MOMOYA TV-Ads147-1979- Matchmaking

Time: 30 sec.

Product Name: NIKOMI-TSUYU

Description of Product: NIKOMI-TSUYU, a flavoring liquid made from bonito, seaweed and mirin, is a soup stock for simmering dishes such as Udon noodles, Japanese hotpot and so on.

Year: 1979

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Cinq Co., Ltd.

Beginning with a close-up of Shishi-odoshi, means a deer scarer in Japanese, the scene changes into a Japanese-style room called Washitsu. There, a young lady and a man quietly sit face to face with a table between them. Then, a middle-aged woman starts introducing the lady, namely her daughter, listing her specialties and hobbies; the Japanese art of flower arrangement called Ikebana or Kado, the Japanese tea ceremony known as Chado or Sado, dressmaking, tennis, golf and Mahjong game. This part, especially the latter 3 activities, remarkably represents the life and culture of young female in those days. The contrast between a calm background music performed by Koto and the hectic lines of these characters effectively enhances its atmosphere of a comedy.

MOMOYA TV-Ads146-1979-Ta-Re-Mi-Fa

Time: 30 sec.

Product Name: YAKINIKU-NO-TARE

Description of Product: YAKINIKU-NO-TARE is a sauce for “Yakiniku” which literally means grilled or barbequed meats.

Year: 1979

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Cinq Co., Ltd.

Description of Title: This title, “Ta-Re-Mi-Fa,” is a sort of a wordplay which used the phonic similarity of two words; one is “Do-Re-Mi-Fa” of solfege in music, and the other is “Tare” that is a part of the product name of this TV ad.

With a burlesque of a famous Scottish folk song “Comin’ thro’ the Rye,” an extreme long shot of pastoral scenery zooms in livestock and a white homestead with a red spire, and then dissolves into a shot of a boy and a girl in Kimono, who enjoys Yakiniku grilling as a picnic lunch. Then, a cow, a pig, a sheep and a chicken come by a fence to join them. Partly, the voice-over narration parodies the lines of “Iroha,” an old Japanese poem which contains 47 characters of the Japanese syllabary exactly once. Also, the melody, from low to high then back to a low tone, is quoted from “Do-Re-Mi,” a well-known tune of a musical and movie “The Sound of Music.”

MOMOYA TV-Ads144-1979-Smash Hit

Time: 30 sec.

Product Name: CHANTO-CHA-HAN

Description of Product: CHANTO-CHA-HAN is a seasoning with ingredients for a popular rice dish of Chinese cuisine or other forms of Asian cuisine called “Cha-han,” namely fried rice.

Year: 1979

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Cinq Co., Ltd.

In a stage with colorful and glaring light, 4 girls in costumes of the same design appear. In the following bird's-eye view shot, a young male musician who put a chef hat on his head starts singing in the spotlight. This TV ad parodies a TV music program “The Best Ten” which was broadcasted by Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc. from 1978 to 1989. Presenting the weekly rankings in Japanese music scene, it was one of the most popular TV shows in those days. In this program, adapted version of “YOUNG MAN (Y.M.C.A.),” a smash hit of Hideki Saijo in 1979, was introduced as a top-ranking song with the highest score. This is why a description of ‘for young man’ was superimposed under a title of a burlesque song in the beginning of this piece.

MOMOYA TV-Ads135-1979-Tipsy Lurch

Time: 30 sec.

Product Name: EDO-MURASAKI-OTOSAN-GAMBATTE

Description of Product: EDO-MURASAKI-OTOSAN-GAMBATTE 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: 1979

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Cinq Co., Ltd.

This is an omnibus-style TV advertisement that consists of 4 stories on the subject of ‘father,’ with full of satires on Japanese households of that time. In the first episode, a drunken office worker staggers home. Finding a silhouette of his wife with 2 horns like Oni, a demon-like creature from Japanese folklore, he strikes a pose of the salute. Then, his daughter hangs a ladder for him from the window of the second floor. In the next scene, a man sees his wife and daughter off at the entrance hall of his house. Knowing his father is going to play a Mahjong game during their absence, the daughter closes her eyes to it. The third father does homework hard for his son. Finally, in front of a mirror, a young daughter cheers her father up with a smile.

MOMOYA TV-Ads145-1979-Career Woman

Time: 30 sec.

Product Name: TSUYU

Description of Product: TSUYU, a flavoring liquid made from bonito, seaweed and mirin, is a soup stock for noodles. Also, it is served as a sauce for tempura, and added to teriyaki and other marinades.

Year: 1979

Advertiser: Momoya Co., Ltd.

Advertising Agency: YOMIKO Advertising Inc.

Production Company: Cinq Co., Ltd.