Hibari Children Chorus/Megumi Hayashibara -- Ureshii Hina Matsuri（うれしいひなまつり）

 

Now I didn't forget that March 3rd is Dolls' Day or Girls' Day in Japan but I hadn't been too sure that I could find a song that would befit the Shinto religious holiday. For reference, you can take a look at the above video by GTV Japan to get a primer on Hina Matsuri.

Well, I'm typing this in the last hour before March 3rd becomes March 4th so I'm rushing a bit here. But I was able to find a song that was released all the way back in February 1936. "Ureshii Hina Matsuri" (Happy Dolls' Day) was written by lyricist Hachiro Sato（サトウハチロー）sometime around the time he had given his own daughter a hina matsuri set as a gift and its translation at "Lyrics Translate" pretty much establishes the joy of celebrating the observed holiday. Koyo Kawamura（河村光陽）contributed the melody. 

Of course, being a children's song, "Ureshii Hina Matsuri" has been covered by many singers over the decades. For example, the above video has the Hibari Children Chorus（ひばり児童合唱団）performing the song. Their version can be found on the October 2015 compilation album "Uta de Oboeru Nihon no Shiki to Wa no Gyoji ~ Doyou, Shouka, Warabe Uta"（歌でおぼえる日本の四季と和の行事 童謡・唱歌・わらべうた...Children's Songs and Nursery Songs ~ Japanese Seasons and Events Remembered Through Music）. Below we have seiyuu and singer Megumi Hayashibara（林原めぐみ）performing her take on her 2007 album "Hayashibara Megumi: Tanoshii Doyou"（林原めぐみ たのしいどうよう...Fun Children's Songs）.