In an aging office block on the edge of downtown Sendai, there is a dusty ramen shop, grimy and well-worn, and apparently open for business.
Behind the counter, steam escapes from the lid of a pot, suggesting fresh noodles coming to a boil, but there is no one manning the kitchen, no menu to choose from, no kenbaiki (ticket machine) to purchase a bowl. There is just one person at the counter, YouTuber Chris Broad, sipping on a craft beer and relaxing into his newly built studio space.
“We’ve built a living, breathing district from an imagined alternate reality, and I love that,” Broad, 31, says. “Four years ago I wouldn’t have been able to justify building a set like this, but now I can. I’m very stupid; to be at 2 million subscribers and not have a proper set or a proper place to film was bonkers.”