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

red dragonflyLyrics by Rofū Miki / Music by Kōsaku Yamada

Red Dragonfly | With Lyrics | 100 Selected Japanese Songs | Red Dragonfly of the Evening Glow

A nostalgic children’s song that uses the yo scale and is also featured as an insert song in the films “Here Is a Fountain” and “The Red Dragonfly of Sunset.” The lyrics, written by essayist Rofū Miki, are based on his childhood memories, depicting the scene of the maid who raised him after his parents’ divorce leaving to get married.

Urban legends say the maid wasn’t married off but sold through human trafficking, or that the “red dragonfly” refers to the Zero fighter plane—interpretations that evoke the era’s backdrop—but even the true story alone is poignant enough.

Selected as one of the 100 Best Japanese Songs, it is a lyrical children’s song that every Japanese person knows.

The Bear of the ForestAmerican folk song

The Bear of the Forest

A children’s song based on an American folk tune of unknown authorship, traditionally sung as a scout song in the United States.

Many who heard it in childhood may have wondered things like, “If you’re telling me to run away, why are you chasing me?” While the original English lyrics do not include the Japanese version’s detail about delivering an earring, the underlying theme—telling someone to flee while pursuing them—remains the same, leading some to interpret it as an encounter with a sadistic bear.

It’s a song almost everyone likely sang at least once in childhood, yet it remains full of mysteries.

Mysterious PocketLyrics by Michio Mado / Music by Shigeru Watanabe

♪A Mysterious Pocket [with gestures]

A children’s song known for its poppy melody that captures the innocent wishes of kids.

Some of you may have even acted out the lyrics by patting a pocket filled with biscuits or cookies and breaking one in half.

Written in 1954, in the postwar era, the lyrics reflect the era’s reality: a child’s longing for more of the precious treats called biscuits, and the tender heart wavering between that hope and the truth that such things aren’t readily available.

It feels like a vivid projection of its historical backdrop.

It’s a nursery song we hope will be passed down along with its deeper meaning, which teaches the universal truth that the weakest are always the ones who suffer in war.

The Metropolitan Museum of ArtLyrics and Music: Taeko Onuki

The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Minna no Uta (Covered by UtaSuta) [A Slightly Scary Song]

A song by singer-songwriter Taeko Onuki that has been rebroadcast many times on the music program Minna no Uta since its 1984 airing.

Inspired by the American children’s novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.

Basil E.

Frankweiler, the track is catchy with its cute melody and slightly eerie arrangement.

Many people associate it with fear due to the unsettling visuals and the ending where the characters are ultimately trapped inside a painting, but if you listen while keeping in mind the consistently poppy atmosphere and the protagonist’s desire to “stay in a place they love forever,” you might come away with a different impression.

It may be a traumatic song for children, but it’s a charming number I hope you’ll revisit as an adult.

Dojoji

Dojoji ~ A Japanese traditional ballad from Wakayama Prefecture Song: Sinsy

A temari song based on the legend of Anchin and Kiyohime preserved at Dojoji Temple in Wakayama Prefecture.

Unlike the generally cheerful image of temari songs, its heavy, eerie melody lingers in the ear.

The song tells the tale of Kiyohime, betrayed by the monk Anchin, transforming into a serpent and burning him to death along with the temple bell at Dojoji.

Perhaps it teaches that, in any era, it is frightening to incur a woman’s wrath.

Although its themes are tragic love and consuming passion, the fact that it has been passed down to later generations through children also imparts a sense of dread; it is known as a Buddhist didactic tale set to song.