Ai Fukuhara Debuts in Chinese PR Video Focuses on China

I grew up surrounded by Chinese friends

Former Japanese national table tennis player Ai Fukuhara (36) has sparked attention by appearing in a promotional video for Chengdu, a major city in Sichuan Province, China.

The promotional video is about 7 minutes long, where Fukuhara plays a female CEO who tours Chengdu with her subordinate in a “Chengdu Business Trip Manual.” It has garnered around 700,000 views, and Fukuhara has also shared it on China’s social media platform Weibo.

“In the video, Fukuhara shows a comedic performance, and despite being inexperienced, she delivers her lines quite well, possibly due to the director’s good guidance. The video was filmed in various locations to showcase Chengdu’s attractions, and even includes skydiving in the final scenes, showing that time and money were invested in the production. Chengdu is a major city with a population of 17 million and is known as the hometown of the giant panda. Fukuhara has truly become the face of China now,” said a TV station reporter.

In the comment section of Weibo, viewers showed their support with comments like:

“New Ai-chan! Keep it up!”

“It feels like the second year of a Japanese drama.”

Additionally, Fukuhara received the “Special Award for Japan-China Friendship” at the 7th “Unforgettable China Stay Episode” Essay Contest held at the Chinese Embassy in Japan on December 27 last year. On Weibo, she commented:

“I grew up in China, surrounded by Chinese friends, and now I visit China almost every month.”