The 'Bob Ross Of Japan' Has Become A YouTube Sensation

December 11, 2020

A 73-year-old grandfather has been dubbed the "Bob Ross of Japan" for his soothing tone and exceptional painting skills.

Harumichi Shibasaki launched his YouTube channel "Watercolor by Shibasaki" in 2016 to help people learn how to paint. But the pandemic has brought new meaning to the channel.

"I realized that there are more people who say their hearts were healed, [or] they were energized by watching my video, than those who just desire to be good at painting," says Shibasaki. "Therefore, my mind has changed. I hope to play a role not only in making these videos to improve people's watercolor skills but in healing people's hearts through painting too."

Sound familiar?

Shibasaki has over 700,000 subscribers on his channel and more than half have joined since the pandemic began.

Check out his most popular video below (use subtitles).