Genki Sudo and his sharp dressed men have just released their newest video This is Life! This time the boys are running around Ishikawa prefecture and checking out the sights in a video produced by the Japan Association of Travel Agents.

It actually reminds me a bit of our own recent video project Gunma-chan’s Day Out. The format is basically the same–go to famous site, do silly dance, rinse, repeat. They even have a scene with the new mascot for the Hokuriku Shinkansen which is opening in 2015!

In fact, the opening of the Shinkansen is the main reason for this video, as there is expected/hoped to be quite a bump in tourism after the line starts functioning. It will be interesting to see how this affects the area–more visitors are a given, but will there also be more brain drain to the big cities?

A number of our friends have been connected to Ishikawa, and we really enjoyed the capital city Kanazawa when we visited. Much of it survived World War II with minimal damage, as like Kyoto and Nara it was spared the firebombing. The result is  a very well preserved historical feel, and even multiple active tea house or Geisha districts, as you’ll see in the video. The highlights from my trip were visits to the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art and Gold Leaf Ice Cream at Kenrokuen Garden. It was so windy I got gold leaf up my nose–so luxurious!

Overall I think this video is nice but not quite as strong as Have a Nice Day. The main star here is the scenery, not the choreography, and Ishikawa certainly shines in this little travel video. Have a Nice Day continues to do well on YouTube, and CNN is even saying it “may be the next Gangam Style.”

This is likely the first video in a series with JATA, as “Vol. 1” is included in the title. There is a teaser on their main channel, though from some of the comments it seems people aren’t realizing that it’s just a preview of the main video over on JATA’s channel.

Well, what do you think of this new entry from the boys in pinstripe? Have you been to Ishikawa? Do you want to go after seeing the video? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to share this post with your World Order & Ishikawa loving friends!