Interest
Seaside Town of Iwami Celebrates Upcoming Free! Prequel
posted on by Eric Stimson
Iwami, a seaside town in Japan's Tottori Prefecture, served as the model for Iwatobi, the setting of Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club. With the prequel film to Free!, High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-, set to release on December 5, Iwami is celebrating with a campaign to lure more aficionados of cute boys in swim trunks to the town.
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Iwami welcomes arrivals in cars at the Kinanse Iwami Roadside Station with a wall covered with High Speed! posters. Other places are expected to get "hijacked" by posters in the future.
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The Iwami Tourism Association is selling advance tickets to High Speed! for 1,500 yen ($12.20) from November 14 to December 4; these stickers may come included (they are assigned at random).
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Certain hotels in Iwami will also give their customers this exclusive High Speed! postcard. The campaign starts on November 17 and lasts all the way until November 16, 2016.
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The town will offer a "stamp rally" beginning on December 5: visitors to various spots around Iwami can collect stamps to win this exclusive High Speed! postcard. This campaign will last until March 31.
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Tokyoites weary of the urban rat race can attend the Tottori Iwami Ijū Kōryū Fair, which promotes Iwami as a living and working destination. It will be held at the Yaesu exit of Tokyo station on December 5 and 6. Visitors on the first day can pick up a free Free! clear file.
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The Iwami Tourism Association will also start selling original High Speed! merchandise later in November, beginning with these stickers for 540 yen ($4.40).
Iwami has been a "pilgrimage" location for Free! fans for quite some time, with locations like the Tajiri Port and Uradome Swim Hall recreated in the anime. Iwami promises to post a guide to locations recreated in High Speed! as well.
[Via Nijimen and Iwami-chō Kankō Kyōkai official site]