PROFILE
After completing graduate studies at Kokugakuin University, he worked for a publishing company before going independent. He has worked as a freelance journalist covering dangerous areas around the world and gained attention on the TBS affiliate TV program "Crazy Journey. He is the author of numerous books, and recently his YouTube channel "Maruyama Gonzalez's Underworld Journey" has become popular. . He is also a co-researcher at Kokugakuin University's Academic Documentation Center.
I don't want to change society , nor do I want to save anyone.
Maruyama-san, you often cover interesting stories that do not appear in the major media. Do you get your information from other people?
Maruyama:You don't settle on any one place, but use a variety of places as sources of information. . because you never know when or where a tip will come in. However, there are a lot of hints on detailed stories that the major media don't pick up. But that doesn't mean it's a part of the story that the Japanese media doesn't cover, it just means that the story fits or doesn't fit the medium. When the major media go for mainstream stories, there is a surplus at the edges, so I go and pick them up and deliver them in a form that is of interest to everyone. It's not that the major media can't do what I do, it's just that they don't have to.
. So it is possible to have a main and a sub, both of which are necessary.
Maruyama:For example, people who watch the major media are not interested in what the protesters are eating. But there are tens of thousands of people in Japan who like detailed stories, and I am just reporting for them. If the major media is interested in finding out what kind of people are receiving government support in the slums, I go to the garbage heaps to see what kind of garbage these people are producing. That's the kind of difference.
What motivates you to continue covering the frontier?
Maruyama:I want to go and see what I want to see, that's all there is to it. So I think that everyone who says they want to save something is either behind the scenes or lying (laughs). . But then, there are sometimes revolutionary children who are like monsters, and they really do spend their whole lives saving someone, so I can't make fun of them.
Maruyama-san, I know that your major TV program "Crazy Journey" has made you widely known throughout the world, but was there a positive response for you?
Maruyama:First of all, that show is not a major player (laughs). It's a late-night show, and TBS has a news bureau, and they are going to a greater place than I am. . But I wasn't surprised that more people became interested in me because of that program. . I knew that as the population of viewers increased, the number of people who liked and followed the show would increase.
But actually, for the past 10 years or so, I've been in a mode where I only want to do what I want to do, not what I want many people to see or what I want to get the scoop on. I at least do customer analysis on myself, but I don't try to be aware of the customer's point of view, or try to change the world, much less save someone else, I just prioritize whether or not I'm interesting.
It's amazing that you can keep that motivation going.
Maruyama:When I was young, I tried my best to get scoops, to get the society, but I was rejected by the media. No matter where I brought my projects to, I was always shut out and turned away, saying, "No one is interested in an overseas report by someone who is not a celebrity. So I turned my back and did only what interested me, and I became well known. . I don't feel like changing my stance now, and I can't and won't go back.
. You've crossed that mountain, and you don't want to go back.
Maruyama:What I found out is that such news that helps people and changes society is done by those with money and power. All I have to do is walk around my corner of the world as I please, put it out as I please, and say "Thank you for your interest" to everyone who sees it. . I want to call myself a journalist, but I want to be an informant in my mood. I just want to do things so that when I send out information about foreign stories and various other information, someone will find it interesting and buy it. . I don't want to change society, nor do I want to save anyone.
That's very graceful.
Maruyama:However, it is not that I do not want to be in the major media. If they ask me to do it with them, I will do it , and I will go with them. I am curious about what kind of expenses the major players cut when they are covering a story (laughs).
You observe that as well (laughs).
Maruyama:I observe what kind of wallets and clothes major media people and TV people use. I am always interested in what they have and how much they spend on clothes. . But whether it is interesting or not, that is, whether or not I would spend the effort, time, and money to cover it, is another matter.
