Quickly learns that not everywhere in the world is as safe as Japan.

As you well know, certain YouTubers and Instagram influencers will do all kinds of crazy things to get those extra views, likes, and followers. In Japan, some have gotten themselves into trouble by sleeping on a bed in the middle of a busy intersection, destroying a traditional Japanese handicraft, or stopping women in the street to call them ugly. But none of those people got in nearly as much trouble as one Japanese YouTuber who was robbed in a South American slum.

The unidentified male YouTuber traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to make an “impactful video” about poverty, reported the Japanese Embassy in Buenos Aires. The man intended to film Buenos Aires’ Villa 31, an unincorporated poor neighborhood that’s not connected to public sewage treatment and electricity, and which is infamous for its high rates of murder, violence, and drug use.

No one will ever get to see that “impactful video,” though. When the YouTuber reportedly arrived at the nearby Retiro Station on the evening of February 17, he met a local woman who offered to show him around Villa 31. As they were walking the streets, the YouTuber was suddenly grabbed around the neck from behind by a man, while another appeared before him and seized his shoulder bag. The two men and the women then fled the scene, leaving the man without his wallet, credit cards, passport, cash, air tickets, and camera equipment.

For many who have lived or traveled overseas, being the victim of theft or robbery is an experience that’s sadly all too common, and frankly, the YouTuber was lucky nothing worse happened to him. By Japanese standards, though, the incident was significant enough that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning after it happened. In fact, the Ministry offered three cautions for those traveling overseas: don’t go near slums, carry as few valuable items with you as possible and don’t carry them all together in the same place, and if robbed, follow the robbers’ instructions and don’t resist.

Though this was most certainly a terrifying experience for the YouTuber, Japanese Twitter users were entirely unsympathetic:

“YouTuber….”

“The girl guiding him was an accomplice? Looks like he was an easy target.”

“Didn’t he even stop to consider that he himself might be in danger in a dangerous place?”

“No ability for crisis management whatsoever.”

“Things like this almost make me want to say it was his own fault.”

Still, you can almost understand the YouTuber’s naivety, since the most common crimes you’ll experience in Japan are public disturbances and intoxication, and even though there are Japanese slums they aren’t anywhere near as dangerous as their counterparts in other countries. Still, if he was traveling to Argentina to do a YouTube video on a poverty-stricken neighborhood, he ought to at least have known what he was getting into, and prepared accordingly.

Undoubtedly said YouTuber will release a “My experience of being robbed in Argentina” video, so maybe then we’ll find out first hand what he felt in that moment.

Source: Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, livedoor news via My Game News Flash

Top Image: Pakutaso

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