ASOBISYSTEM’s Acting Director Yusuke Nakagawa, a member of the Cool Japan Initiative, and Jungo Kanayama, the Representative Director of the Shibuya City Tourism Association and TNZQ, are expanding the reach of Channel 47, a project promoting Japanese tourism and culture to the world. LDH Japan, INCS toenter, and Twin Planet Entertainment have joined the initiative, which has now been established as a general incorporated association.

Channel47 consists of two main departments: Local Branding, which will aim to revitalize Japan’s local regions to shape a stronger future, and Global Promotion, which seeks to introduce more Japanese culture to the global marketplace. Japanese pop culture, from music, dance, and fashion to art, animation, and food, are all highly regarded around the world. The goal of Channel 47 is to use popular culture to garner interest in some of Japan’s local towns and regions, creating more inbound and outbound market development and inspiring interest in Japan with audiences abroad through new crossovers and partnerships.

With entertainment companies at its core, Channel47 is supported by a team that has developed popular content both domestically and abroad over the years. The company is looking for additional partner companies and organizations across various genres to actively utilize the tools of the entertainment trade to create new content inspired by Japan’s many unique regions.

As of May 2023, several tourism companies from across Japan have joined the initiative, including Airbnb Japan, the Izumo Tourism Association, and the Nara Prefecture Visitors Bureau. Technology and creative companies such as MetaTokyo and The Breakthrough Company GO are also participating. The team behind Channel47 hopes to expand the program soon, fostering a place where groups can collaborate on new initiatives and learn from each other’s past strategies.

The ‘Welcome to ONSEN’ Project Begins

As our inaugural first mainstay project, ‘Welcome to ONSEN’ aims to

register ‘onsen culture’ as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Onsen, or hot springs, have been a vital part of life since ancient times, used to heal the body and soul. We want to showcase this intrinsic and unique part of Japanese culture by making quality content, introducing the word ‘onsen’ to the global lexicon and inspiring people to visit hot springs as they return to Japan after the pandemic.

An association has been established, bringing together prefectural governors interested in registering ‘onsen culture’ as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. 34 governors have already joined, and over 100 Diet members have expressed approval for the project. To garner public support and achieve this goal as quickly as possible, Channel47 will work with companies and organizations involved in the hot spring industry.

A recorded conference was recently held with Gunma Prefectural Governor Ichita Yamamoto and Karen Makishima, a member of the House of Representatives and former Minister of Digital Affairs, Minister for Digital Reform, and Minister in charge of Administrative Reforms.

Titled LOOK LOCAL SUMMIT ‘Welcome to ONSEN,’ the event will present the initiatives created to help register onsen as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and will also invite experts from different fields to discuss the new possibilities of linking art, content, creativity, and technology with Japan’s many hot springs.

Videos of the event will be available on the official Channel47 website in June.