David Farnor | On 12, Dec 2019

James May is heading to Japan for the New Year, with his new Amazon series arriving right at the start of January.

May will embark on a journey across Japan for the documentary, from its icy north to its balmy south. He’ll see the sights, meet the locals, and eat the noodles in a bid to truly understand the Land of the Rising Sun.

The show is the first of several standalone outings from The Grand Tour hosts Jeremy, Richard, James, and Executive Producer Andy Wilman, who inked a deal last year with Amazon to develop brand new TV shows individually. As part of that same venture, Amazon has renewed The Grand Tour for further episodes, but fewer of them at feature length, with Clarkson, Hammond and May ditching the studio tent and taking on big adventure road trips instead. The first, Seamen, will see them navigate Vietnam’s Mekong Delta by boat and premieres on Amazon Prime Video on 13th December.

Our Man in Japan flies in hot on its heels, debuting on 3rd January 2020. Here’s the trailer:

 

James May: Our Man in Japan is available to watch online on Amazon Prime Video as part of a Prime membership or a £5.99 monthly subscription.

 

James May is Amazon’s Man in Japan

11th March 2019

James May is heading to Japan for a new documentary series on Amazon Prime Video.

Called Our Man In… Japan, the six-part unscripted series sees The Grand Tour’s presenter travel to the island country to understand more of its culture. 15 years after James May first visited Japan as a baffled tourist, he aims to deepen his knowledge of the birthplace of the haiku and classical art forms driven by the principles of Wabi (stark beauty), Sabi (natural inspiration) and Yugen (grace and subtlety) – and the home of Godzilla, Hello Kitty and Cosplay.
 
“Japan is the most amazing place I’ve ever visited,” says May. “Everything about it is a surprise: a boiled sweet, a bullet train, an unexpected ancient temple, and the challenge of eating a single edamame bean with chopsticks. It’s a class A stimulant for all the senses, and an etiquette minefield for the unwary. I intend to immerse myself in it completely, in the pursuit of enlightenment and life balance. And I bet the noodles will be fantastic.”
 
“We’re incredibly excited to announce this new project with James, which will see him take on an epic thousand mile journey across ancient Japanese islands, mega cities, and all points in between,” says Georgia Brown, Director of Prime Original Series in Europe. “The Grand Tour fans around the world will be delighted to hear that they will have even more James May on their screens. We can’t wait to see what James and his talented team produce from this ambitious adventure.”
 
Amazon announced in December that they have entered into a deal with The Grand Tour hosts Jeremy, Richard, James, and Executive Producer Andy Wilman, to develop brand new TV shows with them individually. Amazon has also renewed The Grand Tour for Season 4, which will see Clarkson, Hammond and May ditch the tent and take on big adventure road trips instead.

Our Man in Japan will be directed by BAFTA TV Award nominee Tom Whitter (James Mays Man Lab, Toy Stories, ‪Apollo 13‬: The Inside story) for Plum Pictures where it will be exec produced by Will Daws (who has overseen several James May projects including Toy Stories, Man Lab and the Reassembler). Filming begins today.
 

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