What Kind of Tree Is This Tree?
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About
"What Kind of Tree Is This Tree?" (Japanese: この木なんの木, Kono Ki Nanno Ki) is an alias of "Hitachi Tree" (日立の樹, Hitachi No Ki), a famous TV advert song for a Japanese major engineering and electronics company Hitachi.[1] Due to its large presence among Japanese people, this song has been one of the well-used musical resources for online parodies since late-2000s.
Origin
The song "Hitachi Tree" was composed by Asei Kobayashi[2] who also composed "Humans are Nice", and its lyrics was written by Akira Itou.[3] This song is played in Hitachi's famous TV advert running from 1973, which is an image advert which just displays names of Hitachi's group companies/branches in each regions before a backdrop of a large tree. And because the lyrics begins from the line "What kind of tree is this tree?", this song is better known as this alias among many Japanese people.
| Japanese (Romanized) | English Translation |
|---|---|
| kono ki nanno ki kininaru ki | What kind of tree is this tree? It's a curious tree. |
| namaemo shiranai ki desukara | Because it's a tree which name is unknown, |
| namaemo shiranai ki ni narudeshou | it will make one which we never know. |
| konoki nanno ki kininaru ki | What kind of tree is this tree? It's a curious tree. |
| mitakotomo nai ki desukara | Because it's a tree which we've never seen, |
| mitakotomo nai hana ga sakudeshou | it will bloom with flowers we've never seen. |
| ituka ha ga sigette miki ga ookiku sodatte | Leaves grow thick, Trunks grow big |
| ne wo hirogete mori ni naru hi ga mirai | Roots spread out. Then it become to forest. This is the future. |
| sonohi wo sonohi wo minnna de machimashou | Let us, Let us wait for the day together. |
| yumemite yumemite sonohi wo machimashou | Let us, Let us dream of the day together. |
| kono ki nanno ki kininaru ki | What kind of tree is this tree? It's a curious tree. |
| nanntomo fushigina ki desukara | Because it's so mysterious tree, |
| nanntomo fushigina ki ni narudeshou | it will make one mysterious. |
| kono ki nanno ki kininaru ki | What kind of tree is this tree? It's a curious tree. |
| minna ga atsumaru ki desukara | Because it's a tree where everyone gathers, |
| minna ga atsumaru mi ga narudeshou | it will bear fruits which gather everyone. |
| hito wa kite tatazumi tori wa tsubasa wo yasumete | People come and relax, Birds perch on. |
| kaze wa soyogi hoshi ga mawareba utyu | Wind breathes, Stars go on. This is the universe. |
| sonohi mo sonohi mo anata ni aimashou | Let us Let us meet again in the day. |
| konoki no konoki no shita de aimashou | Let us Let us meet under this tree. |
The tree in the adverts is also known as the "Hitachi Tree", and the most famous one is a monkeypod which grows in Moanalua Gardens, Hawaii.[4] Hitach, officially recognizes that tree which has appeared on the adverts since 1984 as its corporate symbol[5], has the agreement of the exclusive right in commercial uses for the tree with the owner of the park.
Spread
"What Kind of Tree Is This Tree?" has been sometimes used in video parodies, especially in MAD videos, since after the Japanese video sharing service Nico Nico Douga (NND) was launched in 2007.[6] Several earliest instances featuring THE iDOLM@STER[7] or Futae no Kiwami[8] were already found in that year.
The most famous MADs in this series was uploaded on February 28th 2011[9], which features "Kiiiihara-kuuuuuuuuun!!", a famous utterance by Accelerator from a Japanese TV anime A Certain Magical Index. This video had been watched over 1 million times within its first week, and nowadays it's recognized as the template for this series.
On the other hand, this MAD series is also famous for Hitachi's quite strange deletion criteria which has continued removing videos due to the infringement to their right for the tree. Dozens of famous parody videos have been taken down for a single tree even though some of them pixelated its picture.
Notable Examples
Left: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure feat. It was Me, Dio![10] | Right: Hosaka the Weirdo
Left: Broly | Right: Nenohi from Kantai Collection
Search Interest
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos listed in this section.
[2] Wikipedia – 小林亜星 (Japanese)
[3] Wikipedia – 伊藤アキラ (Japanese)
[4] Wikipedia – Moanalua Gardens
[5] HITACHI – The Hitachi Tree (Official Page)
[6] niconico Douga – Search results for the tag この木なんの木
[7] niconico Douga – アイドルマスター 【クイズダービー】と【この木何の木】に出演する！ / Posted on 07-03-2007
[8] niconico Douga – この木なんの木フタエノキ / Posted on 09-26-2007 (Defunct)
[9] niconico Douga – この木 なんの木 木ィィィ原くゥゥゥゥゥゥゥゥン!! / Posted on 02-28-2011 (Defunct)
[10] niconico Douga – この木 なんの木 このディオだぁぁぁぁ！！ / Postedo n 11-23-2012 (Defunct)
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