American Twitch streamer Matthew “Mizkif”recently faced backlash after posting a video performing pull-ups on a cherry blossom tree while in Japan. The video drew sharp criticism from Japanese content creator Kaho Shibuya, who expressed that witnessing Mizkif’s actions was disheartening.
On April 6, 2025, Mizkif released an extensive statement on X, conveying his remorse for sharing the video. He admitted he did not fully comprehend the implications of his actions at the time. Following his regret, he promptly took down the video and reflected on the situation:
“A few days ago I did pullups on a cherry blossom tree. I posted the video and went to bed. The moment I was informed by a friend on the severity of the situation, I immediately deleted the post and regretted my decision.”
In his message, Mizkif also cautioned other tourists visiting Japan to respect the cherry blossoms, which hold significant cultural value. He stressed:
“I do not want to promote my actions as proper, they were wrong, and should be seen as such. To any viewers or tourists coming to Japan, please understand these trees are sacred to Japan. Do NOT touch Cherry Blossoms. They are sacred to the Japanese culture and are extremely delicate.”
Mizkif concluded his statement with an apology and encouraged viewers to refrain from attacking his critics online:
“And to my viewers, please do not attack anyone for criticism of me in regards to the cherry blossom trees. I am okay with the criticism and understand it was wrong. I hope through this people can learn from my actions, and if you ever go to Japan, be mindful of their cherry blossoms, culture, and property. I apologize for doing those pull-ups on the cherry blossom tree, and I promise I will continue to be better.”
Kaho Shibuya Critiques Mizkif’s Response and Community Behavior
Kaho Shibuya, one of the first to call out Mizkif for his actions, expressed her disappointment towards him in a social media post made on April 5, 2025. Just prior to Mizkif’s apology, she alleged that he had sent her multiple rude messages after she confronted him regarding his behavior.
“He sent me a personal message shi**ing on me, that’s why, and it’s over ‘me, me, me’. There were three me’s in three sentences.”
Shibuya further criticized Mizkif’s demeanor, noting that his community’s response mirrored his attitude:
“Okay, so your community actually reflects you. Wow! I was shocked. And he actually deleted that comment later on from Discord. Of course, I screenshotted as evidence.”
She conveyed her disappointment in Mizkif’s rudeness, citing her willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt initially:
“I was so disappointed, I got so personally disappointed. Up until that I was like, ‘You know what, he didn’t know, they didn’t know.’ I was going to help them have the opportunity to explain themselves, even to the Japanese community and to the English community. And yeah, really rude response. Really rude.”
During the same broadcast, Kaho read one of Mizkif’s alleged messages, illustrating her point:
“Now I have Johnny Somali account on ME, you don’t realize what you’ve done to ME, please leave ME alone.”
Shibuya clarified that her criticism was more a commentary on the larger issue of how tourists sometimes fail to respect Japanese cultural practices, rather than a personal attack.