Zakiyama makes his first appearance as an office worker! Together with Matsuyama Kenichi and Oorin, the three of them have become super-sized! Lawson’s new TV commercial “Founding Festival Part 1: Over-the-top Challenge!” will begin airing nationwide on Sunday, June 9th! Behind-the-scenes footage and interviews are also available!

Lawson’s new TV commercial “Founding Festival Part 1: Exciting Challenge!” starring Kenichi Matsuyama, O-rin, and Hiroya Yamazaki (Untouchable) will begin airing nationwide on Sunday, June 9th. In addition, ahead of the TV commercial broadcast, a behind-the-scenes video including interviews with the cast members will be released on Lawson’s official YouTube channel today, Thursday, June 6th.

TV commercial “Founding Festival First Edition: Too Much Excitement Challenge!” (excluding Okinawa area)

TV commercial “Founding Festival First Edition: Too Much Excitement Challenge!” (Okinawa area only)

Making of & Interview


In the TV commercial, Untouchable’s Yamazaki makes his first appearance as a salaryman called “Zakiyama-san, the neighborhood guy,” and performs his “Kuru~!” with all his might in reference to the “Over-the-top Challenge” that returns this year. He shows off his comical movements as he is surprised by the giant-sized Matsuyama and O-rin, and Yamazaki himself also becomes super-giant.
In front of the Lawson store, store manager Matsuyama and crew member Ourin began announcing loudly, “That Over-the-top Challenge,” and Yamazaki, who was passing by, stopped in his tracks and continued, “On the contrary…,” before unleashing his powerful “It’s coming!” Yamazaki, who had eaten the 47% increased quantity of the product, showed a look of surprise, saying, “It’s huge!”, and after taking a bite, he took a blissful look of deliciousness on his face. Afterwards, Matsuyama and Ourin transformed into giants as they said, “All over Japan!!,” and Yamazaki, in surprise, transformed into a giant himself, exclaiming, “Mori Mori!”, with comical movements, highlighting the appeal of the Over-the-top Challenge.

In an interview after the shoot, Yamazaki, who is in the same year as Lawson, looked back on the shoot with self-praise, saying, “To be honest, I was very happy to finally be invited to the reunion. I couldn’t have felt better, and I think I was able to bring out the best Zakiyama ever.”
When asked about annual events they perform, Matsuyama said, “My annual fun is deciding with my children who to vote for at the annual Kohaku Uta Gassen.” Yamazaki shared an episode with his family, saying, “My annual fun is going on a trip during the New Year holidays. This year we went to Korea. My daughter loves swimming pools, so we ended up spending most of the time in the pool. Even though it was winter, we were there for about seven hours, and she was in the water so much that I wondered if she might become a swimmer.” When asked what special abilities or skills they would like to have in the entertainment industry, Matsuyama said, “I want to have clones. I want there to be 10 of me. I think there are quite a few places you can only go to at certain times, and things you can’t do unless you’re here at a certain time, so I would like the ability to clone myself and go to various places, and when I come back, have the same amount of experience as one person.” Ourin said, “I travel between Aomori and Tokyo a lot, so I would like to acquire the skill to teleport. And when I say teleport, I also like the scenery on the way from Aomori to Tokyo, so I think it would be fun to be able to control my movement between places so that I could enjoy that as well in a compact way.” Yamazaki said, “The thing I would most like is the skill to know what’s in the lunch box for tomorrow’s location. There are times when I feel like, ‘I’ve already eaten curry!’ or ‘If I didn’t like it, it wouldn’t have been Chinese!’ and if I could know that, I could adjust the day before so that there would be no overlap, so the ability to know what’s in the lunch box for location would be the most important thing.”

■ TV Commercial Overview
Title: “Founding Festival Part 1: Too Much Challenge!” (First Week)
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Orin, Hiroya Yamazaki (Untouchable)
Broadcast start date: Sunday, June 9, 2024
Nationwide (excluding Okinawa area) URL:https://youtu.be/hgykyTMONv8
Okinawa area only URL:https://youtu.be/X2hvxgEqRkY


■TV Commercial Story
In front of the Lawson store, store manager Matsuyama and crew member Oorin loudly announce the Over-the-top Challenge. Yamazaki, who is passing by, stops in his tracks. As Matsuyama and Oorin continue their announcement with “On the contrary…”, Zakiyama belts out a powerful “It’s coming!”. After eating the 47% larger quantity of the product, Yamazaki exclaims in surprise, “It’s huge!” and looks enraptured with the taste. Afterwards, Matsuyama and Oorin grow huge as they say “All over Japan!!”, and Yamazaki is surprised with their comical movements, but then grows huge himself, saying “Morimori!”, creating a story that appeals to the appeal of the Over-the-top Challenge along with the three of them growing huge.

■Highlights of the TV commercial
In reference to the “Over-the-top Challenge” which is returning again this year, be sure to pay attention to Yamazaki’s wholehearted “It’s coming!” and the facial expressions on his face as he expresses the “It’s huge!” that is unique to the “Over-the-top Challenge.”
In addition to Matsuyama and Oorin becoming super gigantic, Yamazaki has also become gigantic this time! Don’t miss not only the gigantic Yamazaki, but also his comical movements as he is surprised at the large Matsuyama and Oorin.

■Making of & Interviews
To coincide with the start of the TV commercial broadcast, a behind-the-scenes video including interviews with the three actors has been released on Lawson’s official YouTube channel. It is packed with the charms of the three actors that could not be captured in the main video, such as the filming process and behind-the-scenes stories.
URL:https://youtu.be/OrPZ7OWk8IA


Q: Now that filming the commercial is finished, please tell us your thoughts and what the highlights of the commercial are.

This time, Zakiyama-san, who is in the same year as Lawson, participated, and his giant form made quite an impact! His presence was also impressive even before he became giant. (laughs)


I’m happy because I’ve never heard those words so clearly before. It’s the perfect fit for the Excitement Challenge!


I think this was the best response I could have ever had. I was surprised to see that someone could bring out the best in me. The support from the filming staff and others was amazing. It was like a good conductor can make a good performance. The atmosphere on set was the best!
(Interviewer: When you entered the studio, it seemed like your eyes were wandering.)
My eyes wandered because of the overwhelming number of people. The number of people on the CM set can be overwhelming, so I had to start by looking for the director. The director is like a parent, so it’s like looking for a parent at an amusement park, like, “Where? Where?”, “Dad?”, so maybe that’s why I wandered a little.

Q: Yamazaki-san, you are in the same grade as Lawson. What did you think when you received the offer to appear in the commercial?

Frankly, I was glad that I was finally invited to the reunion. Actually, I was feeling lonely because I hadn’t been invited, so I thought that the invitation had finally arrived and I immediately decided to attend. I was very happy because I thought it was great to see Kenichi Matsuyama and O-rin appearing.

Q: The Founding Festival is a special annual festival for Lawson. What special events or regular events do you do once a year?

Although birthdays and other special occasions aren’t really annual events, as I spend them with my family or have dinner with friends, one thing I enjoy once a year is deciding with my children whether to vote for Red or White at the annual Kohaku Uta Gassen.


In Aomori, there are things I want to do once a year in each season: the Cherry Blossom Festival in spring, the Nebuta Festival in summer, going to see the autumn leaves and taking a sauna outside in autumn, and snowboarding in winter. I pray to be able to spend that time in Aomori, and this year there is the Nebuta Festival coming up, which is also an important annual event. Just being in Aomori is really busy. (laughs)


Every year, I enjoy taking time off during New Year’s to go on a trip once a year.
This year, I went to Korea. We had some delicious food, but my daughter loves swimming, so we ended up spending most of the time in the pool. We spent so much time in the water that I wondered if she could develop webbed feet and become a swimmer. It’s a good memory.

Q: What special ability or skill do you wish you had in the entertainment industry?

I want to split into two. I want there to be 10 of me. I think there are a lot of places you can only go to at certain times, and things you can’t do unless you’re here at a certain time, so I want the ability to split into two and go to different places, and when I come back, I have the experience points of one person.


I travel between Aomori and Tokyo a lot, so I would like to learn the skill to teleport.
Even though I say teleportation, I also like the scenery on the way from Aomori to Tokyo, so I think it would be fun if I could become someone who could control the movement of land so that I could enjoy that in a compact way. (laughs)


I want many different abilities, but the one I want most is the ability to know what’s in tomorrow’s location lunch box.
There are times when I feel like, “I ate curry!” or “If you didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have had Chinese food!”, and if I had the ability to recognize this, I could adjust the day before to avoid overlaps, so the thing I would most like is the ability to know what’s in the lunch boxes on location.

Q: In reference to Yamazaki’s gag “It’s coming!”, please tell us what you have your eye on in the future.

Aomori has many specialties, but I think it’s Aomori because it is currently undergoing reforms such as adopting various agricultural techniques from overseas, and at the same time, the number of tourists is increasing dramatically. I think the five major cities are easy to find if you search on the Internet, but people are now coming to Aomori to look it up, and its ability to spread the word is improving, so I’m looking forward to the future.


There’s Aomori, but I think it’s the moon. There are people who own land on the moon, so I think going to the moon is not a distant dream anymore. Until now, I thought that only the chosen few could go to the moon, but from now on, I think that the day may come when we can go there in the same way as going to see Tokyo Tower, and I’m looking forward to being alive! I think that one day we might even be able to shoot a Lawson commercial on the moon. (laughs)


It really is “Kuru~!”. After all, Lawson has adopted it, so I’m hoping it will become a trend again. I think it has the influence of everyone saying “Kuru~!” and “Kuru~!” around the end of the year, so I hope that “Kuru~!” will spread nationwide and become popular enough to win the Buzzword Award. “Kuru~!” is also growing day by day, and has been brushed up since 10 years ago. Officially, it is done on the right hand, but it can also be done on the left hand. The shape of the arm is also modeled after the letter L, so thinking about such things together may be a fun part of your life.
(Interviewer: Oorin-san asked how you can make a louder voice by shaping your mouth as if you were saying “Kuru!”)
Rather than opening your mouth wide, vibrate it like a double bass. When O-rin told me this for the first time, I wondered how it was done. I’d like O-rin to try it next time. I’ll teach you next time we meet. (laughs)

Q: In reference to the Exciting Challenge, Yamazaki-san, you are the oldest man in the world this year. Is there anything you would like to challenge yourself to do in the remaining six months?

I’ve been cooking for the past two or three years, and I make fried rice, but I’ve never made gyoza, so I’d like to try making gyoza in the next six months. I’m also planning to hold a gyoza party in the second half of this year, where I’ll make gyoza from scratch.

■Profile
・Kenichi Matsuyama
Born on March 5, 1985, in Aomori Prefecture.
In 2001, she won the grand prize at the “New Style Audition” and began working as a model.
He made his acting debut in 2002.
He made his breakthrough in 2006 with “Death Note”. After that, he starred in “Norwegian Wood” in 2010.
2012 Taiga drama “Taira no Kiyomori” 2016 “Saint’s Youth” 2021 “BLUE”
In 2022, she starred in “Kawapperi Mukoritta” and other films. She has received numerous awards, including the Japan Academy Prize and the Blue Ribbon Award.
He will appear in the 2023 January Taiga drama “What Will Ieyasu Do?” and the TBS drama series “I Should Have Said It a Million Times.”
In 2024, he will appear in the NHK Saturday drama “Goodbye Hospital.”
He is currently appearing in the NHK morning drama series “Tiger with Wings.”
The movie in which he stars, “Saint Young Men”, is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2024.

・Orin
Born in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture in 1998.
She entered Hirosaki Actors School in the third grade of elementary school, and joined Alps Otome in 2007 and its sister group Ringo Musume in 2013 as a 7th generation member, serving as leader until March 2022. She loves her hometown, Aomori Prefecture, and is passionate about her entertainment activities in order to revitalize the primary industry and local areas.

・Yamazaki Hiroya (The Untouchables)
Born on January 14, 1976 in Kasukabe City, Saitama Prefecture.
In 1994, he enrolled in Production Hitotsubashi’s JCA school, a training school for comedians.
He formed the comedy duo “Untouchable” with his classmate, Eiji Shibata.
In 2004, they won the M-1 Grand Prix 2004.
He is active at the forefront as a comedian and currently appears on numerous regular TV shows.
A popular comedian who is loved by viewers at home and known by the nickname “Zakiyama.”

■ Overview of “Exciting Challenge!”
The “Over-the-top Challenge!” is a campaign aimed at providing customers in Lawson stores across Japan’s 47 prefectures with a sense of value and excitement amid rising prices. The campaign aims to boost the volume of Lawson products by about 47% at the same price. Starting on Tuesday, June 11th, Lawson stores nationwide (approximately 13,695 stores as of the end of April 2024, excluding some stores) will be selling 11 products, including rice balls, sandwiches, and desserts, with the same price but with 47% more weight, as part of the “Over-the-top Challenge.”
*The amount of the increase varies by product. For details, please check the notices in the store or the Lawson website.