Japanese entertainer Kazuhito Kosaka, stage name Daimaou Kosaka (the great demon king) and best known as Pikotaro, has released a follow-up to the 2016 viral single ‘PPAP: Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen’. Aptly named PPAP-2020, the new song is the singer’s bid to use the unforgettable melody of the original song as a way to remind people to wash their hands in a bid to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the new video, Pikotaro dances in his trademark fashion, but this time the lyrics, rather than being about combining pens and pineapples to form pen-pineapple-pens, he suggests combining soap and hand to yield a “clean hand”.
He ends the message on an inspirational note, giving the full form of PPAP to mean “Pray for People and Peace” and saying “We will win”.
Pikotaro’s 2016 tune had become the shortest-ever song to make its way to the US Billboard Hot 100. Though it was incredibly viral, it cost only about 100,000 yen to make (around Rs 69,000).
Japan on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in seven districts. The country had over 3,900 cases of the novel coronavirus and had suffered over 90 deaths.
