The lyrics were written by a teacher from Ebetsu City.

In the 1950s, when the original "Children's Bon Dance Song" was released, Bon Odori was popular in Japan along with the postwar reconstruction, but the content was aimed at adults. Many people thought that it was not good for children to join in and sing and dance.

So the Hokkaido Board of Education and others at that time came up with a plan to create the "Children's Bon Dance Song" so that children could enjoy the Bon dance in a healthy way. The lyricist, Ichiro Tsubomatsu, was a teacher at a school in Ebetsu at the time. As a result, a monument to this song has been erected at Kawanaka Park in Nopporo-cho, Ebetsu City.

A monument erected in the park

The back of the monument

Performances with modern arrangements

Now that the "Children's Bon Dance Song" is well known to all Hokkaido residents, it is sometimes performed in a new arrangement. This is a performance by the Sapporo August Festival Special Big Band, led by Otomo Yoshihide, who also composed the music for the NHK morning TV drama "Amachan." This is a rather bold arrangement that was performed at the "August Festival" held in Sapporo in 2016.

This is an original arrangement of the "Hatsune Miku Singing Ver." that we at Domingo planned and produced. At the time, Bon Odori in various regions was canceled due to the effects of COVID-19, so this was produced for the "Hokkaido Anywhere Bon Odori" event that was held in 2021 and 2022 as a "Bon Odori that can be danced anywhere." The choreography is performed by Snow Miku and Rabbit Yukine.

We can hear that "Shanko Shanko" sound again this year...!

"Kodomo no Bon Odori Uta" has been loved for many years and continues to be loved today. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the soul song of Hokkaido. We want to pass it on to the next generation and the generation after that as a culture that Hokkaido can be proud of.

*The thumbnail image is for illustrative purposes only.

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