[Animal Song] Fun nursery rhymes popular with children

Frog ChorusYakushi: Okamoto Toshiaki / Sakkyoku: Doitsu min’yō

Japanese Children’s Song – Dōyō – Chorus of Frogs – Kaeru no Gasshō

From around the rainy season into summer, you can hear frogs croaking from all sorts of places, right? Their calls can even sound as if they’re all singing together.

This is the children’s song “Frog Chorus,” which depicts frogs happily singing in unison.

Based on a German folk song, it’s often enjoyed as a round, with the lyrics taken up one after another.

When it goes well, it really sounds like a chorus, but it’s surprisingly tricky—you can easily get thrown off by the person before you! Don’t let the frogs outdo you—try singing it as a round with your friends or with Mom and Dad!

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rabbit

[Official Pokémon] Nursery Rhyme 'Usagi no Dance (The Bunny Dance)' – Pokémon Kids TV [Children’s Song]

Many children have probably heard the story that there’s a rabbit on the harvest moon pounding mochi.

The children’s song “Usagi” depicts that rabbit and the shining harvest moon in the sky.

It’s an old nursery rhyme said to have been sung since the Edo period, and its melody leaves a strong impression with a distinctly Japanese sensibility.

The lyrics, which simply portray the rabbit responding to the harvest moon, seem to create a sense of open space that invites listeners to imagine what lies around it.

Just as people feel joy when they see the beautiful harvest moon, the rabbit, too, is surely filled with happiness at the sight of that lovely moon.

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aye-ayeSakushi: Aida Hiromi / Sakkyoku: Uno Seiichirou

Ai Ai (with hand motions)

The more you sing the children’s song “Ai Ai,” which asks, “What kind of animal is the aye-aye?”, the more curious you become.

In the song it’s introduced as a kind of monkey, but its actual appearance is a bit different from the monkeys commonly seen in Japan.

It’s characterized by large ears and bulging eyes, and in some places it’s even considered an ill omen.

Still, in this song you can enjoy the aye-aye’s very adorable side.

While introducing the aye-aye’s features, most of the lyrics simply repeat its name, making it a rather unique tune.

If singing it piqued your interest, be sure to look up what kind of animal the “aye-aye” really is.

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReindeerLyrics and Composition: Johnny Max

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Ayumi Nakamura

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is beloved as a classic Christmas song.

It depicts a reindeer whose red nose makes everyone laugh at him, but who regains his confidence thanks to a single word from Santa.

Santa was the only one who recognized the charm of the reindeer’s red nose! When someone notices and praises the qualities in us that no one else sees—sometimes not even ourselves—it makes us happy.

Let this song inspire you to be like Santa and discover the good in each person’s unique individuality.

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Song of the Gluttonous GorillaSakushi: Abe Naomi / Sakkyoku: Ozawa Tatsuyuki

Song of the Gluttonous Gorilla

The children’s song “The Gluttonous Gorilla’s Song” depicts a gorilla who loves to eat, gobbling up one thing after another.

Many people may think that, like monkeys, gorillas eat bananas.

But the gorilla in this song doesn’t stop at bananas—he even eats chocolate and ice cream! After eating, he expresses his joy by “drumming,” beating his chest with his hands.

However, when an onion appears at the end, an unexpected tragedy strikes…

It’s a tune that’s sure to make you hungry as you watch the gorilla eat and eat.

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Panda, rabbit, koala

[Children's Song] Panda, Rabbit, Koala / Daisuke Yokoyama

Isn’t this a song everyone hears at least once in early childhood? It’s a hand-play song where you call cute animals and use your hands to show their features—like the black patches around a panda’s eyes, a rabbit’s long ears, or a koala hugging a tree.

It’s popular because children can learn animals’ characteristics even before they fully understand them, and it’s simple and fun to play.

Once they get good at the hand motions, you can speed up the tempo and turn it into a game to see if they can strike the poses without making mistakes.

It’s also fun to change the lyrics to include other animals!

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sasashina

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School of MedakaSakushi: Chaki Shigeru / Sakkyoku: Nakata Yoshinao

Medaka no Gakkō – Crown Girls' Choir

It’s getting harder to spot medaka swimming in the wild.

The children’s song “Medaka no Gakkō” portrays scenes of many medaka swimming together from a unique perspective.

It likens the way they gather and swim to students studying and playing at school.

You can’t help but imagine what the medaka might be talking about at school and what they might be learning! If you happen to find medaka swimming, remember this song and have fun imagining all sorts of things.

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