Recommended songs about mountains: classic and popular tracks for mountaineering and mountain songs
Mountains are popular spots that people of all ages—from children to seniors—can enjoy through activities like climbing and hiking.
When you take in the majestic scenery and beautiful nature, your mind and body feel refreshed, and everyday worries and stress can start to seem small—you might even wonder, “Why was I so worried in the first place?”
In this article, we’ll introduce songs themed around mountains.
It’s packed with tracks you’ll want to sing with friends in the mountains and songs you’ll want to listen to before a hike.
By listening, you might get a sense of why so many people are so captivated by mountains.
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Recommended songs about mountains: classic and popular tracks for mountaineering and mountain songs (21–30)
The mountains are my hometown.Katō Tokiko
In 2016, a new national holiday was established: Mountain Day in August.
To commemorate this first new holiday in 20 years, a song was created as the “Song of Mountain Day”: Tokiko Kato’s “Yama wa Furusato” (“The Mountain Is My Hometown”).
Its gentle yet expansive melody and lyrics that liken the mountain to a father or mother convey the mountain’s majestic presence, as if it embraces everything.
Mountain DelicaciesŌsutoria min’yō
When we were little, many of us probably sang this song in kindergarten or elementary school.
It’s a classic about mountains that brings back the fun of picnics.
Even if you don’t know the song by name, I think many people would recognize it when they hear the yodeling in the chorus and go, “Oh, that song!” It’s the kind of tune you can’t help but hum along to.
Shane / The Call of the Faraway HillsYukimura Izumi
Shane is an American Western film set in the mountains, released in 1953.
The film’s theme song, The Call for Far-away Hills, has a Japanese version performed by Izumi Yukimura titled Harukanaru Yama no Yobigoe (The Call of the Far-off Mountains).
Hearing the lyric “the mountains are calling” makes you want to go climbing, doesn’t it? Inspired by this song, director Yoji Yamada also made a film with the same title, Harukanaru Yama no Yobigoe.
Kiso is in the mountains.Katsuragi Yuki
It’s a single released by Yuki Katsuragi in 1974, which won the Grand Prize at the 7th Yamaha Popular Song Contest held the same year.
The song is about Mount Ena, located at the southern end of the Central Alps and counted among Japan’s One Hundred Famous Mountains.
Mountain WaltzSakushi: Kayama Yoshiko / Sakkyoku: Yuyama Akira
There are many children’s songs about mountains, and among them, “Yama no Waltz” is one of the classics.
It has also been sung on the hugely popular E-Tele children’s program “Okaasan to Issho,” so it’s likely a familiar tune even for little kids.
In the lyrics, different animals arrive at the mountain kindergarten at different times of day, making it perfect for helping children learn how to tell time.
hometownshouka
Blue mountains, pure waters, and memories of childhood play.
The gentle melody that wraps these scenes of a beloved hometown, along with feelings for family and friends living far away, holds a universal appeal that resonates with everyone.
First published in 1914 as a Ministry of Education school song, this piece was created by Tatsuyuki Takano and Teiichi Okano, vividly reflecting the rural landscapes and lifestyles of Japan at the time.
It was sung at the closing ceremony of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, moving countless people.
Its simple, memorable melody in G major and triple meter continues to be sung at life’s milestones, such as graduation and coming-of-age ceremonies.
With lyrics and melody that evoke nostalgia, it is truly a song that stands by all who live away from their hometowns—a work that can be said to symbolize the heart of Japan.
Mountain MusiciansDoitsu min’yō
It’s a famous children’s song in which various mountain animals play musical instruments like musicians.
Among well-known children’s songs with Japanese lyrics, many are based on European and American folk tunes to which Japanese words were later added, and this is one of them.
It originally comes from a German folk song, and in fact it isn’t animals who play the instruments in the original.
Still, the familiar Japanese lyrics with animals performing make for a very cheerful, delightful song.