Q&A
Q1
Who are the awardees, Jason Connell and Nate Fox?
Jason Connell is the Arts Creative Director and Nate Fox is the Creative Director at Sucker Punch Productions, a U.S. game developer who led the production of “Ghost of Tsushima”. If you have any further questions regarding them, please contact SIE.
Q2
In this case, a “Letter of Appreciation” and a title of “Ambassador of Tsusima” have been awarded, but have you awarded anyone else these recognitions in the past?
There have been some famous Japanese people that we have awarded these recognitions to, but this is the first time that an ambassador has been appointed to a person who has spread the name and history of Tsushima through their works.
Q3
I would like to ask why you selected these two this time?
Firstly, they spread the name and history of "Tsushima" to the whole world in such a wonderful way. Even a lot of Japanese people do not know the history of the “Gen-ko” period (first Mongolian invasion of Japan). When it comes to the world, the name and location of Tsushima is literally unknown, so I can not thank them enough for telling our story with such phenomenal graphics and profound stories.
Q4
What are the contents of the Letter of Appreciation? Also, what is the duration of the role of Ambassador of Tsusima?
The Letter of Appreciation thanks them for spreading the name and history of Tsushima to the world as described above. The appointment of Tourism Ambassador is from today until Mr. Jason and Mr. Nate no longer wish to have it. In fact, I had been thinking and discussing about appointing the role to them ever since I discovered they were using Tsushima's name as the name of their work.
Q5
What are the expectations as the role of Ambassador of Tsusima?
I did not appoint them for the purpose of having them do anything in the future. Thanks to the two of them, Sucker Punch Productions, and SIE, I have heard from people all over the world who have learned about Tsushima through their works, and now want to see, know, and go to Tsushima.
Our mission is to disseminate information in order to increase the enjoyment and satisfaction of game users without compromising the good impression of Tsushima that everyone has created for us. We hope that they and their game users will enjoy the future of Tsushima.
Q6
As a Ambassador of Tsusima, will they attend events in the future or be invited as guests?
once the major problem of Covid-19 is solved, I would love to call them to Tsushima. We hope that Mr. Jason, Mr. Nate, Soccer Punch Productions, and SIE will come to the “Tsushima” that they have spread all over the world, and that their visit will make them love Tsushima even more.
Q7
What is the background story to deciding to open a special website this time?
Since around January of last year, I was already talking with The City of Tsushima and SIE to see if we could do something together, but due to the new Coronavirus, everything had been put off. Sucker Punch and SIE have considered that because Tsushima is such a remote island, that there are various limitations with medical facility availability, and for those reasons, we all decided to refrain from promoting visitors to come to the island.
However, in response to the explosive hit of this work, we heard voices from users from all over the world who wanted to know more about Tsushima, so we proceeded with talks with Sucker Punch Productions and SIE, and we were thinking about what we could do during this time when travel to Japan is restricted. We decided that if we could show more informative and enjoyable content about Tsushima now, that when the time comes when travel to Tsushima becomes possible, the experience will be that much more enjoyable. Moving forward, we hope that communication between users will further enliven "Ghost of Tsushima".
Q8
Do you plan to appoint more Ambassadors of Tsusima in the future to help further promote the site?
I would really like to appoint all the Sucker Punch, SIE, and game users who were involved in the work as Tourism Ambassadors. Regarding the site, I would like to further develop it utilizing SNS platforms. I would like to make the site informative and enjoyable so that when people come to Tsushima, they can enjoy their experience even more from the knowledge they gain from our site.
Q9
Will you add content related to “Ghost of Tsushima” on the Tsushima website in the future?
I won't be able to answer this question at this time, but I would like you to continue to enjoy Ghost of Tsushima and check out our website which will be set up as Tsushima City for now.