Ranking of Popular Folk Songs

That nostalgic melody, passed down through generations—the heart of our hometowns.

We’ve researched a wide range of folk songs from past to present, from East to West! In this article, we’ve selected popular tracks based on reliable feedback from music fans who’ve contributed to our site so far.

Among them, we’ll introduce the most acclaimed ones in a ranked format.

Please take a look.

We also researched children’s songs like nursery rhymes and lullabies, as well as work songs and songs for ceremonies and events.

In recent years, new ways of listening to folk music—championed by acts like Minyo Crusaders and Riyō Sanmyaku—have been attracting a fresh audience.

Playlist

Ranking of Popular Folk Songs
	Title	Playlist	Review
1	maple leavesSakushi: Takano Tatsuyuki / Sakkyoku: Okano Teiichi		The classic song “Momiji” portrays the atmosphere of autumn.
2	snowMonbushō shōka		A sensitively expressive song that sings of the arrival of spring
3	The Clock Song		Have fun playing with clock hand games with your child during the rainy season
4	pine coneSakushi: Hirota Takao / Sakkyoku: Kobayashi Tsuyae		A cute autumn nursery rhyme about pine cones
5	snail		Enjoying the rainy season with children through a snail song
6	New Year (Japanese New Year)Sakushi: Azuma Kume / Sakkyoku: Taki Rentaro		A children's song eagerly awaiting the New Year
7	Spring somewhereSakushi: Momota Sōji / Sakkyoku: Kusakawa Shin		The beauty of the season as it shifts from winter to spring
8	Bright Red Autumnsakushi: satsuma tadashi / sakkyoku: kobayashi hideo		The charm of children's songs that depict the colors of autumn
9	The flower smiled.Sakushi: Hotomi Kōgo / Sakkyoku: Yuyama Akira		A children's song depicting a spring scene where flowers smile
10	bonfireSakushi: Tatsumi Seika / Sakkyoku: Watanabe Shigeru		A masterpiece that depicts a bonfire scene and the warmth of winter
11	Yakiimo goo-choki-pasakushi: sakata hiroo / sakkyoku: yamamoto naozumi		Enjoying winter with a roasted sweet potato hand play song
12	red dragonflySakushi: Miki Rofū / Sakkyoku: Yamada Kōsaku		Akatombo is a nostalgic evening song beloved across generations.
13	LullabySakushi: Kitahara Hakushū / Sakkyoku: Kusakawa Shin		Perfect for soothing babies to sleep with lullabies sung by Rimi Natsukawa
14	The Song of the Twelve Zodiac Animals		A Zodiac Song for a Children's TV Program
15	mushroomSakushi: Mado Michio / Sakkyoku: Kurakake Shōji		The quiet growth of mushrooms and the vitality of nature
16	Spring has come.sakushi: takano tatsuyuki / sakkyoku: okano teiichi		Spring Has Come. A famous children's song from the Meiji era.
17	gluttonous gorilla		A hand-play song where a gorilla eats one food after another
18	TulipSakushi: Kondo Miyako / Sakkyoku: Inoue Takeshi		A nursery rhyme praising the beauty and diversity of tulips
19	Yakiimo goo-choki-pa		Winter roasted sweet potato fingerplay song, popular with children
20	Konkon fox		A fingerplay song that mimics a fox’s cry
21	A Hazy Moonlit NightSakushi: Takano Tatsuyuki / Sakkyoku: Okano Teiichi		A children's song that sings of a spring night scene with a hazy moon
22	Tinsagu FlowersKojya Misako		Tinsagu, an Okinawan folk song, teaches parental guidance
23	Bright Red Autumn		Feel the season with the autumn classic “Makkana Aki” (Deep Crimson Autumn)
24	Teacher and friendsSakushi: Yoshioka Osamu / Sakkyoku: Koshibe Nobuyoshi		Support children's new lives through interactions between teachers and friends
25	winter sceneryMonbushō shōka		A song depicting a day at the beginning of winter
26	Mountain Musicians		Autumn tones played by the mountain musicians
27	Song of a little birdSakushi: Yoda Jun’ichi / Sakkyoku: Akutagawa Yasushi		Sing together as a parent and child with nursery rhymes depicting May birds
28	Buzz buzz buzzSakushi: Murano Shirou / Sakkyoku: Bohemia min’yō		A piece depicting a spring scene of bees gathering nectar from flowers
29	Tōfun Doi		Introduction to the Okinawan folk song 'Kachāshī Tōsundoi'
30	Height comparisonSakushi: Umino Atsushi / Sakkyoku: Nakayama Shinpei		A hopeful children's song that celebrates children's growth on Children's Day.
31	Pechka (a type of Russian masonry stove)Sakkyoku: Yamada Kōsaku		Pechka, a heartwarming fireplace song for the cold winter
32	Dango, dango, they stuck together.		A hand-play song where dumplings stick to your body
33	butterfly		Soothe a baby with the Butterfly hand-play song
34	Dragonfly, dragonfly.		Autumn pastime of enjoying dragonfly songs
35	Come, firefly		Conveying the beauty of summer in Japan through the light of fireflies
36	School of MedakaSakushi: Chaki Shigeru / Sakkyoku: Nakata Yoshinao		Medaka no Gakkō is a spring seasonal song
37	Donguri Korokorosakushi: Aoki Tsuneyoshi / sakkyoku: Yanagida Tadashi		The Acorn’s Adventure and the Happenings at the Pond
38	Tea PickingMonbushō shōka		“Chatsumi” is a familiar children's song characterized by poetic lyrics.
39	Milk MunariHii de Katsu		Milk Munnarī is a creative Eisa in the Yaeyama dialect
40	spool (of thread); winding thread; Itomaki (traditional toy spinning top), depending on context		Parents and children can have fun together with hand-play songs
41	Fruit Train		A fun song about carrying autumn flavors by train
42	Meat buns and sweet bean paste buns		A hand-play song about nikuman and anman (meat buns and sweet red bean paste buns)
43	Ho! Ho! Ho!Sakushi: Itō Akira / Sakkyoku: Koshibe Nobuyoshi		A children’s song for toddlers with fun call-and-response and body movements
44	coconutSakushi: Shimazaki Tōson / Sakkyoku: Ōnaka Toraji		A Coconut set to music from a poem by Toson Shimazaki
45	Watermelon-producing region		A child smiles to a summer watermelon song
46	Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star		Introduction to the hand play for “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
47	Kudaka Manju-shu		An Okinawan folk song that shifts from searching for a lover to begging for alcohol
48	To the Sun in the Palm of Your Hand		A beloved classic for children that depicts the vigor of life
49	Jingle Bellssakkyoku: jēmuzu rōdo piaponto		The History of the Classic Christmas Song “Jingle Bells”
50	echo gameSakushi: Ouchi Yasuyuki / Sakkyoku: Wakatsuki Akito		A fun song that sings about the game of echo
51	Ice Cream SongSakushi: Satou Yoshimi / Sakkyoku: Hattori Kouichi		A Japanese song famous for the nursery rhyme about ice cream
52	To the Sun in the Palm of Your HandSakushi: Yanase Takashi / Sakkyoku: Izumi Taku		A children's song that sings about the importance of life
53	Kantarō the North Wind KidSakushi: Ide Takao / Sakkyoku: Fukuda Wakako		Enka-style children's winter song “Kantarō” is popular
54	Snow KobōzuSakushi: Murayama Toshiko / Sakkyoku: Fushō		A song about little snow monks falling from the sky and turning into water. It can be sung with different poses.
55	dragonfly glassesSakushi: Nukaga Seishi / Sakkyoku: Hirai Kōzaburō		The story of a dragonfly’s cute glasses
56	Slurping somen noodles		Enjoying summer with a somen hand-play song
57	Happy HinamatsuriSakushi: Yamano Saburō (Satō Hachirō) / Sakkyoku: Kawamura Naonori (Kawamura Kōyō)		Article introducing a children’s song for Hinamatsuri (Doll’s Festival)
58	The Hungry Tummy Songsakushi: sakata hiroo / sakkyoku: onaka megumi		A nursery rhyme depicting the state of hungry children
59	Winter nightMonbushō shōka		A warm time spent with family on a snowy night
60	Cha-Cha-Cha of the SnowmanSakushi / Sakkyoku: Tajiga Akira		Winter fingerplay song 'Yukidaruma no Cha-Cha-Cha'
61	autumn sky		Let’s send our voices up into the clear autumn sky.
62	Potato Digging Song		An autumn children’s song celebrating the joy of digging up sweet potatoes
63	Stroll March		'Osanpo March' is a song that makes autumn walks fun.
64	Donguri Korokoro		Introduction of a children's song about an acorn playing with a loach it met at a pond
65	Buzz buzz buzz		Features and ways to enjoy children's songs about bees
66	Surti East-sai		An Okinawan folk song that portrays a yearning toward the east
67	Shopping at the bakery		A fun hand-play song for playing bakery shop
68	Mitsuya Cider		Mana & Yuu introduce a cider-themed song for summer
69	Nakazun Nagare		Characteristics of Eisa’s signature song, Nakajun Nagari
70	Ushiwakamaru		A famous song that sings of the encounter between Benkei and Ushiwakamaru
71	Child of Autumn		A warm children’s song with lyrics by Hachirō Satō
72	Bountiful Harvest Dance		The representative song of the Okinawan folk dance Kachāshī, Hōnen Ondo
73	Snow (Yuki ya Konko)Sakkyokusha: Fushō		Warm winter scenes depicted in a snow-themed children's song
74	A Town Where It SnowsSakkyoku: Nakada Yoshinao		Loneliness and Hope Felt in a Snowfall Town
75	Red sky at duskSakushi: Nakamura Ukō / Sakkyoku: Kusakawa Shin		A children’s song sung with a child at an autumn sunset
76	King Kamehameha of the Southern Islandssakushi: itō akira / sakkyoku: morita kōichi		The gentle family song of the Hawaiian royal family
77	FlowerSakushi: Takeshima Hane / Sakkyoku: Taki Rentarō		The Appeal and Background of Rentaro Taki’s Spring Masterpiece “Hana”
78	play yardMaekawa Morikata		Introduction to signature songs by Okinawan folk singers
79	We are children of the sea.Monbushō shōka		Ware wa Umi no Ko is a masterpiece of a hundred years
80	Frog Chorus		A fun round-singing experience with the Frog Song!
81	The Bento Box Song		Nurturing interest in food through nursery rhymes
82	Tanuki of Fist Mountain		Mother-and-child love of the tanuki on Genkotsu Mountain
83	Piglet-raccoon dog-fox-cat		Introduction to the donguri-korokoro play song
84	Zuizui Zukkorobashi		An old Japanese children’s play song featuring a mouse
85	School of Medaka		A nostalgic nursery song depicting the way medaka (Japanese rice fish) swim
86	Vegetable Song		Enjoy fingerplay and early learning with the vegetable song
87	snow angel		A winter song that gives thanks for the kindness of snow
88	Under the big chestnut tree		Nostalgic hand-clapping songs, loved across generations.
89	Wish Upon a Star		Introducing Pinocchio’s classic song “When You Wish Upon a Star”
90	Stroll MarchSakushi/Sakkyoku: Tsujibayashi Miho		Playing outside is fun on spring days.
91	Yokai Shiritorisakushi: okuhara yume/sakkyoku: tane tomoko		A cute song about playing yokai shiritori
92	Cute Hide and SeekSakushi: Satou Hachirou／Sakkyoku: Nakata Yoshinao		A nursery rhyme about animals playing hide-and-seek
93	Let’s draw a picture in the blue sky.Sakushi: Kazumi Kazuki / Sakkyoku: Hajime Kamishiba		A nursery rhyme that gazes at summer clouds, lets the imagination soar, and sets off into a tale of adventure.
94	rainfallsakushi: kitahara hakushū / sakkyoku: nakayama shinpei		A nursery rhyme song that makes rainy days fun
95	Japanese bush warblerSakushi: Hayashi Ryūha / Sakkyoku: Inoue Takeshi		I feel the arrival of spring in the song of the bush warbler.
96	Summer MemoriesSakushi: Ema Akiko / Sakkyoku: Nakata Yoshinao		A beloved Japanese song depicting the nature of Oze
97	The Banana That Flew Awaysakushi: kataoka akira/sakkyoku: sakurai jun		Introduction to the nursery rhyme 'Banana' with Latin rhythm
98	motherSakushi: Tanaka Nana / Sakkyoku: Nakada Yoshinao		A nursery rhyme that expresses the parent-child bond and is loved across generations
99	Whale ClockSakushi: Seki Kazuo / Sakkyoku: Shibuya Takeshi		A classic children's song that teaches the importance of time
100	hometownSakushi: Takano Tatsuyuki / Sakkyoku: Okano Teiichi		A timeless song that comforts the heart yearning for home