Japanese YouTuber Hezumaryu Hasegawa (へずまりゅう) says he was put in an uncomfortable position at a convenience store in Nara Prefecture after a mother appeared to coach her young child into asking him to buy a snack, according to a post he shared on X (formerly Twitter) on August 12.
In the post, Hezumaryu wrote that a parent and child were staring in his direction inside the store, so he approached out of curiosity. He says he then overheard the mother tell her child, “Hora, katte moraii” (“Go on, get him to buy it for you”), after which the child, who looked to be a young elementary school student, held out a snack with a toy attached and asked, “Is this okay?” Hezumaryu said he declined, telling them he was in a hurry, and wondered aloud whether the family assumed he hands out things to anyone, possibly referencing his past volunteer work delivering relief supplies to disaster-hit Kumamoto. He said the mother responded by glaring at him and clicking her tongue, but he chose not to confront her or film the encounter, explaining that doing so risked being painted as the aggressor if she shared her own version of events online.
Hezumaryu added that he felt torn about posting the story at all, saying he still felt a lingering sense of guilt over turning the child away despite believing he made the right call. He asked his followers whether they had ever been approached by strangers, especially via their children, and asked to buy something after being recognized from social media.
The post quickly drew a large response, with many commenters expressing shock that a parent would use a child this way to solicit an item from someone they did not personally know. Several also noted that simply asking for a photo or handshake would be understandable, but directing a child to request a purchase was a different matter entirely. Some commenters also speculated that, given his public profile, agreeing to the request could have raised complications under Japan’s Public Offices Election Act, which restricts candidates and officeholders from giving gifts or benefits to the public, and a few even suggested the encounter may have been an attempt to set a trap.
Who is Hezumaryu?
Hezumaryu, born Ryu Hasegawa, is a Japanese YouTuber who first rose to notoriety for disruptive, prank-style videos often labeled “meiwaku-kei” (nuisance-type) content, which led to arrests and a period of reduced media presence. In recent years he has worked to rebuild his public image through visible volunteer activities, including delivering relief supplies to disaster-affected areas such as Kumamoto, and by becoming involved in local politics in the Kansai region. He remains one of Japan’s most talked-about and divisive online personalities, regularly sharing personal encounters like this one with his large following on X.
Author’s Comment
Okay, I’ve heard of kids being used to get out of chores, but using a kid to shake down a YouTuber for a toy-snack? That’s a new one for me. I get the impulse — you spot a face you recognize, and your brain short-circuits into thinking a total stranger now owes you a candy toy. What actually impresses me here is that he walked away without making it a whole thing, because in this era of instant pile-ons, staying quiet takes real discipline. And can we talk about the tongue click? A tongue click implies SHE was the one inconvenienced. Ma’am, sir, the audacity is doing cardio. Anyway, pity the kid in all this — she didn’t ask to be the middleman for her mom’s freebie scheme.
