Children’s Song Medley: A playlist of classic and popular hits everyone knows

Yaki-imo Goo-Chii-Paasakushi: sakata hiroo / sakkyoku: yamamoto naozumi

Yakiimo goo-choki-pa

It’s a popular hand-play song for children’s shows and for kindergartens and nursery schools.

As you can imagine from the title, it’s a song that incorporates rock-paper-scissors (gu, choki, pa).

It’s a perfect children’s song for getting familiar with rock-paper-scissors, combining the game with a sweet-potato theme for autumn.

After singing, you can have a fun rock-paper-scissors tournament, making it an ideal song for learning the rules.

Story FingerSakushi: Kayama Yoshiko / Sakkyoku: Yuyama Akira

Ohanashi Yubisan (Talkative Fingers) 1974 Children’s Song

It’s a fun song that helps you learn the names of the five fingers while singing.

The fingers are imagined as a family, set to a bright rhythm.

Nursery rhymes really contribute a lot to children’s language development, don’t they? It makes sense that the little finger is the baby and the thumb is the father.

Kagome KagomeSō Gyōchi (1751-nen goro)

♪Kagome Kagome – Kagome Kagome | ♪Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage [Japanese Song / Shoka]

I think many of us played while singing this song when we were children.

The “oni” (it) closes their eyes, and the other children form a circle and spin around the oni while singing.

Since the song was created long ago, the lyrics are in classical Japanese.

It’s a song that has been loved by children for a very long time.

The Metropolitan Museum of ArtOhnuki Taeko

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

It is said that this song was inspired by the American children’s author E.

L.

Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs.

Basil E.

Frankweiler.

It was broadcast on NHK’s Minna no Uta, and because of its nostalgic tone and the clay animation, some children reportedly found it scary.

The singer is Taeko Onuki, well known for the theme song of the film Shall We Dance?

village festivalMonbushō shōka

Nursery rhyme (Monbushō shōka): ♪ The village guardian deity of the local shrine—Village Festival

“Village Festival” is characterized by its lively, cheerful festival music.

First published in an elementary school music textbook in 1912, it has long been beloved and sung across many regions.

I used to feel a thrill every time I heard it, but in recent years, due to factors like municipal mergers making villages feel less familiar, it has unfortunately been disappearing from textbooks.

campfireSakushi: Tatsumi Seika / Sakkyoku: Watanabe Shigeru

[Japanese Song] Takibi (Bonfire). Lyrics: Seika Tatsumi, Music: Shigeru Watanabe. “At the corner, at the bend in the hedge—♪”

These days, you don’t see bonfires as often.

But children in any era love the bright red, flickering flames they watch at campsites or beacon fires.

Still, this is also a song that faced various challenges over time: during the war, people said it was wasteful to burn fallen leaves as fuel; after the war, bonfires on street corners were discouraged for fire safety; and although it never actually happened since it’s a song found in textbooks, there was even a request to use the “chilblains” lyrics in a hand cream commercial.

Seven-year-old childSakushi: Noguchi Ujo / Sakkyoku: Motoori Nagayo

Seven Baby Crows (Lyrics by Ujō Noguchi, Music by Nagayo Motoori)

It’s a song overflowing with a mother crow’s love for her child.

It was also nominated for the top 10 Japanese children’s songs.

It was released in the Taisho era.

With its relaxed tempo and easy-to-imagine lyrics, it truly represents Japanese nursery rhymes.