We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Edda Yamada. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Edda below.
Edda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
I have always loved making up characters. I draw them, I like acting them out and I also am a big adventurer. My dad told me that if I could find a way to document my adventures and turn them into videos, I could potentially make that into a career and earn money through my passions. During the pandemic, I made my first Instagram reel but felt shy about showing my true self to the camera. I would start making videos, post one or two, and then not post another one for months. I couldn’t get myself to make the kinds of videos that reflected what I really wanted to portray.
A little over a year ago, I made a video about fishing in Norway where I catch a fish and then eat it raw with buttered homemade sourdough bread. I felt accomplished that I could make a video that I was proud of aesthetically and content-wise. However, the video did not show more complex parts of my personality. I was still not ready emotionally to post a Tiktok or YouTube video that showed more of who I am as a person, even though I knew that if I could do so, people would want to watch the videos not just because they liked what I was doing, but because they liked watching me.
Since I took a year off of college during the pandemic, I had the opportunity to take an additional year to study abroad. As an Asian studies major, I decided to take Japanese as my required Asian language. My aunt told me that instead of just graduating without much idea of what I would do after graduation, I should go spend my last year abroad in Japan.
When I first got to Japan, I made a couple of videos, but they still mostly focused on what I was experiencing (ie a place or festival). My dad encouraged me to make more interesting videos that showed my unique self, but I was scared.
Last November, I met Miho Yamamoto at Sophia University in Tokyo who was interested in film photography. Miho and I grew close and eventually started dating. There is a big emphasis in American culture on individuality and an expectation that you have to do everything yourself. I don’t think that I would have been unable to do it alone, but I’m so glad to have met Miho and that we could combine our talents to make our first YouTube video that shows who we are in a way that feels authentic.
Posting our first YouTube video and “launching” our channel took the combined effort of putting into practice video editing skills I learned in college and on my own and a lot of emotional preparation. It can be easy as a creative to think of ideas but execution can take a lot of time, effort, and organization. There are things I am still getting the hang of.
For example, It took a lot longer than I expected to make all of the bilingual English and Japanese subtitles, but I am really happy that we took the time to make them. I edited the video entirely in Premiere Pro, which I learned how to use in college, but I still felt like I was learning a lot as I made this first video. We also had to think about the composition and film parts of our trip while traveling, which takes getting used to. This time, we made a video about our trip to Usami, a town in Japan along the Izu coastline. Next time I want to think of a better way to divide up the editing and think of a more concrete concept before filming.
It took me a while to emotionally prepare to post something like the video I posted. Before posting the YouTube video, I made a reel back in July about what it is like to live in Tokyo showing a more comedic side of myself. Posting the video made me feel very vulnerable as I had to be more authentically myself. I was also shy because in part of the video I speak Japanese, which isn’t perfect because it is not my native language.
From meeting Miho, I learned a lot about my own love for acting and also about what it means to be in a queer relationship in a country where queer consciousness is lower than in America. Something I thought about is how other queer people (Japanese and people all around the world) may feel less lonely if they can feel like they are not alone through our videos.
Being vulnerable online carries risks, but it can also be very rewarding as it can create community. I think there is a lot of content (certainly not all content) that portrays an unrealistic and fantasized view of many things. This type of content can remove people from reality instead of grounding people in it. I seek to make content that leads people to lead more authentic lives and maybe at the end of the day, people like to watch that more as it is more relatable. This is only the beginning. I seek to continue producing videos and explore all my interests without holding back. I want to show more of my thoughts on what it’s like to live in Tokyo in a queer relationship, potential cultural differences, my adventures, my art, characters, my personality, and food.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was born in New York City and when I was 9 I moved to Asheville, a small hippie town located in the mountains of Western North Carolina known for craft beer (and recently tourism). Being the child of two artists, I was always told to draw whenever I was bored. My parents limited screens almost to the point of extremism, where I was only allowed screen time on Friday nights and on the weekend. That left a lot of time to do art. I would fill huge pages of drawings and would spend hours and hours drawing at the kitchen table. Since I was 5 or 6 I would make up characters and draw whole worlds for them.
Throughout my undergrad at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I took classes in video, illustration, animation, acting, and printmaking. These classes were extremely helpful in pushing my already existing creative talents into new mediums. I also grew more familiar with the Adobe suite which has been helpful as well.
From my life experience and education, I seek to continue creating original imaginative videos, animations, and illustrations. I also seek to use these mediums to build worlds for my characters. As an actor and someone who is interested in comedy, I would also like to be an entertainer, and maybe one day direct a movie.
What makes my work unique is that it comes entirely from my own imagination, whether my intuitive imagination is entirely my own, or if it comes into being as a result of other influences, who is to say. When I draw, I feel like I can see in my mind’s eye where I want certain things before I even start marking the page. As I continue making the work, the image becomes more vivid and clear. When I make other creative works, such as written or video pieces, I have a similar creative process. Sometimes it flows really well and some days it feels slower, but it never really stops I think. I have always had a very unique sense of self as my own person and I have never felt worried about my work being like someone else’s.
I am really proud of my uniqueness and courage to be unique. I feel lucky to be able to embrace that. Another thing that I am proud of is my tenacity to not give up, even though it’s hard sometimes. Something I have been tenacious about is deciding to live in Japan after my year abroad at Sophia University on a third-generation 5-year visa I can get because my grandfather was Japanese. My dad and aunt have not lived in Japan before, but I get the sense that it is the right thing for me for the time being. Living in a foreign country right out of college is not without its challenges, but it is just part of the adventure. It also requires a lot of humility, and a necessity to accept that I am still learning many things.
One of the best pieces of advice I have been given is to keep going. I asked a successful YouTuber about his advice for success and he told me that 99% of people will not keep making YouTube videos, so if you can do that, you are already ahead of the game. Another thing he told me to do was to find someone better than you, try each time to improve the quality of your videos, and if you can do that you are likely to succeed because only a small percentage of people will do that. Even though it is difficult, tenacity is quintessential as a creative. I’m still working on it.
I want to connect with more people who can appreciate my talents and want to get to know me as an artist and creator. I am still in the process of that and I want to show my unique personality to the world through my unique characters and videos. I look to incorporate some of my characters into my videos and have them make appearances, whether as comedic videos portraying various characters or animated characters. I hope people will see my videos and hopefully be more inclined to live lives more authentically to themselves.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Something I am sure other creatives can relate to is that creativity is not always something you can always turn off and that somehow, it will need to be expressed. I think that can put pressure on creatives to pursue lifestyle choices that enable them to express their creativity. Sometimes I feel like life would be easier if I could take a path that was more straightforward like becoming a doctor or like a consultant, but I know it’s impossible.
Deciding to stay in Japan was not the most stable of decisions, but I am happy I did it and I feel like it is the right place for me to be as a creative. That spontaneity is sometimes less stable but it can also lead to incredible opportunities. A couple of years ago, I got to record a demo of a song for my mom’s friend, a writer for Futurama. Little did I know, by chance, the producer liked it and it made it into the final cut of the newest Futurama season. I feel like those things that happen by chance don’t happen unless people put themselves out there and open themselves to the possibilities.
Art has a special ability to communicate complex things, such as emotions, in ways that feel real and understandable. Creatives have the power to make people feel real things by communicating universal human truths, which is so important in a world where people are easily drawn away from reality. Creativity is also a big gift and can be used for many wonderful things to make the world a better place and lead people to lead more authentic lives to themselves and hopefully the environment too.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I met Miho from a mutual friend at Sophia University. At first, we would only meet about once a week for lunch with our mutual friend, but then slowly we realized we had a lot in common.
We went on a trip a couple of months after meeting each other and I was surprised the first day when we both brought cameras. Miho told me at that point that she was into film photography but only thought of it as a hobby. I knew I had a desire to make YouTube videos, but was not at the point where I was ready to give it my all.
As time went on, I think we both realized that we could take our talents more seriously and maybe make them into a career. I discovered my own beauty through the eye of Mihos lens, and how I loved getting to portray various emotions in front of the camera. Even though I took various acting classes at school, it was when I had the chance to use them with a creative partner that I started taking them more seriously.
I realized that it wasn’t just the medium of acting (modeling) film photography, and my desire to make videos that we had in common but also a shared vision as to why we were creating art through our different mediums. We both have an interest in storytelling and the human experience, the sides of themselves that people do not show to others, and how societal issues impact us personally.
It also happens that we both love to travel, eating interesting delicious food, learning people’s stories, tea, wine, and artisanal foods. At first, I thought about having my own YouTube channel and having Miho help me take videos, but then decided it would be better to make it both of our channel instead because we are making the videos together creatively. I am having a wonderful time doing it and I feel like our talents speak even more strongly when combined in tandem. It is an interesting experience to have your romantic partner be your creative partner and I welcome it as a new life experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.eddayamada.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.poetic.edda/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddayamada/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@azarashiproductions
Image Credits
Miho Yamamoto