Annotated Bibliography
Yokota, Kennichiro, Kyookashokara kieta shooka dooyoo. Tokyo: Sankei Shinbun Nyuusu saabisu, 2002.

Shooka and dooyoo that Disappeared from the Japanese Textbooks lists songs which were taken off the textbooks today, along with background comments. Many of those songs were considered classics of childrens songs and were loved and sung by many. It also has brief biographies of the writers and composers of these childrens songs.

Some of the songs that we chose for our project were listed in this book, and the information on them is worth mentioning.

Koojoo no tsuki (Moon over the Ruined Castle) was composed by Rentaro Taki, with lyrics by Bansui Doi. In recent years, many songs written from the Meiji (1868-1912) to the pre-WWII period were cut out from the textbooks because the archaic language was too difficult for contemporary students. Koojoo no tsuki was first published in a textbook in 1901. Since the song is about the memory of people who spent time in a castle, which was no longer inhabited since the Meiji period, the language used is very old. Because the song is taught during sophomore year in junior high school, some say that the language is too classical and too difficult for those students. Thus, textbook publishers tried to take the song out of the textbook for the new 2003 edition. An interesting development was the strong opposition by people of the hometown of Taki (Taki lived in Takeda in Oita Prefecture only for two years between 1879 and 1881 when he was age 12 to 14, but the people of Takeda have so much deep affection for Taki that they consider him as their native son). Their opposition resulted in the retention of Koojoo no tsuki in the new textbook edition.

The significance of the song Hamachidori (A Plover) is that like Koojoo no tsuki, people of the hometown of the composer (Ryutaroo Hirota) and people of a town where the songwriter (Meishuu Kashima) lived for a certain time started a movement for preserving the legacy of those dooyoo. Unfortunately, the movement is slowing down these days due to the decline of popularity for dooyoo.

Two themes in relation to the disappearance of those songs are worth further research. One is the issue regarding the change of governmental regulation on the music textbooks. In the past, the compilation of textbooks was under the control of the central government, which issued strict guidelines for the content. Although the Japanese government still has some guidelines, they are becoming looser and looser. The main goal of the guidelines is yutori kyooiku, meaning the reduction of educational content so that students are under less pressure to cram. The number of songs that have to be taught was cut down. The kinds of songs taught were chosen from more contemporary songs popular among children, e.g. animation theme songs, songs with lots of foreign words, American popular songs, etc.

The second theme is that at one time, people made efforts to preserve dooyoo and school songs that aroused in many old timers nostalgia for childhood, and to get young people interested in learning and singing them. They seemed to have some success for a while. In recent years, however, those movements are declining due to the lack of interest among young people.

Yasuda, Kan. Nihon misshion dendoohooshin to sanbika ni kansuru katsudoo: Rainichi America Senkyooshi. Tokyo: Dooshisha Daigaku Jinmon Kagaku Kenkyuusho, Gendaishiryoo Shuppansha, 1999.

In the book American Missionaries in Japan, Kan Yasuda published an article on The Policy on Engaging Missionary Work and Activities to Disseminate Hymns. He talks about the fact that the first songs chosen for the elementary school music textbooks are taken from the hymns. His article points out the very interesting relationship between the establishment of music education and missionary work in Japan in the Meiji period.

Higashi, Michito. Noguchi Ujoo dooyoo no jidai. Tokyo: Seitousha, 1999.

Dooyoo period of Ujoo Noguchi is a biography of Ujoo Noguchi, one of the major writers of dooyoo (childrens songs). For our project, we chose two of his songs, Blue-eyed Doll and Red Shoes. This book tells us about his efforts to make dooyoo and doowa (childrens stories) a respected genre of literature. Ujoo was a man of many talents, and dooyoo composition was but one of his many interests. One fascinating finding of this book is that douyu had a strong connection with doowa writing. In fact, many famous writers and poets wrote dooyoo poems owing to Ujoos effort to turn doowa into a new and respected genre. Kin no hoshi (Gold Star) and Kin no fune (Gold Ship), for example, were two of the doowa magazines that Ujoo edited and chose songs for.  Dooyoo magazines were the venues for dooyoo writers to publish their work, and composers added music to those dooyoo.

Aida, Michito. Dooyoo no nazo I and II. Tokyo: Shoodensha, 2002.

These are interesting books for understanding dooyoos mysteries. Many of us learn dooyoo and songs in school without knowing their actual meanings and/or background. In schools, songs are not taught as stories but only as songs. No attention is paid to hidden meanings. We remember songs as songs, not as stories. This book provides us great insights into the background and history of songs.