If you’ve been living in a cave the last few months (and that’s not unusual) you’ve probably revisited Pikotaro and his ubiquitous “Pen Pineapple Pen” (PPAP) song and even video, because YouTube is suddenly everyone’s near-bestie (unless you have access to Netflix, in which case it’s probably Joe Exotic). Pikotaro’s 45-second tune from 2016 is infectious, it can’t be denied, and the wordplay is nearly addictive and easily adapted into other possibilities. (The “long” version clocks in at just over two-and-a-half minutes.) Pikotaro himself is riding a wave of popularity that’s hardly an overnight success.

He was born Kazuhito Kosaka in 1973 in Aomori, Japan, a country where he’s known by a couple of stage names, including Daimaou Kosaka, which roughly translates as “Demon King,” and the aforementioned Pikotaro. He’s a recording artist and TV personality who — shades of the late Andy Kaufman — insists that Pikotaro is a separate person whom Kosaka promotes.

Music hath charms to soothe a newborn baby

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