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Featured era: 2001
Yatta!
“Six comedians, six leaves, one word: yatta.”
- Featured era
- 2001
- Peak era
- 2001-2004
- Company
- Happa-tai (Green Leaves)
- Category
- Viral Videos
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On Video
Happa-tai's "Yatta!" music video
Plays from YouTube when you press play. Views, length and date from YouTube, October 2026.
About This Video
- From:
- YATTA! はっぱ隊
- Added:
- December 20, 2018
- Length:
- 4:14
What Was It?
"Yatta" is a 2001 single by Happa-tai, also known as Green Leaves, a fictional Japanese boy band that began as a sketch on the comedy show Adventures of a Laughing Dog. The members, played by well-known comedians, perform in underwear with a large green leaf on the front, plus white sneakers outdoors, dancing, flexing and hopping with enormous enthusiasm.
The title is an exclamation meaning roughly "It's done" or "I did it". Released by Pony Canyon on April 4, 2001, the song reached number 6 in Japan and went triple platinum within weeks.
Online, the video found a second audience. Western viewers who could not understand the lyrics were won over by how elaborate and baffling it was, and the group was later invited to perform the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Things You Probably Forgot
- The giant green leaves
- White sneakers for the outdoor scenes
- Not understanding a word and singing along anyway
- Their performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Story
- 2001 Pony Canyon released the single "Yatta" in Japan on April 4.
- 2001 It reached number 6 on the Japanese charts and went triple platinum within weeks.
- 2004 The Arizona Daily Wildcat listed it among the internet's must-see oddities.
Its Legacy
An official upload of the video is now on YouTube. The leaves, the sneakers and the chant are still instantly recognisable to anyone who met them in the early days of online video.
Memories
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