A seemingly scary nursery rhyme: a children’s song that gives you the chills when you hear it

rainfallLyrics by Hakushu Kitahara / Music by Shinpei Nakayama

Rainfall ♪ [Children’s song] Rain, rain, fall, fall—Mother will

A children’s song born from lyrics by the poet Hakushu Kitahara and music by composer Shinpei Nakayama, who created numerous popular songs.

It was selected as one of the 100 Best Japanese Songs, and many people likely remember its lively melody that evokes the carefree innocence described in the lyrics.

In fact, there is an urban legend that it depicts a child waiting for a sick mother, and it is said that uttering the lyrics from the third verse onward—there are five verses in total—will bring a curse.

There is even an anecdote that schools forbid singing all the verses.

It’s a children’s song that carries rumors unimaginable from its bright image.

Red ShoesLyrics by Ujō Noguchi / Music by Nagayo Motoori

Red Shoes – Akai Kutsu | The girl who wore red shoes [Japanese song / shoka (school song)]

A children’s song widely known even today as a symbol of Yokohama.

Because of its lyrics, melancholic melody, and historical context, it is often associated with images of human trafficking.

However, the prevailing account passed down is that it is based on a true story: a mother’s wish for her daughter—born into poverty—to find happiness as the adopted child of an American missionary couple, and the girl who, before she could emigrate, died of tuberculosis in an orphanage.

While the lyrics have sparked much debate over their interpretation, the song’s beautiful, wistful melody has been cherished across generations.

Pinky promise

Pinky swear, if I lie, I'll swallow a thousand needles... [Japanese Pinky Swear / Promise]

Intertwining fingers with the vow to always keep a promise made with someone.

It’s a song many people have sung naturally since childhood, but some may have felt that, when you read the lyrics as they are, there are actually many frightening phrases.

Also, “yubikiri genman” is written as “指切り拳万,” and since “拳万” means being struck by thousands or tens of thousands of fists, it originally carried the meaning that if you broke the promise, your finger would be cut off, you would be punched thousands of times, and furthermore, you would be made to swallow a thousand needles.

It is a nursery rhyme that conveys just how important it was at the time not to break promises or rules, and it evokes a level of fear that would be unthinkable in the modern day.

soap bubbleLyrics by Ujō Noguchi / Music by Shinpei Nakayama

Children’s song “Soap Bubbles” (lyrics by Ujo Noguchi, music by Shinpei Nakayama, arranged by Eiichi Yamada) — rare version including the second verse

A children’s song with lyrics by the poet Ujo Noguchi, first published in the Buddhist children’s magazine Kin no To during the Taisho era.

Its somewhat otherworldly melody, tinged with the flavor of a hymn, is likely one many people hummed in their childhood.

It’s said the lyrics were written as a requiem for the songwriter’s child who passed away too soon, and when read with that in mind, a different scene comes into view.

It is a nursery rhyme that we hope to preserve for the future, one that embodies the original role of song—carrying emotions too heavy to bear on its own.

Shōjōji’s Raccoon Dog Festival MusicLyrics by Ujō Noguchi / Music by Shinpei Nakayama

[Children’s Song] Shojōji’s Tanuki Parade / Daisuke Yokoyama

Published in 1924, this song may seem like a cheerful tune that conjures up the image of raccoon dogs drumming on their bellies with a “pon poko” beat.

In fact, however, the lyricist Ujo Noguchi is said to have based the lyrics on a ghost story called “Tanuki Bayashi.” In the tale, festival music can be heard from nowhere in particular; even if you walk toward the direction of the sound, you can’t discover its source.

And as you keep searching for where the sound is coming from, before you know it you’ve wandered into an unfamiliar place.

It’s a light, lively melody that you’d never expect to have such a creepy ghost story as its origin.

The Spinning SongLyrics by: Yoshiko Kayama / Music by: Akihiro Komori

“The Itomaki Song” (with hand motions)

The hand-play song “Ito Maki no Uta” (The Spool-Winding Song).

With lyrics by Yoshiko Kayama and music by Akihiro Komori, this piece was created based on the Danish folk tune “The Shoemaker’s Polka.” The song depicts a journey to a little elf’s house and is designed to spark children’s imaginations.

There are multiple interpretations of the lyrics; some even read the latter part as suggesting that “the elf is caught in a pitfall and made into soup.” What do you think? Be sure to pay attention to the latter verses too, which are not often heard!

goldfishLyrics by Hakushu Kitahara / Music by Tamezo Narita

Goldfish Lyrics by Hakushu Kitahara / Music by Tamezō Narita

A children’s song with lyrics by the poet Hakushū Kitahara, whose chilling blend of childlike affection and cruelty sends shivers down the spine.

True to the words themselves, the depiction of a child’s loneliness over a beloved mother who doesn’t come home—and the horror-tinged act of killing goldfish as a way to distract from that loneliness—stands out.

An adult might have ways to cope with loneliness or go out to look for someone, but within the small world of a child who can only wait, the emotional instability at play makes us question whether it’s shallow to condemn it as simply “cruel” based on the text alone.

For better or worse, it captures a distinctly childlike quality; it’s a profound nursery song that can’t be dismissed as merely frightening.