Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - Dec 28, 2022

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK DECEMBER 28, 2022
Making fun YouTube videos is the family business for Ryan Kaji, star of Ryan’s World, and his ‘ohana, who have turned this practice into an entertainment empire.
STORY BY
YU SHING TING
PHOTOS BY
ANTHONY CONSILLIO
It’s Ryan’s World and oodles of children are continually glued to it — nearly 34 million subscribers at last count — as they play and learn along the way. The popular YouTube channel fea- tures 11-year-old Ryan Kaji, who along with dad Shion, mom Loann, and 6-year-old twin sisters Emma and Kate, have turned simple videos of him unboxing toys into a fam- ily-friendly entertainment em- pire. Collectively, their efforts have resulted in a production company that manages nine YouTube channels (which garner more than 50 million subscribers and 1 billion views per month combined), as well
as a line of toys and consumer products.
home since April 2021. The family moved from Houston to Honolulu during the pan- demic, seeking sunny skies that allowed them to be out- doors more, especially during a time of remote learning and lockdowns.
Houston. We wanted an envi- ronment where we could have easy access to outside, where we’re not, hey, can we go out- side today? Is it too hot? Is it too cold? Is it rainy? We have a pool at home (in Houston) and we use it for only sever- al months a year versus here. We’ve been here a year and a half, and they’ve been using it all year-round. It’s just been re- ally nice to be able to do that.”
“Our core principle for our brand is a combination of en- tertainment and education,” explains Shion, noting that the target audience is keiki ages 3to7.“Weusedtofocuson just entertainment, but we got so inspired by the educational part, too ...
“I felt the teachers were trying their best to do what they could do but it was very hard,” notes Loann, a former high school chemistry teacher. “And because I had the privi- lege to stay home, I thought it was better for my kids if I just homeschooled. So, during that full year, I homeschooled Ryan and part of the curriculum was that I wanted him to have PE.
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“This is a place where we want kids to come and feel like they’re on a play date with Ryan. We always look out for the authenticity, and the No. 1 priority is that Ryan is having fun in the videos.”
it’s got a very welcoming com- munity, everybody helping to raise kids together and support- ing the senior citizens, too.
Auntie and Uncle.’
“We feel everybody is so
These days, the fun takes place right here in Hawai‘i, where the Kajis have called
“It was hard to do that in
Shion, who is Japanese, and Loann, who is Vietnamese, say Houston is still home base
“Also, Ryan easily gets rec- ognized when he’s in public and before he gets too old, I wanted to find a safe commu- nity where everybody could watch over him, essentially,” adds Shion. “When we first came to Hawai‘i, we felt like
“It’s been great. The kids have been able to find new friends. They hang out all the time and their parents are really nice, too. They’re always like, ‘Oh, Ryan, you can call me
much nicer here. I mean ev- erybody in Houston is very nice, but Hawai‘i is on a whole different level.”
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Houston to Honolulu in 2021 in search of better climate and community.
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SEE PAGE 5