Who Is Hikakin?

Last updated: October 2026

Name (Japanese)	ヒカキン (HIKAKIN)
Born	1989, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Category	YouTuber / Beatboxer / Entrepreneur
Active since	2006 (YouTube)
Known for	Beatboxing, family-friendly variety videos, Misokin ramen brand
Platform	YouTube (HikakinTV, HikakinGames and others), Twitch
Agency	UUUM (co-founder and chief advisor)

Hikakin (ヒカキン) is the closest thing Japanese YouTube has to a founding father. A beatboxer-turned-entertainer from Niigata Prefecture, he opened his first YouTube channel in 2006 — before “YouTuber” was a recognized job anywhere, let alone in Japan — and went on to build a network of channels with more than 30 million combined subscribers and over 25 billion total views as of mid-2026. He is also a co-founder of UUUM, Japan’s largest talent agency for online creators, and the producer of Misokin, a convenience-store ramen brand that has become a sales phenomenon in its own right.

What sets Hikakin apart from most Western creators of his scale is how completely mainstream Japan has embraced him. His videos are famously clean and family-friendly, he is featured in an officially approved elementary school ethics textbook, and when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government wanted to reach young people at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Yuriko Koike chose to do it on his channel. Parents trust him, children imitate him, and brands line up to work with him.

Rise to Fame

Born in 1989 in Myoko, a snowy mountain city in Niigata Prefecture, Hikakin became fascinated with human beatboxing as an elementary school student after seeing it on television, and taught himself by studying videos online. He was a competitive ski jumper through high school, then moved to Tokyo and worked as a supermarket clerk, recording beatbox videos after his shifts and uploading them to a channel he had opened in December 2006.

His breakthrough came in 2010, when “Super Mario Beatbox” — a clip of him performing the Super Mario theme entirely with his mouth — passed one million views within a week and drew international media coverage. Partnership offers followed, and in July 2011 he launched HikakinTV, the variety channel that remains his flagship. In 2013 he co-founded UUUM, a multi-channel network (essentially a talent agency for YouTubers) that professionalized the industry in Japan and where he still serves as chief advisor. His beatboxing also earned him onstage and video collaborations with Aerosmith in 2013 and Ariana Grande in 2014, and by the mid-2010s HikakinTV had become the most-subscribed YouTube channel in Japan.

What Hikakin Is Known For

Hikakin’s core format is high-energy, good-natured variety content — product reviews, challenges, and stunts that make fun of no one but himself — delivered with his trademark wide-mouthed laugh. He spreads this across several channels aimed at different audiences:

HikakinTV — his main variety channel, with nearly 20 million subscribers as of mid-2026
HikakinGames — gaming content, including long-running Minecraft series popular with children
HIKAKIN — the original beatbox channel from 2006
Joint projects with his older brother Seikin, himself a famous YouTuber and musician, with whom he has recorded songs such as the widely known “YouTube Theme Song”

He is equally known for philanthropy. In 2020 he set up a coronavirus medical support fund with Yahoo! Japan, personally donating 100 million yen (roughly 900,000 US dollars at the time) and helping raise about 370 million yen in total, and his April 2020 pandemic conversation with Tokyo’s governor drew more than seven million views in its first 24 hours.

Then there is Misokin. Launched in May 2023 with instant-noodle maker Nissin and sold at 7-Eleven — the biggest chain of konbini, Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores — his miso ramen brand sold out nationwide almost instantly and made headlines with every restock. By mid-2026 cumulative sales had passed 60 million servings, and the brand has expanded into physical ramen shops: a limited-run restaurant on Tokyo Station’s Ramen Street from August 2025 to February 2026, followed by shops in Ikebukuro in March 2026 and Osaka in August 2026.

Recent Years

On January 1, 2024, Hikakin announced his marriage to a woman outside the entertainment industry, making clear that she would stay out of his videos. Their first child, a daughter, was born in August 2024, and on August 9, 2026 he announced the birth of their second child, a son. He continues to keep his family’s identities private, referring to the children only by playful nicknames. In early 2025 he also took a brief break for surgery after disclosing a chronic sinus condition, returning to his usual upload pace soon after.

On the business side, 2026 has been one of his biggest years yet. In April he launched BEE Inc., a consumer-brand company where he serves as president, and released Onicha (“demon tea”), a barley tea sold at 7-Eleven that passed 20 million bottles sold by September 2026 — less than five months after launch. A corn tea variation of Onicha followed in early October 2026. He also donated 20 million yen and more than 14,000 bottles of his tea to earthquake relief efforts in Kumamoto.

Two decades after he opened his first channel, Hikakin remains the benchmark against which Japanese YouTubers are measured — a creator who turned beatboxing in a small Tokyo apartment into one of the most trusted personal brands in Japan.

FAQ

Why is Hikakin so famous in Japan?

He was one of Japan’s first full-time YouTubers, starting with beatbox videos in 2006 and going viral worldwide with "Super Mario Beatbox" in 2010. His consistently clean, family-friendly content made him a household name trusted by parents, and he co-founded UUUM, the agency that professionalized YouTube as a career in Japan.

What is Misokin?

Misokin is Hikakin’s miso ramen brand, produced with instant-noodle maker Nissin and sold at 7-Eleven convenience stores since May 2023. It repeatedly sold out nationwide, passed 60 million servings sold by mid-2026, and has expanded into physical ramen shops — first at Tokyo Station in 2025, then in Ikebukuro and Osaka in 2026.

Is Hikakin married and does he have children?

Yes. He announced his marriage to a non-celebrity woman on January 1, 2024. The couple’s first child, a daughter, was born in August 2024, and he announced the birth of their second child, a son, on August 9, 2026. He keeps his wife’s and children’s identities private.