Nostalgic Children’s Songs, Folk Songs, and Nursery Rhymes: The Heart of Japan Passed Down Through Song

yomogi-jōbu nochildren’s song

Spring children's song / For the April–May seasonal festivals: [Yomogi-Jobu no]. I'd like to play it to coincide with the festival.

An adorable children’s song that brings to mind the smiles of little ones.

The lyrics, which include plant names like iris and mugwort, convey the richness of Japan’s four seasons.

Through the game called “shiritataki” (butt-tapping), it likely expresses a wish for children’s healthy growth.

Passed down in parts of Niigata Prefecture, this song is a valuable piece that preserves local culture and customs.

How about singing and playing it with family and friends in the season when you can feel spring’s arrival? You’re sure to enjoy a warm moment where nostalgia and freshness coexist.

Toy Cha-Cha-ChaLyrics by Akiyuki Nosaka and Osamu Yoshioka / Music by Nobuyoshi Koshibe

[Children's Song] Toy Cha-Cha-Cha / Daisuke Yokoyama

It’s a children’s song with a toy theme that’s very popular among kids.

One fun aspect of this song is how it sparks the imagination—“What if the toys start marching while we’re asleep?” You can enjoy it in many ways, like clapping along to the ‘cha-cha-cha’ or doing choreography for the whole song.

The Hill Where Mandarin Orange Blossoms Bloom

The Hill Where Mandarin Orange Blossoms Bloom – Shoko Haida

It’s a beautiful song that brings to mind the terraced fields where mandarins are grown.

For no particular reason, when you say “mikan,” I tend to think of Ehime, so I assumed it was about that region, but it turns out the model is Ito City in Shizuoka Prefecture.

It was even used as the departure melody at Usami Station and Ito Station on the Ito Line.

Although it’s a lovely piece, it seems it wasn’t very popular with boys because the pitch is quite high.

The Hare and the Tortoise

Bunny and Turtle – Usagi To Kame | Hello, hello, Turtle, dear Mr. Turtle [Japanese Song / Shoka]

It’s a children’s song that’s still sung today, and I think its content is very admirable from a moral standpoint.

The hare makes fun of the world’s slowest turtle, but in the end, by mocking his opponent and slacking off, the hare loses to the very turtle he called slow.

These days, I’ve heard that at some elementary school sports days, everyone holds hands and crosses the finish line together so the child in last place won’t feel bad, but in the turtle’s case, it wasn’t about winning or losing—it was the result of giving his absolute best.

Friendly Path

Children’s Song: Friendly Path (Sung by Ms. Sadako Kuwana)

In the old days there were no walking-to-school groups, so just like in that nursery rhyme, we would hold hands with boys we were friendly with and head to school, or invite neighborhood kids and go separately in little groups.

Parents’ worry for their children hasn’t changed then or now, but at least the traffic conditions weren’t as dangerous as they are today.

Still, if we were late getting home, our parents would worry, and neighbors would often caution us to go on home.

Desert of the Moon

Children’s song: Desert Moon (Aiko Anzai & Takako Kawada)

This was one of the songs I was bought on children’s record discs when I was little.

Since a camel appears in it, as a child I thought it was a song about a princess and prince from some foreign land, but decades ago, when I passed by Onjuku Beach in Chiba Prefecture, I remember thinking that this must be the model for it.

It’s written with the character for “sabak(u)” as 沙漠 rather than 砂漠 because 沙 can mean a seashore.

It’s one of the most romantic songs among Japanese children’s songs.

red dragonfly

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

It’s a nursery song that everyone knows, but it also carries a deep meaning.

Back then, many farming families were poor, and to reduce the number of mouths to feed, girls were married off early.

Seeing a red dragonfly might have brought back memories of the older sister who used to carry the child on her back.

The song says she married at fifteen and then all contact was lost—she must have endured a hard life.

This song was also used long ago in a commercial that said, “Shūkan ○chō goes on sale tomorrow.”