All of your base

All of your base belong to us

found at Crooked Timber

YOKOHAMA —One of the hottest companies in Japan today doesn't produce cars, electronics or anything else. Its business is pure destruction, and by singing its praises the tiny Yokohama demolition firm has become dynamite.

Nihon Break Kogyo Co's company song smashed into the Oricon, one of the nation's most influential music charts, on Dec 29. It is the first time that a "shaka," or corporate anthem, has made the charts, according to Oricon Inc, a major Tokyo music information provider.

The anthem, "Nihon Break Kogyo Co, Shaka," was released Dec. 17 by Infinite Records. It was composed two years ago for business use and was nearly forgotten by the company, but it suddenly entered the nationwide spotlight when it was picked up by a TV program in late October. It immediately created a sensation, mostly among teenagers.

The song ranked 22nd in its debut on Oricon's weekly chart of the top 100 CD singles, just five notches under "No Way to Say" by Japanese diva Ayumi Hamasaki, and five notches above "Rock With You" by BoA, a teenage South Korean singer hugely popular in Japan.

The tune has already been made into ring tones for mobile phones and two major Japanese karaoke song distributors are set to add it to their song books in January.

Unlike the stiff, propaganda-like nature of regular Japanese corporate anthems, the up-tempo rock tune, written and performed by a Nihon Break Kogyo demolition worker, sounds like themes from old Japanese animated films featuring superheroes.

But the humorous lyrics reflect the pure corporate anthem spirit of promoting the company —"We will destroy houses! We will destroy bridges! We will destroy buildings! To the east, to the west —Run, Run, Nihon Break Kogyo!"

Japanese version:
guncanonm.hp.infoseek.co.jp/break.html

Engrish version

www.viplt.ne.jp/midopure/swf/jbi_ee.html

Funny stuff, if you can get it to load....

Now playing: Theme From Shaft, from the album Hit Parade 2 by Wedding Present (released 1992)