Japanese shoka (school songs). Nostalgic tunes, songs of the heart.

This roadTaeko Ohnuki

Taeko Onuki – This Road

The atmosphere is quite different from the image I’d had of this song until now.

Rather than a “path of memories,” it feels like a grown woman quietly walking, step by step, along the road she once traveled.

You can even feel a sense of life in it.

The setting seems to be Hokkaido and perhaps Kumamoto, and it feels as though it calmly speaks to us about life.

Desert of the MoonHako Yamasaki

Children’s song: Moon Desert by Kumi Tomo

I was surprised at first—Hako-san singing this song? But as I listened, I felt a deep drama in the vocals.

It didn’t feel like the usual fairytale of a prince and princess; it seemed to carry a more tragic tone, and I genuinely wondered where the two of them were headed.

Hako-san’s expressive power is amazing!

Where does the morning begin?Atsuro Okamoto, Aiko Anzai

Where Does Morning Come From — Aiko Anzai & Atsurō Okamoto

It seems this was a contest piece created to encourage Japan right after the end of the war.

It’s a bright, forward-looking song, fitting for living with hope.

I think it’s a heartwarming, uplifting song that encourages proper daily habits and greetings.

The Okamoto–Anzai duo feels like schoolteachers—you want to learn it and sing along with them.

teru teru bozu (a traditional Japanese handmade doll hung to wish for good weather)Miyoko Hirayama, Kajiko Nakayama, Masako Omura

♪ Teru Teru Bozu

I used to sing it when I was little, and I thought it was a cute wish song that says “I’ll give you this and that, just please make it sunny,” but when I got to the third verse, I was shocked.

Hearing the legend surprised me even more.

If it had ended at the second verse with straightforward wishes, I think it would have felt warm and gentle.

Raja MaharajaJun Togawa

Raja Maharaja (RADIO ONSEN EUTOPIA)

The lyrics were written by Mitsuko Fukuda and the music composed by Yoichiro Yoshikawa, and it was first broadcast on Minna no Uta in 1985.

The song features an Indian maharaja as the protagonist, humorously depicting the luxurious and extravagant life of the maharaja set to a lively, exotic melody.

Tsutomu from the Yamaguchi FamilyKozue Saito

(cover) Tsutomu-kun from the Yamaguchi Family / Children's Song

The song was written and composed by Ranbou Minami and introduced on “Minna no Uta” in 1976, becoming a huge hit and selling 1.

5 million records.

There are versions sung by various artists, but the one performed by Kozue Saito is the most famous.

The lyrics are very endearing.

I want to become the wind.Sapporo Kitano Children’s Choir

I want to become the wind.

Lyrics and music by Kazufumi Miyazawa, the vocalist of THE BOOM.

Crafted with a Latin flavor using a samba whistle and many percussion instruments.

It spread widely as it was often featured on television—used as a movie theme song and in commercials—and it even came to be included in high school music textbooks.