Arrive by ▲time”, “Get the gourmet food”… Why mission-completion-type travel location programs are flourishing and what’s going on behind the scenes.

No appointments” and leaving it up to the talent to negotiate permission for filming…

You have to arrive at your destination by ▲ time, taking local buses and local trains and getting off along the way. You must get (eat or buy) the nearest specialty. The budget you can spend is limited to ● yen. You have to take a picture at a checkpoint …….

It seems that this style of “mission” has become one of the mainstays of domestic travel programs and city-walking programs. The “mission” often requires the actors, actresses, and comedians to negotiate for filming permission “without an appointment,” a scene that has become quite familiar.

In addition to the conventional contents of travel programs that introduce sightseeing spots with spectacular scenery, architecture, gourmet food, hot springs, etc., there are additional missions such as having to wait for a long time for the next train because the desired train departs in front of you (there is a possibility that you will not make the set time), finding a store safely, or throwing in helpful items using dice or cards, etc. The game is a form of game play that creates a sense of thrill and suspense.

The origin of this type of game is not known, but the popularity of the “Local Route Bus Connection Journey” series (TV TOKYO: started in 2007) by Yosuke Okawa and Yoshikazu Hiruko and the “Side Trip on a Route Bus” series (TV Asahi: started in 2003) by Kazuo Tokumitsu and Ritsuko Tanaka has gradually added an element of mission-completion to the series. The popularity of the “Route Bus Stopover Travel” series by Kazuo Tokumitsu and Ritsuko Tanaka (Tele-Tokyo: started in 2007) and “Route Bus Stopover Travel” series by Kazuo Tokumitsu and Ritsuko Tanaka (Tele-Tokyo: started in 2003) has led to the gradual addition of mission-clearing elements.

An era in which “incongruity of schedule” is in demand

What do you think of the popularity of these mission-completion type travel programs?

“I think the most important thing is that they are “incongruous” in terms of schedule.

A broadcaster who has worked on popular commercial variety shows explains.

In the past, the places to be interviewed and the places to be visited were predetermined in advance, and the celebrities and actors would go there, see the sights, eat the food, and enjoy what they expected to see or taste, a kind of scheduled harmony.

Why did people come to prefer the flow of unscheduled harmony?

This has been the trend for the past ten years or so.

Although scheduled harmony is not a lie, it tends to be less realistic and the comments tend to be fixed and uninteresting because they are done according to the schedule.

On the other hand, YouTube programs, where reality is created by showing what was filmed as it is, have become popular, and in this age when people want to see everything as it is on TV, general information within the range of the scheduled harmony can be found on the Internet, and the things that the viewer wants to see are becoming more and more realistic. There is a trend toward a more realistic approach to what viewers want to experience.

In mission-completion type travel location programs, a large part of how to complete the mission thrown out by the program side is left to the performers. The spoon-feeding of this process creates a certain disharmony in the schedule.

Because of this disharmony, the mission sometimes fails. Sometimes the goal is not reached in time, or a restaurant that meets the requirements is not found, and the “reward” is not given.

“Before, if you had a mission, you had to end up with a ‘big success! But nowadays, people think it’s fine if the mission goes either way, as long as it’s interesting.

While a sense of rigidity is important, forcing something too hard or making people feel like they are being forced into a hierarchical relationship may be seen as power harassment.

Rather than rigidly setting up rules and restricting them, we should have people go about their business as they please, with simple and loose restrictions, such as only being able to spend this much money. Sometimes, by adding more rules, the route can be determined to some extent. The more margins you have, the better you can make it now.”

How do you conduct preliminary simulations and unannounced negotiations?

What I am wondering is whether they do simulations in advance to anticipate certain accidents and problems, such as missing a train or bus, or not being able to find a reasonable restaurant.

I think they have a rough idea of how long it will take, but I don’t think they set up precise times for location scouting, such as what time and place to be here, what restaurant to go in, what time to order a meal, and how long to stay for the meal.

After all, we would rather have them go off the beaten path.

Even if the restaurant is closed or the viewers cannot see the spectacular scenery, they will be satisfied with such “planned harmony” even if the performers do not touch them directly in the separately shot video, and the viewers can check the video on the Internet.

This is not to say that preparation is not necessary, but too much preparation can make the film boring.

Needless to say, we apply in advance for filming permission for any transportation, shopping areas, and other locations that we may visit within the area we will be visiting.

Casting is often considered because it reflects the incongruity of the schedule and the unpredictable, harrowing atmosphere of the film.

He says, “We often cast people who speak their mind and are free in their actions and ideas. There is a pattern in which the facilitator is the firm type and the guests are the free type, so that the gap between the two is effectively shown.

The “free types” sometimes move beyond the production team’s expectations, such as suddenly walking into an alley,

But “free types” sometimes go beyond what the production team expects, such as suddenly walking into an alley.

However, if we say, “Please do whatever you want,” it may not be as interesting as we would like it to be, so we assume that there will be deviations from our assumptions, and respond to what happens on site.

One more thing to be concerned about. I wonder if jumping in and negotiating without an appointment will not lead to trouble.

In some cases, we do contact people in the preliminary research stage and say, “We may be going there for a location shoot.

It’s not a question of ‘when will you be there? It’s more of an insurance policy. I sometimes leave an appointment as an insurance policy.

I think that this style of direct negotiation is becoming more common among stores, and with the increase in the number of videos being filmed and broadcast on YouTube and other media, people are becoming less allergic to the act of filming.

Enjoying the incongruity of schedules. This trend is likely to continue.