Your Name. production staff create promo short for Canadian tourism
As part of the many festivities celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation, the Japanese branch of Destination Canada has collaborated with some of the production staff behind Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name. to create a promotional short for the winter tourism season. The 30-second “Cozy, Winter Canada” animation follows Yuya Miyagi and his girlfriend Satsuki Koumi as they leave their busy work lives behind for a winter getaway to the Great White North (there’s a lot of snow featured). The locations highlighted include Lake Abraham, Mount Rundle and Niagara Falls, with stops at Vancouver’s Granville Island and Canada Place, plus Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square.
Varzakh on Reddit provided this translation of the official description:
Yuya Miyagi is in his fifth year as a working adult. He is quiet and subdued, but behind his down-to-earth appearance lies an affinity for backpacking and adventure. His girlfriend, Satsuki Koumi, is in her second year as a working adult and attended university with him; her days are busy and restless. To offer Satsuki a break from her stress, Yuuya invited her for the first time on a trip to his favourite country, Canada. What they saw and heard in the Canadian winter was beyond the imagination. It was delightful, it was beautiful, and it was ever so warm.
The short was produced to highlight a contest Destination Canada is running for Japanese citizens. A small quiz based on the video can land a duo the grand prize of a trip to Canada, with runner ups receiving guide books, aboriginal pendants, or perfumes. The contest runs between September 20th and November 31st. This was shared through the Canada Theatre website, a portal which aims to consolidate Destination Canada’s Japanese promotional efforts. They also produce a documentary series called Mosiac Canada that airs on Imagica BS.
Unfortunately, the exact production staff behind “Cozy, Winter Canada” wasn’t shared, though the official Destination Canada Twitter account claims they “worked with Makoto Shinkai and partners” to create it. Hisayuki Tabata has said he directed the short. UPDATE (9/21/2017): Destination Canada has since deleted the Tweet mentioning Shinkai and has instead attributed the animation to Tabata, “the Your Name. team and our partners.”
Let the record show that even in anime, Toronto’s skyline can’t escape condo construction.
Thanks, Jesse.
Remember that Canadian Black Jack dub I wrote about a few months back? Well, it’s on television. In Jamaica. Like Hanako & Anne, it’s the product of The Japan Foundation, who lists the show’s debut on CVM TV as July 6, 2017.
I Miss Bionix 
It feels really weird seeing a promotion, let alone an anime one, for a place you live in