What happened to Logan Paul in Japan?

Warning: This article includes mention of suicide. Please read with care.

Although he gained stardom as a YouTube influencer, nowadays Logan Paul is known for his successful career in wrestling. The 29-year-old earned his following on the now-defunct social media platform Vine and has since created a storied career for himself, including forays into the music scene, the acting scenes, and even the entrepreneurial scene with the launch of his energy drink.

Despite all his achievements, however, one controversy overshadows them all. One mistake — or rather, a series of mistakes — made him infamous in the online world and almost resulted in ending his career. I’m talking about what Logan Paul did in Japan, of course, and for those of you who were terminally online in 2017, you know exactly what I’m talking about. But for those who aren’t in the know, let’s delve into what happened.

What happened to Logan Paul in Japan?

Before his career shift to boxing and wrestling, and before he joined forces with KSI to launch the energy drink Prime, Logan Paul was just a lowly vlogger. (Okay, maybe not a lowly vlogger; he was one of the most successful creators on YouTube at the time.) Anyway, Logan and his younger brother, Jake, were already somewhat infamous at the time for taking some of their pranks too far and just generally being a little obnoxious in their videos. However, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

In December 2017, Logan and some friends took a trip to Japan and decided to vlog about their experience. During their time there, the group was generally a nuisance, dressing up in kimonos and disrespecting the country’s culture, but that was pretty standard stuff for Logan back then. Although it’s annoying, being a jerk in another country isn’t career-ending, it’s what he did next that really upset people.

The Aokigahara forest

After messing about in Tokyo for a bit, Logan and his pals decided it would be a good idea to check out the Aokigahara forest, otherwise known as “the suicide forest.” As you can imagine, the area got its name due to the large number of people who died by suicide there. Logan and his friends were well aware of this, and it’s safe to say they went into the forest with the intention of finding a dead body.

And find a body they did. After discovering a man hanging from a tree in the forest, the group decided to record the deceased individual. Logan even made jokes about the situation. And after all of that, he somehow thought it would be a good idea to upload the whole thing to YouTube.

As you can imagine, people were not happy with Logan. The initial video was not up for long, with the vlogger taking it down after finding himself on the receiving end of some pretty harsh backlash. Although he was quick to make an apology video, it was not a very good one, and by that point, it was too late. Copies of the video had already circulated online. There was no putting this cat back in the bag. 

The consequences

In the days that followed, Logan found himself handed a series of punishments by YouTube including having his channel removed from the Google preferred program, according to an article from BBC News. The projects he was working on alongside YouTube were also put on hold. On top of that, his name was being dragged through the mud by fellow YouTubers who were disgusted by what he did.

The whole ordeal likely cost him a lot, and at the time it seemed like it could mark the end of the vlogger’s career in the spotlight. It was around this time that Logan shifted his focus to boxing, which was probably a wise move. Over on Reddit, people speculated about the wider implications of what happened to Logan in Japan, with one user suggesting it was the beginning of the end for Logan’s style of pranks/vlogs, which had dominated YouTube for several years.

What has Logan Paul been up to since?

Like I said, even now Logan is dealing with the consequences of his mistake. Back in 2022, the Independent reported that The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) cut ties with Paul after being made aware of the infamous Japan video, which was almost five years old at that time.

Logan himself has never returned to Japan and admits that he likely never will unless he’s invited back. Speaking on the Impaulsive Podcast, he expressed regret over his actions, calling Tokyo “my favorite city in the world,” before going on to say, “and I f**ked it all up, and I hate that.”

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. A list of international crisis resources can be found here.