gone the distance to make a historical video like this on Manjiro! It was expensive, it took time, but I was obsessed to do it. I hope you feel that enthusiasm in the work. My test audience that saw the AI images liked it and I didn't get any negative feedback so my test group was not large enough and I'll fix that in the future. 4) It is my job to listen to you. I rely on my audience to watch it. I'm doing my best to do that and learn from everyone. I don't know anyone successful who doesn't listen well to their audience and you're important to me to be a better creator. Much love, John ^_^
The reaction to AI generated art is some luddite-level ridiculousnes. Scribes shrieking at the invention of printing press. I have an enormous stake at this and even I don't freak out the way these guys do. Both my art and profession is being directly threatened by AI. It's simply a asinine, knee-jerk reaction by people who put their own short term interest over progression of humanity. World's changing, hundreds of occupations went obsolete in the past. Do you see any astrolabe makers around? That's a gorgeous contraption. Oh no, none makes a good astrolabe anymore. lol. Being human is to adapt and overcome. Screaming at the coming tsunami will only make fools out of you to be mentioned in passing in history books of future. If you are really talented, you can also find ways to create value even facing a formidible competitor such as AI. But I wonder 95 percent of any of these people even put any thought into this ludicurous outrage. It is just the latest bandvagon they hopped on.
@@meticulouslyeliminatinghaters I have a theory. There are two kinds of people. Person 1: "Hey look at this funny video of this crazy thing that just happened!!" Person 2: "It's a funny situation but it is staged and trying to be passed off as a real event. It's fake." Person 1: "Well it's still funny to me!" Person 2: "I don't find things that are staged trying to be passed off as real as funny" These are the exact same two types of people in the AI argument. Yes AI can assist in the creation process, reducing the amount of work for a creator and some people can appreciate it. And others would rather experience something more real and less artificial, and wince at AI artwork because of the inevitability of it being passed off as real and authentic content. Unfortunately I am not one of those people who find staged "really just happened!!!" videos funny. You do you. You are allowed to like it, others are allowed to dislike it.
@@mattcy6591That's a false dichotomy also a false analogy. 1. You can enjoy blatantly staged things e.g. Movies, theatre etc. 2. If none believes the "authenticity" of art, origin does not matter anymore. Which will inevitably happen. No amount of complaining can stop this. 3. Staged funny videos may fail in your example only if the fun factor solely depends on prerequisite of authenticity. Authenticity of a claimed candid happenstance does not translate well into aesthetic/visual art, music, fiction...
@@meticulouslyeliminatinghaters you are not catching what I said. People can like things and others can dislike things. All I am saying is the people on both sides of the AI imagery fall into similar stances as people that enjoy and dislike staged "reality videos". Some find it enjoyable, others find it deceitful. In my example I am specifically using an example of funny videos that try to be passed off as real actual events when they are fake or staged. Whether it be someone staging something for clicks or to deceive or a viral marketing agency made video of this "omg real thing that just happened." Or Reality TV shows where every line and situation is scripted, but fakes being naturally occurring candid moments. Again, if you like those, fine. If you don't like those, fine. I am just making a comparison. I am not telling you that you need to not like those. Movies, comedies, etc are not trying to pass themselves off as being real actual things that happened and a camera just happened to be recording. Even Punk'd type shows while staged, present a funny situation to an unwitting individual. In the end they are not pretending to the viewer that these things actually happened naturally to these people. There is tongue in cheek. Some people are vehemently turned off by this content. Others enjoy it, and still enjoy it after finding out about the inauthenticity.
@@mattcy6591I understood it perfectly, I am just saying that's a non-argument due to two reasons. Reason 1. Your example does not apply to the conversation around AI art. There are hundreds of ways of funny, beautiful, aesthetically pleasing, awe inducing,inspiring... all the ways an artwork can be. Your example is not even art if it's not staged. It's just happenstance. It's real life documented just happens to be funny. It is not an analogy that makes sense in the context artwork which byitself comes with an implication of cognizant intervention. Reason 2. Whether or not anyone enjoys/accepts this happening is not important. It will happen regardless and when it does there will be no way to be sure of authenticity anymore. Once that happens everything might as well be AI generated. You will see 100 percent human made art and will think they were AI. At that point if the two origins produce exactly the same art down to minute detail by the strike of a crazy probabilty scenario without knowing you'll enjoy/dislike them to the same degree. So there is no point for arbitrary restrictions for art. Again, your example is not even art. It's real life documented. It doesn't even have to be funny. Any sort of false claim of documented real life is deception. What you don't enjoy is not AI generated art. You just dislike deception. If a human tries to push a AI generated image as their own art, it does not detract from the quality of the artwork, if you would have enjoyed it otherwise. It is the deception of claimant you dislike. Since the art in question is not real life documented the artwork itself is divorced from deception because it just is as it is. As it would be if it was made by a human artist.
You can watch the TV series "Shōgun". The story is similar to that of Manjiro but in the TV show it is an English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan. The story is partially based on real historical figures. There is also the movie "the last Samurai". The story about the historical figure "Yasuke" is also interesting.
Woahh there was a little movie going through my head while I watched this... that's a documentary. I can only imagine how much work it was to visit all these places, collect info and put them together in such a cohesive story. Hope this video gets at least 1mi views. Thanks John!!!
As I watched this, I was thinking about your live streams from each of the locations, and how much time you must have put into telling this amazing story! It was time well spent. Great work, John!
@@onlyinjapan John you are the one with many talents,. I think you could write a script. And it would be a delight to see the Movie or Netflix series.
John Manjiro's story is quite amazing and you did a great job of bringing us his story and adventures. Appreciate all the hard work you've put into this one and it shows! Well done! 👏👍
Hustling gold to get the homies back home and then visiting your own grave stone: so badass. John, I would have never had heard this story during late History Channel even though this would have been right up their alley of unconventional and larger than life. You did it again. Amazing work.
History Channel should cover this! When I heard about this story, I said WHY HAVEN’T I HEARD OF THIS BEFORE? It’s because he doesn’t get the same amount of respect as other samurai like Sakamoto Ryoma. Maybe because he was a peasant? But the Manjiro story is coming back and going to burst into US TV sometime! I hope this video inspires more interest in Manjiro and I’ll be happy 😊 because Manjiro deserves it.
I was waiting for this episode ever since I saw the livestream at Fairhaven. Really liked it and appreciate the hard work that went behind this. I find the love-hate stories between Japan and USA so fascinating and I am not even from one of these two countries originally. Edit- I gifted my 8 year old nephew a book on Manjiro on his last birthday called "Heart of a Samurai". He's 2nd gen American and loves Japan already. He'll be coming here in japan in a few months!
My Japanese school used the Minna No Nihongo textbook. In it, there was a short story about Manjiro. When I read it, I was blown away. Even with current technology, I sometimes find it difficult to travel in Japan. There are so many differences in not just the language but the culture. And if I get lonely, I can always do a video call with friends and family back in America. I can't imagine what it'd be like to go from having zero knowledge about a foreign country, to wind up living there and being the only person of your nationality. It must've been ROUGH. Shout out to Captain William Whitfield for taking Manjiro under his wing. And of course, thanks to Manjiro for helping bridge Japan to the U.S.
Wow, I think this is the best documentary you've made to date. The pace is not too fast for me to understand these detailed concepts of the biography. I also like how you merged the Google earth angle with your drone shot! Or when you noticed in one interview that an important conversation was happening and that camera in your hands started recording so fast. Ha ha The use of AI art was a surprise, but a happy surprise. The best utilization of it I've seen. Some of the reason for the ai criticisms maybe because it's a new ingredient to your formula of design. Amazing look into the legend. Have a great day sir!
I spent extra time with the timing of the scenes so this makes me happy to hear. I think these tools we get like AI and google maps are just tools we can use like spice for the footage we do take. B-roll we say, spice for the main course. It is certainly going to grow, but how we use it will be very important. I read the comments today and know many don't like the AI stuff even though I had to add a lot of myself into what you see. It was all AI generated. This episode took ages to make. But over time, it won't be an issue at all, just now, people are not used to it nor should they be. Too many abuse it. It is far from perfect but the (nearly all of the) tools of tomorrow will be better than today. I don't intend to use much AI stuff but for history like this, how else does one tell a story that would require so much money to hire actors, sets. In a year, these comments (and perhaps this video) will look dated but the video's story is timeless! Thank you so much for the feedback.
Wow John, you've outdone yourself with this full on production! I was completely engrossed in your documentary and want to learn more about Manjiro now. Awesome work.
This makes me so happy! I became a fan of Manjiro’s after hearing a basic story of his, and when I dug deeper, it’s absolutely incredible! His love for coffee and sweets, I can relate to him in so many ways 😂
Hi John, this has got to be your finest professional work ever. As soon as it started, I was hooked. Living in the UK, I have never heard of this great Japanese person, Manjiro. Thank you for another outstanding documentary.
Thank you for this, I've been getting hounded for using ai tools so that has been distracting more than I thought it would be for the audience. The audience isn't wrong, they watch with feeling and I appreciate the feedback, but your comment makes me very happy because you caught the story which is the point and absolutely incredible!
I loved this! Very well made, like a tv show from a series! and my husband, being Japanese, knew the story very well! Thanks for sharing such a remarkable story that shaped Japanese history! It inspires me to be more open minded to learn more .I did not know this story at all. Wow, how his mom would have grieved over him, but somehow could feel he was still alive! He had such an inquisitive desire to learn! He is an inspiration for all of us who have lived many places on thus globe! I did laugh, never realised Shikoku looked like a mini Australia! 😂 Got the pleasure of living in Perth, Australia for 9 years! Thanks for all the work you put into sharing these types of videos!
John this must have been a cool learning experience for you, you did John’s story justice. I’d never heard of this story, and enjoyed every minute of John’s story. Just the thought of being executed for coming home was so brave. Thank you for doing an awesome job telling us this story.
I wonder what was in his mind when he sailed into Ryukyu. He'd been there before, had a good feeling so risk was low - but man, he must have been worried when they arrested him. I heard he was treated very well in Kagoshima. They knew his value, but the also followed the rules. There's a lot I left for others to learn themselves - can't say it all but enough to get people interested. SO many footnotes of interest through an amazing time in history.
@@onlyinjapan I wondered the same thing about John going home to Japan. He must’ve been a very confident, young man. Johns education in the USA must have led to his confidence, that just maybe he’d have the chance to win over the leaders and not be executed, he had big kahunas lol. John had such a wonderful story and his zest for life. I’m sure it was a huge gamble on his part to go home,to regain the faith of the leaders of that time in history really is amazing to me. Thank you again for bringing us Johns story, he was an amazing man we can learn from still. I love all your videos, they’ve been a huge education for me.
This is easily your best produce video ever! Something on par with some of the best documentaries I've seen. Wonderful work, John! This deserves way more views!
Absolutely fascinating. Have learned a lot from watching this. Although this story is nearly 200 years old, we can take a lot from what happened back then. Thank you John for your extensive research on this project. Take care and thanks again, from Australia
John, I think this is one of your finest productions. Fascinating, rare story very few would have known about without this.... It is obvious you spent a lot of time, effort and love in bringing this story to us. Thanks very much.
John such an excellent job, well done! I really enjoyed your video and learned a lot. I appreciate your efforts to share and educate us. Please create more like these. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
When I was living in Boston I tried riding my bike to Manjiro friendship house but failed haha. It's amazing that you actually went to some of those places where Manjiro set foot--it's impressive even with modern day transportation
Well done. Thank you for bringing attention to this excellent story. And I agree with the other commenters that this should be a miniseries, but you did a wonderful job making it real.
Yes! This was an amazing story, so well done John! I'm amazed that there hasn't been a movie done of this extraordinary man and his accomplishments. This video even kept my partners undivided attention away from his cell phone! LOL! No mean feat indeed! Keep up the great work John.
Well done John. All your traveling and research really paid off. I've never heard of "John Mung" so his story was really an eye-opener and inspiring. He must have been a really nice person because he was trusted by the Shogun. In many ways, you too are an ambassador, especially in showing us about Japan and Japan about the USA. Thank You. We'd love to see more of the stories inside Japan.
I have been watching your videos for many years, i have always liked the videos and been subscribed to this and other channels off yours, but i have never left and comment, as i became a bit jaded over the years from the comment section on RUclips and other platforms. But i felt i had to say that this one was one off the best videos that i have seen from you, John and the passion for this story really shows. Thank you for doing what you do and i promise i'l come here more often.
I’m very grateful you took the time to write me about this episode in particular and the encouragement and feedback from so many has been uplifting. RUclips is still a social media and the comments certainly become an important part of the story. My friends in Kochi are also reading and surprised that so many didn’t know about Manjiro and pleased his story is so inspirational as it was to me when I stumbled upon this museum and wondered, why hadn’t I heard of this before? So I made it my mission to make sure as many could learn about it and it’s that emotion I had that I hope translates through the work. Thank you for commenting. It really made me happy to read it.
This is great. I would actually love to see a longer cut. I know you did so much on location having seen your live streams here there and everywhere! Your interview subjects were clearly enthusiastic & knowledgeable. The Ryugu Shrine scene was a spectacular shot yet made contemplative with the added sound of the waves. Impressively put together.
Gosh, if I had one more month! I’d go to Nagasaki, Ogasawara, dig deeper in Tokyo! More on his family but he had a stroke shortly after seeing the Captain again in 1870. That ended his career mostly for diplomacy and I didn’t talk much about it because people will discover it, there’s more to the story for sure!
Such an unbelievable story. Thank you so much John for introducing me to this. I grew up in central Massachusetts and never knew of this. Please cover more stories like this!
What an incredible story of a man I have never really known about til now. You did a great job telling his story and going to all theses locations to show it. You can see all the effort you put in to this in the production. I hope more people will find this video.
Hey John, I was rewatching this episode and I am sorry to say that you were right! One of your best videos, I go back to well before your 500k. I was watching your “go” channel early on and always enjoyed catching your live stream! But back to you were “right”. I guess things have changed to food. Your story telling and producing is exceptional! I’m a little sad but otsukaresama deshita! DO NOT STOP!
Thank you so much John for such a valuable national treasure history. This could've been a great movie with all aspects of life, the wonderful ones without the war and killings. What's an inspirational.
My wife and I can’t get over who amazing this story is and that it deserves to be made into a movie because it has a broad appeal - and it is right for the time. Pitch it to Disney. We are tired of Marvel comics movies. Your film is about a real hero - sailing halfway around the world, coming to new country, working to earn enough to return to Japan, the mother who really never gave up hope, becoming a samurai, facilitating the opening of Japan, etc. John, go do it. Just do it. You already have this film to demo. Good luck.👏👍😊🏆🏅🎥💵💵💵
Wow, this was such a good video. The way it was laid out and played made me feel like I was watching a Veritasium video. Obviously this is original content all on its own but the voiceover with the animation styles plus all of the information given just comes together to make a very good finished product that is reminiscent of what id expect from the Veritasium producer. I'm a little late to the party but that's because I like to try to save your stuff for when I can't wait to see something new anymore lol. Keep up the awesome work like you always do!!!
Just wanted to say really great video!!!! So much time, effort, and money to shoot on location in at least 7 places far from each other: Fairhaven, Honolulu harbor, Okinawa, Nakanohama, Kochi Castle, Shimoda and Zoshigaya cemetery. INSANE!!!!!!!!!! But truly the best way to help us feel invested in the story is to go on site and share these places with us. YOU SERIOUSLY ROCK!!!!!
Such history could easily have inspired a fantasy story like One Piece. What an adventure, filled with comradery and hope to reunite with his blood family and later with his mentor so to speak. Some times real history surpass fiction. Great short doc!
Love this episode, I love learning about the history of Japan and America. Being American myself, but growing up in Japan. But back living in Florida It’s beautiful to see the families still connected. I’m it makes me want to go up to New Haven for the festival. ❤️ 🇯🇵
Very interesting story, John. I'd be scared today to go from Hawaii to Massachusetts and back, under the tip of South America. I can't imagine the courage these people had back then, not knowing the weather and whether they where heading into a typhoon, knowing the journey would take over a year, stuck on a wooden ship. It's a miracle he survived all that and in the end managed to live quite an impactful life. Also, my impression is that the Japanese are not very expressive of their feelings, so I wonder how his mum reacted when she saw him back from the dead. Must have been elated.
That was an amazing story. Thanks for the year-long effort and for telling the story so well. I had zero knowledge of any of this and so it was quite the journey you took me on.
What a fantastic documentary! I had heard of John Mung only briefly so thank you for this in-depth work. I had previously been confused by the name "Mung" as it does not look like a Japanese name. Now I understand how it was derived. Has this video been aired on NHK? It certainly should be! It is of that level and quality- perhaps even exceeding some of what I see on NHK.
Congratulations on an epic episode! The research you did is impressive and I can see why it took you a year to put this together. Your attention to detail is wonderful, and I learned so much. This piece should be shown in all the schools in Japan!
I recognize the time an effort this video required- and I think the small AI images added to the story. As you said, it is a small percent of the video. Since I had watched several of the videos that became part of this story, I enjoyed seeing the end product.
I really enjoyed this. You did a great job. I'm very much a history buff. There is so much to Japanese history people are not aware of. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi John, this is an amazing, epic documentary and I can't believe you were able to travel over the period of a year or more to all the places that you include in Maniiro's biography. Great job! Did you already have this film in mind when you were in New England for the Manjiro festival? It's really well constructed and reminds me that, especially with the popularity of "Shogun," someone needs to produce a feature film about Manjiro. Thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort to create this. The bits of AI and animation to recreate historical scenes didn't bother me, BTW. I was fortunate enough to participate in a Manjiro Society exchange trip from Colorado Springs to Kagoshima way back in 1995, after which we hosted a delegation from Kagoshima in 1996. Nakahama Manjiro really was a critical figure in US-Japan relations, and it's wonderful to have you educate us on his life.
Yes, I’d planned it out last year and visited Kochi in July 2023. Hawaii in June 2023 before that 😂 Okinawa in April 2023 - before I lost some weight! Haha - you can see me change through the year.
WTF RUclips? It literally hid this video from me unless I drilled down on the videos tab. I'm belled and subscribed and have been since you made this channel and have watched every video right away. Based on the view numbers on this video, I'm not alone. Not fair!
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
Use of AI Images here and my feelings on the comments: 1) I feel very bad about artists losing work because of AI and this is not an issue I hear often in Japan. RUclips is an amazing platform where I get to interact with my audience (you) and if there is an aspect like the images you didn't like, I am very grateful for the feedback! My goal is to make each episode enjoyable so you learn something incredible about Japan. 2) I did not rely on AI images to make this episode. It accounts for about 1% of the video which is 33 min long. Each image was just a canvas and required much more work in Photoshop because AI is far from perfect, as you can see. I get some don't like it - and thank you for letting me know why - but also if you are an artist upset, respect the work I took a year to make about an inspirational man and story I researched for a long time, traveled to these locations - for you and the story - to see first hand. I would very much appreciate comments on the story as well. 3) I DO NOT intend to use AI images often in my work. It is not a crutch to make content for me. I LOVE to leave my house and explore. No one has gone the distance to make a historical video like this on Manjiro! It was expensive, it took time, but I was obsessed to do it. I hope you feel that enthusiasm in the work. My test audience that saw the AI images liked it and I didn't get any negative feedback so my test group was not large enough and I'll fix that in the future. 4) It is my job to listen to you. I rely on my audience to watch it. I'm doing my best to do that and learn from everyone. I don't know anyone successful who doesn't listen well to their audience and you're important to me to be a better creator. Much love, John ^_^
The reaction to AI generated art is some luddite-level ridiculousnes. Scribes shrieking at the invention of printing press. I have an enormous stake at this and even I don't freak out the way these guys do. Both my art and profession is being directly threatened by AI. It's simply a asinine, knee-jerk reaction by people who put their own short term interest over progression of humanity. World's changing, hundreds of occupations went obsolete in the past. Do you see any astrolabe makers around? That's a gorgeous contraption. Oh no, none makes a good astrolabe anymore. lol. Being human is to adapt and overcome. Screaming at the coming tsunami will only make fools out of you to be mentioned in passing in history books of future. If you are really talented, you can also find ways to create value even facing a formidible competitor such as AI. But I wonder 95 percent of any of these people even put any thought into this ludicurous outrage. It is just the latest bandvagon they hopped on.
@@meticulouslyeliminatinghaters I have a theory. There are two kinds of people.
Person 1: "Hey look at this funny video of this crazy thing that just happened!!"
Person 2: "It's a funny situation but it is staged and trying to be passed off as a real event. It's fake."
Person 1: "Well it's still funny to me!"
Person 2: "I don't find things that are staged trying to be passed off as real as funny"
These are the exact same two types of people in the AI argument. Yes AI can assist in the creation process, reducing the amount of work for a creator and some people can appreciate it. And others would rather experience something more real and less artificial, and wince at AI artwork because of the inevitability of it being passed off as real and authentic content.
Unfortunately I am not one of those people who find staged "really just happened!!!" videos funny. You do you. You are allowed to like it, others are allowed to dislike it.
@@mattcy6591That's a false dichotomy also a false analogy.
1. You can enjoy blatantly staged things e.g. Movies, theatre etc.
2. If none believes the "authenticity" of art, origin does not matter anymore. Which will inevitably happen. No amount of complaining can stop this.
3. Staged funny videos may fail in your example only if the fun factor solely depends on prerequisite of authenticity. Authenticity of a claimed candid happenstance does not translate well into aesthetic/visual art, music, fiction...
@@meticulouslyeliminatinghaters you are not catching what I said. People can like things and others can dislike things.
All I am saying is the people on both sides of the AI imagery fall into similar stances as people that enjoy and dislike staged "reality videos". Some find it enjoyable, others find it deceitful.
In my example I am specifically using an example of funny videos that try to be passed off as real actual events when they are fake or staged. Whether it be someone staging something for clicks or to deceive or a viral marketing agency made video of this "omg real thing that just happened." Or Reality TV shows where every line and situation is scripted, but fakes being naturally occurring candid moments. Again, if you like those, fine. If you don't like those, fine. I am just making a comparison. I am not telling you that you need to not like those.
Movies, comedies, etc are not trying to pass themselves off as being real actual things that happened and a camera just happened to be recording. Even Punk'd type shows while staged, present a funny situation to an unwitting individual. In the end they are not pretending to the viewer that these things actually happened naturally to these people. There is tongue in cheek.
Some people are vehemently turned off by this content. Others enjoy it, and still enjoy it after finding out about the inauthenticity.
@@mattcy6591I understood it perfectly, I am just saying that's a non-argument due to two reasons.
Reason 1. Your example does not apply to the conversation around AI art. There are hundreds of ways of funny, beautiful, aesthetically pleasing, awe inducing,inspiring... all the ways an artwork can be. Your example is not even art if it's not staged. It's just happenstance. It's real life documented just happens to be funny. It is not an analogy that makes sense in the context artwork which byitself comes with an implication of cognizant intervention.
Reason 2. Whether or not anyone enjoys/accepts this happening is not important. It will happen regardless and when it does there will be no way to be sure of authenticity anymore. Once that happens everything might as well be AI generated.
You will see 100 percent human made art and will think they were AI. At that point if the two origins produce exactly the same art down to minute detail by the strike of a crazy probabilty scenario without knowing you'll enjoy/dislike them to the same degree. So there is no point for arbitrary restrictions for art.
Again, your example is not even art. It's real life documented. It doesn't even have to be funny. Any sort of false claim of documented real life is deception. What you don't enjoy is not AI generated art. You just dislike deception. If a human tries to push a AI generated image as their own art, it does not detract from the quality of the artwork, if you would have enjoyed it otherwise. It is the deception of claimant you dislike. Since the art in question is not real life documented the artwork itself is divorced from deception because it just is as it is. As it would be if it was made by a human artist.
Now this is an adventure worthy of a television serie!
Yes!!! It really would be. These decades were full of great change, the end of samurai and modernization. Such speed! From feudal to cities!
You can watch the TV series "Shōgun". The story is similar to that of Manjiro but in the TV show it is an English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan. The story is partially based on real historical figures. There is also the movie "the last Samurai". The story about the historical figure "Yasuke" is also interesting.
@@Hype363 I saw the original Shogun series back in the 80s but will definitely see the new one too, also love the Last Samurai!
Don't let Netflix see this they gonna add unnecessary woke thing
That was the first thing I thought about. A movie or maybe Taigadorama. There doesn't seem to be such a thing. So wierd.
Woahh there was a little movie going through my head while I watched this... that's a documentary. I can only imagine how much work it was to visit all these places, collect info and put them together in such a cohesive story. Hope this video gets at least 1mi views. Thanks John!!!
Manjiro deserves my best 😉 thank you!
@@onlyinjapan 🤗💛
I think this would make a awesome movie. Thank you for spending the time doing this story.
Yes, 100% it would! After all the research, I hope the bring me in on the team to help produce it ^_^
@@onlyinjapan you would be the only person I think makes sense
As I watched this, I was thinking about your live streams from each of the locations, and how much time you must have put into telling this amazing story! It was time well spent. Great work, John!
It was almost a year ago I started. It feels really good to finish it today ^_^ and I’m glad you were with me live here too!
@@onlyinjapan John you are the one with many talents,. I think you could write a script. And it would be a delight to see the Movie or Netflix series.
You were the first channel who introduced me to the wonders of Japan, your appreciation of the culture and respect stay with me!
Thank you! I’m glad we can share that, it’s such an amazing country.
John Manjiro's story is quite amazing and you did a great job of bringing us his story and adventures. Appreciate all the hard work you've put into this one and it shows! Well done! 👏👍
What an amazing life he lived! Thanks, John. Wonderful episode.
Hustling gold to get the homies back home and then visiting your own grave stone: so badass. John, I would have never had heard this story during late History Channel even though this would have been right up their alley of unconventional and larger than life. You did it again. Amazing work.
History Channel should cover this! When I heard about this story, I said WHY HAVEN’T I HEARD OF THIS BEFORE? It’s because he doesn’t get the same amount of respect as other samurai like Sakamoto Ryoma. Maybe because he was a peasant? But the Manjiro story is coming back and going to burst into US TV sometime! I hope this video inspires more interest in Manjiro and I’ll be happy 😊 because Manjiro deserves it.
I was waiting for this episode ever since I saw the livestream at Fairhaven. Really liked it and appreciate the hard work that went behind this. I find the love-hate stories between Japan and USA so fascinating and I am not even from one of these two countries originally.
Edit- I gifted my 8 year old nephew a book on Manjiro on his last birthday called "Heart of a Samurai". He's 2nd gen American and loves Japan already. He'll be coming here in japan in a few months!
My Japanese school used the Minna No Nihongo textbook. In it, there was a short story about Manjiro. When I read it, I was blown away. Even with current technology, I sometimes find it difficult to travel in Japan. There are so many differences in not just the language but the culture. And if I get lonely, I can always do a video call with friends and family back in America. I can't imagine what it'd be like to go from having zero knowledge about a foreign country, to wind up living there and being the only person of your nationality. It must've been ROUGH. Shout out to Captain William Whitfield for taking Manjiro under his wing. And of course, thanks to Manjiro for helping bridge Japan to the U.S.
Wow, I think this is the best documentary you've made to date. The pace is not too fast for me to understand these detailed concepts of the biography.
I also like how you merged the Google earth angle with your drone shot! Or when you noticed in one interview that an important conversation was happening and that camera in your hands started recording so fast. Ha ha The use of AI art was a surprise, but a happy surprise. The best utilization of it I've seen.
Some of the reason for the ai criticisms maybe because it's a new ingredient to your formula of design.
Amazing look into the legend. Have a great day sir!
I spent extra time with the timing of the scenes so this makes me happy to hear. I think these tools we get like AI and google maps are just tools we can use like spice for the footage we do take. B-roll we say, spice for the main course. It is certainly going to grow, but how we use it will be very important. I read the comments today and know many don't like the AI stuff even though I had to add a lot of myself into what you see. It was all AI generated. This episode took ages to make. But over time, it won't be an issue at all, just now, people are not used to it nor should they be. Too many abuse it. It is far from perfect but the (nearly all of the) tools of tomorrow will be better than today. I don't intend to use much AI stuff but for history like this, how else does one tell a story that would require so much money to hire actors, sets. In a year, these comments (and perhaps this video) will look dated but the video's story is timeless! Thank you so much for the feedback.
This is such a great story!! Thank you for all your hard work. This is amazing!!!
the story is so unbelievable to be true but it is! so amazing! thank you for telling us this awesome adventure story.
That is what made me say, I HAVE TO DO THIS STORY! But it took me so far. I hope many love it too.
My aunt is from Haroshama, Japan major. Thank you for doing what you do!!❤
❤❤❤
So well told story!!! Thank you, John!!!
Wow John, you've outdone yourself with this full on production! I was completely engrossed in your documentary and want to learn more about Manjiro now. Awesome work.
This makes me so happy! I became a fan of Manjiro’s after hearing a basic story of his, and when I dug deeper, it’s absolutely incredible! His love for coffee and sweets, I can relate to him in so many ways 😂
@onlyinjapan this took a lot of work and time to produce. Thank you for this masterpiece! 🤙🏽
This was an incredible episode. Thank you John!!
Hi John, this has got to be your finest professional work ever. As soon as it started, I was hooked. Living in the UK, I have never heard of this great Japanese person, Manjiro. Thank you for another outstanding documentary.
Thank you for this, I've been getting hounded for using ai tools so that has been distracting more than I thought it would be for the audience. The audience isn't wrong, they watch with feeling and I appreciate the feedback, but your comment makes me very happy because you caught the story which is the point and absolutely incredible!
I loved this! Very well made, like a tv show from a series! and my husband, being Japanese, knew the story very well! Thanks for sharing such a remarkable story that shaped Japanese history! It inspires me to be more open minded to learn more .I did not know this story at all. Wow, how his mom would have grieved over him, but somehow could feel he was still alive! He had such an inquisitive desire to learn! He is an inspiration for all of us who have lived many places on thus globe! I did laugh, never realised Shikoku looked like a mini Australia! 😂 Got the pleasure of living in Perth, Australia for 9 years! Thanks for all the work you put into sharing these types of videos!
John this must have been a cool learning experience for you, you did John’s story justice. I’d never heard of this story, and enjoyed every minute of John’s story. Just the thought of being executed for coming home was so brave.
Thank you for doing an awesome job telling us this story.
I wonder what was in his mind when he sailed into Ryukyu. He'd been there before, had a good feeling so risk was low - but man, he must have been worried when they arrested him. I heard he was treated very well in Kagoshima. They knew his value, but the also followed the rules. There's a lot I left for others to learn themselves - can't say it all but enough to get people interested. SO many footnotes of interest through an amazing time in history.
@@onlyinjapan I wondered the same thing about John going home to Japan.
He must’ve been a very confident, young man.
Johns education in the USA must have led to his confidence, that just maybe he’d have the chance to win over the leaders and not be executed, he had big kahunas lol.
John had such a wonderful story and his zest for life.
I’m sure it was a huge gamble on his part to go home,to regain the faith of the leaders of that time in history really is amazing to me.
Thank you again for bringing us Johns story, he was an amazing man we can learn from still.
I love all your videos, they’ve been a huge education for me.
Absolutely Fascinating Epic Story!!! ❤🤗❤ The drone video footage was especially nice to get an overall view of the locales!!!
What a beautiful piece of history, thank you for the extraordinary video on it!
This is easily your best produce video ever! Something on par with some of the best documentaries I've seen. Wonderful work, John! This deserves way more views!
What an impressive episode! Great job
Absolutely fascinating. Have learned a lot from watching this. Although this story is nearly 200 years old, we can take a lot from what happened back then. Thank you John for your extensive research on this project. Take care and thanks again, from Australia
Excellent production John. One of your best works.
John, I think this is one of your finest productions. Fascinating, rare story very few would have known about without this.... It is obvious you spent a lot of time, effort and love in bringing this story to us. Thanks very much.
Thanks John, another piece of Japanese history, I missed your documentary style videos
Thank you Aiken!, R-san! Another one on the way in a couple of days :)
You deserve to win an award for this film.
What a cool and well done documentary! Thanks John!
John such an excellent job, well done! I really enjoyed your video and learned a lot. I appreciate your efforts to share and educate us. Please create more like these. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
When I was living in Boston I tried riding my bike to Manjiro friendship house but failed haha. It's amazing that you actually went to some of those places where Manjiro set foot--it's impressive even with modern day transportation
Amazing story, thank you for telling it 😊
Well done. Thank you for bringing attention to this excellent story. And I agree with the other commenters that this should be a miniseries, but you did a wonderful job making it real.
Yes! This was an amazing story, so well done John! I'm amazed that there hasn't been a movie done of this extraordinary man and his accomplishments. This video even kept my partners undivided attention away from his cell phone! LOL! No mean feat indeed! Keep up the great work John.
Well done John. All your traveling and research really paid off. I've never heard of "John Mung" so his story was really an eye-opener and inspiring. He must have been a really nice person because he was trusted by the Shogun. In many ways, you too are an ambassador, especially in showing us about Japan and Japan about the USA. Thank You. We'd love to see more of the stories inside Japan.
Great story really enjoyed it thanks for sharing.
Thank you for bringing us the amazing story of John Manjiro. What a life of adventure.
What an amazing story! Thank you for all your hard work on this episode! Thats part of what you were doing while you were here! I will share this!
I have been watching your videos for many years, i have always liked the videos and been subscribed to this and other channels off yours, but i have never left and comment, as i became a bit jaded over the years from the comment section on RUclips and other platforms. But i felt i had to say that this one was one off the best videos that i have seen from you, John and the passion for this story really shows. Thank you for doing what you do and i promise i'l come here more often.
I’m very grateful you took the time to write me about this episode in particular and the encouragement and feedback from so many has been uplifting. RUclips is still a social media and the comments certainly become an important part of the story. My friends in Kochi are also reading and surprised that so many didn’t know about Manjiro and pleased his story is so inspirational as it was to me when I stumbled upon this museum and wondered, why hadn’t I heard of this before? So I made it my mission to make sure as many could learn about it and it’s that emotion I had that I hope translates through the work. Thank you for commenting. It really made me happy to read it.
This is a brilliant piece of history….
Great story great production value on the video. Thanks
This is great. I would actually love to see a longer cut. I know you did so much on location having seen your live streams here there and everywhere! Your interview subjects were clearly enthusiastic & knowledgeable. The Ryugu Shrine scene was a spectacular shot yet made contemplative with the added sound of the waves. Impressively put together.
Gosh, if I had one more month! I’d go to Nagasaki, Ogasawara, dig deeper in Tokyo! More on his family but he had a stroke shortly after seeing the Captain again in 1870. That ended his career mostly for diplomacy and I didn’t talk much about it because people will discover it, there’s more to the story for sure!
Such an unbelievable story. Thank you so much John for introducing me to this. I grew up in central Massachusetts and never knew of this. Please cover more stories like this!
You got it! I’ll try my best to take in big projects every year.
Well done John. Keep up the good work!
Amazing work! Your channel is a treasure.
amazing video Love learning about history.
What an incredible story of a man I have never really known about til now. You did a great job telling his story and going to all theses locations to show it. You can see all the effort you put in to this in the production. I hope more people will find this video.
Hey John, I was rewatching this episode and I am sorry to say that you were right! One of your best videos, I go back to well before your 500k. I was watching your “go” channel early on and always enjoyed catching your live stream! But back to you were “right”. I guess things have changed to food. Your story telling and producing is exceptional! I’m a little sad but otsukaresama deshita! DO NOT STOP!
Thank you so much John for such a valuable national treasure history. This could've been a great movie with all aspects of life, the wonderful ones without the war and killings. What's an inspirational.
My wife and I can’t get over who amazing this story is and that it deserves to be made into a movie because it has a broad appeal - and it is right for the time. Pitch it to Disney. We are tired of Marvel comics movies. Your film is about a real hero - sailing halfway around the world, coming to new country, working to earn enough to return to Japan, the mother who really never gave up hope, becoming a samurai, facilitating the opening of Japan, etc.
John, go do it. Just do it. You already have this film to demo. Good luck.👏👍😊🏆🏅🎥💵💵💵
Wait John was in Hawaii? Waiting on that video!!!
In all seriousness, great job John. I miss these longer form videos with a story to tell. Thank you.
Absolutely loved this episode, John! A truly inspiring adventure about bonds and hope. Terrific storytelling as always ❤
Wow, this was such a good video. The way it was laid out and played made me feel like I was watching a Veritasium video. Obviously this is original content all on its own but the voiceover with the animation styles plus all of the information given just comes together to make a very good finished product that is reminiscent of what id expect from the Veritasium producer. I'm a little late to the party but that's because I like to try to save your stuff for when I can't wait to see something new anymore lol. Keep up the awesome work like you always do!!!
Just wanted to say really great video!!!!
So much time, effort, and money to shoot on location in at least 7 places far from each other: Fairhaven, Honolulu harbor, Okinawa, Nakanohama, Kochi Castle, Shimoda and Zoshigaya cemetery.
INSANE!!!!!!!!!!
But truly the best way to help us feel invested in the story is to go on site and share these places with us.
YOU SERIOUSLY ROCK!!!!!
Such history could easily have inspired a fantasy story like One Piece. What an adventure, filled with comradery and hope to reunite with his blood family and later with his mentor so to speak. Some times real history surpass fiction. Great short doc!
What a fascinating story!
Thank you John, for this remarkable video. Your videos are much appreciated.
Loved the documentry
Love this episode, I love learning about the history of Japan and America. Being American myself, but growing up in Japan. But back living in Florida It’s beautiful to see the families still connected. I’m it makes me want to go up to New Haven for the festival. ❤️ 🇯🇵
Hey John, I've been watching for videos for a number of years now and this was one of your best! Absolutely riveting story.
Amazing story, thanks for taking the time and continued efforts to bring everyone these great stories of Japanese history.
Enjoyed watching this episode and learning about Manjiro's life. Excellent story-telling.
Very interesting story, John.
I'd be scared today to go from Hawaii to Massachusetts and back, under the tip of South America. I can't imagine the courage these people had back then, not knowing the weather and whether they where heading into a typhoon, knowing the journey would take over a year, stuck on a wooden ship. It's a miracle he survived all that and in the end managed to live quite an impactful life.
Also, my impression is that the Japanese are not very expressive of their feelings, so I wonder how his mum reacted when she saw him back from the dead. Must have been elated.
Great video and very informative, thanks!!
Thank you John! Great work! Keep doing great videos like this, you are an amazing!
That was an amazing story. Thanks for the year-long effort and for telling the story so well. I had zero knowledge of any of this and so it was quite the journey you took me on.
What a fantastic documentary! I had heard of John Mung only briefly so thank you for this in-depth work. I had previously been confused by the name "Mung" as it does not look like a Japanese name. Now I understand how it was derived. Has this video been aired on NHK? It certainly should be! It is of that level and quality- perhaps even exceeding some of what I see on NHK.
Entertaining, and educational.
I am so glad I'll be riding the south shore of Shikoku this April, will see if I can visit those locations as well!
Excellent work, John. I enjoyed this. Thank you.
Wow! This is a very interesting and inspiring video. Very surprising and unexpected. I am glad you made this.😊😊😊
Congratulations on an epic episode! The research you did is impressive and I can see why it took you a year to put this together. Your attention to detail is wonderful, and I learned so much. This piece should be shown in all the schools in Japan!
Loved this piece!
Awesome!
I recognize the time an effort this video required- and I think the small AI images added to the story. As you said, it is a small percent of the video. Since I had watched several of the videos that became part of this story, I enjoyed seeing the end product.
Well done. Well researched and presented.
Wonderful episode, John. I grew up in Hawaii, but never heard of John Manjiro. Thanks for sharing his story.
Thank you for the great work. Loved it !
James Clavell's novel Gai-Jin is loosely based on events and characters from this period. In the novel Misamoto is based off Nakahama Manjirō.
This is such an amazing documentary, thanks as always John❤
I really enjoyed this. You did a great job. I'm very much a history buff. There is so much to Japanese history people are not aware of. Thank you for sharing this.
Great video, even my 9 year old watched it all the way through 😅
Fascinating and engrossing, thanks for your efforts in bringing forth such an interesting story.
Great video John. Thanks for increasing my knowledge. I have never heard of this historical figure before.
You can made this into a movie - very interesting, amazing, true story. Feel good inspiring movie.
Thanks!
Thank you ^_^
The John we know today has a similar impact, bridging the gap between the rest of the world to Japan through RUclips!
Interesting to note that John Manjiro and William Adams' (Miura Anjin) stories were bookends to the Tokugawa Shogunate (the bakufu).
Nice video John, thanks for making it 😉
Amazing story. Great work as always. Thanks for sharing it. ✌️
Hi John, this is an amazing, epic documentary and I can't believe you were able to travel over the period of a year or more to all the places that you include in Maniiro's biography. Great job! Did you already have this film in mind when you were in New England for the Manjiro festival? It's really well constructed and reminds me that, especially with the popularity of "Shogun," someone needs to produce a feature film about Manjiro. Thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort to create this. The bits of AI and animation to recreate historical scenes didn't bother me, BTW. I was fortunate enough to participate in a Manjiro Society exchange trip from Colorado Springs to Kagoshima way back in 1995, after which we hosted a delegation from Kagoshima in 1996. Nakahama Manjiro really was a critical figure in US-Japan relations, and it's wonderful to have you educate us on his life.
Yes, I’d planned it out last year and visited Kochi in July 2023. Hawaii in June 2023 before that 😂 Okinawa in April 2023 - before I lost some weight! Haha - you can see me change through the year.
@@onlyinjapan 😁
WTF RUclips? It literally hid this video from me unless I drilled down on the videos tab. I'm belled and subscribed and have been since you made this channel and have watched every video right away. Based on the view numbers on this video, I'm not alone. Not fair!
Thanks for this, I’ll see how I can boost this episode. It’s underperformed horribly and I can’t understand exactly why. Thank you for watching it!
Easily your best video so far!
Thank you ! I love this story !
Excellent documentary John
Incredible story. Thanks for making this. Movie material 🤙🏽😁
Great work on this educational and inspirational video on Manjiro!