Let's Deliver Happiness

In which I dive into the world of Japanese companies' songs

The other day, I learned that Japanese companies have songs. Yes, you read that right. Japanese companies have songs (and you thought corporate America was weird enough). But not only that, there even is a contest!

Before going into any details, here’s this year’s winner:

The song was written and performed by employees of this (credit-card) company. When I first watched it, I was blown away but the sheer Japanness of it all. But it somehow also has very strong Eurovision Song Contest vibes.

You can find more information about the contest here. My browser’s auto-translate function tells me the main motivation of the contest is the following:

“A song with the soul of the company, a company song. We are looking for videos that sing such company songs as you like and shoot them as you like so that each company's uniqueness will come out. We sincerely look forward to your company song filled with the charm of your company.”

OK, now wait until you’ve seen the runner up, produced by the Japan Nutrition and Feeding Association and entitled "Let's deliver happiness". They’re not over-promising!

So, yes, you can eat a fried egg with chopsticks, and that’s just the beginning of it. I didn’t get the connection of food and pirates, but bonus points for the inclusion of those happy cartoon vegetables. Incredible.

Also, now I’m craving Japanese something awful (but I can do without the pirates).

The third place (Kenji Midorikawa Award) “expresses the passion of eel masters in pursuit of delicious eels”:

The sheer amateurishness of some of the songs has its own charms. Here’s Jit Company:

Happiness delivered. ヾ(＾-＾)ノ

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Meanwhile, I am very grateful for this write-up of my photobook Vaterland over at The Washington Post. Kenneth Dickerman writes:

“As I wrote in an email to Colberg some time after receiving his book, the work in “Vaterland” is not usually the kind of work that I gravitate toward. What I didn’t tell him, though, was that for whatever reason, something about the book kept nagging at me. Colberg writes above that he intended for his book to express a mood. In my mind, it is very successful at that. Indeed, that’s what kept nagging me about the book.”

This reaction has me hopeful. I didn’t set out to make a book only for people who’d be naturally attracted to these kinds of pictures. My hope was to also somehow reach other people. This is one of the reasons why the book itself is a pretty modest affair: it’s relatively small, and it doesn’t telegraph “hey, I’m a precious art book”.

I have some ideas for how to disseminate the work further. But for that to happen the very basic restrictions imposed by the pandemic have to be lifted (plus, I need to find stable employment first).

Anyway, if you want to buy a copy from me (I still have plenty), please send me an email (jmcolberg@gmail.com).

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As always thank you for reading!

— Jörg

I’m a freelance writer, photographer, and educator currently living and working in the US.

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