We’re Big In Japan

Denver’s 4/20 events documented on Japanese “Curious USA”

This past 4/20 season, we got an awesome media request from all the way across the Pacific. Naoki Akimoto of Dwango Media in Japan was planning his journalistic trip to Denver to witness the 4/20 phenomenon. As it turns out, marijuana in Japan is highly illegal. “In Japan, few people know about marijuana culture,” he wrote to us. “So I want to tell about the movement of marijuana culture in Denver, like growing, cultivation, tour, and business.”

He told us about his broadcasting platform and plan. Share our tours and experience with thousands of weed-deprived Japanese folks on live-streaming internet television? Yes please. We signed him up for a full lineup of experiences and events.

He and his fellow reporter Tomohiro Machiyama arrived on April 19, cameras and microphones ready. A diligent reporter, Naoki took our Marijuana Grow & Dispensary Tour twice — once to preview it and then again on April 20th to film and broadcast.

This amazing documentary highlights all of Naoki and Tomohiro’s stops along the 4/20 festivities trail. On tour, they handled some heady dreadlocks and sniffed a big bucket of fresh buds, and shops around for some edibles at Euflora dispensary. In addition to our tours, they found their way to the grand opening of the International Church of Cannabis and of course, the public 4:20 rally at Civic Center Park, where they found a toking tattooed Broncos fan and three seriously blazed rappers handing out their CDs. Thanks, Urban Hippie and Paradox.

Marijuana in Japan? “Very illegal”

At the rally, Naoki describes the Japanese situation to the Broncos tattoo guy, “In Japan, it’s totally prohibited. It’s very illegal in Japan. Could you explain the taste of marijuana to the Japanese people? What’s good for you?”

“I love indicas,” says tat guy without pause.

Behind the scenes of the documentary, Naoki and Tomohiro documented a couple of us here at the My 420 Tours office. During his interviews with Communications Manager Cynthia and Co-founder/President JJ. Naoki wanted to know about the history of the business and what we were doing with ourselves before the legalized weed industry took off. He inquired about the political situation and what we thought would happen with Jeff Sessions in power. He was very curious about how many Japanese tourists we already attract. Admittedly, it’s not many, but Naoki thinks there’s potential there.

“Do you have any plan for making a marijuana tour just for the Japanese people?” asked Naoki.
“I would love to,” replies JJ. “Do you want to come be my tour guide?”

One thing we learned about the Japanese culture: they aren’t all taught to roll sushi as kids. Just like Americans, they leave it to the masters. So we pitched our Sushi and Joint Rolling Class to the live audience, so the waves of new Japanese marijuana tourists know what experience to try when they visit Denver.

NUGS OF 420 KNOWLEDGE

GROW TOURS ON THE 420 BUS

CLASSES & EXPERIENCES

MAKE IT AN ALL-INCLUSIVE 420 VACATION