“Sand dunes.” This song depicts the scene of a Japan Sea beach on the verge of harsh winter, with rough waves approaching.

As dusk sets in, the voices of children bidding “goodbye” and “see you tomorrow” overlap with the chirping of sparrows.

The poet KITAHARA Hakushu once said,

“I watch sparrows. Always watching. Not just watching, but always being with sparrows, flying and chirping along with them.”

Visible beyond the sea is Sado (or Sado Island), viewed from Yoriihama in Niigata Prefecture, the setting of this song.

Sado, once prosperous with gold and silver mines, like the juniper plains of Silverberry field, a famous spot in Niigata Town as a sandy coast during the Edo period, gradually faded into obscurity with the passage of time. Perhaps this song, too, might be unknown to the youth of modern-day Japan.

“Bonfires” are now rarely seen from the perspective of disaster prevention,
In the 1940s, it was sometimes held in the streets of Tokyo and in general parks.

The place where TATSUMI Seika, the lyricist, lived and wrote the lyrics,
It is a residential area about 5 minutes from “Arai Yakushi” station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line.

This song, contrary to its cheerful melody, walks through a history of adversity. It first appeared in 1941, scheduled for a three-day consecutive radio broadcast, but at the same time, Japan entered the Pacific War. The broadcast was forced to stop on the second day. There seemed to be a directive from military sources stating, “Even fallen leaves are valuable fuel sources. Burning anything that can be used to heat baths or cook in a bonfire is unacceptable.” As the war intensified, bonfires were said to become targets, leading to their complete suppression.

Even after the war, the broadcasting permission was withheld due to concerns about provoking riots from the perspective of maintaining public order, but it is said that by gradually accumulating small established facts, approval was finally granted retroactively.

Bonfires gather people in the cold season. Conversations are born when people gather.

If this kind of scenery is born again, I think that the enjoyment of the area will increase.

Interestingly, while older generations tend to associate campfires with roasting sweet potatoes, younger people nowadays are more likely to think of toasting marshmallows.

100 Best Japanese Songs

This song portrays late autumn to early winter with a melody that evokes the crispness of winter. The lyrics depict three scenes: a mist-covered early morning in a fishing village, a peaceful afternoon in a tranquil mountain village, and an evening that conveys the arrival of freezing winter. The language used in the lyrics is characterized by an elevated and archaic style that may be challenging for contemporary Japanese people to immediately understand. However, the popularity of the song lies not so much in the literal meaning of the words but in the vivid landscapes conveyed through the feel of the language.

Nevertheless, douyo-shouka seems to have many outstanding songs in triple meter. “Fuyugeshiki,” released in 1913, can be considered a representative and pioneering work in this regard. However, both the lyricist and composer remain unknown. It is suggested that the collaborative nature of the Ministry of Education’s songwriting process at that time may be a reason for the lack of attribution. Despite some cases being revealed in later years, this song still remains a mystery.

It has been selected as one of “Japan’s Top 100 Songs.”