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Folk songs, children's songs, and nursery rhymes of Nagasaki: the heart of the hometown passed down through song

Nagasaki, with places like Dejima, exudes an exotic atmosphere.

In this article, we’ll introduce folk songs and children’s songs that capture Nagasaki’s customs, practices, and current events.

Above all, many of Nagasaki’s folk songs, in their melodies and in many other aspects, carry historical backgrounds and convey a distinctly non-Japanese feel.

Listening to these Nagasaki folk and children’s songs, you can’t help but picture the streetscapes of Nagasaki.

Please try listening while imagining Nagasaki brimming with that exotic charm.

Playlist

Folk songs, children's songs, and nursery rhymes of Nagasaki: the heart of the hometown passed down through song
show_chartTitlePlaylistOne point
1DenderaryuThe NHK children’s program “Nihongo de Asobo”…
2Buy some manju in town.It has long been sung as a song for battledore (hanetsuki) and hand-play games...
3Flower Picking SongI think many of you are already familiar with this from history class and the like...
4Nagasaki Bon DanceAfter the end of World War II, a prayer for repose and for peace...
5Nagasaki Burabura SongThose of you who know it as a novel, or as a movie title…
6Nagasaki UproarThe folk song “Nagasaki Sawagi,” which celebrates a new beginning, is…
7Shimabara LullabyIn Nagasaki Prefecture, the song that has been sung around the Shimabara Peninsula is “...
8Nagasaki Nonnoko-bushiSpecies such as mudskippers and fiddler crabs also inhabit the area...
9Nagasaki Meganebashi (Spectacles Bridge)Chieko BaishoIt was broadcast on NHK’s music program “Minna no Uta”…
10Nagasaki OndoA song inspired by the exposition, and among those, even more...
11Goto Iso-bushiThe folk song “Goto …,” which has been sung in the Goto Islands of Nagasaki Prefecture
12Authentic Goto SanosaThe “Nine Linked …” that came from China—what was then called the Qing…
13Takashima-bushiLocated in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and also inscribed on the World Heritage List…
14Nagasaki NocturneTaro HakaseIt's like a grand romance that Taro Hakase created...
15spring rainMy wavering feelings of love in the figure of a warbler perched on a plum tree…
16Hasami BushiIn the central part of Nagasaki Prefecture, surrounded by lush greenery, Nami…
17Nagasaki City SongIn 1933, the NHK Nagasaki Broadcasting Station opened, and...
18Maruyama JinkuShinnai Edayuki DayuIt sings of the scenery of Maruyama Town in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture...
19The Pomelo Vendor of NagasakiMinoru ObataEvoking nostalgia and letting you feel the good old Japan...
20It’s dangerousThe commercial jingle of Bunmeido Sohonten, famous for its castella cake...
21The Seven Wonders of Nagasaki
The Seven Wonders of Nagasaki
Place names and landmarks in Nagasaki have names that make you wonder.
22Love’s Chinese ShipIn 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the “Patriotic Mo…
23Hama-bushiA folk song from Nagasaki City that was created in the early Showa period, and other folk songs…
24Jasmine of Nagasaki: HydrangeaJasmine, which came from China and was brought to Nagasaki, Japan, and...
25Isahaya JinkuIn the pleasure quarters of Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture—where geisha and courtesans…
26Tasukue Haiya-bushiHayabushi (Haiya-bushi) is a folk song that begins with the shout “haiya”...
27Unzen OndoUnzen Ondo, with lyrics by the Nagasaki poet Mizuro Nishioka...
28Woman of NagasakiKasuga HachirōIt’s probably about infidelity. Back then…