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Comedian Pikotaro astonished by viral success of PPAP song

TOKYO — The Japanese comedian behind the viral hit PPAP said on Friday (Oct 28) that he is astonished by the global success of his “pen-pinapple-apple-pen” song.

Japanese singer and song writer Pikotaro, also known by his comedian name Kosaka Daimaou or his real name Kazuhito Kosaka, who is a current Youtube star with his song PPAP (short for Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen), performs before media at a news conference at at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Toky on Friday (Oct 28). Photo: Reuters

Japanese singer and song writer Pikotaro, also known by his comedian name Kosaka Daimaou or his real name Kazuhito Kosaka, who is a current Youtube star with his song PPAP (short for Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen), performs before media at a news conference at at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Toky on Friday (Oct 28). Photo: Reuters

TOKYO — The Japanese comedian behind the viral hit PPAP said on Friday (Oct 28) that he is astonished by the global success of his “pen-pinapple-apple-pen” song.

Pikotaro, as he is known, debuted a two-minute “long” version of the 45-second song and answered a wide range of questions at a Tokyo news conference, from the song’s origin to whether the Japanese prime minister has called him. Sort of. His responses had the audience of journalists and others laughing, but it was often hard to separate fact from fiction.

The song costs ¥100,000 (S$1,300) to produce in a six-hour session in a rented studio, he said. He claimed he came up with the idea for the song at the house of his producer, Daimao Kosaka, which is actually his comedian stage name.

With the tune playing, he said he picked up a pen to begin writing, and thought about Kosaka, who comes from apple country. An open can of pineapples was sitting on the table, and “pen-pinapple-apple-pen” was born.

Pikotaro, whose real name is Kazuhito Kosaka according to Japanese entertainment news media, was little known before PPAP took off in September. It has more than 65 million YouTube views and was the first Japanese song in the US Billboard top 100 singles in 26 years.

In the song, he mimics stabbing an apple and a pineapple with a pen while singing simple English lyrics and dancing to a catchy beat.

As for whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called him, he responded that he doesn’t answer numbers he does not recognise on his phone, but would check his messages later to see. AP

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