Christopher Broad

Broad was born on 21 April 1990 in the English town of Maidstone in Kent. Broad's interest in filmmaking began at the age of eight when his grandfather had him record his aunt's wedding in Vancouver since his grandfather could not travel from England to attend the wedding. Broad briefly appeared on the TV series Robot Wars in the UK, where his father and team were regular contestants, with their robot Killertron.

Broad studied English and business at the University of Kent from 2009 to 2012. While attending the university, he developed interests in film making and Japanese culture. Broad moved to the city of Sakata in Yamagata Prefecture to teach English as a part of the JET Programme in 2012 while creating videos about his life and experiences in Japan. He has since left the programme and moved to Sendai.

Upon moving to Sakata, Yamagata to teach as an Assistant Language Teacher with the JET Programme in 2012, Broad decided to vlog about some of his experiences as a foreigner living in the rural Tōhoku region. One of Broad's first videos to gain widespread attention was his review of the Japan-only McDonald's McChoco Potatoes. Other subjects of his early videos included topics like what it's like to drive in Japan, KFC as a mainstay of every Japanese Christmas, and love hotels. He later moved to Sendai to remain in the region, but to be somewhere better connected to the rest of the country to expand his business opportunities as an influencer. As the channel grew in notability, Broad began to make more travel-themed videos, such as a video describing a trip to Aomori where he visited the city's Nebuta museum and another where he visited Hokkaido with his close friend Natsuki Aso, who often appears in Chris' videos.

On 29 August 2017, Broad was visiting a town in Aomori Prefecture near Shirakami-Sanchi wilderness area when he was woken up by the J-Alert being triggered by the North Korean August 2017 missile launch over Japan. He posted a video about how rude it was that they would carry out their test so early in the morning and proceeded to criticize the regime of Kim Jong-un. The video was featured as "Trending" the day it was posted. It then went on to attract national attention in Japan, with Broad being selected to represent the word "J-Alert" in Japan's annual Words of the Year event.

On 31 May 2018, Broad released the documentary film Natsuki: The Movie telling the story of Broad and his friend Natsuki's journey to Europe.

In 2018, Broad started his Journey Across Japan series featuring various YouTubers, such as The Anime Man, and his friends as he travels across Japan by bike, documenting local customs and daily life along the way. A sequel to the series was made in 2020, featuring The Anime Man and Natsuki in a road trip adventure originating in Tokyo, but taking place primarily around the Chūbu region called Journey Across Japan: Escape to Fuji. In early 2021, Broad began filming a third entry in the series, titled Journey Across Japan: The Lost Islands with The Anime Man and Natsuki, which takes place in the region of Kyushu. In June 2021, the single "Too Much Volcano!" by Abroad in Japan and featuring The Anime Man and Natsuki was released on the iTunes Store and Spotify; the song and accompanying music video was recorded during the production of The Lost Islands. The song peaked at 65 on the UK downloads charts on 25 June 2021.