Sometimes love for conveyor belt sushi makes you do crazy things.
Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa has loved conveyor belt sushi (“kaitenzushi”) since the first time he visited such a restaurant as a child. Nowadays, he usually eats conveyor belt sushi twice per week to get his fix. Recently, Kura Sushi (commonly pronounced “Kurazushi” in Japan) has been his go-to chain because of its inexpensive but delicious nature. In fact, he’s been so moved by its overall quality that he decided to compose a theme song to express his gratitude to the chain in honor of Conveyor Belt Sushi Commemoration Day on November 22.
You see, Seiji isn’t just any run-of-the-mill reporter–he’s also a professional musician who’s sometimes possessed by the spirit of a legendary Swedish guitarist.
▼ A smiley Seiji at Kura Sushi (not currently possessed by any spirits)
He had been surprised to learn that despite Kura Sushi’s ongoing success both within Japan and overseas (now boasting over 100 locations in the U.S. and Taiwan, including a global flagship store), with further plans to expand to 400 overseas locations by 2030, it doesn’t currently have its own theme song. That just felt plain wrong to Seiji, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.
The way Seiji sees it, children who just entered Japanese elementary school this past spring will be graduating from it in the spring of 2030 (Japanese elementary school is a standard six years)–the same year that Kura Sushi plans to have completed its massive global expansion. Therefore, he wanted to make his theme song something catchy and easy for kids to remember so that it would be second nature for them by the time they enter junior high school. He also wanted to incorporate Kura Sushi’s main characteristic, freshness, into the song as well as reference the antibacterial covers that now keep Kura Sushi’s sushi revolving in light of “sushi terrorism” last year.
That may sound like a tall task to someone who’s not musically inclined, but it took Seiji only two days to compose and create the song. For vocals, he enlisted the help of an old friend from his Kindai University days, Kosuke Aoe.
▼ Another smiley Seiji at Kura Sushi
Here’s the finished product, uploaded to his YouTube channel. Feel free to sing along to the lyrics below!
▼ “Kura’s Sushi” (Music and lyrics: Seiji Nakazawa / Vocals: Kosuke Aoe)
Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura no o-sushi
Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura’s sushi
Hamachi maguro ni tai iwashi
Amberjack, tuna, sea bream, and sardines
Mamoru yo minna shinsendokun
We’ll protect you all, your freshness
Mawaru ne mawaru ne doko made mo
Revolving, revolving on and on
Tantanmen ni gyuukarubi
Dandan noodles and beef galbi
Futatsu awase karubi kuppa
Put them together and you’ve got galbi gukbap
Mawaru ne mawaru ne yume nosete
Revolving, revolving, carrying my dreams
Mutenka mutenka
No additives, no additives
Muten Kura Sushi
Nothing added Kura Sushi
Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura no o-sushi
Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura Kura’s sushi
We may be a bit biased, but we think it’s going to quickly catch on. Let’s hope that Kura Sushi also takes notice and Seiji gets some fresh fish for his effort–or at least a slice of that new cake they’re serving.
All images © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]