is a well-known 1914 Japanese

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...

, with music by Teiichi Okano and lyrics by Tatsuyuki Takano. Although Takano's hometown was Nakano, Nagano, his lyrics do not seem to refer to a particular place. Instead, they 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 the Japanese public school system, and the song has also been included in the recent popular song collection known as '' Nihon no Uta Hyakusen''. The composer and the writer of the song were unknown until the 1970s. Since 1992, however, the names of both Teiichi Okano and Tatsuyuki Takano have been printed with the song in Japanese music textbooks. At the closing ceremony of the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

, the song was played, and in 2014, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Furusato, the song was performed by children's chorus with orchestral accompaniment at the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto in Nagano, under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. Placido Domingo, one of

The Three Tenors The Three Tenors were an operatic singing trio, active during the 1990s and early 2000s, and termed as a supergroup (a title normally reserved for rock and pop groups) consisting of Italian Luciano Pavarotti and Spaniards Plácido Domingo and ...

, sang the song in Japanese at his concert that held in NHK hall on April 10, 2011.

Lyrics

English version

The song was translated into English by Greg Irwin and this was published in the album called "Japan's Best Loved Songs of the Season" in 1998. This version was also performed by Lexi Walker. My Country Home by Greg Irwin ''Back in the mountains I knew as a child'' ''Fish filled the rivers and rabbits ran wild'' ''Memories, I carry these wherever I may roam'' ''I hear it calling me, my country home'' ''Mother and Fathers, how I miss you now'' ''How are my friends I lost touch with somehow?'' ''When the rain falls or the wind blows I feel so alone'' ''I hear it calling me, my country home'' ''I've got this dream and it keeps me away'' ''When it comes true I'm going back there someday'' ''Crystal waters, mighty mountains blue as emerald stone'' ''I hear it calling me, my country home''

References

Japanese songs Japanese children's songs 1914 songs {{1910s-song-stub