Photo/Illutration Harumichi Shibasaki in his watercolor tutorial video (From Harumichi Shibasaki’s YouTube channel)

To his many fans in Japan, Harumichi Shibasaki is treated like a rock star for his videos that teaches how to paint with watercolors in an easy-to-follow manner.

Overseas in the United States, the watercolor tutor and artist is known as “Japan’s Bob Ross” among YouTube viewers.

Ross was a popular painter who hosted the U.S. TV program “The Joy of Painting” between the 1980s and 1990s.

Shibasaki’s YouTube channel gained more than 100,000 subscribers in only a year and a half after its launch.

In Japan, fans line up outside galleries to catch a glimpse of the 75-year-old YouTuber at his exhibitions.

Many people visited his recent exhibition in Kumamoto, in which his personality seemed to have made him even more popular with fans.

On Jan. 30, a young woman uttered “Wow, it's him” when she entered a gallery called “Art Space Taihodo” and saw the artist.

Shibasaki acknowledged the woman and said, “Let’s take a photo together later,” with a smile on his face.

After this, he continued saying “hello” to visitors.

Shibasaki, who resides in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, has taught watercolors at adult classes.

He started uploading watercolor tutorial videos on YouTube in March 2017 because he wanted an overseas audience to see his works.

One of his videos titled “5min Easy Watercolor” has been viewed more than 6 million times so far.

Initially, his videos were particularly popular with overseas viewers.

However, Shibasaki made many fans among young Japanese after making videos on drawing with pencils and crayons, which is easier than watercolors, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to stay home, and also following his TikTok debut.

He now has 1.57 million and 800,000 subscribers on YouTube and TikTok, respectively.

The secret of his popularity seems to lie not just in his easy-to-follow watercolor tutoring, but also in his personality and the gentle tone of voice.

On his YouTube channel, his fans leave comments such as “Your videos cheer me up when I’m tired,” “I can sleep soundly after hearing your voice.”

Once a viewer who was hospitalized left a message, “I will undergo surgery now. I will watch your videos to do my best.”

Shibasaki said that he is grateful for his fans.

“I read all the comments and reply as much as possible,” he said.

His eldest son, who is also his manager, said, “He greets and speaks to visitors (at his exhibitions) because he has always talked to his students in his class to relax them. He’s always like that.”

Shibasaki is not just popular on the internet, but in the real world, too.

Some 4,000 visitors came to his exhibitions held for two weeks in Tokyo’s Kyobashi district last summer.

They were so popular that each visitor was allocated only one minute to shake hands with and take photos with Shibasaki.

He decided to hold an exhibition in Kumamoto because fans from all over Japan came to the exhibition in the Kyobashi district.

A 21-year-old female company employee, who traveled from Fukuoka Prefecture to visit the exhibition in Kumamoto, explains why she’s a fan.

“(Shibasaki’s) voice and tone are so gentle that I can watch his videos on end," she said. "Sometimes I start watching his videos before going to bed and find myself still watching them when the morning comes.”

Tae Togawa, 55, a company employee living in Oita Prefecture, came to the exhibition accompanied by her daughter Mako, 22, who resides in Kita-Kyushu.

“He has a lovely smile," Togawa said. "He was very kind to me today, and I’m a bigger fan now.”

Related News