For immediate release. August 1, 2016 YKK Branded Contents Spread the Idea “Little Parts. Big Difference” around the world. “FASTENING DAYS 2” to Be Released (Sequel to the original short animation “FASTENING DAYS” that received 4 million views around the world) Directed once again by Hiroyasu Ishida. Perfume returns for the theme song. -To be released on Monday, August 1 on the official website and YouTube in 8 languages- YKK Corporation (Head office: 1 Kanda-Izumicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo) has produced a short animated feature “FASTENING DAYS 2” as part of their efforts to widely promote the corporate brand and zippers. ”FASTENING DAYS 2” is the sequel to “FASTENING DAYS,” which was released in 2014 and drew 4 million views from around the world. It is slated to be released worldwide on Monday, August 1 -To be released on Monday, August 1 on the official website and YouTube in 7 languages- on YKK’s Official YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/YKKfastening) and on the Official Website (http://www.ykkfastening.com/fd/) in both Japanese and English audio, and with Spanish, Chinese (simplified/traditional), Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Hindi subtitles. It will also be distributed as Commercial Ads on YouTube in each country. The YKK Group produces YKK® brand fastening products and YKK AP® brand of architectural products, and it currently operates in 71 countries/regions of the world including North, Central, and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, Asia, and Japan. The Fastening Products Group, which deals with products that fasten and link things together, has steadily provided the world with zippers, snaps, buttons, and other fastening products through a comprehensive quality management and integrated production systems since the company was founded 80 years ago. “FASTENING DAYS 2,” produced as a sequel to “FASTENING DAYS” (released in 2014) has been created to promote the branding message theme of YKK. YKK’s Fastening Products Group, as the top zipper manufacturer, promotes the importance of joining things together and the tag line “Little Parts. Big Difference.” Worldwide. Hiroyasu Ishida of Studio Colorido, an animation director enjoying buzz all over the world, has been chosen to direct this sequel. His previous work, “Fumiko’s Confession” (2009) was selected for the Award of Excellence in the Anime Division of the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival and earned a Special Mention at the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival Awards. Chosen for the ending theme was “Hold Your Hand” (released in 2014) by Perfume, a techno-pop trio active around the world. Perfume made their American debut in September 2014 and embarked on their “Perfume 6th Tour 2016 COSMIC EXPLORER” in May with shows in seven cities in Japan and four cities in North America. 1 In this story, the main characters—Yoji and Kei—are taken aback when they encounter a mysterious hero who suddenly appears while they are on their adventures around town, solving all sorts of problems using their zippers to join things together. They must then save their peaceful town from a looming crisis. The story shows how even zippers, as little as they may seem, work to join things together, contribute to society, and make our world a better place going into the future. YKK has set up a “FASTENING DAYS” Facebook page in parallel of the release of this short feature, and will be continually releasing related information. (https://www.facebook.com/Fastening-Days-1416880495005232/) *YKK Corporation is cosponsoring the US performances of ‘Perfume 6th Tour 2016 COSMIC EXPLORER’ to start in August. Trailers for FASTENING DAYS 2 will be shown and anime-themed panels will be showcased at the venue entrances. Overview of Short Animated Feature ‘FASTENING DAYS 2’ Title ：FASTENING DAYS 2 Official website ：http://www.ykkfastening.com/fd/ Director ：Hiroyasu Ishida (Fumiko’s Confession, Sonny Boy & Dewdrop Girl) Production ：Studio Colorido (http://colorido.co.jp) Story/Script ：Junichi Tanaka Music ：Yoshinori Sunahara Theme song ：“Hold Your Hand” Perfume Release date ： Monday, August 1, 2016 Released for ：Global release Audio： Japanese/English Subtitles: Spanish; Chinese (simplified/traditional); Indonesian Thai; Vietnamese; Hindi Cast ：Yoji：Fuyuka Ono; Kei：Ryoko Shiraishi; Kelly:：Akemi Kanda (Japanese dubbed version) Yoji： Emiko Takeuchi; Kei：Rumiko Varnes ; Kelly：Donna Burke (English dubbed version) Length ： 9 minutes 25 seconds Summary： In the previous story, Yoji and Kei saved their adoptive mother, Anna, from danger. In this sequel, they still go around their town using their Fastening Machines with their bear-robot, Oscar, solving all kinds of problems. One day, however, they encounter a mysterious hero, and this hero has the same kind of Fastening Machine that they do. Who is this masked hero? Why is the hero here? Then a big problem hits their peaceful town! Can these little heroes save the town from danger? This action-packed animation, set in the near future, is a must see! 2 Hiroyasu Ishida, Director Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1988. He graduated from the Animation Course of Kyoto Seika University. His 2009 feature, ‘Fumiko’s Confession’, earned the Best Student Feature Award at the 2010 Tokyo International Anime Fair, a 2010 YouTube Video Award in the category of Animation, a Special Mention in the student category at the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival, and the Excellence Award in the Anime Division of the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival. His senior graduating feature, “rain town,” has also earned numerous awards, including the New Face Award in the Anime Division of the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2011. He’s currently working on his newest feature at Studio Colorido (http://colorido.co.jp/）. A Comment from Mr. Ishida: I never thought I would get to work with YKK and Perfume on this fun production again! I was half surprised and half overjoyed when I heard that the sequel to this production had received the green light. I’ve had a lot of freedom to take this production where I wanted it to go, and this time around the staff have really outdone themselves; I feel that it was their creativity, and not me as the director, that really carried this work to make it a work by Studio Colorido as a group. I hope you enjoy it! Theme song: Perfume “Hold Your Hand” “Hold Your Hand” was released on July 16th, 2014 as the B-side of “Cling Cling”. About Perfume Perfume is a Japanese techno-pop girl group from Hiroshima, consisting of a-chan、KASHIYUKA and NOCCHi. They have made their major debut in 2005.They had their major debut in 2005. Their new album 『COSMIC EXPLORER』 was released on May 6th, 2016 and rose to 1st place on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart. Their “Perfume 6th Tour 2016 「COSMIC EXPLORER」,” which started on May 3rd 2016, has been held in numerous cities across Japan. Perfume will begin their American shows from August 26th to September 9th. Their world tour in 2014 was a great success. The Japan Dome Tour has been confirmed as well. 3 Comments from Perfume: When two fasteners join and become one, things that seemed impossible on your own become possible. When two hands join to become one, it enable us to understand the other person’s sentiments. “Hold Your Hand” is perfect for this YKK animation theme, and it filled me with emotion even though it’s our song. The music video for this song was completed with photos taken by staff members, close friends, and fans. The many hands of people, not only in Japan but from all over the world, connect and weave the lyrics. Fasteners connect people’s hearts. It may seem far, but I sensed something very intimate. I hope that the passion of YKK and the sentiments of us Japanese who wish to connect beyond oceans will reach as many people as possible. (a-chan) We’re thrilled that our song will be used again for “FASTENING DAYS 2”, following the first installment. Thank you so much!! The message of the song chosen, “Hold Your Hand”, is that even if you put on a brave front and battle against something alone, everyone shares the desire to protect their loved ones; you can be stronger with the presence of comrades and take a step toward a new world by joining hands. It overlaps in many aspects with the worldview of this animation as well as the sentiment of ‘linking’ that YKK values, and I was able to find the song even more engaging by listening to it with the animation! I hope that this animation from YKK and our song will encourage people to be brave and protect their loved ones! (KASHIYUKA) Oh my gosh! The two seem to have grown up a bit since last time?! Haven’t they?! They’re so cute!! >_< Thank you for all your support. And thank you for choosing our song again as the ending theme! I greatly admire that, like your fasteners, this animation again is a painstakingly made labor of love. The adorable and witty world has new characters making it even livelier. The charm and messages are packed into a short time, and it was so much fun to watch! The action-packed segment at the end made me want to shout out, “That’s right! YKK fasteners are absolutely durable!!!”. Love it. The animation is full of highlights again. (^-^) I hope that lots of people will see this and connect with each other. Thank you! (NOCCHi) About YKK Corporation The YKK Group is active in 71 countries and regions around the world and works with 114 companies (24 in Japan and 90 overseas), operating a global business management structure across 6 regions around the world with its core business segments being Fastening Products (zippers, snaps, buttons etc.) and Architectural Products (windows, doors, curtain walls for residential, and building construction materials).