MOMOYA TV-Ads009-1960-Kanichi and Omiya

Time: 60 sec.

Product Name: EDO-MURASAKI

Description of Product: EDO-MURASAKI is a savory preserve made of seaweed, called “Nori-no-tsukudani” in Japanese. It is made with soy sauce, sugar and mirin (rice wine.) 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 Title: Kanichi and Omiya is the names of the characters appeared in the famous Japanese novel “Konjiki Yasha,” or “The Usurer,” by Ozaki Koyo.

This piece is a witty parody based on a mixture of 2 popular literatures of the Meiji period. One is the novel of Koyo Ozaki titled “Konjiki Yasha,” or “The Usurer,”andthe other is “Hototogisu,” or “The Cuckoo,” a novel written by Roka Tokutomi. Until now, both these stories have been frequently adapted by play, film and TV drama. In this TV ad, the setting of Atami beach in Shizuoka prefecture, the male character named Kanichi, and the part of narrative that Kanichi kicks a lady strongly are borrowed from Ozaki’s “Konjiki Yasha.” Since Kanichi is described as a student in the original, he puts on classic type of Japanese school uniform such as a jacket called the Gakuran or Tsume-eri that has a standing collar. On the other hand, the female character in Kimono is Namiko, the protagonist of Tokutomi’s “Hototogisu.”