On December 19th, it was revealed that actors Natsuki Deguchi and Yuzu Aoki have been selected as the main cast for JR East's "JRSKISKI" 2024-25 campaign. The catchphrase is "White and Heat," and the poster visual has also been released.
"JR SKISKI" is a ski trip campaign that JR East has been running since 1991. It has been called the "gateway for young actors" because it has always used notable young actors, and has previously used Honda Tsubasa, Kawaguchi Haruna, Hirose Suzu, and others. This is the first time in five years that a double cast will be used since the 2019-2020 season, when Hamabe Minami and Okada Kenshi played the roles.
A JR SKISKI representative commented on the double casting of Deguchi and Aoki, "For this year's project, just like last year's, we looked back at what we have considered to be 'JR SKISKI-like expressions' and came up with expressions that would better reach young people today. We decided on double casting because we wanted to express the perspectives of both the girls' group and the boys' group, and to reduce story and arbitrary direction and give the audience a realistic sense of the winter world."
When asked why they were chosen, he said, "They are the faces of this season, and have the support of young people, so their use feels fresh. Also, in order to express a realistic winter world like this one, we chose them because they have the acting ability to produce natural expressions."
◇The past catchphrases and cast members are as follows (titles omitted):
1991-1992 "Yukito, Yukionna." ZOO 1992-1993 "We're not cold." ZOO 1993-1994 "To the animals that don't hibernate." ZOO 1994-1995 "Let's have a good winter." ZOO 1995-1996 "Let's take it easy." Esumi Makiko and Takenouchi Yutaka 1996-1997 "Let's take it easy." Aoyama Kyoko and Tanabe Seiichi 1997-1998 "Let's find our own snow." Hamada Masatoshi 1998-1999 "Snow for love, white for romance." Yoshikawa Hinano 2006-2007 "Anything goes, snow." Kimura Kaela 2012-2013 "Youth is pure white." Honda Tsubasa 2013-2014 "It's all because of the snow." Kawaguchi Haruna 2014-2015 "Ask the snow for the answer." Hirose Suzu 2015-2016 "Is there snow there?" Yamamoto Maika and Taira Yuna 2016-2017 "Winter has come to my heart." Sakurai Hinako 2017-2018 "Take me skiing on the Shinkansen." Harada Tomoyo 2018-2019 "There is heat in this snow." Matsumoto Honoka and Ito Kentaro 2019-2020 "This snow will not disappear." Hamabe Minami and Okada Kenshi 2020-2021 "Change the winter air." Honda Tsubasa 2021-2022 "That winter is calling." None 2022-2023 "Let's get winter back." Minami Sara 2023-2024 "Snow, please support me." Hiyori Sakurada 2024-2025 "White and Heat." Natsuki Deguchi and Yuzu Aoki
