Ainori - Memorable Incidents

Memorable Incidents

Although relationships between staff and participants are forbidden, some incidents involving staff have occurred:

• In South Africa, a female participant fell in love with the tour guide, and when the bus stopped at the country's border (and she realized she'd never get to see him again) she begged the producers to let her confess her love. She did and the two became a couple.
• In spring of 2006, a female participant became smitten with the audio technician (even though the two had never talked, and the audio technical had a girlfriend). This incident resulted in the female participant, a male participant who was in love with her, the audio technician, and a cameraman all returning to Japan.

Other memorable incidents include:

• In Costa Rica, three male participants were arrested by the police for exposing their buttocks to children. After five hours they were released by the staff's persuasion.
• After leaving Costa Rica, the program avoided Nicaragua because of insecurity of the political condition, and visited Jamaica. But the Nicaraguan ambassador in Japan made a protest against the program. So the program visited Nicaragua after leaving Fiji. The participants were welcomed as the sightseeing goodwill ambassadors.
• A female participant developed a physical ailment for which the doctor prohibited her from riding on the bus, or any other prolonged sitting position. Because of this, the only solution seemed that she would have to be sent home, and be eliminated from the show. However, the group came to the decision that they would ditch the bus, and walk for the rest of the trip (while carrying around all of their baggage), just so the girl could remain with them.
• In January 2006, a female participant broke down in tears and explained that three days before leaving for her Ainori trip, a male friend who she had long been harboring feelings for had finally confessed his love for her. She explained that she missed him terribly, could not get him out of her mind, and would likely not find love with any of the participants on Ainori, and thus left the show.
• In the summer of 2006, during a break in shooting when participants were on vacation back home in Japan, a female participant discovered that the male participant that she was in love with had a girlfriend in Japan, and indeed had had a girlfriend when he left for his world trip (strictly against the rules of Ainori). After all the participants were back in Europe shooting the show, the man was confronted, finally confessed the truth to his bus-mates, and left the show to return to Japan.