Tamujo – Comedy, Sometimes Serious⁉ YouTuber Wants to Deliver “Running” and Beyond

He is a unique YouTuber who has been making a splash in the track and field world
with his one-of-a-kind character, utilizing his strengths as a “former Hakone Ekiden runner”.
He closely follows athletes, challenges records with gusto, and tells passionate stories of friendship.
What does the remarkable “Tamujo” have in store for us in the future?

 

“YouTuber Who Joined the Hakone Ekiden”
Started upon After Graduation from University

-Why did you decide to become a YouTuber with a mix of running and comedy?

Tamujo-san　Ever since I was in elementary school, I had a great yearning for the Hakone Ekiden and a strong desire to “participate!”. I have been running track and field all the way through college, and in my second year of college, I was allowed to run in the 8th section of the Hakone Ekiden…. I was really happy to be able to actually run in the Hakone Ekiden, which had been a dream of mine since I was a child!

When it came time to find a job after that, I couldn’t find a job that really fit what I wanted to do…. There was also the option of joining an industrial company, but I felt that going to a company where I had no motivation as an athlete would be a nuisance, and I wondered what I should do about finding a job.　

-Was YouTubers an option in that context?

Tamujo-san　When I was thinking about finding a job, I found out that there was a profession called “YouTuber”. At that time, YouTubers were gaining more and more recognition. I have always loved comedy since I was in elementary school, and my hobby was to make my own videos and upload them to SNS, or watch them with friends. I intuitively thought, “What a great idea to have a job where you can do that”. Therefore, I thought that I would be the one and only “YouTuber who participated in the Hakone Ekiden,” and made my YouTuber debut on March 20, 2020, upon my graduation from college!

-What events or influences pushed you to become a YouTuber?

Tamujo-san　When I was in junior high school, I was having trouble in terms of competition, and I was finding it hard to get motivated, but then I watched comedy and was able to laugh heartily. I felt more at ease, and from there I thought, “I’ll try my best again”. I want to be that kind of person. The reason I include “comedy” in my YouTube videos in addition to running is that I hope that by mixing “comedy”, which has saved my life, I can increase the number of people who watch my videos and think, “I’ll do my best again”.

-What do you find most appealing about running?

Tamujo-san　As I grow older, I feel like I have fewer and fewer goals, challenges, and things to work toward. But with running, you can easily start running by yourself, and although you are competing with other people, you are also fighting against your own record. I think it is interesting that people can explore their own goals and how to enjoy them.
When I challenge my own record and surpass my personal best, I am really happy! That moment is the most interesting part of running. So, I think one of the attractions of running is that you can feel your growth and your effort. and “I did my best!” can be felt visibly in the form of time and distance, which I think is one of the charms of running.

 

Intense Races and Close-ups with Renowned Athletes:
Rising Fame Through Innovative Projects Born from Cherished Connections!

-What are some of the videos that you have been delivering every day that you think “This is a god episode!”?

Tamujo-san　Well…. It is difficult to choose one, because there are so many, but one is the series of training camp participation by Nozomi Tanaka-san, who is active in the world. I was allowed to participate in a training camp before an important tournament, you are able to see the grueling backstage of top players as well as the “as-is” atmosphere that may not be seen in other media. I think this is a god episode.

A valuable series of close-up interviews that also brings out Tanaka-san’s private side!
《A day in the training camp of Nozomi Tanaka before the Japan Championships! How does a Tokyo Olympian spend a day?》

Then there is the series of confrontations with Masato Yokota-san, former Japanese record holder in the men’s 800m. In this video, we are going head-to-head in the 800m at a competition held by TWOLAPS, of which Yokota-san is the president. I am not an expert in 800m because I mainly compete in long distance, but in the race with Yokota-san, who also competed in the Olympics, it is always very close, sometimes he won and sometimes I won…. My time of 1:51 in that race was quite fast, and the fact that I was able to compete with Olympians and people with amazing careers, I received a lot of feedback from people who are serious about track and field. I think the fact that many people were thrilled and moved by the “gruff” element of the video together was a factor in why so many people watched it.

Fierce competition and good records in the middle distance, which is not his specialty, led to recognition from gaga track and field fans.
《A YouTuber competed in a grueling 800m duel with an Olympic athlete in a sanctioned competition! The shocking conclusion! 》

-What were your main concerns in making the video?

Tamujo-san　I have to be very enthusiastic when I make a video in which I go undercover and closely follow a player or a team. I believe that by succeeding, it will lead to trust. It is not only the trust of the players and teams we have worked closely with, but also the trust as “media” from the viewers.
While such enthusiasm is present, the strength of “Tamujo” is that you can see scenes of practice and the players as they are, which you cannot normally see. I think we are able to do things that other YouTubers are not able to do, and I would like to spread the good points of various companies and teams even more in 2024, the fourth year of the channel’s establishment.

-How did you first connect with them?

Tamujo-san　In my first year as a YouTuber, Kazuyoshi Tamogami-san from TWOLAPS connected me with Yokota-san, the representative of TWOLAPS. I happened to be staying at the same hotel as Tamogami-kun when we were both in high school for the Inter-high school athletic competition. Tamogami-kun was originally a famous athlete who had won the 1500m title in Japan, but when we were in the elevator at the hotel together, I approached him and we became good friends….
We had such a connection. TWOLAPS decided to hold an online competition to “further promote the world of track and field” during the coronavirus pandemic. While they were trying to figure out how to spread the word, Tamogami-kun connected me as YouTuber, to Yokota-san. I had my first 800m competition with Yokota-san at an online competition, and I was shocked when I won (laugh). That’s when the connection with TWOLAPS was born, and the video of me visiting the team got a great response and spread throughout the track and field world, and the connections kept growing and growing until now.

-Thanks to “Tamogami–kun,” isn’t it?

Tamujo-san　Yes, that’s right (laughs). The other big thing, looking back, was that it was the Corona disaster. The idea of having an online tournament was also possible because of the Corona disaster, wasn’t it? It was a chance encounter, and it was a combination of various miracles…it was like that.

-How did you get in touch with Nozomi Tanaka?

Tamujo-san　It was also through Tanaka-san’s participation in a tournament held by TWOLAPS that I got the chance to meet her. When I greeted her there, I heard that Tanaka-san’s mother had been watching a lot of my YouTube videos! So Tanaka-san knew about Tamujo, too. Because of that connection, Tanaka-san asked me if I would be interested in running with her, and we were able to closely follow her at the training camp.

-When you first started out, was it trial and error?

Tamujo-san　Running is a project to be done outside, isn’t it? But when I started on March 20, 2020, it was right around the time of the Corona disaster, and we should stay at home. I didn’t imagine that situation, so I couldn’t do the first project I was going to do…. To be honest, I didn’t know what to do, but it turned out to be a miracle, and things turned out for the better. If I couldn’t go outside, I had no choice but to do a project that I could film inside the room. I talked about my experiences as a student, stories of things I did in club activities that made me angry, and “a certain kind of track and field experience,” and to my surprise, many people watched it.
I was able to instill my character in the viewers, saying, “This is the kind of guy Tamujo is”. We all were on call from home, so the number of people watching YouTube was increasing, and I quickly gained recognition, reaching 10,000 subscribers within two months of opening the channel. I wasn’t able to do the project I had initially envisioned, but because of the Corona disaster, I felt like I got off to a good start.

-So you can turn the tables, or rather, use adversity to your advantage.

Tamujo-san　Yes, in my first year of YouTube, I had a serious injury that healed one week before the marathon, and I had not run a single step until then, but I trained during the remaining week and achieved a good record that exceeded my goal. That was a great response. I think it is in times of adversity like that that one’s strength comes out, and I think, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could get a result in this situation?!”

“Tamujo” he made adversity his ally and seized the opportunity to make a connection.

Entrepreneurship! Overseas Expansion! Co-starring with that Marathon Runner⁉
Tamujo’s Future Vision

-What are your future plans?

Tamujo-san　What we are thinking about now is to create a club team in which elementary and junior high school students can participate. With the disappearance of club activities, there are fewer opportunities to run, and we want to be able to provide an environment in which we can run. I also want to build a team that can support citizen runners with goals such as “I want to run a marathon in under x hours!” I would be happy if I can help them achieve their goals by teaching and advising them, and if I can help children to have dreams such as “to participate in the Hakone Ekiden”. I want to be part of a team that can support anyone.
We felt that it would be difficult to achieve these goals with the current three-person team, so we decided to move forward as a company. We are planning to start a business on March 20, the milestone day we launched YouTube.

-You will expand the scope of your activities, right?

Tamujo-san　I want to create an environment where children can continue to “want to run” even after they grow up. I have a strong desire to create such an environment and become a team that can support them.

-As a YouTuber, do you have a bigger vision?

Tamujo-san　Yes, that’s right. I hope that my YouTube will become a kind of official media.
We would like to increase opportunities for people to get to know companies, schools, and athletes in the track and field world, which is still rarely covered by the media. We would like to create opportunities for people to think, “I want to join this university or company!” Just as I myself was able to have a goal through admiration, I would like Tamujo’s YouTube to help people find a dream or goal to run towards in the future. In that sense, in 2024, I would like to increase the value of “Tamujo” as a media, so that it can work more positively for companies, schools, and players.

-Which runners would you like to collaborate with in the future?

Tamujo-san　Well…. (After much deliberation) I would have to say Suguru Osako-san. He quit his job at an industrial company and went to the U.S., and he has carved out a new path for himself as a track and field athlete. I am sure that he must have had a great deal of determination to make that decision, which is hard to imagine. Although our directions are different, I feel that I have taken a path that I have never taken before, and I think that we are similar in the sense of “decision making”. I think I have the ability to convey what Osako-san is thinking and feeling by actually watching and listening to him.
However, since Osako-san has his own brand value, he must decide whether it is better for him to appear on other people’s channels or not, and what the advantages and disadvantages are. I want to be that kind of person who will be recognized as an equal, who will be felt to be of solid value at that time.

When he told about the future, we saw his aspects that have not been shown until now.

-The World Championships in Athletics will be held in Tokyo in 2025. What do you want to do and what are your expectations?

Tamujo-san　As a running YouTuber in Japan, I would like to encourage people overseas to “come and watch at the actual place! “ If more people say, “I came to Japan because of Tamujo,” I myself will be happy. I would like to increase Tamujo’s recognition among people overseas, and if that happens, I will need to go overseas myself, so I would like to increase my overseas activities as well.
Last year, I started an English-language Instagram account, and in the past two months, it has about 2,700 followers. I have the feeling that people overseas are watching my work, so I would like to increase the number of followers from now on. I would like to give people in Japan a chance to see what it is like, so please follow me first (laughs).

-Please give us a message from Tamujo on the occasion of the 2025 World Championships in Athletics to be held in Tokyo.

Tamujo-san　This is a place where the world’s top athletes gather, and you don’t get a chance like this very often in your lifetime! I hope you will take this opportunity to come to the National Stadium and witness the top performances that you can only see at this moment.
Tamujo’s YouTube will be working even harder to make the World Championships more exciting, so please subscribe to our channel and click the “Good” button! (Laughs)

photographs by Uta Mukuo

Tamujo / Born in Tokyo
Running × Comedy YouTuber

He started competing in track and field in the 4th grade of elementary school. The turning point came in the summer of her junior year of high school, when he convinced his family that he wanted to run in a relay race with his best friend. He convinced his family to let him transfer to a different school. After finishing 6th in the Kanto Ekiden, he entered Funabashi Municipal High School, a prestigious track and field school, where he ran in the 5th section of the Prefectural Ekiden in his sophomore year and finished 2nd, qualifying him for the National High School Ekiden. In his second year at Teikyo University, under the guidance of coach Takayuki Nakano’s “Nakano Magic,” he placed 5th in the 3000m steeplechase at the Japan Intercollegiate Athletic Meet, and was assigned to run the 8th section at the Hakone Ekiden, which he had dreamed of.
While he was scouted by some businessmen, he decided to pursue a career in entertainment and became a YouTuber upon graduation from university. With the theme of “Running × Comedy,” his videos, which fully utilize his experience as a former Hakone Ekiden runner as well as his natural character, have been well received and have gained over 116,000 subscribers in the three and a half years since he launched his channel. He has appeared at many track and field related events and is well known among those in the track and field community.

Instagram：tamujo0402
X：@tamujo0402
YouTube：たむじょー Tamujo