JR東海 | クリスマス・エクスプレス | 1989
The Power to Pull You Straight Into the Story / JR Central "Christmas Express" Riho Makise 1989
When this commercial came on TV, it was nothing but pure excitement. Breathing in the air of the 1989 bubble economy, set to Tatsuro Yamashita's "Christmas Eve," Riho Makise dashes through Nagoya Station. It's only one minute long, but it leaves you with the happy afterglow of having watched a short film. Even now, the scene where 17-year-old Makise hides behind a pillar, waiting, hits with incredible force.
The idea
It's the story of a girl going to the station on Christmas Eve to meet her boyfriend, who's coming home from his hometown. There's no dialogue at all. With only Tatsuro Yamashita's "Christmas Eve" playing, Riho Makise in a red coat runs through Nagoya Station, bumps into a salaryman and drops her presents, finally spots him in front of the ticket gate, and hides behind a pillar to wait and surprise him. At the end, the line appears: "The one who rings in Jingle Bells is you, coming home." Direction was by Kazuyoshi Hayakawa (TYO), produced by Dentsu.
What happened
The 60-second version won the Grand Prix at the ACC CM Festival. Viewers flooded in with questions asking "Who is this adorable girl?" after seeing Makise's smile, and the commercial launched her to instant stardom. Thanks to this ad, Tatsuro Yamashita's "Christmas Eve" also became a beloved national Christmas song, reaching number one on the Oricon chart for the first time in 1989. JR Central's "Express" series continued until 1992, but this 1989 installment remains the most memorable entry, still talked about to this day.
Afterthought
Riho Makise's acting is a bit over the top throughout, but I think that was just the mood of 1989. Still, that final moment where she peeks out from behind the pillar, practically bursting with "here he comes" energy, is just perfect. The power to pull you straight into the story from the very first second puts this ad in a different league from other commercials. This series, which captured how special it was to meet someone back in that era, stayed in people's memories for 33 years, right up until 2022, when Eri Fukatsu appeared in a new JR Central commercial saying, "Meeting someone really was special." Times change, but the feeling of wanting to go see someone you love never does.
