Host of Prime Video’s The Grand Tour is set to go on  his quest to understand a truly remarkable country in this brand new Prime  Original series

James May’s Our Man In...Japan goes into  production now, and will launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in over 200  countries and territories

LONDON –  11 March, 2019 – Amazon Studios today announced it has commissioned the six-part unscripted  series Our Man In... Japan with James May (The Grand Tour,  Top Gear, James May’s Man Lab, James May’s Car of the People, Toy Stories).  The new UK Prime Original series 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). The  team start filming today, and will launch exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in  over 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Fifteen  years after James May first visited Japan as a baffled tourist, he embarks on a  quest to understand the unique, extraordinary and complex country. The  birthplace of the haiku and classical art forms driven by the principles of  Wabi (stark beauty) and Sabi (natural inspiration) and Yugen (grace and  subtlety), Japan is also the place that’s given us Godzilla, Hello Kitty,  Cosplay, and some of the strangest obsessions on the planet. James will embark  on an epic journey across all of Japan from North to South, determined to  understand why this unique land and its people are the way they are, what  drives their whole culture and what their approach to life can teach the rest  of us. James can’t speak the language, he is clueless about Japanese etiquette,  but at least he knows there’s a small tree called a banzai...

‘Japan is  the most amazing place I’ve ever visited,’ said James 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,’ said 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, which will see more of the  popular presenters on Prime Video in the coming years. Season three of The  Grand Tour launched on 18th January, 2019, with new episodes  releasing every Friday exclusively on Prime Video worldwide. Amazon also  announced that the Prime Original worldwide hit TV series has been renewed; The  Grand Tour series four will go into production in 2019 and will see  Clarkson, Hammond & May ditch the tent and take on big adventure road trips  that fans around the world love.