So, this video and the accompanying song represent enjoying little unlikely successes. Even though I think about it a lot, I have never been able to find it again. How would I even search for it? I tried typing in what the Japanese song sounds like to me, itakura zuichi, but since that is surely just gibberish it yielded no results.
But today, after much internet detective work, all that has changed! I finally found the video! *sings* Pitagora Suitichi!
Motivated by my recent research success, I figured, if I can find this relatively obscure video, I can find out what those Japanese words in the song are, and what they mean. I was hoping it would be something motivational like, "We did it!" or "It was worth all that effort!" Or even better, an ancient Japanese phrase that succinctly describes what English cannot convey, that special feeling of success when something works out just perfectly by chance, like the French deja vu.
After following a few internet leads, I discovered that those sing-song words are Pitagora Suitchi and it means nothing other than Pythagora Switch! This is just too perfect, because I love it when other languages use English words and pronounce them crazily. It turns out Pythagoras Switch is the name of a Japanese TV show for kids that features these amazing Pythagorean Devices, which is apparently what these marble machines are called in Japan. The term for them in English is a Rube Goldberg Machine. I learned so much today! Now I really want to make my own. If you have some neat videos of Rube Goldberg machines, please share by posting a link in the comments! And don't forget to sing Pitagora Suitchi after watching them!
Wow! I just discovered that this kid's show is responsible for the Algorithm March, a neat dance fad I've seen on the internet! Does this discovery warrant a "Pitagora Suitchi?" Yes, I believe it does. Pitagora Suitchi! Best kid's show ever.