Appearing on His Dream Show, 'Bura Tamori'

His activities as a street-walking historian took a major leap forward in 2015. He finally made a guest appearance on "Bura Tamori," the very show that inspired his work. He became a hot topic after explaining the history of Susukino's red-light district. Appearing on the popular show he so admired caused his fame to skyrocket, leading to more opportunities to appear in various media.

In 2022, just before his 50th birthday, he left his company job to deepen his knowledge and went independent under the title of "street-walking research." He now focuses on giving lectures on themes like Hokkaido's history and transportation systems, and is also active as a YouTuber. Subscribers to his YouTube channel, "Bura Satoru Channel" (https://www.youtube.com/burasatoru-sapporo), are steadily increasing.

Behind the Scenes of a YouTube Livestream

We had the opportunity to observe one of his YouTube livestreams. On this day, he was introducing "The Revised and Enlarged Edition: A Book for Understanding Sapporo's Place Names," a history book about Sapporo published in October. This latest edition, released after four years, includes new content such as a manuscript written by Mr. Wada on the origin of the Miyanomori district's name. The broadcast featured Satoshi Inoue, an editor from the publishing company, as a guest, and they answered questions from viewers about the Maruyama and Miyanomori areas.

"On YouTube, I try to actively share stories that history buffs like us might consider 'common knowledge.' My hope is that these accessible, relatable topics will spark an interest in Sapporo's history among people who weren't very interested before. On the other hand, my magazine column has an older readership, so I get a bit more niche there (laughs)."

Mr. Wada is eager to write more books in the future, but he says there are other things he wants to do as well.