Sharmander

Sharla, also known as Sharmander, is a Canadian YouTuber in Japan. Since 2011, she has been creating videos on her YouTube channels, Sharla in Japan and Sharmander. She is one of the first English-language YouTubers in Japan.

Sharla, who goes only by her first name, grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. Her fist visit to Japan was when she was 17 years old, as an exchange student between the sister cities Victoria and Morioka. She worked in Tokyo at age 19 as an English teacher, and went back to Canada in 2010. When the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake hit, she moved back to Japan, being stressed being in Canada and far away from her friends. Around this time she started vlogging her life. Her videos, including a piece where she talks about how she likes Japanese, was received well with foreign viewers interested in the country.

She has translated the movies Shin Godzilla (2016) and Terra Formars (2016) for the English subtitles, and also served as a dialogue coach assistant. Since 2019, she has collaborated with YouTuber Chris Broad and participated in his series Journey Across Japan. She has also partnered with local governments and organizations to promote local specialties.