Mizu-Guruma[1]
(Water Mill)
In the water mill game a group of children hold hands forming a chain. Two people at the head of the chain make a gate with their hands for the others to pass through, forming a circle as they do so. The movement is regarded as suggestive of the rotation of a water mill.
| 100 | Ido no kawaze no |
By the rapids of the river |
Swallow Ken-Ken
This song is repeated over and over again as a group of children hop around in a circle facing outward, each with his left leg interlocked with his neighbor’s. The verse is repeated until they fall down.
| 101 | Tsubame ken-ken |
Swallow ken-ken |
Takayama of Fukada
This is a children’s song sung coming home from school when the sky becomes red in the region of Takayama. It is used as a shuttlecock song at New Year’s. There is a story about the mountain: About three years ago there were many trees on Takayama, a small but distinctive hill in Fukada belonging to Shōya hamlet. The people of Shōya decided to cut them down. When they came to a tall tree near Jizō-san it refused to be cut. The people thought this odd so called a priest who prayed. Then they cut it down. After that the god of the mountain appeared in a dream and told a man of Shōya that their houses would be burned down. Since then about six houses have been burned in Shōya.
| 102 | Takayama of Fukada |
