MOMOYA TV-Ads003-1960-The Great Swordmen

Time: 60 sec.

Product Name: EDO-MURASAKI

Description of Product: EDO-MURASAKI is a seasoned seaweed paste, “Nori-no-tsukudani” in Japanese, which is made from seaweed, soy sauce, sugar and so on. It is preservable, and often eaten with Japanese rice.

Year: 1960

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Television Corporation of Japan

Description of Titile: “Kengo”, a great swordsman in English, is a samurai who is highly skilled in the use of the Japanese sword.

This piece is an omnibus composed by the parodies about 3 great swordmen of Japanese legends and history. The one-eyed and one-armed Samurai who appears first resembles Sazen Tange, the protagonist of the novel of Fubo Hayashi. Then, the scene changes with a wipe effect, one of the montage techniques of the movie, and a Sojuro-hooded hero on a white horse turns up. He is a burlesque of Kurama-Tengu that is the title of the novel by Jiro Osaragi and also a nickname for its main character. Finally, Kunisada-Chuji, the righteous character of the late Edo period, is introduced as the third swordman of the omnibus. This 30-second part of Kunisada had been broadcasted since 1958, and selected for one of the “best 100 TV advertisements of the Showa period” in 1991.