Folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes of Kumamoto: the enduring spirit of our hometown passed down through song.
Kumamoto has served as the setting for folk songs and children’s songs known throughout Japan, such as Otemoyan and Itsuki no Komoriuta.
These works vividly portray the grandeur of Aso’s natural landscape, the majestic figure of Kumamoto Castle, and the rhythms of everyday life.
From Taharabanzaka, which conveys the sorrow of the Satsuma Rebellion, to Higo Kome Ondo, which celebrates a bountiful harvest, each folk song passed down through the generations is deeply etched with Kumamoto’s history and culture.
In this article, we have gathered folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes from Kumamoto, imbued with love for the homeland and the joys of daily life.
Let us lend an ear to the world of song where the spirit of Kumamoto resides.
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Kumamoto’s folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes: The heart of our hometown passed down through song (31–40)
Amakusa Haiya-bushi
This is the folk song “Amakusa Haiya-bushi,” handed down in Kumamoto Prefecture.
It was sung by sailors as a drinking song.
The reason there are various versions of “Haiya-bushi” across the country is that sailors brought it to port towns here and there.
The “Amakusa Haiya-bushi” has also been passed down with lyrics and accompaniment adapted to this region.
Kikuchi River Rafting SongKunio Hamasaki
Kikuchi River Ikadanagashi-uta is a newly composed folk song from Kumamoto Prefecture, written and composed by Seiryu Iwanaga.
It is said that he created the song based on old tales he heard from an angler and stories from a boatman.
Thinking that even the folk songs we have today may have been created by people like Iwanaga, who wished to pass down the history of their homeland, is deeply moving.
Kahoku Tea Mountain SongYuko Ueda
Kahoku Chayama-uta is a folk song handed down in Kahoku Town (now Kahoku-machi, Yamaga City), the northernmost part of Kumamoto Prefecture.
Kahoku has long been known as a tea-producing area, and from the feudal domain era onward, many tea-picking girls came to work during the harvest season.
The work song those tea-picking girls sang is Kahoku Chayama-uta.
Umamihara OiwakeKikutaro Shimotani
This is the folk song “Umamihara Oiwake,” handed down in Soyō Town, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture.
Umamihara is the former name of the central area of Soyō Town.
Up until the mid-Meiji period, the area prospered and bustled with sake brewing.
The lyrics were written by local poet Kichijirō Miwa, with music composed by Yoshio Saijō.
It was broadcast in 1954 on the program “Visiting Folk Songs,” after which a record was released, bringing nationwide attention to the song.
Ushibuka Sagarin (Ushibuka San-sagari)
The Kumamoto folk song “Ushibuka Sansagari” is pronounced ‘Ushibuka Sansagari.
’ Sansagari refers to tuning, specifically lowering the third string of the shamisen by one tone.
Lowering it by one tone is said to produce a stylish sound.
This song is sung as a prelude to the “Ushibuka Haiya-bushi.”
Kumamoto’s Folk Songs, Children’s Songs, and Nursery Rhymes: The Heart of Our Hometown Passed Down in Song (41–50)
Aso Hay Cutting SongFumio Sakanashi
This is the folk song “Aso Hayslicing Song” that used to be sung in the Matoishi area of Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture.
It appears to have been sung until around the early Showa period, but then fell silent for a long time.
Fumio Sakanashi took the initiative to pass down Aso’s folk songs, revived this “Aso Hayslicing Song,” and is said to be performing it and teaching it to local children.
Morning Grass-Cutting Song of AsoTokio Yamamoto
This is the folk song “Aso no Asakusa-giri Uta,” passed down in the Aso region of Kumamoto Prefecture.
It sings of cutting “morning grass” around the time the second birds begin to call, after the very first birds of dawn.
Traveling along a mountain path wrapped in morning mist, then crisply cutting grasses and wildflowers in a wide field—just picturing the scene is enough to make you feel refreshed.