TOKYO —Move over, Arashi! Step aside, Exile! There’s a newer, older boy band in town. These guys creating a buzz.

JI-POP (爺-POP) is a more mature “boy” band brought together to help promote tourism in Kochi Prefecture. The “JI” in their name comes from the Japanese word “ojisan,” meaning “old man” or “grandpa.” The five members, who together have an average age of 67.4 years old, are all local men from Kochi Prefecture. Let’s take a look their profiles to get better acquainted with these newcomers to the Japanese pop scene:

▼ Norihiro Tanioka, 67. “The City Market Sheriff.”
▼ Akira Odaka, 65. “The Town Fisherman Director.”
▼ Iwao Yamamoto, 59. “The Manufacturing Association Prez” aka “The Bamboo Shoot Phantom.”
▼ Yoshinori Deki, 66. “The Shellfish-Loving Fisherman.”
▼ Hidetada Yamada, 80. “The Marathon-Lover.”

What a line-up! With their wrinkle-free smooth moves and angelic voices from a previous era, JI-POP has been melting hearts of all ages across Japan.

Here is the music video for their debut single “Hooray for Old Age!” with highlights and translations below.

The beginning of the video, setting the dazzling tone for the rest to come.

▼ “JI… JI JI JI JI JI… JI JI JI JI JI-POP!”
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m already swooning.
“Let us tell you about Kochi Prefecture.”
“One in every three people is over age 65!”
“But everybody’s happy! Kochi Prefecture is full of energy fruits!”
“Even if we try to stay up late…we suddenly wake up at 5:30 in the morning.”
“Hooray for old age! Hooray for old age!”
“Hooray for Kochi Prefecture! Hooray for Kochi Prefecture!”
“We have everything we need: the fruits of the sea… the fruits of the mountains…
And the fruits of… you.”

With such distinguished gentlemen and a catchy debut single to boot, JI-POP is almost certainly going to bring Kochi Prefecture some elderly tourist love. They have “energy fruits,” great produce/seafood, and cool old guys, so what’s not to love?

According to the official website, JI-POP is currently searching for videos of people singing and/or dancing along to their song. So if you’re into it, why not give it a try and submit your own version?

Either way, if you didn’t know Kochi Prefecture even existed before today, you certainly do now, all thanks to JI-POP!

Source: JI-POP Official Website via Hachimakiko