[2025] Bon Odori songs every kid knows! A roundup of fun festival tunes

Song of Hakata Dontaku

Song of Hakata Dontaku Bonchi Kawaii (Dontaku Festival Music) Hakata Dontaku Port Festival Grand Dance @ Main Festival Stage

The famous “Hakata Dontaku Song” has a relaxed, cheerful tone, making it wonderful for children to dance with bright and gentle hearts.

The part where everyone synchronizes the sound of the rice paddles is also excellent, as it helps them learn how to keep time and move as a group.

This song brings out the atmosphere of summer festivals and Bon dances, making it perfect for children to wear yukata and experience the essence of Japanese culture.

Hakata Celebration Song

Hakata Celebration Song (Iwaimedeta) and Hakata Te Ippon (Hakata Single Hand Clap)

In Fukuoka, things just don’t feel complete unless you do this! They say many people insist on it.

It’s a custom that began in the Edo period and is still indispensable today at celebrations, festivals, and turning points in life.

The “Hakata Celebration Song” and the “Hakata Te Ippon” hand clap.

The most famous scene is during the Hakata Gion Yamakasa on July 15, when the first Yamakasa team enters Kushida Shrine in the Oiyama race.

Singing the Hakata Celebration Song and performing the Hakata Te Ippon amid the tension and excitement is truly moving!

Kiyoshi's Zundoko Song

Wadaiko Bon Odori Song – Kiyoshi no Zundoko-bushi Chiba Kagura Daiko 2018 32nd Masago Summer Festival

Zundoko-bushi has been passed down and sung by many artists as a Japanese kayōkyoku song, but it’s probably Kiyoshi Hikawa’s 2002 rendition, “Kiyoshi no Zundoko-bushi,” that’s famous across generations.

He performed it multiple times on the Kōhaku Uta Gassen, and it’s often played on TV as well.

Given its high recognition, it has become a standard Bon Odori number all over Japan.

Tiny Middle-Aged Man Ondo

Little Old Man Ondo ♪

The unofficial mascot of Amagasaki City in Hyogo Prefecture, Chitchai Ossan, has a Bon Odori song called “Chitchai Ossan Ondo.” And guess who sings it: Takahiro Matsumoto, the older brother of Hitoshi Matsumoto from the comedy duo Downtown, who is also from Amagasaki! Chitchai Ossan enjoyed a surge in popularity along with the “yuru-chara” boom.

The lyrics of the song describe in detail Chitchai Ossan’s real name, personality, and what he does, so even kids who don’t know the character may find him endearing.

The episodes about Chitchai Ossan portrayed in the song are funny, so you can enjoy dancing the Bon Odori while laughing at the lyrics.

Hawaii Ondo

Hawaii Ondo

This is a song released in 1980 by Tonosama Kings, who were active as a comic band.

Three years later, they released “Brazil Ondo.” With its cheerful, relaxed, and free-spirited feel, the song lets children dance happily and brightly with calm hearts.

The inclusion of charming, Hawaiian paradise-like tones adds to the fun, bringing the mood of Hawaiian dance into the choreography.

Village Festival

Village Festival (♪ The village guardian deity of the shrine ~) by Himawari 🌻 [100 Best Japanese Songs] with Lyrics Before and After Changes | Ministry of Education Shoka | Mura Matsuri

This song was included in Shōka for Ordinary Elementary Schools, a music textbook for elementary students published in 1912.

Although the lyricist has yet to be identified, recent research suggests it may be Shigeru Kuzuhara, who wrote Yūhi (Sunset).

It is a song about a village harvest festival, notable for incorporating festival music chants into the lyrics.

Edo Festival Hayashi

Edo Festival Music (Matsuribayashi) — Sagami-ryu Sato Kagura, Hagiwara Masayoshi Troupe

It is said to have been devised during the era of Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth shogun of the Edo shogunate, with its origins at Katori Shrine in Kasai.

There are set pieces performed like a suite—“Yatai,” “Shoden,” “Kamakura,” “Yonchome,” and “Agari Yatai”—and these are collectively called a hitoppayashi, the smallest unit of hayashi (festival music).