Folk Songs of Japanese Children. Donald Paul Berger

for readers whose background is primarily Western.

      Both the singable English texts and the romanized form of the Japanese texts have been included, as well as the original kana (syllabary) form, so that the songs may be sung in either language. The English texts have been presented so as to parallel the literal translation from the original Japanese. In some cases, because of the difficulty involved in trying to express exactly the same thought in English as in Japanese, alteration became necessary. However, an accurate literal explanation accompanies each song in the commentary.

      The arranger is deeply indebted to Professor Shigeo Kishibe of Tokyo University for his help in the choice of the songs in this collection, his comments on the songs, and his help with the translations. The book, Warabe Uta (Children's Songs) by Kasho Machida, was also of great value in making the song selections. The author is indebted to Mr. Hugh Brown for his help with the pronunciation notes. Gratitude is also expressed to Professor Kenji Asano of Yamagata University for his interesting ideas on the texts of the songs, which have helped immeasurably in the preparation of the commentary.

      DONALD PAUL BERGER

      INTRODUCTION

      FOR CENTURIES Japan was divided into many small provinces each having its own ruler, ruling class, customs, and, of course, its own songs. This isolation gave rise to a large variety of folk music. The warabe uta (children's songs) of Japan, being a part of the folk-song repertoire, accordingly differ from district to district in textual and melodic content. But at the same time there is a degree of similarity in some of the texts and many of the play songs. This points to the fact that children are really very much the same all over Japan and indeed, the world over.

      The localization of certain songs began to fade to some degree with the crumbling of the feudal state and with the rapid advances in communication during the Meiji era. Since that time the songs of one district have freely flowed to another, so that today songs which were once only locally known are sung and enjoyed throughout the islands of Japan.