Prompts mayor to ask “Is this another one of your American jokes?“

Since landing in Japan earlier this week, American talk show host Conan O’Brien has been sharing his brand of comedy with the people of Tokyo, turning heads in a “kawaii” outfit on the streets of Harajuku and dining on a traditional kaiseki meal with his straight-faced associate producer Jordan Schlansky.

▼ He even took time out to rent a Japanese family for a day.

While Conan’s Tokyo shenanigans were being filmed for an upcoming Japan special on his show, the main reason for his trip was to visit a rural town in Tottori Prefecture called “Conan Town“. So on Thursday, he and his team made their way to Tottori, and the day before his arrival, the town of Hokuei shared the details of Conan’s schedule on their official Twitter account, inviting everyone to join them for what promised to be a special day.

Conan O'Brien is coming to Hokuei on Thurs., Sep. 6:

★10:55AM: Arrival to Tottori Airport (All Welcome!)

★Afternoon: Filming on location in Hokuei.

★1:30PM: BBQ at Yura Conan Station.

(1,000 hamburgers available, first-come-first-serve)

PARKING: Town Office, JA ... — 北栄町 (Hokuei Town) (@koho_hokuei) September 5, 2018

However, just as Conan was due to arrive at Tottori Airport at 10:55 a.m., this video suddenly appeared on the comedian’s social media channels.

As it turns out, Conan and his team had arrived at Yonago Airport, which is also known as Miho Airbase, a Japan Air Defense Force base which shares its runway with civil activities. How on Earth Conan and his team, including a native Japanese interpreter, managed to mistake “Yonago Airport” for “Tottori Airport” seems mind-boggling, but one possible explanation could be that they were travelling by private plane.

▼ The map below shows Hokuei (Conan Town) lies between the two airports.

When the town of Hokuei heard about the mix-up, they were understandably puzzled, sending out this tweet in response, saying: “You arrived at Yonago Airport!? Is this another one of your American Jokes???”

As it turns out, this wasn’t a comedy bit by Conan, but an actual error that meant he missed out on this welcome from fans who had assembled at Tottori Airport to meet him.

Conan was keen to let everyone know he was frantically racing to meet them as he made his way to Conan Town in a taxi with his travelling companions.

Finally, Conan arrived at Conan Town, and his late arrival was quickly forgotten as fans expressed their glee at meeting the star. While American Conan refrained from dressing in the same bow tie and blue jacket as anime Conan, he did wear a necktie and boxy green jacket that created a passing resemblance to the star of Detective Conan.

Then it was time to meet Mayor Matsumoto, with the two exchanging honorary sashes. Conan’s says “Mayor for the day“, while Mayor Matsumoto’s says…Miss Iowa.

After their meeting, the two mayors headed out to Conan Station to address the public, with Conan giving a speech in Japanese to the people of Conan Town, who cheered him for his efforts.

Formalities over, it was time to get to the fun part of the day, with Conan donning an apron to fulfil his pledge to give away free burgers. However, there was another surprising hitch that couldn’t go unnoticed, especially given that U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Ambassador Hagerty, had suggested the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo provide U.S. beef for the occasion.

Dear Mayor Matsumoto @koho_hokuei, I’d be pleased to assist w/your negotiations! Let’s work w/ @USDAJapan colleagues to enjoy tasty U.S. beef! I hear it goes well w/the local specialty “rakkyou” (pickled shallot). Btw, I like my hamburger medium rare! 🍔 #ConanJapan @ConanOBrien — ジョセフ・M・ヤング 駐日米国臨時代理大使 (@USAmbJapan) September 4, 2018

As these photos show, Conan ended up cooking batches of burgers made with Australian beef, and even wore an apron with the distinctive Aussie Beef logo, which includes the map of Australia.

Great to see @ConanOBrien in Japan cooking True Aussie beef burgers https://t.co/uUXmkUfaEJ pic.twitter.com/XY1LTfFbSG — Michael Finucan (@MichaelFinucan) September 6, 2018

Not only did the USDA miss out on an opportunity to promote their meat, but the Aussie beef element put a twist on Conan’s original pledge to parachute a steer from America into Conan Town so they could make “perfect American hamburgers”.

Still, regardless of the meat used, it was clear that burger diplomacy saved the day, helping to settle the beef between Conan and the good people of Conan Town.

Then it was time for Conan to head back to Tokyo, but before he left he met with the Governor of Tottori Prefecture, Shinji Hirai, who presented him with a sword and a key to the city, and then arranged a ceremonial send-off for the star.

▼ Tottori is famous for its Shan Shan Festival, held every August, in which a parade of dancers perform with rainbow umbrellas.

Conan’s meeting with the mayor and his parasol dance at the airport even appeared on Japanese news reports.

And that tongue-in-cheek comedy bit about Conan coming to collect three trillion yen from the mayor? It appears that got settled too.

The good-natured to-and-fro between Conan and the mayor created a very special friendship between the two, and before Conan left Tottori, Mayor Matsumoto had one final message for his new pal:

Dear Conan O'Brien and Team Coco:

Thank you for coming to Hokuei ("Conan Town") today. It was a wonderful day for our residents.

We will never forget the taste of the hamburgers you cooked us. Please be careful not to jump on the wrong flight on the way home... https://t.co/dhosOjOV2T — 北栄町 (Hokuei Town) (@koho_hokuei) September 6, 2018

It appears that Conan did take care not to jump on the wrong flight on the way home, as he shared this clip of himself in Tokyo this morning.

Sliding past the screen on a travelator, presumably making his exit from the airport, Conan drops the mike on Tottori and now all that’s left to do is wait for the mayor to appear on his show in the near future. We’ll let you know when that happens!

Source: Facebook/teamcoco

Featured image: Instagram/teamcoco