I got my name Miyaki Sensei from the movie The Karate Kid, I was a big fan of the 1980s series. As a kid, I related much to Daniel-san but as I grew older, I internalized Miyagi Sensei’s character, his conflicts, discipline and maybe not his karate skills. Once, I went to Okinawa to find Miyagi Sensei’s house and to my disappointment after doing research I should have done earlier in my teens, the movie set was made and shot in Hawaii. In Okinawa, I discovered something more, my love for Orion Beer which somehow replaced my disappointment about The Karate Kid location.
Back in the days of Friendster, gosh circa turn of the century, my account got hacked and I learned to use a monicker. I left Friendster the way I am dormant about my personal Facebook page and started the now defunct Multiply. I thought of a name that captures my real name Michael and my nickname Mike… Mikey. When I moved to Japan, I took with me my perfume Issey Miyake Sport and I wondered, Miyake sounds like Mikey (May-kee) and of course my real job and how students call me is Professor or Sensei. My Japanese back in the day was so broken that I spelled Mikey as Miyaki hence the monicker Miyaki Sensei. Funny how I write Miyaki nowadays represented by the Kanji Miyazaki, another place so dear to me. I don’t know maybe Ghibli Studios has influenced me with Hayao Miyazaki’s cartoons, when I was first learning Nihonggo.
I adopted the monicker Sensei Miyaki since then into my photography career. Little do my subscribers know, I am a fashion photographer. I used to shoot travel and landscape photography but then I came into the realization that smartphones were getting smarter than DSLRs that filters and other manipulations can do a better job that hardcore landscape set in the perfect timing for a golden hour. So, I gave up travel photography but retained my Facebook page @awesomeadventuresph which I occasionally update. I switched to portraitures because I was told I have this way of telling stories by connecting with people. Eventually, I got the pleasure of getting to know famous Filipino fashion designers like Ditta Sandico and Ulysses King (among others) and I shot their fashion catalogues. My Facebook page for senseimiyakiphotography has been unpublished to avoid confusion of subscribers who to follow the YouTuber or the Photographer. If you want to see some of my works, you can check out my IG Account: @senseimiyakiphotography
From Sensei Miyaki, I continued my work as a university professor and as an extra-curricular fun activity with my students, I was the producer of APU Fashion Week. Check out our FB page @APUFashionWeek. I used this YT account for a while to upload fashion shows and other productions I did in the past until the pandemic struck. With gadgets in the home studio, I realized that I can stream. While watching my good friend Bea Nervida’s stream in a Japanese Pub, I wondered who are these people watching us? I had no idea about the YouTube community when some subscribers of my friend started calling me names coz I allegedly looked like a famous Filipino composer. With her encouragement, I started my own channel, and the community followed me; and I met a whole lot more along the way. I just revived senseimiyaki as my file dump into a YouTube Channel where I was able to release pent up stress, emotions, uncertainties about the pandemic.
Bedtime Stories was the first of my reflections on life, love, childhood, adulting and how we move on with life. We were all in a contemplative mood during lockdown and wondered what the future holds for us. I was in what we academics called a sabbatical leave, so I stayed at home most of the time and explored vlogging and streaming out of nothing productive to do. I loved every episode of Bedtime Stories because I believe I was able to genuinely connect with people I did not know. But we all related to universal themes of love, lost, family, forgiveness, self-worth, moving on, pursuit of happiness, etc.
‘Ayuda’ is life was something new to me two years back but probably I was the one who invented instant GCash on-the-spot giveaway because I had my GCash working here in Japan. People asked me how did you do it? I said it just works over wifi no worries. Like everyone else bored staying at home, trying to earn a living for most of our subscribers, I started giving ‘ayuda’ but honestly, I felt bad giving ayuda to people I didn’t know. When I started using Streamyard, as much as possible I wanted to memorize names of subscribers, where they were from, what they do, and Bedtime Stories helped a lot better than memorizing names of my students (my bad!). Replaying the live chat has always been a joy in seeing how engagement has been so active during my livestreams.
For the record, I did not wish for thousands of subscribers if they were simply ghost or ninja accounts. If you are new to my channel and reading this, I want genuine connection and interaction, hence, do not feel like gate crashing into a party when I go on livestream because everybody knows everybody. It is a wholesome friendly community so feel free to introduce yourself. Moderators are there anyway on guard to kick out anybody unruly in the stream. Likewise, I have this policy of no ninjas allowed, no role playing. Only real names and real comments.
From ayuda, I moved on to gadget giveaways as the lockdowns were easing but I had the problem of online schooling. If I can teach online and my students here and from all over the world (coz they were locked down too) were struggling, what more in the Philippines? You know when I was locked down in our family farm in San Pablo, Laguna, it was such a pain teaching online due to terrible telcom signal to the point that I conducted class under a cellular site. So, I thought people needed gadgets – a smart phone or a laptop. I didn’t want to simply raffle it off to strangers, so I asked my regular active subscribers to vlog about it, why they needed it. Here is the deal, while watching their videos – the judges and I looked for authenticity. Who was the most real? Who was the most convincing? Check out the gadget giveaway section for details. Not every gadget unboxing was posted. Some gifts and donations need not be spoken about.
Occasionally, I sing. I love gadgets and now with technology, I think I sound okay. I don’t sound like that in person, thanks to my state-of-the-art microphone and sound mixer, I sound like that live online. In my previous job, we call that the radio sound, how my baritone voice gets converted into digital soundwaves and it sounds okay. I used to be record producer in a radio station back in the day in the Philippines and that is why my repertoire reflects of Tito of Manila era, songs played by my audiences’ Dads short of saying. I made a few cover songs I am very proud of, some songs I am ashamed of, but my experience of doing covers has taught me to let go and just enjoy music and hope it touches hearts your hearts too. Soon I moved on to singing contests and challenges where the real motivation was to get to know you my dear audiences.
As we returned to normal life, I really intended on meeting and greeting every one of you who have known me in my two years with YouTube and now with Facebook. I started meeting the most active subscribers from Metro Manila all the way up to Baguio and we had an unforgettable 5-day vacation family bonding moment. I rarely ever use the word family for my social groups but indeed we entered the Baguio house as host and subscribers, we left as dearest friends and family. I planned a long Visayas tour but a car accident prevented me from starting it so I had to cut it short and jump into the middle of the tour where I met Makoy Polinar from Panglao, Bohol, who is now the webmaster of this site, Team Cebu, and Team Leyte.
Moving on. The pandemic is over, and I have moved on from closed door studios into meeting and collaborating and creating new inspiring content with our subscribers turned friends and families (you know who you are!). Let us continue supporting each other by sharing opportunities, creating new memories, and transcending our personal relationships from virtual to actual. I hope to see you all soon!
Sensei M
P.S. special loving MLSO to my dearest Auntie for her unwavering support