Once bitten by Canadian winter, twice not so shy: popular Japanese TV actor Saburo Tokito has developed quite an affinity for Canada. The Japan office of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) worked with industry partners to bring Tokito back to these shores for a second visit in a year, this time to Alberta and Yukon, which concluded March 1.

The Japanese TV star is producing an iPhone app based on his travels in Canada. In October ’11 he had the pleasure of going out by tundra buggy in Churchill, MB, to see the polar bears. This time around, his Albertan highlights included the frozen beauty of the Johnston Canyon IceWalk plus a good soak in the Canadian Rockies Hot Springs. Further north, Tokito had a visual treat on a Yukon Aurora Tour as well as other experiences in the territory.

All these adventures are part of the 100-plus strong Signature Experiences Collection^® (SEC), CTC’s tourism adrenaline-inducing program that’s spreading its wings around the country.

Here’s a taste of the IceWalk:

Tokito chronicled his travels on his blog, Twitter feed, Facebook pageand photo gallery—a true 21^st-century traveller!

In other TV-related news, “Love…so do I” debuted on Imagica TV in Japan on March 11. This moving story of love and loss was filmed in Alberta last year, with CTC working alongside Travel Alberta, Air Canadaand Banff & Lake Louise Tourism to make it all possible. Starring Miho Shiraishi, Rina Uchiyama and Ichikawa Yui, the drama focuses on these three women rediscovering themselves in Canada.

Imagica TV has incorporated a prize campaign to promote a special tour package to Canada on its website. There is also a tour operator call-to-action campaign, which showcases Canada products developed by major Japanese tour operators. Travel Alberta has also blended footage from the series into their 2012 spring campaign.

On Feb. 26, Imagica TV hosted a special launch event off the TV drama for media peeps and 60 consumers selected through a pre-launch online competition. The event featured Canadian experiences shared through a talk show with the three actresses. Imagica TV also filmed an additional travel show. Here, Shiraishi acted as a guide to showcase CTC’s winter signature experiences as well as local flavours and lifestyle. The travel show will be aired in combination with a “making-of-the-TV drama” special program.