Description
Furusato (Japanese: 故郷, old home or hometown) is a well-known 1914 Japanese children’s song, with music by Teiichi Okano and lyrics by Tatsuyuki Takano. No one knew who had written the words and music of the song until the 1970s.
Takano’s lyrics describe a person who is working in a distant land, expressing his feelings of nostalgia for the hills and fields of his childhood home.
The Japanese government has designated Furusato as a Japanese children’s song to be taught in their national public school system.
The piece was performed at the closing ceremony of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano,.
In 2014, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the composition of Furusato, the song was performed by a children’s chorus with orchestral accompaniment at the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto in Nagano, under the direction of Seiji Ozawa.
The Special Notes section includes photographs of the composer and lyricist, and the full lyrics, including Japanese romanization and an English translation.
Key: F major
Mood: wistful, wondering, wishing
Pedagogy: left hand patterns, pedaling
Vanessa Flemington –
Very good my student enjoyed it
Cindy Cook –
Good song.
And thank you for all the songs!