Remembering that I wrote about Akina Nakamori-related article on the 100th anniversary of Kiyose Station in Tokyo yesterday, and then encouraged by Noelle's article on Columbia Rhythm Boys' "Kappore" (かっぽれ) just this morning, I was wondering about what had come out in the record shops in Japan a hundred years ago in 1924, aka Taisho 13（大正13）.
Well, a beloved children's song titled "Ano Machi Kono Machi" (That Town This Town) was first created by the popular songwriting duo consisting of lyricist Ujou Noguchi（野口雨情）and composer Shinpei Nakayama（中山晋平）in that very year. Its first appearance was in the January issue's pages of a magazine known as "Kodomo no Kuni"（コドモノクニ...The Land of Children）. However, the earliest actual recording I could find on YouTube was the one by 10-year-old singer Hideko Hirai（平井英子）in 1928. Noguchi's lyrics and Hirai's voice gently send the message that it's time for the kids to head on home from playing outside before it gets too dark.
In 2007, "Ano Machi Kono Machi" was selected to be included in the "Nihon no Uta Hyakusen"（日本の歌百選...Collection of 100 Japanese Songs）, a collection of a hundred songs and nursery rhymes. On top of that, a stone monument with Noguchi's lyrics was established in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture where the lyricist had once lived. The veteran vocal group Bonny Jacks（ボニージャックス）also included their rendition of "Ano Machi Kono Machi" in their December 2021 "Bonny Jacks ni yoru Nihon no Jojou Uta Senshuu Nana-juu Kyoku"（ボニージャックスによる 日本の抒情歌選集 70曲...A Selection of 70 Japanese Lyrical Songs by Bonny Jacks）. Their version really amps up the folksiness of the song.
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