Japanese NPO creates Let It Go parody for serious cause, doesn’t stop it from being completely silly

We have more Japanese “Let It Go” parody shenanigans for you, this time courtesy of a serious organization, the Alliance for Raising Children. Watch their governors throw themselves into recreating Elsa’s soul-searching ballad while prancing around in suits in various random locations, having way more fun than the bemused-looking kids singing in the background.

Now even if you understand Japanese, this one probably needs some explaining.

The video is a message from the Kosodate Domeikai, or the Alliance for Raising Children, an affiliation of organizations from 11 prefectures that aims to support parents, and in doing so hopes to work towards reversing Japan’s low birth rate which is a significant problem for the country’s steadily decreasing population.

Apparently the idea sprouted from a lecture from Hisako Kobayashi, director of BabuBabu maternity hospital, at the Kosodate Domeikai Nagano Summit on May 31. In it she talked about mothers who were excessively worried and stressed out about how to bring up their children, and suggested that if they stepped back a bit then they’d realize that bringing up kids wasn’t such a big deal. She encouraged parents to stop aiming for an unattainable ideal, and instead relax and do what came naturally to them, which would be more than enough.

Apparently the governors of the various prefectural organizations felt that this message had a strong connection with the message of loving and believing in oneself that Elsa belts out in Disney’s hit song “Let It Go”, or “Ari no Mama” (meaning “the truth” or “as it is”) in Japanese. Of course the logical next step was to create a version of their own.

The governors of all 11 local Domeikai joined in to create the video, which aims to spread the message to parents that they’re doing just fine as they as. The theme fits with Elsa’s powerful refrain which, in the Japanese version, essentially tells you to ‘be as you are’. They want those who are stressing too much and putting too much of themselves into child rearing to watch this video, take a step back, and relax. And seeing men in suits spinning around and spreading sparkles from their fingertips will help them do just that.

It’s an idea full of good intentions, but unfortunately the overall response from net users was not especially good, with many leaving comments along the lines of: “You spent our taxes on this?!”.

Check out some of the stills below for an idea of the power, beauty, and sheer randomness of the vid.