Getting Dirty in Japan (ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン) is a Japanese adventure tourism television series made by Tokyo Cowboys and is hosted by Swedish outdoor specialist and reporter Janni Olsson with Christopher McCombs as a co-host. The series is available on Amazon Prime Video[1] in Japan and Tubi[2] in North America.
| Getting Dirty in Japan | |
|---|---|
 Domestic poster for Getting Dirty in Japan | |
| Also known as | ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン |
| Genre | Adventure travel |
| Created by | Christopher McCombs Janni Olsson |
| Directed by | Raito Nishizaka Michael Williams |
| Starring | Janni Olsson Christopher McCombs Haku Inko |
| Theme music composer | Takahiro Nomiya |
| Opening theme | "Waiting to be Seen" by Fossilize |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original languages | English Japanese |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Christpher McCombs |
| Producers | Haku Inko Janni Olsson |
| Running time | 20 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video Tubi |
Program synopsis
editIn each episode, Olsson and her team including Japanese tarento Haku Inko, American actor Christopher McCombs, British director Michael Williams, and Japanese director Raito Nishizaka challenge two activities introduced by Olsson as part of a theme at the start of each episode. Featured activities include surfing, fishing, kayaking, paragliding, and camping.[3]
At the end of each episode, Olsson and McCombs rate the activities with Olsson evaluating as an outdoor enthusiast and McCombs evaluating as someone who is not very interested in the outdoors.[3] Episodes are completely unscripted in order to preserve the reality of each activity.[4]
Production details
editOlsson, an outdoor reporter based out of Tokyo, Japan,[5] was tired of Japanese outdoor television shows that were not painting an honest picture of outdoor activities. She believed that many activities were either being played up as too easy or too difficult for ratings. She wanted to create a television show that gave a more realistic look at outdoor activities in Japan.[6]
McCombs, Inko, Nishizaka, Williams and Olsson had all previously worked together on the Amazon Prime Video series The Benza and its spin-off series Benza English. Between the first and second season of The Benza, Olsson approached McCombs initially about starting a YouTube channel, but McCombs convinced her to make the show into a streaming series instead and came on as an executive producer.[6]
Olsson stated that her targets for the show are not only current outdoor enthusiasts, but also women who are interested in trying an outdoor sport or activity as well as people who are not comfortable with the outdoors. One of her goals was to try to help the people who are not comfortable with the outdoors find points that they could enjoy on each of the adventures.[7]
Preproduction began in 2020 with the pilot episode being shot in Chiba, Japan during the summer. Production continued on the first season from winter of 2021 and continued until spring of 2022 with episodes being shot in Yamanashi, Ibaraki, and Tokyo.[3][8]
Theme music
editThe theme song, "Waiting to be Seen" was performed by Fossilize with lyrics by Christopher McCombs and music by Takahiro Nomiya. It was released as a single on June 5, 2023, and reached number four on the Japanese iTunes soundtrack chart as well as number five on the Swedish iTunes soundtrack chart.[9]
Digital single
- "Waiting to be Seen" – 3:18
- "Waiting to be Seen (Remix)" – 4:32
Cast
edit- Janni Olsson[10]
- Christopher McCombs
- Haku Inko
- Raito Nishizaka
- Michael Williams
Staff
edit- Director: Raito Nishizaka, Michael Williams[11]
- Executive Producer: Christopher McCombs
- Producer: Haku Inko, Janni Olsson
- Associate Producer: Masahito Kawahata
- Sound Producer: Takahiro Nomiya
- Japanese Translation: Masahito Kawahata
- English Translation: Christopher McCombs, Janni Olsson
- English Subtitles: Jeff Cisneros, Heather Payer-Smith, Eda Sterner
Episodes
edit
Season 1 (2023)
edit| # | Title | Directed by |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Getting Started" | Raito Nishizaka |
| 2 | "Becoming Tarzan" | Michael Williams |
| 3 | "Getting Wet" | Michael Williams |
| 4 | "Something New" | Raito Nishizaka |
| 5 | "Getting Dirty" | Raito Nishizaka |
| 6 | "A Surprise Finish" | Michael Williams |
Reception
editGetting Dirty in Japan currently has a review average of 4.9/5.0 on Amazon Prime Video of Japan and a 9.8/10 rating on IMDb as of August 2023. The show has been reviewed favorably in Japanese mass media, especially the unscripted nature and the counterpoint of having someone who is not interested in the outdoors also reviewing the activities.[12][13]
References
edit- ^ "Watch ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ "Getting Dirty in Japan". Tubi. Retrieved 2023-08-06.
- ^ a b c "Watch ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン". Tokyo Cowboys. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ "新しいスタイルの旅番組『ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン』アマゾンプライムで配信開始！". Kaigai Drama Navi. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ "春の訪れを祝う「イースター」 【ヤン二さんの北欧旅レポート３】". Liniere. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ a b "Getting Dirty in Japan". Outdoor Japan. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-06.
- ^ "スウェーデンのトラベルリポーターが届ける日本のアウトドア番組、Amazonプライムで配信中！". bepal. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
- ^ "番組放映のお知らせ". goriyakunoyu. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
- ^ "Fossilize、「Waiting to Be Seen」を配信開始". TuneCore Japan. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
- ^ "ヤンニ・オルソンの番組がAmazon Prime Videoで配信開始！". Free Wave. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ "Amazonプライム・ビデオで配信開始！スウェーデン美女がまだ見ぬ日本を旅する『ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン』". IT Life Hack. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
- ^ "スウェーデンのトラベルリポーターが届ける日本のアウトドア番組、Amazonプライムで配信中！". Bepal. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
- ^ "『ゲッティング・ダーティ・イン・ジャパン』アマゾンプライムで配信開始！". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2023-06-09.