Society

French PR video for Tokyo Games goes viral

May 27 (NHK) - A promotional animated video made by France's public broadcaster for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics has gone viral.

France Televisions, which plans to broadcast the games, made the roughly one-minute video to look like "ukiyo-e" woodblock prints. It features a sumo wrestler in a traditional Japanese landscape playing sports added for the Tokyo Olympics.

The wrestler surfs on a giant wave, skateboards down the roof of a Buddhist temple, and climbs a rock wall using his bare hands.

The video released on Twitter last Wednesday was seen by 1.5 million people in two days.

The video's creative director Antoine Colin described how he studied reference material to make the animation look as close to ukiyo-e as possible.

He said it was challenging to animate ukiyo-e, which consists of still images.

France is set to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics after the Tokyo Games.

France's minister in charge of sports says President Emmanuel Macron will attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in July.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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