100 Selected Japanese Songs日本の歌百選

There are songs everyone remembers—nostalgic tunes sung by mothers in childhood, songs learned in elementary school, and hits from youth that bring back memories when heard. The '100 Selected Japanese Songs' were chosen in 2006 by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the National PTA Council of Japan. The concept is 'songs that parents and children will want to sing together for a long time.'

The selection covers a wide range of genres, including children's songs, beloved tunes, popular songs, and even foreign folk songs with Japanese lyrics. The songs express rich Japanese sentiment, cheerful childhood innocence, sadness, and loneliness. Since the selectors were PTA members and the concept was family-friendly singing, unhealthy or decadent songs are excluded.

Originally, 100 songs were to be selected from 895 submissions, but due to difficulty narrowing down, 101 songs were chosen. Many composers and lyricists are famous figures representing their eras, while some songs are so well-known in Japan that their authors are unknown. The list includes four traditional Japanese folk songs and nursery rhymes with unknown authors, three foreign folk songs with Japanese lyrics, and seven other foreign tunes adapted with Japanese lyrics.

Songs called 'Monbusho Shoka' are included; these were songs in government-approved music textbooks from 1910 to 1941 and are still taught in many kindergartens and elementary schools today. Additionally, nine songs that were major hits sung by popular artists from the Showa to Heisei periods are included. Beyond these, the list contains many songs that Japanese people recognize even if they don't know the titles or cannot sing them fully, deeply rooted in the Japanese heart.