LOVELOCK - The film crew from the Japanese travel show "Sekai no Hate Made ItteQ" (translated as "Travel to the Edge of the World") was in Lovelock from July 18 through July 21.
The crew filmed a segment for the show in the Lover's Lock Plaza July 20 with two of the many hosts of the show, Petsuro Degawa and Ritna Sari Dewi Soekarno, also known as Dewi Sukarno.
When the Lovelock Review-Miner caught up with them, the two stars were putting a lock on the chains in the plaza. When asked if they were locking their love, the question brought laughter from the filming audience.
"Oh no, I am number one most rejected man in Japan," Degawa said, which brought more laughter from the film crew and his co-star.
This could be true. According to the Amine News Network website www.animenewsnetwork.com, Degawa is a stand-up comedian and is famous in Japan for being one of the country's most hated TV personalities.
He was voted the No. 1 most hated TV personality for five years straight, from 2001 to 2005. So it remains a mystery as to what they were locking with the lock.
His co-host Sukarno said that the group was in Lovelock working with JP Aerospace to launch the two into outer space, which also brought laughter from the film crew.
Sukarno, a small elegant looking woman, is the widow of the first president of the Republic of Indonesia, Achmed Sukarno.
According to the website www.japan-zone.com, Sukarno married the Indonesian leader when she was 19 in 1959. She was the third of his nine wives and the couple had one child together.
Production coordinator Takahiko Katayama, with Zazou Productions, explained that look-alike dolls of the Degawa and Sukarno were put on the rocket so that it would look like they were in outer space.
Zazou Productions is a company from New York City that acts as a liaison for Japanese companies that come to the U.S. for photo shoots. Katayama also translated for Degawa and Sukarno. He said that Degawa and Sukarno are not the only hosts of the show but the most regular hosts to be seen on the show.
When asked what he thought about Lovelock, Degawa said, "It's small."
In a later interview with Katayama, he said that it seemed as though Degawa and Sukarno enjoyed their stay in Lovelock.
"Most of us came from big cities like Tokyo, New York or San Francisco, so it was quite an adventure for all of us," Katayama said.
The show will air sometime in September, Katayama said. It will only be seen on Japanese television stations, not on the Internet, he said. The show is produced by the Nippon Television Network Corp.
John Powell, founder of JP Aerospace, confirmed that the company did launch the Degawa and Sukarno dolls. However, the launch was a giant V-shaped airship, not a rocket, Powell said.
"We had a lot of fun with the crew. We do a lot of work for Japanese TV and other Japanese companies," Powell said.
He added that this was the first time the company had used the Lovelock site, located approximately 20 miles east of Lovelock, to launch the high altitude V-shaped balloon that flies next to the edge of the atmosphere about 20 to 25 miles from earth.
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