If you were on the internet six years ago, you may remember this. If you were in Japan, you certainly remember it. This was a huge fad that shot up but then quickly faded as we all moved onto the next thing.
What am I talking about? PPAP! Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen.
This was a single released in late 2016 by comedian Daimaou Kosaka. It quickly shot up to number 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart. It inspired all kinds of parodies and was everywhere for a while. As a foreigner in Japan, I couldn't go anywhere without at least one Japanese person coming up to me with a big smile and saying "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen!" then maybe singing some of the lyrics. I guess it seemed like easy English to try out with the white guy.
Let's not waste any time—here's the video! Stay with me after watching for a few more details about it as well as Kosaka. I'll also share a few of the parody videos if I can find any especially good ones. But first, the official video.
Silly, but kind of catchy, eh? According to Wikipedia it was mostly popular with Japanese students, but then in September Justin Bieber found it and shared it on Twitter and that's when it went viral and was everywhere. At the peak the video on YouTube was averaging over 1.5 million hits a day.
This song was the first I heard of Kosaka. He is a television personality so I probably came across him before, but nothing about him stuck in my mind so I don't remember. It was probably the same for many others. The only two things I've heard about him since are when he married idol Hitomi Yasueda and when Abe drafted him to sing at a reception during Donald Trump's visit.
Here's a cute parody video I found from Sesame Street
and here's a strange one with Kosaka translating for Pikachu into English
Even Hitler got into it! (wait...what)
Enjoy!
| David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
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