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Will Smith, in Japan for Aladdin premiere, speaks Japanese to fans with the help of idol Yamapi

Oona McGee May 22, 2019
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Learn how to be “hot on the Tokyo streets” with this Japanese language lesson from heartthrob Tomohisa Yamashita.

Last week, Hollywood actor Will Smith arrived in Japan for the 16 May Tokyo premiere of Aladdin, the live-action remake of Disney’s original cartoon directed by Guy Richie and starring Smith in the starring role of Genie.

And while the famous actor thrilled fans at the premiere, what really got them excited was the fact that he rubbed shoulders with Japanese heartthrob Yamapi after the event, and even learned some Japanese phrases from him.

Smith first announced his arrival in Japan with this Instagram post, showing him standing in a Tokyo hotel room, turning towards the light…just for nothin’.

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A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

▼ As always, Smith was gracious with his time when he met fans at the Japanese premiere.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

However, it was this encounter with Japanese idol, actor, singer, TV host and heartthrob Tomohisa Yamashita, affectionately known as Yamapi, that really impressed fans. Not only were fans delighted to see the two well-known faces enjoying time together behind-the-scenes, they were also impressed by Smith’s desire to learn Japanese.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

So, to recap, a Yamapi-taught, Smith-designed Japanese language lesson contains the following phrases:

“Yo, that’s hot” = “Yabai!”
“I make this look good” = “Ore ga kiru to kakkoii”
“Welcome to Earth” = “Chikyuu ni yokoso”
“Hi, I’m a genius” = “Domo, tensai desu”

At the end of the clip, Smith can be heard saying “Tomo, Insta yokoso“, which translates to “Welcome to Insta, Tomo“. Jumping over to Yamapi’s account, we can see that Smith’s Japanese buddy actually just joined Instagram at around 1:00 p.m. on 16 May.

▼ “Im [sic] on the Gram !!! Excited to share with you !”

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A post shared by Tomohisa Yamashita 山下智久 (@tomo.y9)

The timing of Yamapi’s Instagram debut has some people wondering if Smith might’ve been the driving force behind it. After all, Yamapi has been a huge star in Japan for over a decade, and his management, Johnny and Associates, is known to prohibit their biggest stars from having social media accounts while signed with them. However, the management company has shown signs of lifting image bans on the Internet over the past year, and with Yamapi rubbing shoulders with Smith, who was once named “the most powerful actor in Hollywood” by Newsweek, it may have been the right time to give Yamapi the green light to appear on Instagram.

▼ Despite being on the social media platform for less than a week, Yamapi has already amassed over 2.2 million followers.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tomohisa Yamashita 山下智久 (@tomo.y9)

▼ Here’s hoping Yamapi’s account doesn’t mysteriously disappear once all the Will Smith content dries up.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tomohisa Yamashita 山下智久 (@tomo.y9)

The friendship between the two superstars came as a surprise to many people in Japan, but it’s not the first time for Yamapi to appear on Smith’s Instagram account.

▼ Here they are in Colombia in April last year, joined by Smith’s son Jaden, and American-born singer and songwriter Nicky Jam.

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A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

Videos from their Colombia trip together show the two dancing in a restaurant, with Nicky Jam and Jaden showing them some dance moves.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Will Smith (@willsmith)

While it remains unclear as to why or how exactly Smith and Yamapi have become such firm friends, everybody’s loving seeing the two onscreen together, even if it is just limited to Instagram for now. Here’s hoping they appear on the big screen together in future, or better yet, a music video, which might actually be right up their alley, seeing as Jaden Smith has already recorded a song about Dragon Ball’s anime hero Goku.

Featured image: Instagram/tomo.y9
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