In 1958, five years after public television was opened for Japan, animated/live-action hybrid commercials for Momoya brand food started to air. These commissioned commercials from Tanuma Noriko, an actor/comedian, contained his persona caricature "Norihei Miki." The advertisements were a success (and branched into newspaper comic flyers) filled with puns and parodies. The commercials were continually made for over a half century and featured over 300 characters but a core of 7 were most reoccurring.