Saving Japan’s traditional culture industries hit by the COVID-19 pandemic! What is the “NIHONMONO” project that shares the authentic Japan Hidetoshi Nakata encountered on his travels after retiring from professional sports?

Hello. We are Masuno and Ishiguro from the Sports Team, Division 3, Public Relations Division.

How have you all been?

My list of things I want to do once the self-restraint period ends just keeps growing, but to help you enjoy your time at home even a little more, we would like to introduce some wonderful projects led by SUNNY SIDE UP.

■A joint project led by Hidetoshi Nakata and SUNNY SIDE UP

The project introduced in this article is one that SUNNY SIDE UP has supported since Mr. Nakata’s active playing days, and in which former Japan national team footballer Hidetoshi Nakata was also involved. It is a joint project between JAPAN CRAFT SAKE COMPANY, which he represents, and SUNNY SIDE UP, and it won the “PR Award Grand Prix,” presented by the Public Relations Society of Japan. We are pleased to introduce the activities of the project “Nihonmono / NIHONMONO”!https://nihonmono.jp/

(C) Nihonmono / TSUKURU ASADA

Even in PR for local governments and municipalities, when a PR agency analyzes a region from an “outside perspective,” it often uncovers new aspects of its tourism resources.

In the “Nihonmono / NIHONMONO” project introduced here, we supported Mr. Nakata’s activities and communicated the appeal of each region discovered through the “Hidetoshi Nakata” filter, making full use of PR expertise. Now, let us share the details.

■The appeal and challenges of traditional cultural industries that Hidetoshi Nakata witnessed firsthand

This project began when, over nearly 10 years starting in 2009, Mr. Nakata traveled across Japan—visiting all 47 prefectures and more than 2,000 locations—experiencing firsthand the appeal of each region’s traditional performing arts and culture, craftsmanship (traditional crafts), and food (agriculture and fisheries), while also witnessing the reality that information about these traditional cultural industries was not being communicated sufficiently.

“Could we help more people in Japan and abroad learn about the appeal of Japan’s traditional culture and support the development of traditional cultural industries?”

Based on Mr. Hidetoshi Nakata’s vision, the project “Nihonmono / NIHONMONO,” which aims to “connect the bearers of traditional culture with everyday consumers” through sharing information about Japan’s traditional culture, began in earnest last year, in 2020.

■Sharing the “carefully crafted gems” Hidetoshi Nakata encountered through a web magazine

The “Nihonmono / NIHONMONO” project spans a wide range of activities, one of which is creating and sharing information through a web magazine called “Ni-Ho-N-Mo-No” (https://nihonmono.jp/), which compiles information about destinations Mr. Hidetoshi Nakata actually visited.

In addition, they launched an online store, “Nihonmono Store” (https://shop.nihonmono.jp/), where people can purchase “carefully selected gems” encountered on these journeys—such as crafts, local specialties, and seasonings—creating a platform that helps more people learn about the excellence of Japanese craftsmanship and culture, as well as producers’ dedication.

By the way, starting this year, “Nihonmono Store” also began selling on “Baifenbai / 百分百” (https://baifenbai.shop/nihonmono/), a cross-border e-commerce platform for China provided by Baidu, China’s largest search service, often referred to as the “Google of China.” This will enable Japanese culture and products to reach even more Chinese consumers going forward, and we will continue to share Japan’s appeal overseas as well.

Not only online, but also as in-person events where people can experience the world of “Nihonmono,” this year they held the “J-WAVE NIHONMONO LOUNGE” in front of the newly opened Takanawa Gateway Station on the JR Yamanote Line, and they regularly plan pop-up stores in places such as Omotesando.

In addition, driven by Mr. Nakata’s desire to support restaurants and sake breweries struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, they launched “Nihonmono Chef’s Table” (https://nihonmono.jp/chef/), content that introduces, via video, home-cooking recipes that can be enjoyed with sake by Japan’s top chefs. This initiative enables people to recreate fine-dining flavors at home and, as a result, also supports producers.

Furthermore, Mr. Hidetoshi Nakata himself has actively communicated Japan’s excellence to a wide range of audiences, including by serving as a guest lecturer at Rikkyo University and delivering classes on the theme of Japanese culture.

■Hidetoshi Nakata’s activities shared with the public through the media

To help spread these many “Nihonmono / NIHONMONO” initiatives more widely, they have also been featured by numerous media outlets.

Last April, on Nippon TV’s “Sekaiichi Uketai Jugyo,” Mr. Nakata made a special appearance as a teacher in the program’s first-ever off-site field lesson, broadcasting from four locations nationwide, introducing Japanese culture while also promoting NIHONMONO’s activities. In addition, the culture magazine “Pen,” published by CCC Media House, ran a NIHONMONO feature that, for the first time in the magazine’s history, compiled the thoughts of a single individual.

Back issues of “Pen” are available for purchase on Amazon and elsewhere, so if you are interested, please do take a look.

■Introducing carefully selected gems Hidetoshi Nakata encountered across Japan

That concludes our introduction to the activities of the “Nihonmono” project, which Mr. Hidetoshi Nakata leads and works on daily. What did you think?

This became a bit long, but if you have time, why not visit the “Ni-Ho-N-Mo-No” website and enjoy the feeling of traveling, while reflecting on the wonderful creators who support Japan?

To make your time at home even more fulfilling, be sure not to miss checking out high-quality, truly authentic products as well.

Web magazine “Ni-Ho-N-Mo-No” official website https://nihonmono.jp/

About the Author

Public Relations Division, Sports Team, Division 3
Saki Masuno

Joined the company as a new graduate and is now in her fourth year. She has handled a wide range of projects, including those for local governments, PR for IT companies, gourmet, entertainment, and beauty-related accounts. One of SUNNY SIDE UP’s most enthusiastic trend followers (?), self-proclaimed. With the motto “First, just go along with it,” she tries jumping on trends for the time being. What she loves is “searching for delicious food,” and on her days off, her hobby is strolling around town in search of great meals and great drinks.

Public Relations Division, Sports Team, Division 3
Makoto Ishiguro

Joined the company as a new graduate and is now in his third year. To date, he has worked on a wide range of accounts, including sports, entertainment, music, medical, and facilities-related projects. What left the strongest impression was when footage of him kicking a ball with a Japan national team player at a certain PR event was aired on TV as-is (laugh). On his days off, he mostly spends time playing futsal or soccer.

Interviews from the job-hunting and new-graduate days are also available.
“New Graduate Members Roundtable | Why I Joined SUNNY SIDE UP”
https://blog.ssu.co.jp/blog/19162/