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Negicco and Sachiko Kobayashi Show Hometown Pride in the MV for “Niigata☆JIMAN!”
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Niigata’s favorite daughters Negicco and Sachiko Kobayashi have teamed up to boast about their birthplace in the MV for “Niigata☆JIMAN!” (“jiman” is Japanese for “pride” or “boast”)!
As part of the “Cultural Cities of East Asia” project which brought Negicco to Cheongju, Korea to perform on May 22, 2015, “Niigata☆JIMAN!” is a song that was composed by the sound producer of Negicco, connie and produced by Yasuharu Konishi (Pizzicato Five) to liven up events surrounding the selection of Niigata as one of the representative cities for 2015.
Nodoguro (blackthroat sea perch) or Nanban ebi (sweet shrimp)? Nao☆ can’t decide!
Filmed entirely in Niigata with Negicco leading residents in a dance at the Niigata City History Museum and all throughout the city, the MV is packed full of the great things that they and Kobayashi can brag about growing up around. Even if you have never been to Niigata before, by the time the song is done, it will be difficult to not want to go!
Midway through the song, a giant-sized Sachiko Kobayashi pops out from behind a building and joins in as Negicco leads the residents of Niigata in a N-I-I-G-A-T-A call similar to their N-E-G-I-C-C-O call. Fellow Niigata local idols RYUTist also make an appearance!
Negicco was originally established as a temporary group to promote leeks grown in Niigata in 2003. They have become internationally recognized and are pioneers of the “local idol” movement which has recently growing in strength. The “Never Give Up Girls” as they are often called, Megu, Kaede, and Nao☆ experienced their biggest success with a 5th place weekly Oricon ranking (daily 1st place) for their single “Hikari no Spur” (release date: December 2, 2014).
Negicco
Sachiko Kobayashi is one of the most popular and traditional enka (music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically) singers in Japan today. She may be in her 60’s but, is known for having a good understanding of youth culture. Recently she has been attending comic market (comike) to sell her goods and enjoy the atmosphere. That is not so unusual when you consider that she has also been involved in anime including Pokemon and Crayon Shinchan as the artist providing the theme song and as a seiyuu (voice actor).
Sachiko Kobayashi
With Negicco continuing to enjoy their hard-won success and the debut of NGT48 just a few months away, will Niigata be added to the list of cities that people must visit? If even a fraction of the things mentioned in “Niigata☆JIMAN!” are true, it just might be the next place to be in Japan!
Related links
Negicco official site : http://negicco.net/
Sachiko Kobayashi official site : http://www.sachiko.co.jp/
Culture City of East Asia 2015 Niigata website: http://culturecity-niigata.com/
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Negicco
Kai Okudara
Writer, researcher, photographer, foodie, KSDD
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