is a song sung at
graduation
A graduation is the awarding of a diploma by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it, which can also be called Commencement speech, commencement, Congregation (university), congregation, Convocat ...
ceremonies in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It is usually in the key of
D or
E-flat major
E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor).
The E-fla ...
, in
time.
History
The melody is often said to be based on a traditional
Scottish folk song of uncertain provenance (similar to "''Hotaru no hikari''" borrowing the melody of "
Auld Lang Syne"); however, others insist that both lyrics and music were by
Meiji-era educator
Isawa Shūji (1851–1917). The lyrics are also said to have been written collectively by
Ōtsuki Fumihiko (1847–1928), Satomi Tadashi (1824–1886), and Kabe Iwao. Its first known appearance was in 1884, when Isawa added it to the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
's published collection of songs for primary-school students.
In January 2011,
Hitotsubashi University professor emeritus Masato Sakurai announced that he believed he had found the origins of the song in an English school music book, "The Song Echo", published in the United States in 1871. According to Sakurai, the American music book's song "Song for the Close of School" is exactly the same as Aogeba Tōtoshi. The U.S. song's words were written by T. H. Brosnan and the music by "H. N. D.". Sakurai stated that the song is no longer known in the U.S.
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the song's lyrics, with their worshipful attitude towards teachers, were felt inappropriate for a democracy in some quarters. This was especially true during the student protests of the 1960s, as opposition to this song was part of a larger reaction against the old regime, and schools hesitated to play the song at graduations for fear of protest. After these protests died down, the further ebb of older notions resulted in the song, which used archaic grammar and vocabulary even for the 1880s, being largely abandoned by public schools (especially primary schools), in favor of alternative songs such as "''
Tabidachi no hi ni''", "''
Okuru kotoba''" by
Kaientai, or "''
Sakura''" by
Naotarō Moriyama. Even for those schools which continued to use this song, the second stanza, which contains the lyrics , focusing on personal success, was felt at odds with the changing state of society and often omitted. In the postwar period, children's author
Tamao Fujita published a version with modernized lyrics, but it was unpopular among parents because it did not elicit tears the way the original song did.
In 2007, "Aogeba Tōtoshi" was selected for the
Nihon no Uta Hyakusen, 100 songs from Japan, by the
Agency of Cultural Affairs and the National Congress of Parents and Teachers Associations of Japan.
As the songs are ordered by the Japanese
gojūon system, "Aogeba Tōtoshi" is number one on the list.
References
External links
Moto Saitoh "Songs for Primary Schools"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aogeba Totoshi
Graduation songs
Japanese songs
2015 singles
Year of song unknown
Songs with unknown songwriters