Mix food and cats for a hit
The internet as we know it began with cats: Their keyboards, their rainbows, those pearly black eyes. Cats are the internet.
So while videos of cats on YouTube aren’t a new concept, cooking with them might be.
Popular YouTube channel JunsKitchen stars three house cats — Kohaku, Poki and Nagi — who watch as their owner Jun Yoshizuki prepares classic Japanese staples such as omurice, ramen and tofu.
JunsKitchen is one of four YouTube channels run by Yoshizuki, 29, and his wife, Rachel, 30. While most of their channels focus on their life and travels in Japan, JunsKitchen features basic cooking tutorials. But what makes these special, and popular with fans, is the soothing atmosphere Jun creates with meticulously edited videos. He posted just seven videos to the channel last year.
“As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety; Rachel and Jun’s videos have become a form of meditation for me,” one user wrote on Reddit. “If you ever are feeling overwhelmed, I highly recommend shutting down your brain for a few [minutes] and watching some of their videos.”
Each of the channel’s 25 videos have more than 1 million views. The most popular, with more than 37 million views, is a tutorial on polishing a rusty knife. In it, Jun spins a charming tale of purchasing a banged-up traditional Japanese knife from a man in a recycling store who may or may not have conned him. As his cats look on and an upbeat rock song plays, Jun polishes the knife until it gleams. The moment he holds the restored knife and demonstrates its sharpness is triumphant. A cat looks on seemingly with awe as Jun carves a radish rose.
“As soon as people got a hold of ‘cat watching man cook’, people started sharing his videos everywhere,” Rachel said.
Rachel and Jun already had a loyal community of followers before they started focusing on JunsKitchen. They’ve been on YouTube for seven years and started their first channel, Rachel and Jun, as a hobby. They both live in the Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture and generally post videos of life in Japan for English-speaking viewers.
JunsKitchen surpassed that “main” channel in subscribers a little more than a year ago. Their three cats are essential characters. Rachel and Jun say it takes countless hours of editing before they hit publish.
YouTube is pretty much a full-time job at the moment, although Jun said he has a “sidejob” as a translator. In the videos, the camera never focuses on Jun, just the food and his cats. Those are the stars.
“I don’t consider myself a chef or talented or skilful or anything,” Jun said.