[Children's Songs] Cute songs recommended for childcare. List of popular nursery rhymes.

Issun-bōshi (The One-Inch Boy)Tamura Torazō

♪ Issun Boushi – One-Inch Boy | ♪ A One-Inch Boy Not Even Enough for a Finger [Japanese Songs / Shoka]

This is also a song based on a nursery rhyme.

Issun-bōshi, who is only about the size of a finger, sets off on a journey in a little bowl, meets a princess, and encounters an ogre.

Even when he’s swallowed by the ogre, he defeats it using a fighting style only someone small could manage—so cool, right? It’s a nursery rhyme that gives children courage!

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sasashina

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Hanasaka Jiisan (The Old Man Who Made Flowers Bloom)Tamura Torazō

Old Man Flower (Hanasaka Jiisan) | Pochi Barks in the Back Field [Japanese Song / Shoka]

This song is the one that sings about the famous folktale “Hanasaka Jiisan.” It’s an easy-to-understand story even for children: when it’s the honest old man, gold coins appear, but when it’s the mean old man, no coins come out.

It lets children feel that “good things happen when you’re honest!”

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sasashina

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KintaroTamura Torazō

Kintaro – Kintaro | Carrying his hatchet, Kintaro; riding on a bear, practicing like a horse [Japanese song/children’s song]

Although many people know the costume, they often say they don’t remember the story of “Kintaro.” In short, it’s a happy tale in which the strong Kintaro helps animals, and a samurai who sees this scouts him.

Kintaro has also been made into a song like this.

I hope children can understand the Kintaro folktale by listening to this song.

Daikoku-samaTamura Torazō

Daikoku-sama by Wasaburō Ishihara / Tokuzō Tamura

This is a children’s song about the Japanese myth of the Hare of Inaba.

The song’s title is “Daikoku-sama,” but the figure who appears in the original myth is Ōkuninushi, the enshrined deity of Izumo Taisha.

Daikokuten is a Buddhist guardian deity with roots in Hinduism, and it seems to have syncretized with Ōkuninushi because their names sound the same.

The Rolling Rice BallIshigeta Fuyuki

#54 Yuka Yanari / Omusubi Kororin

The folktale Omusubi Kororin is quite famous, but did you know there’s a song for it? The song follows the storyline of the tale, so even those who don’t know the story can enjoy it while grasping the flow.

If you sing the song while doing a picture-story show or a puppet show, kids will have even more fun—so moms and teachers, give it a try.

The rhythm is lively and easy to remember, making it great for children to imitate and hum along to right away.

If there are kids who know the story but haven’t heard the song yet, please teach them this song together with the tale.

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kinoshita ayaka

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