Mitsuhiro Mihashi Popular Song Rankings [2026]
Michiya Mihashi, who had been attracting attention in the folk song world since his teens and made his full-fledged debut in 1954 with “Sake no Nigasa yo,” is best known for which song? If you asked me that… there are so many “correct answers” that it’s hard to choose just one.
He was known for having a great number of hits, and even after his passing in 1996, his songs have remained in many people’s hearts and continue to be sung.
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Michiya Mihashi Popular Songs Ranking [2026] (21–30)
The monk from IwateMitsubishi Michiya21rank/position
Michiya Mihashi, who is also famous as a folk singer, sang this kind of comical song as well.
It’s about someone who couldn’t endure the harsh winter and ascetic training deep in the mountains of Iwate, and, feeling homesick for his mother, descends the mountain and returns to his hometown—only to find it’s festival time.
He decides to stay in his village as long as his hood hides his shaved monk’s head and no one notices… but it seems he probably won’t make it as a full-fledged monk.
Mamurogawa OndoMitsubishi Michiya22rank/position
It is a folk song from Yamagata Prefecture.
This postwar folk song was arranged based on Hokkaido’s “Natto-bushi,” and the original lyrics are said to have been written by the proprietress of a ryotei (traditional restaurant) in Mamurogawa Town.
Although it’s an ondo (a rhythmic dance song), it is also beloved as an easy-to-listen ozashiki song.
Ishikari River ElegyMitsubishi Michiya23rank/position
This is a song set on Hokkaido’s Ishikari River, released in 1961 by Michiya Mihashi, a popular singer who epitomized the Showa era.
Mihashi produced an astonishing 18 million-selling hits over his lifetime, and this was one of them, reportedly reaching total sales of 1.5 million copies.
Lullaby of AkagiMitsubishi Michiya24rank/position
It’s a song where you can feel sorrow within a lullaby.
It’s not simply soothing a child and telling them not to cry; rather, it’s a song that sounds all the more mournful in Michiya Mihashi’s voice, portraying the sadness of being caught between duty and human emotion—carrying on one’s back the child of a blood relative whose hands have been stained, and following Chuji’s orders.
Echigo ZesshōMitsubishi Michiya25rank/position
Echigo Zesshō, sung by Michiya Mihashi, was created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his singing career and was released in 1982.
The lyrics were written by Hiroshi Yokoi and the music was composed by Seiichi Sakurada.
It powerfully conveys the raging Sea of Japan and the freezing cold of the snow country.