Girls’ Generation…. or is it?

My wife found this video on Youtube before we left for Japan and I’ve been meaning to share it. On the right, is the original video for “Gee” by Girls’ Generation / SNSD, which was their breakout hit a few years ago and is still really viral on the Internet.¹ My five year-old daughter has taken a huge liking for this song. Her and I once spent an hour in her bedroom playing with toys while listening to “Gee” on repeat on my iPhone. She’s learning the Korean lyrics surprisingly fast too, though the video here is the Japanese version, so most of the lyrics are Japanese.

Meanwhile, on the left… well, you’ll see:

The parody on the left is by a bunch of Japanese comedians, with the lead dancer being Nakai Masahiro from the JPop group SMAP. It’s somehow ironic given his own huge popularity as a pop idol.

Under each video are the words. On the right are the words 少女時代 (shōjo jidai), which is the Japanese translation for “Girls’ Generation”, while on the left are the words しょうわ時代 which refers to the Shōwa Period in Japanese history (1926-1989). In Japan, people commonly refer to their birth-year as year X of the reigning Emperor at that time. So, for example someone born in 1936 would say they were born in the 10th year of Showa (lit. shōwa jūnen 昭和十年) and so on. Having been born in 1977, if I were Japanese, I would say I was born in the 52nd year of Showa. Since I am not Japanese though, it might sound strange, so I just say I was born in 1977.

The joke here of course is that this is the generation born in the Showa Period, and obviously more in the “early” years of the Showa Period.

Anyway, SMAP is a truly venerable idol group in Japan and part of the same talent agency, Johnny’s, as is Arashi, Kanjani Eight and so on, though they’re about 10 years older and thus sempai. Admittedly I am not a SMAP fan. I just don’t find their music interesting, and they’re not the strongest singers. However, they’re talent lies more in their skills as an overall entertainer I think. I’ve seen them a lot in TV shows and they’re definitely interesting characters, but when I see them on stage, the music is kind of flat to me. That’s just my opinion, I’m sure SMAP fans may disagree.

I mention this though because Nakai is not the strongest singer in SMAP, but he is an excellent dancer and actually does a good job mimicking the dance numbers in “Gee”. The video is silly on the one hand, but on the other hand it is a good imitation. “Imitation is the highest form of flattery” as they say.

Anyhow, something silly for a Sunday (Monday here in Japan).

¹ Just look at all the terrible parodies out there.