What I Think Every Time I'm Mocked for Being a "Country Bumpkin"

Suddenly, do you all like the city? I do.

Hello, I'm Katsu, a man who graduated from a technical college in Sendai, kept exposing my butt on YouTube, ended up with 1.3 million subscribers, and settled in Minato Ward.

Recently, I wrote articles about Minato Ward drinking parties and retiring as an entertainment YouTuber, and they were read about 16 million times in total. I'm very grateful.

Now, today I'm going to write about what I think on a daily basis as someone from the countryside.

Immediate Despair

Have you ever felt a regional disparity? It's cruel, but I certainly have.

Well, when I was in Sendai, to be honest, I didn't feel it that much. There were classmates whose cars were Ferraris or who lived in massive custom-built houses, but I could brush it off thinking, "Well, I guess some families are like that."

(If anything, I felt a "genetic disparity" regarding the natural intelligence of the top students or the handsome classmates who had harems since kindergarten.)

But after moving to Tokyo and living in Minato Ward, that sense was completely shattered.

When you go to Tokyo, the level of those who won the "parental lottery" is on a different scale. People whose family homes are in prime locations like Minato, Setagaya, Shinjuku, or Meguro; whose parents are executives of listed companies; or who have real estate they are set to inherit. These people are everywhere.

And when you hear their stories, their success is usually guaranteed. Some work half-heartedly because "at worst, if I mess up, I can just take over the family business," and there's more than one or two people who get drunk at a party and scream, "I won the parental lottery, so I'm guaranteed to win!" even though no one asked.

Well, I think it's true that they are guaranteed to win. That's fine. It's a fact that everyone is born into different environments, and I think it's respectable to make use of a blessed environment.

The problem is that it's often these very people who look down on those from the countryside.

On X, there are quite a few Tokyo natives posting things like "Stay in the countryside for the rest of your life, you bumpkin," and at drinking parties, I've actually had people react with, "Oh, Sendai? I see, welcome from the north (lol)."

And every time I'm told that,

I think, "Well, regarding your place of birth, that wasn't your own effort, was it?"

Birthplace is purely "luck"

Well, if you were screaming "Be born in Tokyo! Be born in Tokyo!" since you were a sperm and successfully implanted yourself, I'll acknowledge that effort. A fertilized egg that succeeded in regional selection at the sperm level is honestly amazing.

Also, if you've worked hard after being born to achieve your status, your birthplace doesn't matter. I have nothing but respect for people who grabbed something with their own strength.

However, when people try to flex on us rural folks just because they were "born in Tokyo," I have some thoughts.

Moreover, the regional disparity isn't just about birthplace. There is a clear regional gap in education. In Tokyo, you have your pick of integrated middle and high schools, cram schools, and prep schools, but in the countryside, the options are few to begin with. Even if there's a school you want to go to, it might not be within commuting distance, or you might give up because people say, "No one from our district has ever gone to that university."

While Tokyo high schoolers are naturally aiming for good universities in Tokyo, rural high schoolers are in an atmosphere where "it's a great achievement just to get into a local national university." It's not a matter of academic ability; the problem is that the atmosphere of "it's okay to aim for that" often doesn't exist in the first place.

Therefore, what rural people carry isn't just the fact that they were "born in the country." There's a structure where the local caste continues even into adulthood. If you stay there, the hierarchy from middle and high school is carried over into your professional life. You live with everyone knowing your academic background and your past history.

But if you go to Tokyo, you can start over from zero. No one knows your past caste. That's why many people from the countryside who move to Tokyo have a desperate motivation to "be reborn." There are other reasons, but there are many people in this city who have fled from the fear of spending their whole lives as an extension of their school caste.

And I see people mocking that struggle as "uncool" or saying, "They weren't popular in their teens, so they're playing around as adults (lol)," but I wonder what's so uncool about that. What's wrong with working frantically toward a life you find enjoyable, rather than living with a label you didn't want in the place you happened to be born? We're all going to die in a few decades anyway.

(Well, if you're acting like "I am the king!" and bragging all the time, it's understandable if people say things).

Let me talk about more despair

I also entered a "technical college" that was 80% male, where my chances of meeting anyone became zero, and since working normally wouldn't give me an excuse to move to Tokyo, I started YouTube.

So, after many twists and turns, I moved to Tokyo, but does the disparity disappear once you reach 1.3 million subscribers? Not at all. The higher you go, the more frequently you encounter "geniuses." On top of being monsters who can mass-produce videos over 30 minutes long with only 3 hours of sleep, they often come from extremely wealthy families, making them invincible.

I grew to 1.3 million, but honestly, that was just riding the luck of the times. In 2020, when stay-at-home demand exploded due to COVID, my attributes as a former Gindaco employee and a technical college student just happened to fit. It was a stroke of luck.

And while being in Minato Ward while being worn out like that, there are people who are clearly on a higher level even if you don't know what they do. Famous actors you've definitely heard of are casually drinking, or there are "silver spoon" kids like "I'm the son of [famous relaxation facility]." When I compare myself to those people, I'm forced to see the boundary between "the range of what can be done with effort" and "the difference in the starting line itself."

Moreover, recently on X, people who seem to be living off their parents' glory are posting energetically. People who start businesses using their family's capital and power and act like "I succeeded on my own." That in itself isn't a bad thing. But when I see such people making posts looking down on rural people or self-made individuals, I simply think, "Well, it's just sperm luck."

Post-birth effort can be managed. But you can't choose the "cards you're dealt," like genetics, family environment, or birthplace. People say nice things like "be unique," but we live on the premise that people aren't equal to begin with.

However, I believe that the real start only begins after you despair at that cruelty.

By the way, the "real ones" don't mock you

I've written some desperate things so far, but there is one saving grace.

Truly famous people and business owners never mock someone for being from the countryside.

I've talked to various successful people in Tokyo, and the more someone is truly growing or earning, the less they care about where you're from. In fact, many of those people are self-made, or came from middle school backgrounds or the deep countryside, so they sometimes even encourage me, saying, "Comrade!"

It's the same with true geniuses. People who have reached the "pinnacle," like trilingual valedictorians from top national universities or super famous YouTubers, are almost always incredibly humble. Perhaps because they themselves are chased by terrifying pressure every day or have tasted many setbacks, they have no need to look down on others.

I lived in the same apartment building as Japan's top YouTuber, Hajime Syacho, for about a year, and he was kind even to a junior like me. Other acquaintances also say in unison, "Hajime Syacho, who is more famous than anyone on site, was the most humble and bowed the lowest."

(*Since Hajime Syacho is 186cm tall but always bows at a right angle or more from just above his crotch, it is a very famous story that holes open in the ground each time.)

Conversely, people in moderately blessed environments are the ones who want to flex. Those who pulled a "high-middle" rank in the parental lottery are the ones who act the most arrogant. This is my actual feeling after living in Tokyo for a few years.

Will you spend your whole life where you were born?

Like the starting hand in Mahjong, humans are not equal from birth.

(The M-League finals are happening now. I'm rooting for Hisato Sasaki, who is from the same area and has a super aggressive style.)

Some people get a divine starting hand with Dora all over it from the moment they cry "waaah," while others start with a trash hand. Even if you try to live desperately, some people will only get garbage hands like 7/2o in poker.

If we consider a rich kid born in Tokyo as a "Level 1 Rayquaza with Life Orb and maxed Attack/Speed,"

I am at best a "Level 1, empty-handed Wurmple with no effort values." Even if I progress normally, Dustox is the best I can hope for.

People from the countryside are definitely at a disadvantage. That's a fact. That's why there's a gap that can't be filled by nice words like "be unique" or "live as yourself."

But in Mahjong, you can win even from a trash starting hand. You can change your hand through draws and discards, and you can decide the timing to declare Riichi yourself.

I left a technical college in Sendai, wrote a blog, showed my butt on YouTube, and moved to Minato Ward. I can't say my starting hand was good, and I occasionally messed up and got criticized, but there were moments when the draws clicked. I just didn't miss them.

If you're from the countryside and satisfied with where you are, that's fine. But if there's someone thinking, "I want to be reborn" or "I'll die if I stay here," it might be worth trying to move to Tokyo.

Well then, everyone, let's do our best with our respective labors today.

I recently got fired up by the movie "100m." (Since I was also in the track and field club, I related to it, and the content would hit home for anyone who has ever worked hard to master one thing.)

The theme song "Rashisa" sung by Official HIGE DANdism is also super hot, so I hope you'll listen to it while interpreting the meaning of the lyrics. Listening to this song made me want to write this article.

https://youtu.be/BCMKhsXcdJI?si=jGHNG9ODyCg1NDx

If you want to work together or have consultations regarding SNS business, I'm waiting for your DMs.

I'd also be very happy if you quote-retweet this! I will actively like and retweet them!

This was Katsu.

For those from the countryside who seriously want to change their lives

From here on, it's paid content. You can read it for a small fee or a retweet.

I've written nothing but desperate things so far, but I will write "So, what specifically should rural people do?"

https://editor.note.com/notes/n0fd4ff2cc152/edit/