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, starting with Norihiro Tanioka. The 67-year-old man is commonly called “The City Market Sheriff,” as he can be seen around supermarkets getting his bargain on every third Sunday of the month!

Akira Odaka, 65 years old, is the “The Town Fisherman Director,” and is also the cute one. Don’t you just want to pinch those cheeks?

“The Manufacturing Association Prez,” a.k.a. “The Bamboo Shoot Phantom, ” a.k.a. Iwao Yamamoto, 59 years old.

Yoshinori Deki, 66 years old, is known as “The Shellfish-Loving Fisherman, ” who is coincidentally also the shy one. If you try to talk to him, he just clams up.

Hidetada Yamada, 80 years old, is known as “The Marathon Lover,” and is the blue jeans-wearing heartbreaker of the group.

What a lineup! With their wrinkle-free smooth moves and angelic voices from a previous era, JI-POP has been melting hearts of all ages across Japan. Above is the music video for their debut single, “Hooray for Old Age!” with highlights and translations below:

"JI… JI JI JI JI JI… JI JI JI JI JI-POP!
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!

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