Youtube is a digital platform for a variety of creators. Amongst the many “YouTubers,” from Los Angelos, London, and other cities, is the one and only Sushi Ramen Riku. Horiuchi Riku is a college-aged Youtuber from Tokyo, Japan. He posted his first video back in 2013 and has since continued to produce content worth viewing. Horiuchi named his channel Sushi Ramen after his two favorite foods: sushi and ramen. His video content includes pranks (mainly on his grandma which his grandpa supports) and random do-it-yourself projects. However, Horiuchi Riku is mostly known for his “experimental” youtube videos where he conducts seemingly useless experiments where he tries to make his inventions work.
Horiuchi’s experiments are sometimes done for fun and other times are done to solve situations he deems problematic. According to Csikszentmihalyi’s definition of the creative personality, creatives must be able to find problems and then attempt to solve them. Riku’s problems come in many forms: providing entertainment, proving to himself that his designs work, and overcoming random challenges. Just like artists and musicians, Riku’s digital space solves a need for entertaining specifically through experiment videos. According to his Youtube statistics, Sushi Ramen Riku has over four million subscribers and almost a billion views. The majority of these views come from his experiment videos according to Shun Maruyama for the JW magazine and Sushi Ramen Riku’s popular uploads playlist.
Creatives also need to be able to balance between a “combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility” (Csikszentmihalyi). While Horiuchi does hurt himself in most of his experiment videos, he always tries to wear safety gear. Although in some of his older videos he does not have access to much safety gear. Thus, while completing experiments that are irresponsible in many ways, Horiuchi is always prepared to take responsibility for his actions. For example, in one video Horiuchi set off a firework inside of a house. The house was built by Horiuchi and his team in an open area reserved for explosion testing. The fire department was also called in just in case the explosion caught something on fire unexpectedly.
Even though Horiuchi is aware of the importance of his safety, it takes a backseat to his loyalty to science. In his second most viewed video, “Flying in the air with an UMBRELLA,” Horiuchi risks his life to test the power of a fan and flying ability. Although he placed gym mats to cushion the probable fell, the fan was too powerful. As a true scientist, Horiuchi approaches the problem in multiple trials. He tests different directional approaches such as walking in front of the fan, running straight at the fan, and jumping in front of the fan. He also tests his ability to walk in front of the fan using different props such as a “balloon costume,” a balloon, and an umbrella.
This Japanese Mythbuster is the epitome of stupid creativity. He is a creative who brings me and many other people laughter and joy. Horiuchi Riku continues to ask questions and attempt to conduct seemingly useless experiments while pranking his grandma (with help from his grandpa of course) and creating amusing do-it-yourself projects. Please like and subscribe for more Bob the Tomato content.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. “Chapter 3.” Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, HarperCollins Publishers, 2013, pp. 51–413.
It was really interesting to see you tie his process to Csikszentmihalyi's writings. I never thought about viewing experimentation in that way, but it makes a lot of sense. Horiuchi thinks of these 'problems,' whether they be practical or not, and has fun attempting to solve them. It's really refreshing to see someone approach science in this way.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting man to learn about. I think he experiences a great deal of intrinsic motivation. I can tell through the questions he asks. It seems like he has this amazing imagination that he lets run wild, sparking ideas and motivation that he uses to fuel the answers to his questions.
ReplyDeleteWith a lot of Youtubers, the idea of intrinsic motivation comes to explain a lot of their creativity. The platform doesn't guarantee pay or fame, yet people post amazingly original content for their own amusement and hope that someone else might be amused too. Certainly agree with your take relating to Csikszentmihalyicas well.
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