Ministry of Education songs, children's songs, and nursery rhymes. The heart of Japan passed down in song.

sea

"Umi (The Sea)" - Children's song / school song

There are several songs that take the sea as their theme, and this is one of the especially short ones.

Despite its brevity, it conveys a child’s honest feelings toward the vast ocean, extending even to distant foreign lands they’ve never seen, and it’s a song that evokes a child’s dreams and hopes.

Sakura, sakura

Sakura, Sakura [Lyrics]—as far as the eye can see, the Yayoi skies

Cherry blossoms are flowers every Japanese person knows, but it’s said that the song is not merely about their beauty; composed in 1941, before the war, it is also seen as glorifying militaristic Japan.

Hidden within it is the idea that soldiers should bloom beautifully like cherry blossoms and then fall honorably for the sake of the nation.

Zuizui Zukkorobashi

(Nursery Rhyme) Zuizuizukkorobashi

It’s a traditional hand game song, but it seems that the background to its creation was to remind children to go inside and stay quiet so they wouldn’t be rude—such as by crossing in front—when a feudal lord’s procession passed by.

bonfire

Bonfire – Taki Bi | By the hedge, by the hedge, around the corner—it's a bonfire, it's a bonfire, burning fallen leaves [Japanese Song / Shoka]

This is a song about a bonfire at the end of autumn, when camellias and the like are in bloom.

It isn’t a song from a region with harsh cold; in fact, it’s a song of Tokyo, and the “hedge” that appears in the lyrics evokes the living hedgerows that still remain today.

The “pii-puu” in the lyrics is an amusing expression, and it’s said it may have come from the hymn “Furusato,” which traces back to Iwate Prefecture.

Please let me pass.

Please let me pass.

There are theories that the lyrics of this song are associated with sad themes such as mysterious disappearances and human sacrifice, but it is also well known as a hand game played by girls.

Because of the word “to pass” in the lyrics, it is also famous in Japan as the auditory signal used at pedestrian crossings.

Some say it also carries the meaning of a checkpoint or barrier.

When I Become a First Grader

When I Become a First Grader

I wonder what I’ll be able to do when I become a first grader.

What kinds of things do you want to do with the new friends you’ll meet for the first time at a new, different school? Is this what you want to do? This song expresses the feelings of children who are eagerly waiting for the day they become first graders, their hearts full of expectation.

I found the first star

I found the first star

At dusk, as the children walk home with their mother, gazing at the sunset sky, the first star begins to twinkle.

You can picture them heading home, chatting about the fun they had today.

It’s a simple tune with a pleasant, feel-good melody.