PIKOTARO Kicks Off a New Chapter in His PPAP 10th Anniversary Project with a 47-Prefecture Musical Journey

PIKOTARO is turning Japan into a jukebox.

As part of the lead-up to the 10th anniversary of “PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)”, the global viral icon launches a bold new musical chapter with “Tottemo Release 80.8 (06)”. This release marks the official start of PIKOTARO’s ambitious new “Prefecture Song” series, a long-form project that sets out to musically capture all 47 prefectures of Japan in his unmistakable style.

“Tottemo Release 80.8 (06)” is the sixth instalment in PIKOTARO’s ongoing anniversary project “Tottemo Release 80.8”, and serves as the opening act for this unprecedented nationwide concept. Each prefecture is reimagined through PIKOTARO’s playful perspective, humour, and genre-hopping sound, making this his first-ever large-scale, serialised music project.

The series opens with the energetic “TO-DO-FU-KEN! (Opening Song)”, followed by tracks spotlighting Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Fukushima, Miyagi, and Yamagata, covering Japan’s northern and Tohoku regions. From drum and bass and city pop to blues and anime-inspired sounds, each track leans fully into a distinct musical identity. The result is a colourful, genre-bending release that signals the beginning of what PIKOTARO describes as a “47-prefecture jukebox”.

Producer Kosaka Daimaou explains how the project came to life: “Every time we visited different regions, we naturally ended up creating songs inspired by those places. At some point, PIKOTARO and I said, ‘Why not just make them all?’ This became another project within ‘Tottemo Release 80.8’. We want to sing these songs all across Japan – and eventually, the world.”

PIKOTARO himself keeps it characteristically simple: “I just suddenly felt like singing the names of every prefecture across Japan – pico! So I sang them all – pico!”

What began as a spontaneous impulse has evolved into a music project on a scale unlike anything he’s attempted before.

“Tottemo Release 80.8” is a massive release initiative spanning August 2025 to July 2026, delivering 80.8 tracks (80 songs plus an extra 0.8?) with new music dropping every month. Following this instalment, the “Prefecture Song” series will continue region by region, with future releases already in the works. Collaborations with major artists are also planned, promising even more surprises as the project unfolds.

With “Tottemo Release 80.8 (06)”, PIKOTARO once again proves that no idea is too big – or too playful – when curiosity leads the way.

About PIKOTARO
In 2016, the video for “PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)” was picked up by artists and global media outlets including Justin Bieber, CNN, and the BBC, sparking a worldwide phenomenon.

He became the first Japanese artist in 26 years to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the song was recognised by Guinness World Records as the “shortest song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.”

In 2017, he also attended the state banquet during President Trump’s visit to Japan and was appointed by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an official ambassador for the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).