Although there are many “Regional Specialties” (goods, foods, travel experiences, etc.) throughout Japan, which foreign people can purchase or experience, there are various difficulties in the development of sales channels, provision of information, and successful public relations overseas. The purpose of The Wonder 500™ is to vitalize regions as well as small and medium enterprises by having professional “connoisseurs as producers,” who have knowledge and experience in the development of sales channels and public relations overseas, discover and select regional products in order to support the dissemination of relative information to the world as well as perform other activities.

Regional Specialties were discovered through recommendations by producers and public invitations for applications, and a total of 500 of them were approved.

Breakdown by category

Travel experiences (10), kitchen goods (129), household goods (68), stationery (37), furniture and interior goods (33), fashion (75), food (115), beverages (33)

Breakdown by region

Hokkaido region (10), Tohoku region (48), Kanto and Koshinetsu region (150), Chubu region (70), Kinki region (95), Chugoku region (32), Shikoku region (33), Kyushu and Okinawa region (62)

(1) In addition to exhibitions and public relations activities for discovered Regional Specialties to be conducted in Japan and overseas, networking events including business matching events are to be held in various regions.

Events in Japan

Tokyo	September 2 (Wed.) through September 4 (Fri.), 2015	80th Tokyo International Gift Show Autumn 2015 (special event to exhibit all merchandized goods)
Toyama	November 6 (Fri.) through November 8 (Sun.), 2015	32nd Traditional Craft Products Month National Assembly (exhibitions of merchandized crafts)
Osaka	November 11 (Wed.), 2015	Seminar and networking event (including some exhibitions)
Hiroshima	November 13 (Fri.), 2015	Seminar and networking event (including some exhibitions)
Fukuoka	November 16 (Mon.), 2015	Seminar and networking event (including some exhibitions)
Sendai	In February 2016	Seminar and networking event (including some exhibitions)
Sapporo	February 19 (Fri.), 2016	Seminar and networking event (including some exhibitions)
Tokyo	February 23 (Tue.), 2016	Seminar, networking event, and debriefing meeting (exhibitions)

Events overseas

Paris, France	September 5 (Sat.) through September 12 (Sat.), 2015	Exhibition of merchandized goods at “PARIS DESIGN WEEK 2015”
London, U.K.	November 2015 through March 2016 (planned)	Tie-up with global affairs magazine “MONOCLE,” etc.
Taipei, Taiwan	December 2015 through January 2016 (planned)	Exhibitions and sales at locally famous shops such as Eslite Bookstore
Hong Kong, China	November 2015 through December 2015	Public relations events planned
New York, U.S.	Under negotiation	Public relations events planned

(2) Storybooks and multi-lingual website to be produced to tell the stories behind the 500 Regional Specialties, etc.

Visit the website of the project below for details.
https://thewonder500.com (in Japanese)
The Wonder 500™ Project Management Office: Revamp Corporation
Spokespersons: Noel Communication Inc.
Tel: 03-3760-9690 / Fax: 03-5408-8433 / Email: press@noelcom.co.jp

• The Wonder 500™ - A METI Subsidy Project for “Hometown Specialty” Discovery and Coordinated Promotional Activities - (PDF:933KB)

August 27, 2015

Creative Industries Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau