"PonPonPon" (stylized as PONPONPON) is a song and debut single by Japanese singer

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Kiriko Takemura ( Japanese: 竹村桐子, born January 29, 1993), known professionally as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu (Hiragana: きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ), is a Japanese tarento, singer, and model. Her public image is associated with Japan's '' kaw ...

. It was released as the lead single for her EP, '' Moshi Moshi Harajuku'', and later included on her debut album, ''

Pamyu Pamyu Revolution is the debut studio album by Japanese singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, released on May 23, 2012. The album includes the first two physical singles released by Kyary, "Tsukematsukeru" and "Candy Candy", as well as "PonPonPon", which was also included ...

''. The song was written and produced by

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese DJ and music producer. He formed the band Capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer when both were 17. The band debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura". He is known for being the ...

of Capsule. The music video, a psychedelic tribute to kawaisa and Decora culture, was released to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

on July 16, 2011, and became a viral hit.Favorite Summer Artists & Cats Grilling Out (!!!): It's Episode 2 Of MTV's Pop Music Web Show, 'Bigger Than The Buzz'!
Buzzworthy.mtv.com (2011-08-04). Retrieved on 2011-12-08. On 27 July 2012, a limited edition of a 7' LP with Side A: PONPONPON -extended mix- and Side B: Cherry Bon Bon -extended mix- was released (and re-released on 3 January 2013) exclusively for DJs. The song was launched on iTunes internationally in 23 countries, and set records for a Japanese song, reaching #1 in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and #4 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. As of 2012, the song sold over 1million digital downloads. As of 2016, the music video has over 100million views on

. Internationally, the song has been featured in G-Eazy's single "Lost in Translation",

FACE The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

's "Night Fever", and was featured in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' episode " Married to the Blob". PonPonPon is featured on the 2012 Japan game, '' Just Dance Wii 2''. ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'' in 2019 listed "PonPonPon" among the most influential J-Pop songs of the 2010s decade, noting the music video's extravagant aesthetics and electronic production.

Music video

Development

The music video for "PonPonPon" was shot by Jun Tamukai. The theme of the music video is "

kawaii ''Kawaii'' is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy and childlike.Kerr, Hui-Ying (23 November 2016)"What is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of c ...

", which means cute in Japanese. Tamukai regarded Kyary as a person bending the definition of "kawaii" by mixing it with weirdness. The art director Sebastian Masuda, of fashion brand 6%DOKIDOKI, adopted the randomness of "a room of a girl who isn't good at tidying up", adding "a taste of the 60-70s". The fashion stylist and designer for the video was Kumiko Iijima.

Synopsis

The video is a mix of 2D and 3D animation. It depicts two worlds, the first of which was created by Masuda Sebastian and looks like a room of a girl; the other is her own mental world, where her face is pink-colored. The video starts with a microphone stand coming out of Kyary's ear. The microphone stand is used to imitate the image of Freddie Mercury. In the chorus, Kyary performs a dance choreographed by air:man with the lyrics inserted as

kinetic typography Kinetic typography—the technical name for "moving text"—is an animation technique mixing motion and text to express ideas using video animation. This text is presented over time in a manner intended to convey or evoke a particular idea or emot ...

. When Kyary claps during the bridge, slices of bread appear because "pan" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of a clap, as well as the word for bread. A

combo television unit A combo television unit, or a TV/VCR combo, sometimes known as a televideo, is a television with a VCR, DVD player, or sometimes both, built into a single unit. These converged devices have the advantages (compared to a separate TV and VCR) of ...

into which a cassette is inserted is a reference to the fact that analog broadcasting stopped in Japan and was switched to digital broadcasting on July 20, the same day the song was released on iTunes Store. Kyary parodies the "Hige dance" from the 70s comedy show ''8 Ji Dayo! Zenin Shugo'' wearing a mustache and does the "kamehameha" move from the Japanese manga series '' Dragon Ball''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. Cover artwork *Steve Nakamura – art director, designer *Shinji Konishi – hair, make-up *Eri Soyama – stylist

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* - uploaded on 16 July 2011. {{Authority control 2011 singles Songs written by Yasutaka Nakata Kyary Pamyu Pamyu songs Internet memes Song recordings produced by Yasutaka Nakata Warner Music Japan singles Electropop songs Dance-pop songs Japanese songs J-pop songs