As I haven’t officially started teaching, or even going to schools, and as how I will continue to not be doing these things for the next couple weeks, I have found myself watching a lot of Japanese TV. In any case, the television is almost always turned on, so I’m almost always listening to it. So, I’ve found myself watching a lot of Japanese commercials in the process, and I’d like to take a short look at impressions I’ve gotten about how this country goes about advertising on what is apparently this country’s most important medium.
Pictured: Actual Japanese telivision program which probably had some commercials
From what I have gathered, at any given time, Japan has about 3 or 4 commercials in circulation among the networks. From this point, every commercial also has a fun and catchy, or emotional and saddening, song or jingle playing at the same time. So as you’re watching TV, you watch them over and over again. And then over and over again. And the really special thing about these commercials is that they are that special kind of irritating, where you know you hate it, but at the same time you can’t help but look. And so every time you hear that commercial come on, you’ve already heard it and seen it at least 20 or 30 times already, but you just can’t help to look up from whatever it is you’re doing to watch it one more time. I’d like to show some examples and hope they can illustrate my point:
First we have this little number, advertising a computer graphics and special effects technical college:
When I first saw this commercial I had absolutely no idea it was advertising a college. I thought it was some kind of new…well hell in this country it could have been anything. I just went with it. But upon the 10th or 11th viewing, I realized it was for a college, and I thought that if I would have seen that kind of commercial for a college which all but guarantees that I’d be able to meet attractive women and then give them the power to summon a car with robot arms, turn into a cartoon and back, and then blow a whole into the very fabric of reality for some reason, then I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this. I’d be doing that. I researched the school a little bit and found out that its specialized for computer graphics and video games, so the commercial made a lot more sense at that point, but I still enjoy to watch it again any chance I can get.
Next up we have this touching little number staring musical artist and actress Ryoko Hirosue:
Again, upon watching this for the first time, I had no idea what I was looking at. Is she in love with me? Do her feelings for me go oven deeper than that? Are the words that she speaks to me supposed to impose deep and tragic stomach pain not unlike is shown in the next shot of the salaryman? Does it get so bad that is it comparable to two small grenades being thrown into your stomach and then encapsulating your very insides?? What terrible problems are we having that they have risen to this level of seriousness?!
Don't look at me like that, Ryoko! We can work it out!!
Upon further research, this whole commercial is trying to stress how important the stomach is to everything you do in life and you should take care of it. How do you take care of it? Give it these cabbage pills. I’m not sure whether or not taking these pills makes Ryoko Hirosue love you or not, but after 3 weeks of eating cabbage pills I can say with some confidence that no, no they do not.
And finally we have my personal favorite commercial of my time in Japan so far. No matter what I’m doing, whether it be in the shower, in the bathroom, or in the kitchen doing whatever it is I do there, I will run to the living room to watch this commercial. Unfortunately I can’t find the cut that’s on TV on youTube, but these three combined will have to do. First of all, the most basic:
The the cut I’ve been watching on TV, that dramatic cut of his head blasting upwards at the camera occurs 3 times, in the same 15 second time frame. And it gets more and more hilarious every time I see it. If possible, watch that last one again 3 or 4 more times to get an idea. This next one is the extended, possibly original version (director’s original unedited too extreme for theaters)
Mr. Wakeup’s introduction from 0:08-0:12 might be the coolest thing ever. You just can’t help but to root for this guy. He clearly does not need whatever kind of energy drink this is. The rest of the commercial is kind of boring, he doesn’t even do the cool eye sweep up to the camera. Luckily, one very wonderful person on youTube was kind enough to edit a version that perfectly portrays my feelings when watching this commercial:
Can’t wait to see what kind of batch of commercials next week brings.
