Popular gaming YouTuber PewDiePie shared the news in a video that his dogs, along with he and his wife Marzia, were invited by the governor of Gunma Prefecture in Japan to visit the area to help promote tourism. PewDiePie has previously expressed his love of his new life in Japan, and seemed eager to have a chance to explore more of his new home.
The YouTube star, originally from Sweden, had purchased a home in Japan in 2019 with the intention of moving there after having long expressed a love for the country. Despite having a house waiting for him in Japan, PewDiePie’s move was put on hold due to the combination of a global pandemic and the massive amounts of paperwork required to finalize the move. PewDiePie finally made the move to Japan in 2022 along with his dogs and family, and has been settling into his new life there ever since as he plans the next steps for his influencer career.
In a video shared on YouTube as a sponsored ad, PewDiePie reads a letter sent to his dogs, Edgar and Maya, from the governor of Gunma Prefecture, Ichita Yamamoto. Governor Yamamoto invites the dogs and their humans to visit Gunma, located in central Japan, and highlights the hot springs, natural beauty, and food in the area. Leaving Maya behind with a dogsitter due to her old age, PewDiePie, Edgar, and Marzia hop in their car and begin the journey to Gunma Prefecture.
Over the course of the nearly 20-minute video, the trio explores what Gunma Prefecture has to offer with an itinerary that definitely seems designed more for the humans than the canine guest of honor. Some highlights of the video include getting to see PewDiePie forge his very own sword, enjoying “glamping” in a geodesic dome, and trying to escape a corn maze with the help of Edgar. PewDiePie recently announced that he would be posting on YouTube less often as he figures out what the next stage of his career will look like, so this short travelogue is likely a welcome sight for fans of the prolific YouTuber.
While it might seem unusual to western gamers for a city to recruit a gaming YouTube star and his dogs to promote tourism, using gaming and anime-related theming to promote tourism isn’t uncommon in Japan. In fact, Sagamihara City in Japan recently unveiled two Gundam-themed manhole covers to be installed in the city to increase tourism and honor its importance as a hub for space robotics research. PewDiePie’s latest video may not be what fans of his Let’s Play videos were hoping for, but it just might get a few gamers to visit Gunma Prefecture on their next trip to Japan.
Source: PewDiePie/Youtube