Let's sing together! A collection of nursery rhymes everyone knows
Nursery songs that many people have sung in day-care centers, kindergartens, and schools.
These children’s songs, passed down through generations, are still sung today in childcare settings, schools, and even senior facilities.
That said, fewer people are singing them nowadays, and some children can be found who don’t know nursery songs at all.
In this article, we’ll introduce nursery songs that everyone—young and old—will recognize.
If you’re not very familiar with nursery songs, start by listening to the ones we introduce here.
Try singing nursery songs together with your child, your friends, or your grandparents, and have fun!
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[Let’s Sing Together!] A Collection of Well-Known Children’s Songs (21–30)
Song of the Resounding GrasslandsSakushi: Kubota Yuzuru Sakkyoku: Maruyama Aki
This piece opens a series based on Mongolian folk tales.
Poet Yuzuru Kubota and composer Aki Maruyama joined forces, and it was first unveiled at a premiere concert held at the Nagoya Civic Hall in May 2000.
It was later formally published in September 2002 as the opening number in the score collection Aki Maruyama Song Collection [Supplement]: Suho’s White Horse.
The lyrics weave in images of a steppe where wind and light resonate, and its bright, easy-to-sing melody makes it accessible for children.
It works beautifully in many settings—sung alongside a story reading in schools or preschools, or used as an introductory piece for recitals and concerts.
Horse’s tail, pig’s tail.Sakushi: Abe Hitomi / Sakkyoku: Yamamoto Naozumi
Broadcast on NHK’s Minna no Uta in August 1983, this song is a humorous children’s tune themed around the tails of a horse and a pig.
Written by Hitomi Abe and composed by Naosumi Yamamoto, it was selected as an outstanding piece in NHK’s Children’s Song Lyrics and Composition Contest.
The story charmingly likens a boy’s puppy-love—teasing the girl he likes—to animal tails, sweetly capturing that childish urge to tug on her pigtails.
Sung by Kyu Sakamoto and the NHK Tokyo Children’s Choir, it became well-loved and was rebroadcast in 2010 and 2015.
There are also covers by various artists, including Seiji Tanaka, and it is widely sung in kindergarten and nursery school choirs.
Its lively melody and catchy refrain make it perfect for parents and children to sing together.
Foal’s Rhythm PlayMonbushō shōka
This children’s song, which depicts a lively foal moving forward to the chant “Hai-shii, hai-shii,” was included in the Ministry of Education’s Shoka for the Elementary School Reader, edited in July 1910 (Meiji 43).
Its hallmark is the way it expresses the foal’s hoofbeats—pressing on along mountain paths and up steep slopes—through an even beat and rhythm.
Today it is used in early childhood education and eurhythmics as a “rhythm play” activity, ideal for children to walk, run, and stop in time with the piano.
Because changes in pitch and tempo can be expressed through body movement, it’s perfect for group movement play and parent–child bonding time.
By imitating a horse’s gait, it offers a fun way to foster a sense of rhythm.
Goat MailSakushi: Mado Michio / Sakkyoku: Dan Ikuma
A very unique children’s song featuring the absent-minded White Goat and Black Goat.
The lyrics are by Michio Mado, who also wrote “Zō-san,” and the music is by Ikuma Dan.
Its charm lies in the heartwarming world where you can’t help but laugh at the endless loop of the two writing letters back and forth without ever conveying their messages.
First broadcast on NHK Radio in 1953, the song has long been beloved on programs like NHK’s “Okaasan to Issho.” Try singing it together as a parent and child, smiling at the thought that it would be quicker if they just met and talked in person.
All mothersamerika min’yō
This is a song arranged for Japanese audiences from a folk tune that originated in 19th-century America.
Tomoko Nakayama’s Japanese lyrics pose questions like why a horse goes clip-clop as it runs and why a piglet’s tail curls—“no one knows why.” Easy-to-remember onomatopoeia is repeated to the rhythm, making it appealing and well-suited for creating parody verses.
Sung on NHK’s children’s programs, this piece has reached many homes and childcare settings through performances by Yuko Kanzaki and Osamu Sakata.
Combined with fingerplay or marching movements, it’s a perfect nursery song for parents and children to enjoy together.
Ten thousand feet in the Alps
When it comes to hand-clapping songs played face-to-face by two people, this is probably the one everyone thinks of.
Its melody originates from the American marching song “Yankee Doodle,” but the snappy Japanese lyrics give it a unique charm.
The “Koyari” mentioned in the lyrics refers to a rocky peak near the summit of Mount Yarigatake in the Japanese Alps, at an elevation of around 3,000 meters.
The song paints a grand scene of dancing in such a place.
It spread nationwide after being featured on NHK’s “Minna no Uta” in August 1962.
It’s perfect for livening up a hand-clapping game by changing the tempo, and if you sing it while hiking or camping, the landscape will overlap with the world of the lyrics, making for unforgettable memories!
Mountain MusiciansDoitsu min’yō
An endearing, picture book-like piece in which the animals of the forest become musicians and hold a concert.
In this song, mountain friends like squirrels and little birds appear one after another, each showing off their favorite instrument.
With a structure that layers on words imitating the timbre of the instruments, it carries a lively joy that makes your body start moving all on its own.
It became widely known in Japan after being featured in April 1964 on NHK’s “Minna no Uta,” sung by Dark Ducks.
Since then, it has been sung for many years on educational programs and the like.
Part of its charm is that you can enjoy it with gestures and hand motions, too.