After K-pop's Gangnam Style, a Japanese song goes viral

Japanese DJ Piko-Taro performs the song Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen on the music video. [Photo/Weibo]

After the enormous popularity of Korean pop song Gangnam Style worldwide in 2012, it seemed that nobody would be able to challenge the most-watched video on YouTube.

Middle-aged, wearing a leopard print black and yellow jacket, a Japanese man, however, is likely to reverse the trend and become the next Park Jae-sang, songwriter and singer of Gangnam Style, with his song Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen (PPAP).

In the one-minute-long tune, pen, apple and pineapple represent the three elements that constantly appear and mix with one another in the lyrics. And the catchy song is performed by DJ Piko-Taro, a fictional character played by Japanese entertainer Kazuhiko Kosaka.

"When I was creating this music, I was singing it too soon," the rising online star said on Twitter in an answer to one of his fan's questions on how he produced the tune.

Since its release on YouTube on September 24, the music video has received more than 60 million hits in just 15 days, excluding many of the parody videos made by fans.

"I'm totally trapped in the song and cannot get out of it. And each time I hear PPAP, I just want to shake my body," Sina Weibo user Mr. Xiandai said.

"PPAP is definitely a magic song. The first time I heard it, I was completely puzzled; the second time, I felt it was not that bad; the third time, I just couldn't help listening to it again and again," said Wu Shixi, a high school student in Wuhu in East China's Anhui province.