"Sand Land" Movie Release Celebration! We Planned and Implemented an Event in Japan

The movie "Sand Land", which was released in Japan on August 18, 2023, and is currently a big hit. I believe it's known to dedicated anime fans in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This movie is based on a manga drawn by Akira Toriyama in 2000. Not only in Japan, but Mr. Toriyama has continued to give dreams to boys all over the world. I, Suzuki, am one of those influenced by him. I think it is fair to say that my exposure to his works in Weekly Shonen Jump when I was in primary school has led to the philosophy of "IIJAN" that I have today.

 

When our company received the job of designing products for the movie "Sand Land", we were thrilled! Being able to work on Mr. Toriyama's work as a product licensee is a dream come true for a guy. This opportunity won't come twice! I was excited and felt privileged to be involved even a little, and I really wanted to do this job!

 

When considering what kind of product would please our customers, that's always where our planning begins. Amidst the announcements of merchandise from major companies, we chose to plan for on-demand products that allow for "a uniquely your merchandise".

 

Our hit product, the on-demand (produced one at a time after receiving an order) merchandise of Future GPX Cyber Formula, which is still popular with our customers, offers our unique value for various IP works. Choose your own design, create it, and take it home. A special favorite product that you've spent time creating! We thought that this would meet the diversified needs of anime fans. It was around this time that this "Sand Land" plan came into alignment.

 

To realize this, we needed the cooperation of our partner, Brother Machinery (Asia) Limited. The ability to apply high-resolution printing to fabric products such as T-shirts and tote bags is unparalleled to Brother's printing technology (for more details, please see the Cyber Formula T-shirt introduction page). When we went to ask for their cooperation in this project, fortunately, we were able to get their approval, and our plan became (surprisingly smoothly) realistic.

 

When the planning and direction of the product to be delivered to our customers were decided, another challenge was "when, where, and how to please our customers".

 

The conclusion came surprisingly easy. We focused on Nagoya, Japan, where Brother Industries was founded and is still known as their base. While we would like to do this nationwide in Japan and all over the world, if we were to choose one place to concentrate on as a first step, we thought that doing it in Nagoya, which is neither Tokyo nor Osaka, would make our customers feel special and please the people at Brother Industries.

 

And as for the timing, we thought it should be on the day of the movie release. If a company like ours in Hong Kong is given a job, we wanted to play a role in promoting the movie. That's why we decided to hold the event on the movie's release day, August 18. We wanted both longtime fans of Mr. Toriyama and potential new "Sand Land" fans to enjoy this wonderful work!

 

With the support of various licensor companies and Brother Industries (Japan's head office!), we began preparations for the movie release in August.

 

(To be continued)