Folk songs, children's songs, and nursery rhymes of Nagasaki: the heart of the hometown passed down through song
Nagasaki, with places like Dejima, exudes an exotic atmosphere.
In this article, we’ll introduce folk songs and children’s songs that capture Nagasaki’s customs, practices, and current events.
Above all, many of Nagasaki’s folk songs, in their melodies and in many other aspects, carry historical backgrounds and convey a distinctly non-Japanese feel.
Listening to these Nagasaki folk and children’s songs, you can’t help but picture the streetscapes of Nagasaki.
Please try listening while imagining Nagasaki brimming with that exotic charm.
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Folk Songs, Children's Songs, and Nursery Rhymes of Nagasaki: The Heart of Our Hometown Passed Down in Song (21–30)
The Seven Wonders of Nagasaki
Many of Nagasaki’s place names and landmarks have curious names, and a folk song called “The Seven Wonders of Nagasaki” sings about these questions.
It wonders about things like Daitokuji even though there’s no temple, or Maruyama even though it’s flat land—indeed, it questions only the truly puzzling ones.
Even today, it’s like a children’s ditty that people still find themselves humming.
Love’s Chinese Ship
In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and militaristic songs such as the “Patriotic March” became popular.
Released just four months before the conflict, “Koi no Tojinbune” conveys none of the gloom of war; instead, it gently portrays and sings of Chinese ambiance with a serene touch.
Nagasaki NocturneHakasé Tarō
This piece, like a grand romance created by Taro Hakase, is surely a perfect masterpiece for appreciating the splendor of Nagasaki’s night views.
Among recent songs that evoke Nagasaki, isn’t “Nagasaki Nocturne” the most polished, delighting the prefecture’s residents as well? Please give it a listen.
Hama-bushi
Hama-bushi is a new folk song from Nagasaki City, composed in the early Showa period, and thus relatively recent as a folk song.
It was created by Aipachi, a Maruyama geisha, together with Jūjirō Koga, a scholar of Nagasaki studies, and is said to have been a zashiki song spread by the geisha of the Maruyama pleasure district.
Jasmine of Nagasaki: Hydrangea
This song adds Japanese lyrics to the piece “Molihua” (Jasmine Flower), which came to Nagasaki, Japan from China, and it is known by names such as “Ajisai” (Hydrangea) and “Suizenka” (Narcissus).
Molihua refers to jasmine, a flower used for tea, and the Chinese lyrics praise the flower’s beauty and its delightful fragrance.