Ken-Sama

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About

Ken-Sama is a fictional character originating from a copypasta story about an adult American male obsessed with Japanese and Otaku culture. Commonly paired with a picture of an adult male wearing a Kimono, the character can be seen as a caricature of Japanophilia and the Weeaboo subculture in particular. Since first appearing on 4chan in 2009, it has inspired several variations that were supposedly written by people obsessed with foreign cultures in the style of the Ken-Sama story.

Origin

The earliest known instance of the Ken-Sama copypasta appeared on 4chan's /jp/ (otaku culture) board^[1] on July 6th, 2009, although subsequent comments suggest that it had been previously seen on the site. The picture that later became associated with Ken-Sama was first posted on Marisa Eber’s blog Nerd Knits^[2] on September 7th, 2005. The person depicted in the photo (shown below) was later identified as Ebers’ husband, Bradon.

Gomenasai, my name is Ken-Sama.

I'm a 27 year old American Otaku (Anime fan for you gaijins). I draw Anime and Manga on my tablet, and spend my days perfecting my art and playing superior Japanese games. (Disgaea, Final Fantasy, Persona series)

I train with my Katana every day, this superior weapon can cut clean through steel because it is folded over a thousand times, and is vastly superior to any other weapon on earth. I earned my sword license two years ago, and I have been getting better every day.

I speak Japanese fluently, both Kanji and the Osaka dialect, and I write fluently as well. I know everything about Japanese history and their bushido code, which I follow 100%

When I get my Japanese visa, I am moving to Tokyo to attend a prestigious High School to learn more about their magnificent culture. I hope I can become an animator for Studio Ghibli or a game designer!

I own several kimonos, which I wear around town. I want to get used to wearing them before I move to Japan, so I can fit in easier. I bow to my elders and seniors and speak Japanese as often as I can, but rarely does anyone manage to respond.

Wish me luck in Japan!

Spread

Over the course of July 2009, the copypasta was posted numerous times on both 4chan's /jp/ (otaku culture) and /a/ (anime & manga) boards, as well as on the Naruto forums.^[15] As of January 16th, 2013, searching for "Ken-Sama" results in more than 200 pages of results on the 4chan archive, Foolz. A parody blog^[3] was created for the Ken-Sama character on October 29th, 2010, but has not been updated since November 6th of the same year. A Facebook fan page can also be found for Ken-Sama.^[4] The Ken-Sama copypasta has also been found on Gametrailers^[5], Gamespot^[17], GameFAQs^[18], Yahoo Answers^[6] and Flashflash Revolution.^[7]

Ken-Sama's Death

Following the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan^[12], numerous posters on 4chan gave their condolences to Ken-Sama.^[13] A record alleging that Ken-Sama's had died in the events was also added to the Google Person Finder in the days following the earthquake (shown below).

A 2-part copypasta story describing Ken-Sama's final moments before the earthquake and tsunami hit was also created, appearing on 4chan as early as August 1st, 2011.^[14]

The wind blows. It is 7 in the morning, Ken-sama woke up to the cold morning. He got up, and went to the bathroom to wash his face. Ken-sama live in a traditional Japanese house, he only rent a room though. The old couple is nice enough to let him stay in their house. Ken-sama grepped his kimono and wear it like a proper nihonjin, he walk to a window and smell the fresh nihonjin morning. "Ah, konbanwa anatas. What beautiful morning desu." Ken-sama zoned out looking at the beach from his room. Ken-sama went downstairs to greet the old couple. "Ah, ohayou ojisan and obasan". The old couple replied him with a warm smile and proceed with their breakfast while inviting Ken-sama. Although Ken-sama can not understand them, he easily could read what the old couple is trying to say, he is born with this talent. "Arigato." Ken-sama said, he then went upstairs to take a few things. He took a bokken and a katana, the katana is hidden in his kimono and the bokken is on his obi, this is to avoid being arrested by authorities as he was warned last time. Ken-sama will be going on his usual morning walk to sightseeing the glorious nihonjin country. "Itadakimasu obasan and ojisan", they gave him a mixed smile and a slightly confused expression.

Ken-sama reached the park near the beach, he like to watch kids playing as it is a something that can warm his pure heart. Suddenly, a sudden tremor. No, it's more terrifying than that, it's an earthquake, a huge one. The ground was shaking and beginning to crack, Ken-sama look at the children, they were running away terrified, "minna san! do not run around! Stay in place!" The kids couldn't understand what he was saying, he gestured what he was trying to say, he ordered the kids to stay in the middle of the park as it is too dangerous. But that was Ken-sama's mistake, he look at the beach from afar. It was huge, a tsunami is coming. Ken-sama widened his eyes and look at the children and yelled every Japanese word he knew "Arigatou gozaimasu! Gomenasai! Run away minna-san!" The children ran away, the wave is coming, it was at least 100ft tall. Ken-sama was ashamed with himself, he should have anticipated this, if he did the children would be far away by now. "sumimasen mina-san, it was my mistake", he took his hidden katana and dual wield with the bokken and katana. As he ran towards the tsunami trying to stop it, he uttered his last words. "Arigatou obasan, ojisan. For taking care of me" The wave rise even higher. A shout is heard; "Nippon banzai!".

On June 16th, 2012, a memorial video^[8] for Ken-Sama was taken down from YouTube after a copyright claim by Marisa Ebers, after which she explained on her Twitter^[9] that the photo was actually her husband. Archived 4chan threads discussing this takedown and the revelation of the photo's subject can be found on both the /v/ (videogames)^[10] and /jp/ (otaku culture),^[11]

2020 Ken-Sama

On August 30th, 2021, a photograph of a man who was rumored to be Ken-Sama himself and his Japanese wife was posted on /r9k/ by an anonymous user and captioned "I can't fucking believe that this is Ken-sama. Not only he slimmed down, he now has a qt Japanese gf"^[19] (shown, below).

On September 6th, 2021, an anonymous 4chan^[19] /fit/ user posted a two-panel image consisting of the photograph and the new Ken-Sama, captioned "2009" and "2020" (post and image shown below, left and right). The post created the impression that the second person was Ken-Sama who fulfilled his dreams, with many users reacting with messages of support while others brought up that Ken-Sama was a character rather than the real person, and that the person in the first photograph would have been older in 2020. A similar thread was created in /tv/.^[21]

On September 7th, 2021, Twitter^[22] user @KasaiKaiser posted the image and the original Ken-Sama post, with the tweet gaining over 2,500 retweets and 18,300 likes in two days (shown below, left). On the same day, other users on Twitter and other social media made posts celebrating Ken-Sama. For example, a tweet^[23] posted by Twitter user @Nicchiban_ received over 550 retweets and 6,100 likes in two days.

Later on September 7th, Twitter^[24] user @hideouskojimer posted a tweet clarifying that Ken-Sama is not a real person, with the tweet gaining over 70 retweets and 1,100 likes (shown below, right).

On September 9th, 2021, a collage showing several images of 2020's Ken-Sama and his wife was posted on /r9k/ by an anonymous user,^[25] who claimed to have found it on 2chan (shown, below)