Video creator Chanpon Chikara cheerfully enjoys drinking in his own way.

A Drink Lover Turned Video Creator

Celeina (MC):We welcomed Chanpon Chikara, a creator who distributes videos of alcoholic beverages, recommended by Toshihiro Fukami, a bartender..Nice to meet you.

Chikara: Nice to meet you.

Celeina: May I call you Chikara-san?

Chikara: Yes. Please call me Chikara!

Celeina: Is this “chanpon” meaning “drinking various kinds of alcohol”?

Chikara: Also, I am from Nagasaki, so it has two meanings, that and “Nagasaki Chanpon”.

Takano (MC): I think a lot of people watch Chikara’s videos. I also saw the short video that came on and watched it, so I thought it was him!　He distributes videos related to alcohol on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc. I really like the sound. Do you pay much attention to sound?

Chikara: I use an iPhone and don’t use a microphone at all. I just turn up the sound in the editing.

Celeina: There is a healing ASMR-like element to the sound.

Takano: Like the sound of a bottle of soda being released, or the sound of ice cubes being churned.

Chikara: Thank you very much.

Celeina: What made you start distributing videos in the first place?

Chikara: Before the Corona Disaster, I used to go out for three or four drinks every day, five or six at the most. But when the lockdown shut down all the places at once and I could only drink at home, I thought I wasn’t being productive, so I tried posting videos. Then I happened to get a buzz on the second day, so I thought I’d keep doing it for a while, and I’ve been doing it for about three years.

Takano: How many subscribers do you have on YouTube?

Chikara: About 370,000 or 380,000.

Celeina: Surprisingly, many people from countries other than Japan watch our videos.

Chikara: We get a lot of comments from overseas. Especially TikTok comments are mostly in English.

Takano: It seems that the taste of sake can be conveyed beyond language.

Celeina: Sake is a common language.

Sake introduction videos that I have mastered in my own way

Takano: I was wondering what you originally did for a living.

Chikara: I was in the restaurant or service industry. People say to me, “You used to bartend, didn’t you?” But I have no experience as a bartender. I like bars and often had the opportunity to watch bartenders at work, so I studied by taking videos of them. I did it completely on my own.

Takano: Your hand movements and sharpness are very bartender-like.

Celeina: I am surprised that you have no experience as a bartender.

Chikara: I have worked at a bar, but I served customers outside the counter.

Takano: How about a bar produced by Chikara-san in the future?

Chikara: If I had the chance, I would like to do it.

Celeina: I think it may already be in the works (haha). What kind of content did you initially distribute?

Chikara: We were drinking alcohol all the time from the beginning.

Takano: Making drinks and drinking them with relish.

Chikara: I was making and drinking highballs, buying tipsy or something and making simple arranged cocktails at home, and that grew a lot.

Takano: Where do you find the long, thin ice you often use?

Chikara: That is ice from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. After collaborating with them once in the past, they sent me some from Kanazawa, and I use it every time.

Takano: Great!

Celeina: I would like to ask you about your favorite drink.

Chikara: I like whiskey, shochu, and wine. I drink anything.

Celeina：That’s why you like chanpon.

Chikara: I can’t drink only plum wine. I don’t like pickled plums.

Celeina: Have you ever had it?

Chikara: Yes, I have. It was no good (haha).

Takano: Do you have your best cocktail?

Chikara: I drink highballs the most, so I guess it would have to be the highball.

Celeina: Do you have any tips on how to make a good highball or any other tips for drinking at home?

Chikara: I am not a bartender, so it is completely my own style, but it is important to make sure that all the ice, whiskey, and glasses are ice-cold. I think it’s important to make sure all the ice and the whiskey are ice cold and the glasses are clean.

Celeina： That’s good. I’m very happy to hear that you don’t have to put so much effort into making sake.

Takano: Do you keep your cups chilled in the freezer?

Chikara: Yes, I do. In the video, I turn the ice to cool them. I thought it would look better with that kind of footage than if they were cold from the start.

Celeina：Do you always have glasses in your freezer?

Chikara: Basically, yes.

Takano: How much alcohol do you have in stock?

Chikara: About 7 or 800 bottles at home, in the studio, and in the warehouse.

Celeina: 800 bottles?

Takano: I get lost every day.

Chikara: If I drank them all, I would die (haha).

It was a good match with Ireland, the sacred land of whiskey.

Celeina: The collection exceeded my expectations. You mentioned highballs earlier, but I heard that you went to Ireland in search of whiskey.

Chikara: I will go back next January.

Celeina：Is Ireland a sacred place for whiskey?

Chikara: Both Ireland and Scotland are sacred places. I like Ireland better.

Celeina: Do you have a school of whisky?

Chikara: Probably not, but I prefer Ireland.

Celeina: What are the differences in your opinion?

Chikara: In Ireland, there is a pub culture, and there is always music and musicians in bars and wherever you go. It’s like people are drinking and dancing together. In Scotland, it’s just normal drinking.

Celeina: There is a favoritism in the way it’s treated, like, Ireland is fun (haha).

Takano: But isn’t there?　Culturally.

Chikara: There is in London, for example. I had a great affinity with the joviality of the Irish people. I liked the atmosphere and drank from morning till night.

Celeina：Did you also drink from morning till night?

Chikara: Yes, I did. I went home at noon, slept for two hours at the hotel, and then went back to drinking.

Celeina：Two hour break, sounds like a nap.

Takano: Can I watch that on YouTube?

Chikara: I didn’t give it to you because I was too drunk and I didn’t want to be compliant.

Celeina: Time for yourself is important, too. The memories you keep in your mind are also very precious. I would like to send you a song here, and I asked Chikara-san to choose a song. What kind of song is it?

Chikara： “Whiskey in the Jar”. It is an Irish folk song, or rather, it is a major song in Ireland, and it is played all over town. When I first went to Ireland, this song really caught my ear. It’s a bit chaotic song about putting whiskey in a bottle. But it’s a great pop song, and all the kids know it.

Celeina：Children also sing songs about whiskey. It’s like a national culture. Now please give us the name of the song.

Chikara: “Whiskey in the Jar” by The Irish Rovers.

https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/track/7Cz1Ad3RNzshbx4G42fqxW?si=c7990d18f3394ff9

Enjoy drinking in an unpretentious and jovial way.

Celeina: Chanpon Chikara, a creator of drinking videos, selected the song “Whiskey in the Jar” by The Irish Rovers. It’s cheerful, isn’t it? You drink whiskey while listening to this, right?

Chikara: Yes, that’s right.

Celeina：That would be great. Today’s show is titled “Tokyo Date Day,” and we are asking listeners on the program to give us their recommendations for date plans. Are there any bars in the Tokyo area that you would recommend for a date?

Chikara: It’s a cocktail bar, not a whiskey bar, but a place called “SPIRITS BAR Sunface SHINJUKU” in Nishi-Shinjuku. I’ve been going there so much that it’s impossible for me not to go back. I love the master so much that I go there more to see him than to drink. The master is a world champion, so the drinks are delicious.

Takano: I searched for it, and it has a very nice atmosphere.

Chikara: And yet he’s not pretentious at all, he’s cheerful and yay kind of person.

Celeina: It connects to the song you just wrote.

Takano: Maybe someone listening to this will go there tonight after work or something.

Celeina: Thanks for the valuable information. And I wanted to ask you about your smart behavior at the bar, is there any one thing you would like to share?

Chikara: I’m not smart at all, but I think it’s to be honest. If you don’t know, I think it’s better to say “I don’t know” clearly.

Celeina：It is true that it is cooler to say something like “I don’t know! “Good words.

Takano: The more you open your mind, the easier it is for them to open theirs.

Chikara: That’s right.

Celeina: I see!　So you mean Open Your Heart. Thank you very much. FIST BUMP, today we welcome Chanpon Chikara, a creator of sake videos. Thank you very much.

Chikara: Thank you very much.