Waseda WeeklyWaseda University

“The Japanese University with the Best American Football Team. Personally, I want to become somebody’s favorites YouTuber.”

Takeshi Nicholas, 3rd Year, School of Social Sciences

Holding the uniform of his favorite player, Darryl Dawkins of the Philadelphia 76ers

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league comprising men’s basketball teams in the United States and Canada. Nicholas is the first Japanese person to partner with “NBA Playmakers,” allowing him to officially use NBA Highlights, in his YouTube videos that he posts on his channel @NicholasTakeshi to make the NBA more popular. He also plays American football for the Waseda University American Football Team. We asked him about his activities as a YouTuber and football player and his future goals.

――Why did you begin posting videos on YouTube?

I began because I wanted to provide a source for Japanese people to easily learn about the NBA. My experience in basketball is limited to playing in a junior high school team in Japan. I attended that junior high school for only three months before I migrated to the United States and stopped playing basketball. However, when I lived there, I watched several NBA games on TV, and I was riveted when I watched Timofey Mozgov play. At the time, Mozgov was a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers, therefore, I became a fan of that team. However, once I began learning about players other than Mozgov, I really enjoyed it, and became very interested in NBA.

After that, when I returned to Japan, I spoke about NBA with a friend I had not seen for some time. He told me that he only recognized Stephen Curry, who was in the limelight at the time. This made me realize that Japan did not have the environment to enjoy NBA at a casual level. Therefore, I decided, “If there is no environment, I should create one!” I began posting videos on YouTube in 2018, when I was a high school student.

On February 26, 2018, he first posted “[NBA] Top 10 Centers of All Time,” which has more than 1.16 million views so far. He believes the appeal of his videos is that they “explain NBA in an accessible and fun way.”

――What type of videos do you normally post? Are there any particular favorites?

Currently, I am running two channels, and I post NBA ranking videos on my primary channel. I edit and produce them taking much care, from scripting to editing; it requires approximately 15 hours to make a 20-minute video. On the sub-channel, I post audio-based videos with a focus on current news. I want to provide timely information about NBA, therefore, I edit the audio and am able to complete those in as less as three hours.

The video I have the best memories of is the “【NBA】歴代プレイTOP 10 Players of All Time” video. This video was very difficult to create because I accidentally lost all the data when it was almost complete, and I had to begin all over again. However, I enjoyed creating it. I was reconsidering, “What do I love about the NBA?” It took much time to create, however, it is my favorite video.

A shot with Rikuto taken in New York, United States. We came in contact because we began posting NBA videos close to each other.

Another favorite video is the one on which I collaborated with Rikuto, who is also a Japanese NBA YouTuber. I revealed my face for the first time on this collaborative video. At first, I was hesitant and worried about revealing my face on a medium that would be watched by an unspecified number of people. However, I believe that this video helped me to transform from being a soft, name-only personality to establishing the character “Nicholas Takeshi,” along with my own face. Many viewers were surprised to see me with my “half-American, half-Japanese” face, good physique, and trademark glasses, and commented that I was different from what they had imagined. I am also grateful to Rikuto for the opportunity to become a part of the “NBA Playmakers” because it was owing to my interactions with him that I was approached to be a part of the NBA Playmakers.

Nicholas’ first appearance was not on his own channel but on Rikuto’s.

――You are also a part of the American Football Team. What made you join the American Football team at Waseda?

When I lived in the United States, I was a member of the football team for six years in junior high and high school. My father is an American who used to play football, and I learned the basic rules from him. Certainly, I like basketball, however, I love playing football myself. I believed that I would make a clean break after graduating from high school, however, I was disappointed that the team did not have any results. I was considering returning to Japan for university and learned that Waseda’s American football team had participated in the Koshien Bowl, which is a championship for the best university in Japan; and that it is an environment where I could aim to be the best in Japan. I was not considering playing professionally or as an adult, therefore, I decided to join the American football team at Waseda because I wanted to test myself in an environment where I could “win” during my last four years as a student, even if I had limited chances to play in games.

Left Photo: High school game.
Right Photo: Practice during fall of 2022, position is OL (Offensive Line).

――What is the most memorable American football game that you have played in?

There were two games that left a lasting impression on me. The first was during the spring of 2021. In this game, I played as a substitute for an opening player who was injured. In retrospect, I did not really understand the field, and there were many aspects that were not favorable for me personally, however, at that time I felt confident that I could compete at the collegiate level.

The second was in November 2022, against Meiji University in the Kantoh Collegiate Football Association (KCFA) Autumn League. I played the entire game and performed better compared with the first game I mentioned. I was able to play while keeping an eye on my surroundings, and I believed I had grown as a player. It was a very close game, however, I was happy to win against the Meiji University team, which was a strong opponent, and it was simply fun.

The game against Meiji University, November 2022. Nicholas (center of photo) lifts up RB (running back) Keiichiro Hanamiya (4th Year Student in the School of Culture, Media and Society). They had promised the previous day that they would lift him up if he scored a touchdown.

――It must be difficult to balance your Football team activities and being a YouTuber. How do you manage it?

I have decided to prioritize team activities during my university life. I can continue as a YouTuber even after I graduate from the university, therefore, I want to devote my energy to the activities I can perform only now. As a YouTuber, my motto is “As much as I can do comfortably.” I have always loved video editing and the NBA is my favorite topic. I am happy that I am able to multiply my hobbies. I also attempt to make effective use of the time I have between classes and practice. My teammates are very supportive of my activity on YouTube, and I am happy whenever they tell me, “I saw your video.”

――What are your goals for the future?

My primary goal is to make our university’s American Football team “The Best in Japan.” The entire team is practicing toward this goal, however, it is my last year as a student and I definitely want to achieve this goal. As a YouTuber, rather than increasing the number of views, I want to increase the number of “viewers who enjoy watching my videos and like Nicholas Takeshi.” If I really want people to believe that, I believe it is important to earnestly post videos, hence, I will keep this in mind as I work hard.

841st Issue

Interviewed, written, and photographed by Waseda Weekly Reporter (SJC student staff)
Risaki Sato, 4th year, School of Human Sciences

*This article is a translation from the Japanese edition of Waseda Weekly published on May 9, 2023. The content is current at the time of Japanese publication.