Ken Tanaka

Born in Los Angeles as Ken Smith, Ken Tanaka was adopted by a Japanese family and raised in rural Shimane Prefecture. At the age of thirty-three, Ken returned to Los Angeles to search for his birth parents with only their names, Jonathan and Linda Smith. He documented his search on YouTube and quickly become an online sensation. His award-winning videos include the viral hit "What Kind of Asian Are You?", the White Samurai series, and "What Is Art?" In late 2007 Ken was reunited with his long...See more

Born in Los Angeles as Ken Smith, Ken Tanaka was adopted by a Japanese family and raised in rural Shimane Prefecture. At the age of thirty-three, Ken returned to Los Angeles to search for his birth parents with only their names, Jonathan and Linda Smith. He documented his search on YouTube and quickly become an online sensation. His award-winning videos include the viral hit "What Kind of Asian Are You?", the White Samurai series, and "What Is Art?" In late 2007 Ken was reunited with his long-lost twin brother and "Everybody Dies" coauthor, David Ury, via YouTube (search Ken Tanaka meets David Ury on YouTube). The two of them have been collaborating every since. When en is not buys with his search for the Smiths, he spends his time painting funny people and animals. In 2009 the famed Los Angeles gallery Billy Shire Fine Arts held his now-historic inaugural art show, "Maximum Pleasant," a humorous blend of Japanese and American pop culture. See less