Japan’s Star Surfer Has the Cutest Reactions to Thirsty Fans on TikTok

Somewhere during the evolution of the internet, watching celebrities respond to thirst tweets of themselves has become one of our oddly specific pastimes. Celebrities squirming or giving polite thanks to fan tributes remind us that they’re well, human like the rest of us.

Recently, TikTokers got a taste of that celeb interaction through Kanoa Igarashi, the 23-year-old Japanese-American surfer who bagged a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Having won fans over with his easy going demeanor and megawatt smile, Igarashi is now the inspiration behind thirsty TikTok videos. 

And the star surfer is coming up with awkwardly appreciative responses to his new fans.

In a viral response to one TikToker thanking Japan for including surfing in the Olympics, including footage of Igarashi accepting the silver medal at the podium, Igarashi smiles at the camera and flashes his silver Olympics medal.

“Hey that guy looks familiar,” his video caption reads.

The video, which appears to be the first of a series where he records his reactions alongside TikTok fan videos, has racked up over 18 million views and close to 6 million likes. He has since done two more such TikTok duets.

Another such video sees him casually pretending to fall while watching a TikToker’s video edits of his Olympics appearances.

Yet another video features Igarashi dressed in a silky button-down shirt and grooving to a fan-made compilation of his surfing photos and videos.

“Love watching all your guys [sic] videos,” the caption read.

Besides stitching his own reactions to fan videos on TikTok, he has also been spotted making surprise appearances in some comment sections, leaving a trail of swooning TikTokers in his wake.

The Olympics may have set fresh adoring eyes on the Japanese surfer, but Igarashi has long made waves in the surfing scene and become a household name in Japan.

Since picking up surfing as a 3-year-old in Huntington Beach, California, Igarashi has gone on to snag impressive records—including becoming the first Japanese representative on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour in 2016 (he was also the youngest rookie to qualify that year) and placing first at the Championship Tour’s Corona Bali Protected event in 2019.

This is the first time surfing is included as an Olympic sport, along with three other sports (karate, skateboarding, and sport climbing) that made their Olympic debuts. According to the Olympics website, the inclusion of these sports was part of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee’s effort to “bring more youthful and vibrant events and culture into the Olympic programme.”

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