Japanese influencer Taiyo Jr was left confused after talking to a fan in the United States during the FIFA World Cup. He could not understand the accent and ended up asking his cameraman whether the fan was speaking English.
Japan faced the Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup on June 14 at the Dallas Stadium, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Taiyo was in the stands and posted a lot of content, including reactions to the goals, fans cleaning the stadium and more.
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He also interacted with a fan ahead of the match, but was unable to understand the African American English accent. He posted a video about the fan’s comment, then turned to the cameraman for help understanding what he was saying.
The comments section of his Instagram reel suggested that he was not the only one, with many fans saying:
“This World Cup is going to give us so much content”
“Well different parts of Japan have different dialects and accents, so it’s really not a crazy concept to grasp that America does as well…”
“400 yrs in North America, haven’t pick up the accent yet”
“To be fair, many of us can’t understand him either lol”
“As an immigrant I can relate to it. When I moved here – there were so many people I could not understand and others I understood well. you need to experience it was he is going through”
Taiyo also posted two other videos with the same fan on his Instagram. The influencer, who is covering the FIFA World Cup, posted one where he was joking around and learning new slang, and the final one was him using a few of those accents.
Japan at the FIFA World Cup 2026
Japan kicked off their FIFA World Cup campaign with a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands. Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring in the 51st minute of the match, before Keito Nakamura equalised six minutes later.
The Asian side could not stay level for long, as Crysencio Summervilla made it 2-1 just after the hour mark. The West Ham United star’s goal looked set to be the winner, as Japan failed to get back in the game.
However, a late corner saw them pull level and clinch a draw. Koki Ogawa beat Van Dijk to the header before the ball deflected off Daichi Kamada and went into the goal.
Japan face Tunisia and Sweden next in the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Edited by Sripad