Tatsumasa Murasame
Tatsumasa Murasame | |
|---|---|
村雨 辰剛 | |
| Born | Jakob Sebastian Björk July 25, 1988 |
| Occupations | Gardener, actor, television personality, model |
| Agent | YMN |
| Height | 182 cm (6 ft 0 in) |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | July 14, 2020 – present |
| Subscribers | 107,000 |
| Last updated: July 18, 2025 | |
| Website | Official profile |
Tatsumasa Murasame (村雨 辰剛, Murasame Tatsumasa, born July 25, 1988) is a Japanese gardener, actor, television personality, and model. He was born in Örkelljunga, Skåne County, Sweden[1] but moved to Japan in 2008 and became a naturalized citizen in 2015 at age 26. His birth name is Jakob Sebastian Björk (Swedish: Jakob Sebastian Björk).[2] He is affiliated with the talent agency YMN.[3]
Early life
Murasame was born and raised in Sweden in 1988. His parents separated when he was young, and he was raised by his mother and stepfather, a pilot in the Swedish Air Force, in a rural town of about 8,000 people in southern Sweden.[4]
During a world history class in junior high school, he became interested in Japanese culture and began studying Japanese on his own. His study method consisted of thoroughly memorizing vocabulary, and he always carried an English–Japanese dictionary.[5] He also searched for Japanese people through Yahoo! Chat and began studying Japanese through online chat.[6] At the age of 16, he stayed in Japan for three months on a homestay program. He developed the goal of “living in Japan as a Japanese person.”[7]
Career
After graduating from high school, he moved to Japan and worked as an English and Swedish language instructor in Nagoya.[8] There he was scouted by an agency for foreign talent and began working as a model and translator.[9]
At age 23 he decided to pursue a career related to traditional Japanese culture and became an apprentice gardener in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, where he trained for five years.[10] At age 26 he acquired Japanese citizenship and changed his name to Tatsumasa Murasame.
From 2016 (age 27), he joined YMN and began activities as a television personality while continuing to work as a gardener. In 2017 he completed his gardening apprenticeship and moved to the Kantō region, where he worked for a large landscaping company in Tokyo before later becoming independent.
In 2018 he gained widespread attention after appearing on the NHK program Minna de Muscle Exercise.[11] Around 2020 he became an independent gardener and launched a YouTube channel titled 村雨辰剛の和暮らし (“Tatsumasa Murasame’s Japanese Lifestyle”).[12] In 2021 he became a navigator for the NHK Educational TV program Shumi no Engei. The same year he was cast as Robert Rosewood in the NHK morning drama Come Come Everybody, after which he began pursuing acting more seriously.
In 2019 and 2022 he published autobiographical essays describing his life.
He later became especially interested in the Sengoku period and Bushido.[5]
He currently speaks three languages: Swedish, English, and Japanese.[3]
Naturalization
Murasame had considered becoming Japanese since he first moved to Japan at age 19.[13]
After finding his calling as a gardener, he decided that he wanted to live and die in Japan. At age 26 in 2015 he renounced his Swedish citizenship and acquired Japanese citizenship.
His given name “Tatsumasa” was chosen by himself. “Tatsu” comes from his birth year in the Chinese zodiac (Year of the Dragon), and “Masa” was taken from a character in his master’s name.[2] The surname “Murasame” was suggested by his master’s predecessor, inspired by the historical novelist Murasame Taijirō.[1]
Publications
- 僕は庭師になった (I Became a Gardener), Kraken, March 6, 2019. ISBN 978-4-909313-06-5
- 村雨辰剛と申します。 (My Name Is Tatsumasa Murasame), Shinchosha, June 1, 2022. ISBN 978-4-10-354621-4
References
- ^ a b "【カムカム】朝ドラ出演の庭師・村雨辰剛が帰化してまで日本文化を守りたい理由". となりのカインズさん (in Japanese). カインズ. 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
- ^ a b 「古き良き日本文化に惹かれ、日本に帰化したスウェーデン人庭師」 Recruit official website "Meet Recruit" (June 20, 2016) Retrieved June 15, 2022
- ^ a b Profile on the official website of the talent agency YMN (retrieved June 15, 2022)
- ^ 武士道精神に魅せられ、日本に帰化したスウェーデン出身庭師。 HIGHFLYERS (March 24, 2020)
- ^ a b 【著者】村雨辰剛と申します。新潮社・1600円村雨辰剛さん「好き」が僕を運んでくれた Mainichi Shimbun morning edition June 11, 2022
- ^ なにもしなくても、日本は「出る杭」だ NHK『筋肉体操』出演・庭師の村雨辰剛さんインタビュー Bunshun Online (April 14, 2019)
- ^ "～庭師として素晴らしい日本文化を守り、次の世代へと伝えていきたい～｜フォトギャラリー" (in Japanese). Tokyo Calendar. 2024-01-19. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "村雨 辰剛さんインタビュー:「日本が好き！」が原動力 失敗を恐れなければ道は拓く" (in Japanese). UNIADEX. 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
- ^ NHK『みんなで筋肉体操』で話題の庭師・村雨辰剛さんインタビュー「庭師は、世界規模で日本の伝統を伝えていける立派な仕事」 Townwork (September 20, 2018)
- ^ Information from his Facebook account profile.
- ^ "筋肉と日本庭園を愛する村雨辰剛さんが日本人に伝えたいこと" (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
- ^ "「カムカムエヴリバディ」「みんなで筋肉体操」――大注目の34歳、待望の本格自伝！" (in Japanese). Shinchosha. 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
- ^ "村雨辰剛・筋肉庭師「スウェーデン出身の僕が日本で庭師になったわけとは」" (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun telling. 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2023-11-19.