Atsuhiko Nakata (中田敦彦), a member of the comedy duo Oriental Radio and one of Japan’s most-watched YouTubers, is facing a wave of online criticism after news broke that he and his wife are moving back to Japan following roughly five years living in Singapore.
The news first surfaced through a report that his wife, television personality Moe Fukuda (福田萌), had decided to return to Japan with their children. According to the report, Nakata told her he had \”had enough of understanding Singapore,\” prompting the family’s decision to head home.
Rather than welcoming the news, many users on X (formerly Twitter) reacted with criticism, pointing to past videos in which Nakata reportedly praised Singapore’s lower tax burden and suggested Japan was \”finished\” or past its prime. Several commenters noted that some of these videos have since been deleted, which they say looks like an attempt to erase an inconvenient past rather than address it directly.
A tax-related debate also broke out among users, with some accusing Nakata of using his Singapore residency purely to avoid Japanese taxes. Others pushed back, explaining that Nakata’s business income reportedly flows through his Japanese company, NIRVA, which pays Japan’s 20.42% withholding tax on his compensation regardless of where he lives, while additional Japanese resident taxes are avoided only because his official residence is in Singapore. A commentator using the handle \”Hiroyuki Lawyer\” wrote online that this simply reflects Japan’s tax rules for non-residents and does not amount to tax evasion.
Still, much of the backlash appears rooted less in the tax technicalities and more in a sense of inconsistency: having publicly urged others to consider leaving Japan while living abroad, Nakata is now returning to the country he once criticized. Some commenters suggested the reaction also reflects broader dislike of his outspoken online persona rather than the relocation itself.
Who is Atsuhiko Nakata?
Atsuhiko Nakata is one half of the comedy duo Oriental Radio and has built a massive online following through his YouTube channel, often referred to in Japan as \”YouTube University,\” where he explains history, business, and current events in an educational format. He is married to tarento Moe Fukuda, with whom he relocated to Singapore several years ago, a move he had publicly framed at the time as partly motivated by Japan’s tax and education environment.
As of now, neither Nakata nor his office has issued a detailed public response to the criticism surrounding the family’s return.
