Sharla Hinskens

Sharla
Born (1986-04-23) April 23, 1986 (age 40)
OccupationYouTuber
OrganizationSekai Studios
Spouse
​
(m. 2025)​
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2011–present
GenreVlog
Subscribers789 thousand
Views127 million
Last updated: 1 November 2026

Sharla Katalin Hinskens (born April 23, 1986), also known as Sharmeleon ("evolved" from Sharmander upon receiving 500,000 subscribers in March 2020) and Sharla in Japan, is a Canadian YouTuber who has been vlogging about her experiences in Japan since 2011.

Biography

Sharla, who solely uses her first name in her career as a YouTuber, grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. Her paternal grandparents were Dutch, her maternal grandfather was Hungarian, and her maternal grandmother was English. She was brought up in a vegetarian household but did occasionally eat meat at her grandparents' house. Over her life, she had followed pescatarian and vegan diets but is currently following a flexible diet.

She first visited Japan at age 17 as an exchange student between the sister cities Victoria and Morioka. She worked in Tokyo at age 19 as an English teacher, and returned to Canada in 2010. When the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake hit, she moved back to Japan, due to stress from being in Canada and being far away from her friends. Around this time she started vlogging her daily life. Her videos, including topics in which she discusses what she likes about Japan, were well received with foreign viewers interested in the country.

On June 18, 2018, she announced her marriage to a Korean man, who wished to remain anonymous on YouTube and had been an alumnus of Japan university, after a seven-year relationship. They moved to his native Seoul where Sharla continued to vlog about her life there, although she continued to visit Japan. On March 5, 2019, Sharla announced her separation from her husband, eventually divorcing, and her intention to move back to Japan. She cited difficulties in living in an environment where she did not speak enough of the language in her current mental state and Canada not being exciting enough in this stage of her life.

In September 2020, she started Neko Neko Post, a service to sell fancy Japanese stationery, of which she herself is a fan, to overseas customers in collaboration with friends.

In August 2022 she and English YouTuber Chris Broad announced their relationship in two separate videos on their respective channels. On February 14, 2023, Chris and Sharla announced their engagement, with the proposal happening at Durdle Door in Dorset, England.

She has translated the films Shin Godzilla (2016) and Terra Formars (2016) for English subtitles, and she had also served as a dialogue coach assistant. Since 2018, she has collaborated with Chris Broad and participated in his series Journey Across Japan. She has also partnered with local governments and organizations to promote local specialties.

References

  1. ↑ "Sharla Katalin Hinskens". IMDb. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  2. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Interview with SharlaInJapan!". May 31, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Sharmeleon". Tokyo Creative. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Takaishi, Maho (21 July 2014). "今注目のユーチューバーSharla(シャーラ)さんインタビュー". Cheer up! English (in Japanese). Be.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. ↑ Breaker (8 February 2017). "日本で最も視聴者を集める女性インバウンド・インフルエンサー「Sharla in Japan」とマネージメント契約締結". Oricon News (in Japanese). Oricon ME. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  6. ↑ Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2018). "A foreigner living in Japan. A charm of Iwate from a YouTuber. Interview / Sharla". Stories of Iwate. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. ↑ O'Mallon, Finbar (23 February 2015). "Sharla in Japan". The Japan Times.
  8. ↑ "熊本地震から立ち直り、未来へ希望をつなげるために――人気YouTuberとともに地元の魅力を世界に発信". Nikkei xTECH Special (in Japanese). Nikkei Business Publications. 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "Why I'm Moving Back to Japan". You Tube. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  10. ↑ Why I'm Dating a Canadian 🇨🇦, retrieved 2022-08-15
  11. ↑ A ✨juicy✨ Q+A #asksharla, retrieved 2022-08-15
  12. ↑ Boyd, Oscar (30 October 2019). "Episode 28: Chris Broad and Sharla — living the YouTube life in Japan". Deep Dive. The Japan Times.
  13. ↑ Tokyo Creative (6 January 2020). "自然豊かな豊後大野市エリアの魅力を日本在住の外国人YouTuber SharlaがPR！総再生回数は10万回を突破！". PR Times (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. ↑ Hyogo Prefectural Government (21 February 2020). "兵庫県×外国人YouTuberによる動画が総再生回数27万回を突破！～日本在住カナダ人YouTuber Sharla(シャーラ)が兵庫県の魅力をPR～" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.