Felix “PewDiePie” Sato finally completed his long-awaited migration to Japan in May, marking one of the most significant milestones in his life. In late 2019, the YouTuber with the most followers and his wife Marzia revealed the acquisition of a house in Japan for the first time. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, threw all of their carefully crafted preparations into disarray, putting their move on hold for over two and a half years. Though the rest of the globe has begun to relax pandemic restrictions, the Land of the Rising Sun has remained staunchly rigid on border controls.
The Kjellbergs had to deal with a number of setbacks, including a theft at their Japan home, but on May 9, PewDiePie eventually announced the complete completion of their transfer in an emotional video titled ‘It finally happened!’
PewDiePie vlogs his journey to Japan.
PewDiePie’s 14-minute video provided his fans with insight into the time-consuming and exhausting process of obtaining visas and permissions to travel with their pets. The couple did not want to expose their two pugs to cargo transit since the dogs already had respiratory problems. They didn’t want to jeopardize their dogs’ safety for that reason. The alternative was to transport the dogs inside the cabin. That strategy, however, was derailed by the limitation that every airline’s maximum weight for dogs was eight kilograms, including the weight of the pet carrier. Edgar, one of their pugs, weights 10 kg.
PewDiePie phoned “every single airline in the whole globe,” but even the American airlines, whose weight restriction was nine kilograms, said Edgar was too heavy to fly in the cabin. The 32-year-old summed up the situation amusingly: “So, we’re using a private plane since my dog is overweight.”
Felix’s summary had his audience in stitches, but their problem with transferring their pets was far from ended. Bringing one’s dogs to Japan is a time-consuming procedure that takes at least a year of planning ahead of time. PewDiePie had planned for this time period, but he hadn’t planned for his pugs’ immunizations to expire due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The canines received their booster shots, but a logistical mistake by the lab in entering the date prompted more issues, which was obviously taxing for the YouTuber. They eventually gained clearance for their pets after a long series of letters back and forth.
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Saying farewell to friends and family is an unavoidable aspect of leaving the nation, and PewDiePie captured the bittersweet nature of the experience in his vlog. He stated:
“We visited our pals and had a great time! It’s sort of sad now since we’re leaving them and having so much fun. But, you know, we can bowl again in the next life. Yes, it’s a good night. We’ll still visit pals, but it’s all part of the adventure. Say your goodbyes. It is not always simple. We’re almost there. We’re almost there.”
Touching down at their Japan home brought up a few tears for Felix as he reminisced on all the obstacles they had overcome to realize their dream:
“We were unsure if we could even make this move for a long time. And we experienced all of the ups and downs. Obviously, it’s been a long trip, but I just want to thank everyone who has been so encouraging of us. It simply meant a lot that people were rooting for us. I simply wanted to thank you; I truly appreciate it. It feels incredible to finally be here. We’ll need a few days to adjust, but we can’t wait for the next chapter of our life.”
The transfer took over two and a half years after PewDiePie announced his plans, but it’s clear from this emotional tear-jerker that the Kjellberg family found it well worth the wait.
