Underplayed Gems

Why Did You Come to Japan? (2012)

Why Did You Come to Japan? poster
Original title
YOUは何しに日本へ?
Genre
variety show
Country
Japan
Length
13 seasons, 528 episodes
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A variety show where interviewers approach foreign visitors at Japanese airports and ask them why they came to Japan. They then follow some of the travelers to see what they do during their stay.

lightheartedcuriousplayfulupbeatwhimsicalsurprisingspontaneousaccessible

What happens

Why Did You Come to Japan? (YOUは何しに日本へ？, Yū wa Nani Shi ni Nippon e?) is a Japanese television program presented by Osamu Shitara and Yūki Himura, a comedy duo known as "Bananaman". It is a regular programme on TV Tokyo on Monday evenings. The show was first broadcast in the form of two pilot shows in June and October 2012 before becoming a recurring series, airing late on Wednesday nights starting 9 January 2013. Due to its popularity, it was moved to the prime time evening slot on Mondays beginning with the episode broadcast on 15 April 2013, where it has been airing (with slight time changes) ever since. In the programme, a team of interviewers go around various airports in Japan, with Narita International Airport as their main reporting hub, and ask non-Japanese arrivals "Why did you come to Japan?". They then attempt to follow the interviewees on their journeys around Japan, in a process called mitchaku shuzai (密着取材; lit. "close-contact reporting"). A question posed for departees is, "What souvenir did you buy?" Besides interviewing people at airports, another skit tries to find non–English teaching foreigners in randomly chosen cities throughout Japan. The show has used various narrators such as Bobby Ologun, Daniel Kahl and Carolyn Kawasaki among others. A special episode aired on 12 November 2018 had members of girl idol group Nogizaka46, of whom Bananaman are so-called "official brothers", as guest interviewers. The programme has featured coincidental encounters with celebrities at the airport, including British actor Benedict Cumberbatch and American former baseball player Leron Lee. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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