KYUSHU RAILWAY COMPANY | THE 250KM WAVE（祝！九州） | 2011
15,000 People Connected 250km in Just One Day — a Miracle / KYUSHU RAILWAY COMPANY "THE 250KM WAVE（祝！九州）"
On February 20, 2011 (2/20), from the window of a shinkansen running 250km from Kagoshima-Chuo Station to Hakata Station, a wild plan was carried out: film 15,000 people gathered along the route and turn it into a commercial. One shot, no retakes. If it rained, it was over. If no one showed up, it was over. But all that worry was blown away on the day all of Kyushu waved.
The problem
Ahead of the full opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen line on March 12, 2011, JR Kyushu planned a campaign around the concept: "This is the shinkansen that everyone in Kyushu has been waiting for, so we want to celebrate the full opening together with the people of Kyushu." Among many ideas considered, the one that was finally carried out was this: before the full opening, run a test train fitted with cameras from Kagoshima-Chuo Station to Hakata Station, film the people gathered along the route, and turn it into a single commercial. Koji Karaike, who was company president at the time, later recalled, "In my head I had the lively dance scenes from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, set in India."
The insight
When applications for participants opened on January 9, some venues were flooded with requests, and by the very next day spots at Hakata Station, Kumamoto Station, and others had already filled up. So the idea that the shinkansen was "something everyone had been waiting for" wasn't just wishful thinking by the people behind the project — it was true. At Cannes, the reason given for the award was that the filming event itself functioned as media, pointing to a new kind of outdoor advertising. But what really gave this project its power, I think, is that the idea "the shinkansen = a dream shared by all of Kyushu" was obvious to everyone. That's why people gathered, that's why they waved, and that's why the footage carried so much energy.
The idea
On the day of filming, February 20, the train used was a specially wrapped N700 Series 8000-class R10 set, with cars 1, 6, 7, and 8 wrapped in seven colors just for that day. Those seven colors represented the seven prefectures of the Kyushu mainland, including areas beyond the route itself. The rainbow-colored shinkansen slowly made its way through the 250km journey. Through the train windows, the camera captured people waving, doing the wave, dancing, wearing costumes, playing instruments — every kind of performance imaginable. Out of more than 100 hours of footage, it was edited down to three minutes. Extras had reportedly been arranged in advance, but the energy of the ordinary participants who showed up ended up surpassing them. The music was "Boom!" by Maia Hirasawa.
What happened
The commercial began airing on March 9, 2011, but because of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, it only aired for a few days. Still, the footage posted on YouTube caught on, spreading by word of mouth as "the commercial that makes you feel better," and became a huge hit online. At the 58th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it won Gold in the Outdoor category and Silver in the Media category. A DVD was also released, with part of the proceeds donated as relief funds for the earthquake.
Afterthought
The shinkansen line fully opened the day before the earthquake. It was an opening everyone wanted to celebrate, but in the end, couldn't. And yet the footage from February 20, of those 250km connected together, reached so many people in post-earthquake Japan as "the commercial that makes you feel better." The people who planned it surely never imagined this would be its fate. But in that footage of 15,000 people waving with all their heart, a message ended up being carved in, whether intended or not: that even when something terrible happens, people can still be connected. I'm glad that one-shot, no-retakes filming succeeded. I wish I'd been in Kyushu that day.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2011
