How Do You Say “Nautical Nonsense” In Japanese?

In a bizarre and surprising act of corporate synergy, Sega and Viacom joined forces to add some of their more kid-friendly characters into their fun new kart game, Sonic Racing CrossWorlds. The first of these characters is none other than world-famous patty flipper, SpongeBob SquarePants (along with is best buddy Patrick, of course). And I thought Sonic sharing box art with Garfield was a big deal. CrossWorlds is fun and I do like SpongeBob, so I certainly ain’t complaining. A query came to mind, though: does SpongeBob have a presence in Japan? Like, they put him in a Japanese developed game, so does that mean folks in the country like him? Does Nickelodeon even exist in Japan? Curiosity got the better of me here, so let me share what I discovered in a few lazy Google searches.

First off, Nickelodeon is in fact a thing in Japan. Or at least it was…but still is, kinda? Viacom tried bringing Nickelodeon to Japan back in 1998, apparently trying to win the island nation over with the likes of Ren & Stimpy and CatDog. As a country who brought us the likes of Doraemon and Hello Kitty, it’s quite a gamble to bring ugly gross-out kids programming that sells great in the US to a cutesy-loving Japanese audience. As such, Nickelodeon Japan shut down in September 2009, though some of their wares, which included SpongeBob, ended up on other Viacom-owned cable networks like MTV Japan. They did a relaunch in 2018, apparently; from what I’ve read, Nick is now a streaming brand, showing up in Japan and broader Asia on services like d-TV Channel and Hulu. That being said, some Nick programming has ended up on NHK E, a spinoff of Japan’s NHK network that airs educational programming (Nickelodeon shows aren’t the most educational shows at their core, but basically anything with an English dub can teach Japanese kids a new language). Their shows don’t seem to be too popular in Japan, but apparently have some dedicated fans. They air a much smaller variety of shows like Avatar (the elemental bending one, not the blue kitty one), Penguins of Madagascar, Paw Patrol, and of course, SpongeBob.

Like yeah okay, they have a Japanese dub of Paw Patrol out there, but what about SpongeBob?? Well, in terms of brand power, SpongeBob seems to be THE show for Nick Japan. Their social media presence is 80-90% SpongeBob, with some Paw Patrol and Avatar sprinkled in. Nick Japan’s Facebook page is basically a SpongeBob fan landing, showing tons of clips of the Japanese dub (which, by the way, sounds pretty good and are pretty faithful to the English voices). Same goes for their YouTube channel; despite the general Nickelodeon branding, it’s nothing but SpongeBob, posting long-form clip compilations of the show, much like what the US YouTube channel does. Granted, both Facebook and YouTube are western owned social hubs, and I’m not sure how well SpongeBob does on more Japanese services like NikoNiko Douga. At the very least, they’re trying their damned best to sell eastern folks this show.

And sold it they did. Word on the street is that SpongeBob is fairly popular with kids and young adults in Japan. He’s certainly no Pikachu out there, but he’s got a fanbase and a fair amount of people at least know his name. SpongeBob’s gotten big enough in Japan to be part of a wacky UNIQLO fashion collab, and even had a McDonald’s Happy Set promo which graced the world with an infamous commercial of children going absolutely nuts over talking SpongeBob toys next to their burgers. Not only that, but SpongeBob and friends also take part in one of Japan’s most long-standing institutions: pop-up cafes. Just last year, a temporary eatery called Cafe Secret Recipe opened up in Shibuya to commemorate SpongeBob’s 25th Anniversary (arguably funnier than his 24th), and featured things like Patrick soybean burgers and roll cake shaped like Gary. Also, while not a pop-up cafe, another promotion at PLAZA Tokyo (basically like FYE or Hot Topic out there) gave away free Goofy Goober ice cream to fans during a SpongeBob mascot camera op.

Now if you want an opinion on SpongeBob from someone actually from Japan and not just from a terrible half-assed summary from a 40-year-old white guy, a good start would be Korone. For the uninitiated, she’s a very popular Vtuber who has lots of Japanese and English-speaking fans. I used to follow her a few years back. She has a really cute persona and is actually legitimately hilarious. Oddly enough, she’s also an official Japanese ambassador for Sonic The Hedgehog, circling back to CrossWorlds. Very good doggo. Anyway, a few years ago, she streamed herself playing Battle For Bikini Bottom Rehydrated when it was released in her neck of the woods, and she had a pretty good time with it. There’s a VOD of the entire stream, but you can find clips with English subtitles floating around YouTube if you search around enough.

The clip you should watch, though, is this one where she talks to her chat about her thoughts on the SpongeBob cartoon. Korone talks about how she enjoys both the Japanese and English dubs, discovers that SpongeBob and Gary are voiced by the same guy, and even sings the Japanese version of the theme song. Not only is the whole thing adorable, but it also proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that, yes, people in Japan do like SpongeBob.

Though Japanese audiences normally prefer more cutesy stuff compared to the gross-out humor you find in a lot of SpongeBob episodes, apparently some folks out there call the show “a creepy kind of cute.” I guess it has just enough appeal to get through to a Japanese audience, despite how I felt about it at first. I guess you can frame SpongeBob’s cameo in a Sonic racing spinoff more than just a product of corporate bigwigs shaking hands. Kids and young folks out there seem to enjoy SpongeBob just like folks in the US do. It’s another cool example of how international brands and media are nowadays, where folks in America can love Goku while those in Japan can love Mickey Mouse. While SpongeBob might not be at the same level as those two, I now know that he has that power. Pretty cool.

Now I gotta do some sleuthing on why Snoopy is so big in Japan.