Recent Japanese TV Show - Sumahama

[Rob Dean]

I really haven't got a clue what's going on in this very recent Japanese TV show , but whatever is going on looks rather funny - A sketch about the true meaning of the song Sumahama ( i think/guess )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6QHRI_lurk

Great part ( thanks Rocker ) from Mike at the end


Can anyone please translate ? I am sure a few of us would love to know what this 14 minute piece is all about   

[Rocker]

Great part ( thanks Rocker ) from Mike at the end

I'd love to take it but that hint came from Erik H, so all thanks should go to him 

[oldsurferdude]

Is this for real or is it a takeoff on SNL? The only thing missing is Bulushi and his sword.

[Shady]

You know you're a Beach Boys fan when you sit through something like that waiting for a Beach Boys reference

[bgas]

Really cool to hear all the BBs speaking in Japanese for the last 4-5 minutes!!

[Lowbacca]

Cool stuff. I've taken Japanese for a couple of months now but I didn't understand that much. As far as I could tell they were trying to figure out what/where the f*ck 'sumahama' is supposed to be. Somebody suggested a misheard 'suna hana' (which didn't turn out to be true, as Mike corrected them). And well, I think they freaked the hell outta Brian when storming the TV interview at the end.  

TV performance

[Cabinessenceking]

do any other major western acts speak any japanese? Does the western music world fully understand how respectful the japanese are of our music?

[EgoHanger1966]

I love near the end, when the two guys go into press room to ask Mike the question - they shake Mike's hand, and Brian, who isn't involved in any of it and presumably doesn't understand what's going on, reaches out his hand to shake too.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

I love near the end, when the two guys go into press room to ask Mike the question - they shake Mike's hand, and Brian, who isn't involved in any of it and presumably doesn't understand what's going on, reaches out his hand to shake too.

KARATE CHOP!

[Doo Dah]

The woman on the panel really looks familiar - wasn't she one of the celebrity judges on Iron Chef?

And could you imagine Brian on Iron Chef? oh yeah!

[Alex]

Just found this on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAis_hZ5ZKk

A Japanese news report with both Sumahama and Here Comes the Night disco playing in the background at several different moments.

[mabewa]

Basically, somebody writes this letter to the TV show, asking where this place called "Sumahama" ("Suma Beach") in the Beach Boys song is, and wondering if it could be a place called "Suma Kaigan" (Suma Coast) which is a beach town near Kobe.  The TV show notes that the BBs are coming to Japan soon, for the first time in a long time, so they may actually be able to ask them.  They then go to the actual Suma beach is, and interview some people, asking them if they know about the song and whether it refers to that beach.  The two guys then have a little adventure, going to Tokyo, talking to the EMI representatives, hearing the title track of the new album, meeting some people involved in the tour, and trying to talk their way into meeting the BBs to ask about the song. They finally succeed, ask whether the song was really supposed to be "Suna Hama" (sandy beach), but Mike says no, it's SuMahama."  They then ask him if it's about Suma near Kobe, and he says "is that what it is?"  It's kinda funny, because it seems that Mike doesn't actually know himself, but the TV program ends up concluding that it is indeed the same place.  At the end, they say something about Mike knowing a girl who lived near Suma Kaigan, and writing the song from her descriptions or memory of it.  (I get the impression that maybe somebody talked to him more afterwords or something, because he doesn't sound too sure when they actually ask him). 

A personal note:  I've actually been to Suma before, and didn't find it particularly nice...  never occurred to me that the song might be about that particular place.  Fun show, though, thanks for sharing. 

[Aegir]

Looks like Mike pulled an old Van Dyke Parks on us! Maybe it doesn't mean anything!