Tokyo has never seen this much blue steel since Hansel and Derek Zoolander.  

Can anyone be a model? This question has long been on the mind of our reporter Mr Sato, who’s had host-like glowups, tried his hand at gravure modelling and even pole danced on a rooftop in Tokyo. He’s never let his looks or age get in the way of a confident pose, and though he thought he was a leading trendsetter in this regard, he recently heard about someone who might just beat him at his own game: Julio Janpierre.

The 31-year-old Puerto-Rican social media personality has long been known for his reaction videos to makeup transformations, challenges, and beauty-related content, but these days he’s becoming just as famous for his modeling poses. In his videos, Janpierre props himself up against all sorts of everyday objects, from telegraph poles to fire trucks, instantly shooting the camera a blue-steel-like model look. Though this parody of the fashion industry is all done in good humour, there’s something fascinating about the resulting snapshot, as it looks like it could be on the cover of a fashion magazine. 

After laying eyes on Janpierre’s fantastic model-like poses, Mr Sato immediately became a fan, joining the star’s 1.47 million followers on Instagram. And when he heard that the social media celebrity was in Tokyo, holding an impromptu meet-and-greet in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho, not far from our office, he knew he had to meet him. So he threw on his most stylish outfit, grabbed fellow reporter Go Hatori to act as photographer, and headed out to Kabukicho.

▼ What to wear when meeting a fellow fashionista in Tokyo.

Mr Sato had actually sent Janpierre a direct message to propose an interview, but with over a million followers, our reporter’s message likely got buried under hundreds of others as he didn’t receive a reply. Mustering up the courage to ask him for an interview in person, Mr Sato set about looking for a red cap, which Janpierre told his followers he would be wearing for the meet-and-greet.

▼ Red cap spotted!

Feeling butterflies of excitement in his belly, Mr Sato raced over to the red cap, which already had people surrounding it. Sure enough, as he approached he could see that the person beneath the cap was Janpierre, and he appeared to have a photographer with him as well.

Getting in line, or rather, creating a line — Mr Sato is a trendsetter, after all — our reporter could hardly believe he was finally getting to meet the famous pose pro in the flesh. Janpierre has a talent for turning ordinary daily scenes into magazine-style photos, and his balance of tongue-in-cheek seriousness and outright humour is like a mirror image of Mr Sato’s own personality, so he felt a bond with him before even meeting him.

▼ Upon meeting him, that affinity grew tenfold.

“H-Hello, Julio!” Mr Sato stammered. Anticipating he’d get nervous and not be able to communicate well, Mr Sato had prepared what to say in advance through a translation app. Using the app, Mr Sato introduced himself, saying, “Hello Julio, nice to meet you. I’m a reporter from SoraNews24. May I write an article about you?”

Julio seemed to reply with something like, “Let’s talk about that later,” while suggesting they take some photos together.

Mr Sato was honoured to take a photo with Janpierre as his posing skills are simply amazing, and he was excited to learn some techniques by watching him in action. The first thing he learned is that, when faced with a camera, Janpierre immediately strikes a pose. It was the same style of lightning-quick pose that Mr Sato had long admired on social media, and to see it in real life inspired him to up his own game.

▼ Mr Sato feels the famous Janpierre lean.

Mr Sato tried his best to pull off a magazine-worthy blue steel pose, but he felt he looked more like a gangster than a cover model.

Janpierre then showed off another impressive move by lowering himself down to camera-level, giving photographer Go shivers of delight at the professionalism.

▼ Mr Sato still has a bit to learn.

While Mr Sato would’ve been happy with just a photo or two, Janpierre was kind enough to pose for dozens of photos, showing true fan service. This gave Mr Sato the courage to ask whether he could use the pictures in an article, but as he did, a translator came over and said, “There are a lot of people here now, so please wait 30 minutes.”

Mr Sato quickly realised he’d been holding up the line, as there were around 100 people now queuing to meet the king of poses. Stepping to one side to wait as instructed, he then watched Janpierre kindly interact with local and international fans, spending time posing with each of them and bringing pure joy to their faces.

▼ Janpierre at the head of the line, which Mr Sato likes to think he may have created.

It didn’t take long for Mr Sato’s wait to stretch from 30 minutes to an hour, which was understandable, given the time spent with each fan. In fact, Mr Sato began to wonder if maybe he’d be forgotten after all this excitement, but to his delight, Janpierre walked over to him, apologising for the wait.

▼ Mr Sato then made his request through Julio’s translator for an interview with Janpierre.

Speaking in Japanese to Mr Sato, the translator told him, “He has time tomorrow morning. Could we arrange an interview then?”

Mr Sato was absolutely thrilled, and his mind immediately raced with all the possible questions he might ask about posing tips and the impetus behind his fashion homage photos. After waving goodbye to Janpierre, Mr Sato and Go decided to pose for a commemorative photo of their own.

▼ Hmmm… still a bit of work needed, guys.

With an interview soon to be in the bag, our reporters will hopefully be able to learn a thing or two from the maestro. So keep an eye out for Mr Sato’s in-depth profile coming up on Janpierre, which might just include some more poses to rival Zoolander’s blue steel.

Photos © SoraNews24
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