Japan attracts travelers from all over the world. Among inbound Japan travelers, however, no European countries rank among the top 40. In fact, the number of European travelers to Japan are less than half those of China or even Thailand. Reasons include high travel costs, language barriers and the physical distance of over 10,000 kilometers (10 hours by plane). However, about 90% of Europeans who have visited Japan (spending about 2 weeks on average traveling throughout the country) are very satisfied and hope to return.

To encourage travel to Japan, we created opportunities for those lacking interest to experience a fun taste of Japan in Europe.

We held AR interactive vision events in 5 European countries – Madrid, Frankfurt and Munich, Paris, London and Milan – with each event lasting about 5 days. The popular venues included Frankfurt Central Station, Milan's Central Station, La Défense in Paris (the city’s most attractive commercial facility), and FITUR in Madrid (Europe’s largest travel event, which attracted over 100,000 people).

People standing in front of a large screen were surprised to see themselves displayed at life size, as on a mirror, “wearing” costumes. The costumes naturally fit them regardless of body type and size, with even samurai helmets and geisha hairdos naturally fitting their heads. The costumes also moved naturally, even during quick movements, thanks to skeletal data acquired via infrared rays.

Over 100,000 people participated in, and 7.4 million people visited, our AR interactive vision events. The events were covered in over 550 stories by European media outlets.