[Children’s Songs of Autumn] Autumn songs, school songs, and traditional children’s rhymes. A collection of classic pieces to sing in autumn.

Voices of InsectsLyrics and composition: Ministry of Education shōka (school song)

Cries of Insects — Ministry of Education Shoka (School Song)

When we think of autumn’s pleasures, maple leaves and the harvest moon certainly come to mind, but isn’t the chorus of insects that colors the long autumn nights one of them as well? It’s also the season when the songs of many autumn insects—like crickets and katydids—are at their most beautiful.

This is a delightful children’s song that sets those insects’ voices to lyrics, doubling the joy of autumn.

Bright Red AutumnLyrics by Tada Satsuma / Music by Hideo Kobayashi

Deep Crimson Autumn ♫【Deep Red Autumn】 🍁 Japanese Song

In addition to composing set pieces for the NHK National School Music Competition, Hideo Kobayashi has created a wide range of choral works.

“Makkana Aki” (“Deep-Red Autumn”) is one of his children’s songs about autumn.

It has been broadcast on NHK’s Minna no Uta and sometimes appears in music textbooks.

Set to a very charming melody, the song features many red-colored things you see in autumn.

It portrays two people enjoying the season as they search for red things, which makes children want to imitate them.

It’s a highly recommended classic that lets you fully feel the spirit of autumn.

Yakiimo goo-choki-paLyrics by Hiroo Sakata / Music by Naosumi Yamamoto

Yakiimo goo-choki-pa

Perfect for autumn, when roasted sweet potatoes are at their tastiest, is “Yakiimo Goo Chaa Paa,” a song you can also enjoy as a hand-play game.

It’s the ideal tune for the season of hearty appetites, depicting roasting sweet potatoes and savoring them.

Try acting out with your hands how hot the potatoes are and the motions of eating, in time with the lyrics.

There’s even a rock-paper-scissors part at the end of the song.

While you’re waiting for the sweet potatoes to finish roasting, sing and play along with friends or family! The more you sing, the hungrier you’ll get.

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pine coneLyrics by Takao Hirota / Music by Tsyae Kobayashi

Pine Cone [Children’s Song] [With Motions] by Big Sister Hinata & Luke

Pine Cones was created in 1936.

The lyricist, Takao Hirota, was a first-grader at the time, and his teacher, Tsuyae Kobayashi, set his poem to music.

With simple lyrics about animals in the mountains eating nuts, it’s appealing because even young children can sing it.

Many of you may know it from NHK’s popular children’s program, With Mother.

Many nursery schools and kindergartens enjoy using this song for hand-play and rhythm activities, so be sure to sing it for indoor autumn play.

red dragonflyLyrics by Rofū Miki / Music by Kōsaku Yamada

Red Dragonfly - Saori Yuki, Shoko Yasuda (with lyrics) - Children’s song

Among autumn children’s songs, this nursery rhyme is especially well known.

Mr.

Miki first wrote the lyrics in 1921, and in 1927 Mr.

Yamada set them to music.

It is said that Miki wrote it with thoughts of Tatsuno City in Hyogo Prefecture, where he spent his childhood, and it is filled with a sense of nostalgia.

It has been used as an insert song in films such as “Koko ni Izumi Ari” and “Yuyake Koyake no Akatombo,” and has been covered by well-known artists, making it very familiar to the Japanese people.

Donguri KorokoroLyrics by Aoki Sonetsugi / Music by Yanada Tei

Japanese Children’s Song – Acorn Rolling – Donguri Korokoro

In autumn, you can find lots of little acorns scattered along the paths, right? The song “Donguri Korokoro” tells a charming story about such acorns.

It begins with a lightweight acorn that rolls and rolls until it falls into a pond.

At first, it has fun playing in the water with a kind loach, but gradually it becomes homesick and wants to return to the mountain where it came from.

The lyrics are a bit bittersweet, but when you sing it, sing cheerfully—and make sure to collect lots of acorns!

Dragonfly, dragonfly.

Autumn Children’s Song [Dragonfly, Dragonfly] Hamamatsu City

Among the insects often seen in autumn are dragonflies, and this time I’d like to introduce a children’s song about them.

The song is short and easy to remember! You can just sing it, but you can also move your fingers in little circles as if catching a dragonfly, make big circles with your arms, or even spin your whole body around.

There are no set rules for how to play—feel free to express the dragonfly however you like as you sing.

It’s also fun to use props, like singing while flying a dragonfly made from origami, or slipping a ribbon between a pair of chopsticks to flutter in the wind.