Over 1.6 million followers…Influencer Hikarincho says, “I want to always be the voice of teenagers

As a teenager, I am called the “voice of teenagers,” but when I am in my 20s or 30s, I hope to be able to do something to help new teenagers with their problems.

Hikarincho, 19, is overwhelmingly popular among young people as a “teenage refugee,” and has attracted attention not only from her own generation but also from parents and educators.

Hikarincho, 19, is active as an influencer on social networking sites with more than 1.6 million followers, and has participated in NHK’s welfare programs and Tokyo Girls Collection as a model. As a TV personality, she appeared on “Odoru! Sanma Goten! (Nippon Television Network Corporation) in October of this year, and her book of essays, “To those who criticize me without accepting me as I am, just raise your middle finger in your heart,” published in her first year of high school, has been reprinted four times. She is a multi-talented writer.

Who in the world is she? …… We asked her to tell us the story behind the birth of “Hikarincho” and her unknown true face.

Hikari was born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 2003, and like many in Generation Z, she had a smartphone in her neighborhood from an early age.

My parents bought me a smartphone when I was in the third grade of elementary school. At the time, YouTube and video apps were becoming popular, and I started posting videos out of curiosity.

She became a bit of a celebrity by posting many videos from the upper grades of elementary school, and when she entered junior high school, upperclassmen crowded into her classroom just to see her. She enjoyed the situation and worked hard to post videos, but the following year she stopped going to school.

She says, “In the second year of junior high school, when we switched classes, I didn’t fit in with my classmates and couldn’t go to school anymore. I didn’t get along with my family either. …… A lot of things came together, and I despaired that I didn’t belong anywhere.”

What saved her from feeling out of place was social networking with people in similar situations. This experience led her to actively seek advice from her followers, and in 2008, she published a book titled “17: If You Can’t Love Yourself, You Can’t Love Anyone Else”, which compiled 900 pieces of advice.

I don’t think anyone has ever consulted with this many teenagers about their problems (laughs). (Laughs.) Like me, many teenagers are afraid of the other person’s reaction if they ask for advice in person (in real life). They wonder what the other person will think if they ask for advice. If it is a friend or parent, they are even more worried. I think that’s why they come to me for advice.

As she listened to the problems of Generation Z, she began to feel a sense of mission.

Many teenagers actually have firm ideas, but they don’t talk about them much,” he said. I think it is my mission to tell the world that young people have these opinions and are thinking clearly. In order to communicate this to more adults, I would like to be active in multiple fields, such as television and modeling, so that people will know that there is someone named Hikarincho.

As her media exposure increased, she also confessed some of the problems she encountered.

When I appear on variety shows, they want me to be “teenybopper-like” and “upbeat. I’m excited when I’m shooting videos or in my private time, but I’m not used to putting on that kind of character yet. …… I’d really like to be more like a gal who looks like a gal but has a strong inner strength (laughs).

The day is not far off when adults will recognize “Hikarincho” as a “spokesperson.

From the December 30, 2022 issue of FRIDAY