Japanese YouTube channel Wakatte TV (わかって.tv) is facing renewed criticism after a video segment about Fukushima University drew accusations of mocking the region’s nuclear disaster history, according to a compilation of reactions published by Togetter on September 1, 2026.
The controversy centers on a line from the video, quoted in widely shared posts as “I don’t want [students] to touch Fukushima University,” which critics say was paired with references to radiation in a way that trivialized the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. One X user who identified herself as being from Fukushima Prefecture wrote that she has been teased by people linking “radiation” and “Fukushima” ever since 2011, and said the video repeated that same pattern.
Fukushima University associate professor Toru Kumazawa pushed back publicly, writing on X that many people are seriously involved with Fukushima University and that university staff are far from the only ones working on the region’s nuclear issues, adding that the comments insulted a great many people.
According to Togetter, Wakatte TV later edited and reposted the video with an added on-screen caption, but did not cut the segment that sparked the backlash, which frustrated critics further.
The incident follows other controversies attributed to the channel, including a previous dispute involving a Kyushu University professor and, according to one post, a separate incident involving the channel’s part-time staff. Several commenters also noted that the channel appears to double as promotion for the cram school Takeda Juku (武田塾), questioning why the clip wasn’t removed given the backlash.
The criticism carries particular weight because Fukushima University has, in the years since 2011, invested heavily in radiation-related research, including establishing a dedicated research institute — a contrast several critics pointed to as evidence the video’s framing was out of step with the university’s actual role in the region’s recovery.
Who is Wakatte TV?
Wakatte TV (わかって.tv) is a Japanese YouTube channel known for videos discussing and ranking universities and academic backgrounds (学歴), a genre tied to Japan’s competitive exam culture. According to commenters cited by Togetter, the channel has drawn previous controversy, including a dispute involving a professor at Kyushu University.
Author’s Comment
Here’s a classic case of a channel built on mocking people’s résumés running its mouth in exactly the one place in Japan where it really, really shouldn’t have. Fukushima has spent fifteen years fighting to be known for its recovery — its universities, its research, its people — not for radiation jokes, and this channel just reminded everyone why that fight isn’t over. Slapping a caption on the reupload instead of just cutting the clip is peak crisis management: apologize with your mouth, keep the punchline in the video. I get that outrage clicks pay the bills, but there’s a difference between edgy and just plain lazy, and jokes about a nuclear disaster fall pretty squarely in the lazy column. Fukushima University quietly built a serious radiation research institute out of the wreckage of 2011 — maybe try mocking that with some actual facts next time.
