MOMOYA TV-Ads007-1961-Tsukigata Noriheita

Time: 30 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: 1961

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Television Corporation of Japan

Description of Title: "Tsukigata Hampeita" is the title of the play written by Japanese playwright and novelist Yukitomo Rifu, and also the name of its protagonist. This title, “Tsukigata Noriheita,” is a kind of wordplay as “Norihei” is the name of an animated character appeared in TV advertisements by Momoya Co., Ltd.

The opening of this TV ad begins with a track left the night view with pine trees, a mountain range of Higashiyama in Kyoto prefecture, shiny stars and crescent. Soon the view captures and zooms in the five-storied pagoda. The following scene introduces a young Samurai who eats a heaped rice bowl of Chazuke, a soup-type Japanese rice dish and a Geisha sitting in front of him. They are a parody of the characters from the play “Tsukigata Hampeita” written by Japanese playwright and novelist Rifu Yukitomo. Another Samurai with a traditional Japanese straight-sleeved coat Happi shows up in the middle of this piece. He is also a burlesque character of Isami Kondo who is known as commander of the Shinsengumi, a special police force of the late Edo period.

MOMOYA TV-Ads006-1961-Urashima Taro

Time: 30 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: 1961

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Television Corporation of Japan

Description of Title: "Urashima Taro" is the title of Japanese legend and also the name of its protagonist. The story is about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and his visit to Ryugu Jo, or the Palace of the Dragon, as a reward.

It begins with the long shot of a soaring crag on the sea, and then zooms in to focus a young man with a fishing rod on the top. Meanwhile, a turtle emerges on the sea surface, and lead him into the seabed. This piece is a parody of Japanese legend and fairy tale called “Urashima Taro,” a story about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and his trip to Ryugu-jo, or the Palace of the Dragon, as a reward. Concerning the animation, the seawater is colored darkly, and the surface is painted by white wiggly line to describe a dividing line between the see and the air. Also, it is remarkable that numerous floating small white circles are portrayed to show bubbles under the sea.

MOMOYA TV-Ads008-1961-Yagi-bushi

Time: 30 sec.

Product Name: EDO-MURASAKI

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

Year: 1961

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Television Corporation of Japan

Description of Titile: Yagi-bushi is the music for a regional folk dance “Bon-odori”.

It begins with the bird's-eye view of a big stand named Gion-yatai, also called Mai-yatai or Kyodai-yatai that can be seen in Japanese festival such as Kiryu Yagibushi Matsuri of Gumma prefecture,and then zooms in gradually to itsstage. In the following shot, a man sings a parody of a regional folk music “Yagi-bushi” that has been carried down to people in Yagi area, a borderland between Tochigi and Gumma prefectures. He ties Nejiri-hachimaki, a twisted Tenugui towel, on his forehead, wraps a white cotton or hemp-made cloth called Sarashi around his stomach, wears a classic Happi coat lacing up its straightsleeves by Tasuki cord, and puts on Tabi, a traditional Japanese socks. Thus, the atmosphere of Japanese festival is well represented in this piece with those depictions of setting, music and costume.