What is "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen"?

It is a 45 second viral music video by Piko-Taro, a character played by Japanese comedian Kazuhiko Kosaka, about combining a pen with an apple and a pineapple[1].

Where did "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen" come from?

Kosaka uploaded the video to Piko-Taro's YouTube channel on August 25, 2016[4].

What does "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen" mean?

The lyrics describe sticking a pen into an apple to make an "apple pen," then into a pineapple for a "pineapple pen," then combining both into a "pen pineapple apple pen"[2].

How do you use "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen"?

Fans typically use screenshots of Piko-Taro pointing at each object and swap the pen, apple, and pineapple for other characters or things to show a mashup[5].

Is "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen" still popular?

It is now a classic of 2016 viral video history, with the image macro format still surfacing in later posts such as a 2020 r/dankmemes hit[5].

Piko-Taro is a fictional DJ character in a leopard-print suit, played by Japanese comedian Kazuhiko Kosaka, also known as Kosaka Daimaoh[3].

Did Justin Bieber really tweet about PPAP?

Yes. On September 27, 2016, Bieber tweeted a link to the video with the caption "My favorite video on the internet" to his 88 million followers[3].

How many views did the video get?

The original YouTube upload had passed 7.9 million views in its first month, and 9GAG's Facebook repost drew more than 44 million views inside a few days[1][5].

Why did the video go viral?

It packed a simple looped beat, mimeable arm choreography, and a punchline compound word into under a minute, which fit the short vertical clip formats on Twitter and Mix Channel[2].

Is Piko-Taro a real DJ?

Piko-Taro is a stage character, but the man behind the persona, Kazuhiko Kosaka, is a working comedian and DJ in Japan[3].

"Pen Pineapple Apple Pen"

2016viral videoclassic

Published September 21, 2026

In August 2016, Japanese comedian Kazuhiko Kosaka uploaded a 45 second music video in which his leopard-print alter ego Piko-Taro sang about jamming a pen into an apple and a pineapple. The clip picked up speed through September and hit global saturation after Justin Bieber called it his favorite internet video, spawning one of the defining absurdist earworms of 2016.

earworm memes japanese internet memes viral song memes absurdist humor memes 2016 memes

Overview

"Pen Pineapple Apple Pen," often shortened to PPAP, is a minute long music video built around a chirpy loop and a handful of English phrases. Piko-Taro, a fictional DJ played by Japanese comedian Kazuhiko Kosaka, dances in front of a plain white background wearing a leopard-print suit and matching scarf while singing about combining a pen with fruit1. The payoff word, "pen pineapple apple pen," arrives after two setup verses, each built on the same call-and-response structure2.

The song has no real chorus, no bridge, and clocks in at roughly 45 seconds, which turned out to be perfect fuel for short mobile clips2. Beyond the video itself, fans built an image macro template from screenshots of Piko-Taro pointing at each object, swapping the pen, apple, and pineapple for other characters or ideas to visualize a mashup5. That secondary format kept the joke alive years after the song's initial burst.

Much of the appeal is the mismatch between Kosaka's serious DJ back catalogue and the deliberately dumb Piko-Taro character. The half-broken English lyrics, the mimeable arm choreography, and the outfit are the joke, not accidents of production, which is why the video worked in translation across dozens of languages1.

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (source) / Facebook and Twitter (viral spread)

Creator

Kazuhiko Kosaka

Date

2016

Kazuhiko Kosaka, a 40 year old Japanese comedian and DJ also known by the stage name Kosaka Daimaoh, invented the Piko-Taro character and posted the video to that character's official YouTube channel on August 25, 20164. Kosaka later told fans in a tweet that the song came together almost by accident, saying he had been "singing it too soon" while messing with the music1. In its first month online the clip picked up roughly 7.9 million views without much English language press attention5.

The character was billed inside the fiction as Piko-Taro's own act rather than a Kosaka side project, and the outfit, mannerisms, and clipped English are core to the bit2. Comments on the earliest YouTube upload set the tone the meme would carry through the fall, with one of the first viewers writing, "How I end up watching this??? What is wrong with society?"2

"Pen Pineapple Apple Pen"

Overview

Origin & Background

How It Spread

Frequently Asked Questions

References (9)