TOTTORI, Japan - Tottori Prefecture, a filming location for the second season of the hit Japanese TV spy thriller "Vivant," is stepping up efforts to lure tourists by posting homage videos on social media and setting up a logo made of sand as a photo spot at the famous Tottori Sand Dunes.
In one social media video, Gov. Shinji Hirai and staff members from the tourism strategy division staged a skit in which they held a strategy meeting as the "Vivant Tottori branch" of the drama's secret intelligence unit "beppan."
As a "directive" to viewers, the video called on fans to photograph places in the western Japan prefecture they think were used as filming locations in the drama and post the pictures on social media with the promotional campaign's hashtag, for a chance to win Tottori's prized snow crabs.
At the Tottori Sand Dunes, a popular sightseeing site that resembles the drama's key visual of a desert, the prefecture installed a large "Vivant" logo monument made of sand -- measuring 3.4 meters wide and 1.2 meters high -- as a photo spot to attract visitors.
Neighboring Shimane Prefecture, which has served as a filming location in both the first and second seasons, has likewise planned events to attract visitors, with prefectural and municipal employees cast as "Beppan Shimane branch" members for the promotional campaign.
Shimane's tourism mascot Shimanekko has also joined the unit and taken part in social media campaigns.
"Vivant" is a high-budget drama series starring Masato Sakai as Yusuke Nogi, a corporate employee drawn into a world of international espionage centered on the top-secret "beppan" unit of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The star-studded cast also includes Hiroshi Abe, Kazunari Ninomiya and Cannes-winning Koji Yakusho.
