Folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes of Kumamoto: the enduring spirit of our hometown passed down through song.
Kumamoto has served as the setting for folk songs and children’s songs known throughout Japan, such as Otemoyan and Itsuki no Komoriuta.
These works vividly portray the grandeur of Aso’s natural landscape, the majestic figure of Kumamoto Castle, and the rhythms of everyday life.
From Taharabanzaka, which conveys the sorrow of the Satsuma Rebellion, to Higo Kome Ondo, which celebrates a bountiful harvest, each folk song passed down through the generations is deeply etched with Kumamoto’s history and culture.
In this article, we have gathered folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes from Kumamoto, imbued with love for the homeland and the joys of daily life.
Let us lend an ear to the world of song where the spirit of Kumamoto resides.
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Kumamoto’s folk songs, children’s songs, and nursery rhymes: The heart of our hometown passed down through song (31–40)
Fukurenki Lullaby
This lullaby, which lives on in the Amakusa region of Kumamoto, is a work that weaves the earnest feelings of young girls who left their hometowns to work in service into a gentle melody for lulling infants to sleep.
The lyrics, which depict the daily life of child caretakers and even voice wishes for the afterlife, reveal the harsh living conditions of the time and a deep longing for home.
It is said that this song has been passed down since before the Ansei era, prior to the 1850s.
At the “Fukuregi Lullabies & Children’s Songs Festival,” held annually since 1995, local children continue to sing it with great care.
Why not listen closely to a melody imbued with the rhythms of people’s lives and the spirit of their community?
Aoi-san’s Gate (Festival Song)
A heartfelt traditional melody rooted in the festivals of Kumamoto.
Its simple yet majestic pentatonic tune invites listeners into the joy of celebration.
This piece has been passed down as a “folk song of the Kumamoto region” and is still sometimes performed at local festivals in Kumamoto today.
Piano arrangements and vocal sheet music are also available for purchase, and it is widely known as a song deeply embedded in Kumamoto’s culture.
Those who wish to experience the warmth of Japanese traditional music and the spirit of local culture will find themselves filled with a gentle sense of peace.
Battens and BaterenKatte ni Kankō Kyōkai
When the spirit and warmth of Kumamoto are rendered by Jun Miura and Hajime Anzai, they turn into such a delightful and heartwarming local song.
This track sings about Kumamoto’s specialties and history—like horse sashimi, Mount Aso, and Amakusa Shirō—with affection, humor, and nostalgia.
The gentle tone of Miura’s guitalele and the cozy sense of place created by the “Ryoka-roku” inn recordings feel truly comforting.
It was included on the album “Vol.
1” in January 2003, and later featured on the February 2008 album “Katte ni Kankō Kyōkai Katte ni Gotōchi Song 47+1.” How about giving it a listen when you want to rediscover Kumamoto’s charm or are in the mood for music that warms the heart?
metacoxae
The folk song “Ozaya-bushi,” read as Ozaya-bushi, is handed down in the Higo Yatsushiro District.
Born from the land reclamation project of “Shihyakuchō Shinchi,” completed in 1819 (Bunsei 2), Ozaya-bushi was passed on to the reclaimed “Yatsushiro Shinchi area,” constructed in 1855 (Ansei 2), and has been sung to this day as Yatsushiro Shinchi Ozaya-bushi.
Ushibuka Sagarin (Ushibuka San-sagari)
The Kumamoto folk song “Ushibuka Sansagari” is pronounced ‘Ushibuka Sansagari.’ Sansagari refers to tuning, specifically lowering the third string of the shamisen by one tone.
Lowering it by one tone is said to produce a stylish sound.
This song is sung as a prelude to the “Ushibuka Haiya-bushi.”
Kumamoto’s Folk Songs, Children’s Songs, and Nursery Rhymes: The Heart of Our Hometown Passed Down in Song (41–50)
Aso Hay Cutting SongSakanashi Fumio
This is the folk song “Aso Hayslicing Song” that used to be sung in the Matoishi area of Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture.
It appears to have been sung until around the early Showa period, but then fell silent for a long time.
Fumio Sakanashi took the initiative to pass down Aso’s folk songs, revived this “Aso Hayslicing Song,” and is said to be performing it and teaching it to local children.
Morning Grass-Cutting Song of AsoYamamoto Tokio
This is the folk song “Aso no Asakusa-giri Uta,” passed down in the Aso region of Kumamoto Prefecture.
It sings of cutting “morning grass” around the time the second birds begin to call, after the very first birds of dawn.
Traveling along a mountain path wrapped in morning mist, then crisply cutting grasses and wildflowers in a wide field—just picturing the scene is enough to make you feel refreshed.