Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture: A Collection of Masterpieces that Play the Heart of the Hometown
The many folk songs that live on in Miyagi Prefecture are sonic treasures that vividly reflect Tohoku’s culture and the lives of its people.
From mountain songs set against majestic peaks to fishermen’s songs praising the bounty of the sea, the rich voices born from the land and people’s way of life can still be heard across the region.
This article brings together folk songs from Miyagi, centered around Sendai.
Why not lend an ear to the gentle melodies imbued with the feelings of our forebears—melodies that evoke the changing seasons, the bustle of festivals, and the joys of farm work?
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Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture | A Collection of Masterpieces That Play the Heart of the Hometown (21–30)
Saitaro-bushiFukuda Kouhei
This is a rock-style rendition of Miyagi Prefecture’s representative folk song, “Saitaro-bushi.” It lets you feel how folk music changes over time.
There is also a song called “Kodomo Saitaro Rock” with lyrics by Akio Oka, and it’s said that children sometimes dance to it at recitals and school performances.
Yuriage Great Catch Song
This is the celebratory song “Yuriage Tairyō-bushi,” handed down in Yuriage, Natori City—an estuary town at the mouth of the Natori River, east of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, where the river flows into Sendai Bay.
It is a folk song sung to celebrate bountiful bonito catches at the homes of fishing bosses and boat owners, performed lively with handclaps.
Songs of this ‘tairyō-bushi’ type were sung along the coastal regions over a wide area, from Iwate Prefecture down to Fukushima Prefecture.
Beautiful Folk Songs Passed Down in Miyagi Prefecture | A Collection of Masterpieces that Play the Heart of the Hometown (31–40)
Millers’ SongMiura Kashiku
This is the folk song “Konabiki-uta” handed down in Miyagi Prefecture.
When it comes to flour-milling songs, Tokushima’s folk song “Iya no Konahiki-uta” is famous, but work songs like these have evolved in each region and taken root there, being passed down through the generations.
The lyrics also differ from place to place, so it’s interesting to compare how they sound.
Shiogama Jinku
Shiogama City in Miyagi Prefecture, home to Oshu’s foremost Shiogama Shrine, prospered as a temple town and fishing port, with red-light districts lining the streets from the foot of the shrine slope to Nishimachi and Honcho.
There, the song “Shiogama Jinku” arose as a lively drinking song sung by courtesans entertaining fishermen and boatmen.
While the official spelling of Shiogama in government documents is “塩竈,” because the character 竈 is difficult to write, both 竈 and 釜 are permitted in practice.
Aoba Castle Love Songsatou muneyuki
Although ‘Aoba Castle Love Song’ is a relatively new song released in 1978 (Showa 53), it has become such a beloved local tune that it’s no exaggeration to say everyone in Miyagi Prefecture knows it.
It is a lyrical ballad about lost love, set against the scenery of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture—a city that developed from the castle town of Sendai Castle.
Doya-bushiAizawa Takeo
This is the “Doya-bushi,” a song sung around Matsushima Port in Miyagi Prefecture to pray for a bountiful catch.
As for the meaning of “doya,” there are two theories: one holds that it comes from toya, meaning a foundry or smelting workshop, and another that it derives from tōya, meaning the household serving as host for a celebration.
Onoda Jinku
Onoda Jinku is a lively drinking song handed down in Onoda Town, Kami District, Miyagi Prefecture, which was a post town during the feudal era.
Long known as a horse-producing area, Onoda Town bustled when horse fairs were held, drawing horse brokers called bakurō from across the country.
A jinku that had been sung in the red-light districts of Shiogama and Ishinomaki was brought there and evolved into what became known as Onoda Jinku.