The theme of the promotion video for Japan tourism is “Omotenashi Nippon”. Serving as tourism ambassadors, Arashi is featured on the video to introduce “omotenashi”, as published by the Japan National Tourist Office.

“Omotenashi” has become a buzzword ever since Tokyo Olympic bid ambassador Christel Takigawa uttered the word in her speech to the International Olympic Committee. It can be translated to elaborate courtesy, but not quite, or allude to the spirit of Japanese hospitality. The promotional video hopes to better showcase it.

The members of Arashi portray different people working in the areas of “Lodging”, “Shopping”, “Dining”, “Sightseeing” and “Bathing” – shoe caretaker in a long-established ryokan (Japanese inn) (Sho Sakurai), sales person at a souvenir shop (Masaki Aiba), washoku chef (Jun Matsumoto), landscape gardener (Kazunari Ninomiya) and sento painter (Satoshi Ohno) – to experience the roles played by those working behind the scenes to support the meticulous omotenashi Japan is known for. As they interact with craftsmen and customers and learn the spirit of omotenashi and consideration for others, they introduce Japanese omotenashi to foreign tourists.

The video with English subtitles can be found at JNTO’s website