Interest
Japanese Theater Shorts Introduce "Clamployees"
posted on by Eric Stimson
If you've ever had a coworker that really got on your nerves, you might recognize him or her among the "Clamployees," a series of animated shorts that air in TOHO CINEMAS in Japan. The Japanese name, Kaishain, usually means "employees," but in this case the Chinese character for "meet" has been switched with the one for "shellfish"... because they're all different varieties of shellfish. Similarly, their names are all puns on names of shellfish.
Take "Yes Clam," for instance. Like certain yes-men, he only answers "Yes!" to whatever question he's given. The boss even asks him "You don't understand?" and "Are you mocking me?," but Yes Clam still says "Yes!" His name is a pun on the cockle, which the song recommends pickling with gochujang (Korean hot sauce).
"Boaster" takes whatever opportunity he can get to brag about himself. In this case, he takes credit for a trendy French restaurant in Harajuku (a fashionable district in Tokyo) because he has a side job. His name is a pun on the conch, which the song recommends preparing with flambé.
Then there's Nonchalant, who is honest and matter-of-fact to a fault. In this case, he takes the boss's frustrated "If you don't feel like doing this, then quit!" literally. His name in Japanese also means short-necked clam, which the song recommends sautéing in butter. The same video also introduces Soshell Media, who seems like a good worker because he's always at his computer... except that he's looking at Facebook the whole time. His name (literally "Looking Shell") is a pun on the trough shell, which the song recommends boiling in soy sauce.
The most recent short doubles as an advertisement for Expedia, the airfare and hotel booking website, and features Nonchalant again. True to his nature, he has nonchalantly taken two weeks' sick leave to vacation in Hawai'i. After discovering more cheap deals in Okinawa, Nonchalant declares that his stomach feels unwell again and heads off for another week of vacation. Before he leaves, he gives the boss a creepy souvenir from Hawai'i. "No one will come near me!" the boss objects. "They never do anyway," Nonchalant states. The souvenir gives the boss a stomach ache, so he decides to take a vacation too — with Expedia, of course.
There are several other obnoxious Clamployees, like Limaybe (who says "maybe" all the time), based on the bumpy limpet, and Shirkel (who gets other workers to do her work all the time), based on the mussel. If only these coworkers could be fried and eaten in real life. To see more of these shorts, see the DLE Channel.
