Oct 21, 2010

Taenoyu’s Okami Nationally Awarded!

Taenoyu Onsen (妙乃湯温泉) CEO and okami, Ms. Kyoko Sato (佐藤京子)received 2010’s Japan Tourism Agency (JTA) Commissioner Award!

Photo Courtesy of Sakigake On The Web


According to the Japan Tourism Agency Website, the award is presented to the individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the development of Japanese tourism industry. The first awarding was held last year 2009, and the second annual awarding ceremony was held yesterday in Tokyo.

Our proud Taenoyu Onsen’s CEO, Ms. Kyoko Sato was among the eight awarded this year. Her contribution to Japan’s inbound tourism is recognized as the most outstanding this year: She hosted the location filming of Korean drama IRIS and triggered the significant number of international travelers to Akita prefecture.

Her company, Taenoyu Group, manages three onsen hotels in Tazawako Area: Taenoyu Onsen (妙乃湯), Tazawako Hotel Ischia (田沢湖ホテルイスキア), and Natsuse Onsen (夏瀬温泉都わすれ). For the duration of location shooting in Akita, her company had taken in the crews and actors – 100 of them — which included the featuring Korean actor and also awarded Lee Byung-hun, and provided accommodations and food for free of cost. If it weren’t their contributions, hosting of the filming had not made Akita Prefecture the only area with significantly increased number of inbound tourists.

The Korean drama IRIS had become a great success with breaking record of audience rating in Korea, and it has been viewed in many other countries as well. To entertain the guests, Hotel Ischia had been displaying the filming sets and props, and has become the main IRIS-related attraction here, which resulted in promoting the development of inbound tourism in surrounding regions.

According to Sakigake Newspaper, the awarded included Japanese actor, Mr. Masaharu Fukuyama, and Panasonic’s founder, the late Mr. Konosuke Matsushita. Awarding ceremony was held yesterday, October 20th, 2010, in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Lee Byung-hun was not able to attend the ceremony but announced that “As an actor who took a part in IRIS, I am marveled that its filming location had become so widely-known. I wish for Akita Prefecture to become more loved and visited as a global site.”


Japanese Version of IRIS Trailer:



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