Kigurumi -- Tarako, Tarako, Tarako（たらこ・たらこ・たらこ）

I grew up eating Japanese food whether it be dishes such as tempura and udon. Sushi and sashimi, strangely enough, were delicacies that I didn't get into until I went to Japan on that summer 1981 trip with the Toronto Japanese Language School. On that trip, I also fell in love with unagi and unagi-don for the first time. Of course, since then, I've been able to enjoy a lot of dishes such as okonomiyaki, chawanmushi and yosenabe. At the same time, though, I simply could never appreciate staples such as natto or shiokara; certain fermented Japanese foods just don't sit well with me, I'm afraid.

Years it took, but I was finally able to eat and even like (to a certain extent) motsu (cow intestines) at the yakiniku grill, although I will probably never get around to motsu nabe. Another far less graphic food from my ancestral homeland that I've come to savor is tarako（鱈子）. As the video above will let you know, tarako is salted cod roe. Initially, the idea of eating thousands of former potential baby fish while in their sacs didn't quite enthrall me but enough trips to the izakaya with friends and students gradually got me accustomed in the medium where I've usually eaten tarako: tarako pasta.

A few times, I've even bought Kewpie's tarako pasta sauce which came in a plastic bottle similar to the one that houses its world-famous mayonnaise. It can be used to spread on toast but for me, I used it for its original purpose: mixing it into cooked spaghetti. I quite enjoyed the taste for some years. As for the above video, I guess Kewpie also put the stuff into foil-lined pouches as well.

You may have also noticed the jingle with the commercial. Well, in 2004, it was first used as a march for the tarako pasta sauce with the speedy circus-like melody concocted by Chiba-born composer Koji Ueno（上野耕路）with lyrics added by commercial director Ryoichi Kato（加藤良1）. Then, according to an article in the Nikkei Sangyo Newspaper, in March 2006, a planning director from Victor Entertainment, Eiko Hirai*（平井映子）, sent an email over to Kewpie and proposed the idea of making the song a single.

*There are a number of readings for that first name「映子」, but I've gone with Eiko here. Let me know if you hear otherwise.

Some months later, a couple of girls, Haruka and Rena（ハルカ・レナ）, were recruited to form the duo Kigurumi（キグルミ）and their debut single happened to be that tarako pasta sauce jingle, now known as "Tarako, Tarako, Tarako" and was released in September of that year. I remember seeing the commercial on heavy rotation and first wondered if those things on the girls' heads were chili peppers or rice crackers. Indeed, the red shapes were representations of the distinctive cod roe.

Hopefully, Ms. Hirai got a huge bonus and promotion since "Tarako, Tarako, Tarako" became a hit, hit, hit. Much in the same vein as the Regain vitamin drink commercial around the turn of the decade into the 90s and the Hitachi ads from the 1970s, the cod roe ad song became the earworm of choice as it went all the way up to No. 2 on Oricon. It even went Platinum. But as the famous commercial catchphrase goes, "WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!".

In December of that year, there was even an Xmas version with some rockin' jingle bells. Plus, Kigurumi, with an average age of around 10.5, became the youngest female group to score a Top 10 hit on Oricon. In addition, they broke the record of a girl group debuting with the highest rank on the charts in history, and won a special award at the Japan Record Awards that year. If it weren't for the fact that NHK is a public channel without corporate sponsors, Kigurumi would have probably been invited to the Kohaku Utagassen, too.

Haruka and Rena graduated from the duo in 2008, to be replaced by Miki and Kei（ミキ・ケイ）, and apparently the duo is still active, or at least, hasn't officially retired. Y'know, I wouldn't mind seeing that Kewpie tarako pasta sauce here in Toronto; perhaps there might be some in the Asian supermarkets.