Pokimane tricked into saying rude phrases in Japanese

Jacob Hale
Pokimane/Twitch

During a trip to Japan, popular Twitch streamer Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys was targeted by an IRL stream sniper who tricked her into saying inappropriate things in Japanese while livestreaming.

While many streamers will take a break from streaming while they go on vacation, she saw this as an opportunity to bring her fans along to see a different side to her and a part of the world that many might not have experienced.

Pokimane had been in Japan for around a week at the time of the incident, taking in the culture and doing some IRL streams to keep viewers in the loop as to what is going on throughout her travels, when she was approached by a man posing as a fan.

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Said fan offered to help her learn some Japanese words and phrases and – as you could imagine – this didn’t play out as nicely as Poki may have liked.

The man instructed the streamer to say certain Japanese phrases, all of which were inappropriate, with Pokimane unwittingly mocking herself before her viewers and the Japanese public, thinking she was saying: “I love Japan.”

Although Pokimane herself seemed entirely unaware of what was going on, the person holding the camera did question whether she was being trolled, challenging the man because he hadn’t heard “Nihon”, the Japenese way of saying Japan.

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It turned out that the phrase was unsavory and self-deprecative, and that Pokimane’s trust in the kindness of strangers was misplaced this time around.

It’s likely a learning experience for the California resident, who may seek out someone more reliable when trying to learn new Japanese phrases next time around.

Pokimane originally got her start in content creation streaming League of Legends, which recently crowned Chinese team FunPlus Phoenix as its 2019 World Champions, beating European’s G2 Esports in a 3-0 grand final sweep.

What really saw Poki’s rise to fame, though, was her Fortnite Battle Royale streams, and since its release, she has become Twitch’s most-followed female streamer at 3.5 million followers

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About The Author

Jacob is Dexerto’s UK Editor and Call of Duty esports specialist. With a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing, he previously worked as an Editor at Ginx TV. Jacob was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the 2023 Esports Awards. Contact: jacob.hale@dexerto.com.