Alexi Smith (born: July 11, 1980), better known online as noriyaro (Japanese 乗り[nori] meaning "ride", やろう [yarō] meaning "guy"), is an Australian YouTuber living in Japan who is most known for car and drifting related content.
Pre debut[]
After graduating from university, Alexi worked in a car magazine company most notably Hot 4s while studying 3D animation at the same time. Shortly later he quit the magazine company and worked as a 3D animator for approximately five to six years.
In 2005, Alexi travelled to Japan for a holiday and wrote an article on the Ebisu Circuit for his friend who worked in the magazine industry. After the article gathered popularity, Alexi quit his job as a 3D animator and worked for the said magazine company.
Later on he moved to Japan to continue to focus on his car related content, starting the noriyaro.com blog, photographing and writing articles for magazines such as Drift Tengoku and foreign automotive media such as Speedhunters. After magazines and dedicated blogs started to fall out of mainstream media, he started posting content on YouTube.
Post debut[]
He currently commentates English streaming for the D1 Grand Prix using his knowledge of the motorsport of drifting and professional drivers. Lately Alexi has been occasionally live streaming on Twitch, interacting with his community of followers.
YouTube Career[]
Alexi's content mainly focuses on cars, especially on Japanese automotive hobbyists that are not available overseas. In recent years, his content has also expanded to cover anime or movie related crossovers, such as Initial D and Fast & Furious.