A Rainy Day Song from Japan in English, in Japanese and with an MP3 of the Piano Music
It’s still raining here in New York. So, here’s another song about rain.
Rainy Day
Rainy day, rainy day, I like it;
My mother will come here with my umbrella,
Pitch pitch, chap chap, run run run!Bag on my shoulder, I follow my mother;
A bell is ringing somewhere,
Pitch pitch, chap chap, run run run!Oh oh, that girl is dripping wet;
She is crying under the willow,
Pitch pitch, chap chap, run run run!Mother, mother, I’ll lend her my umbrella;
“Hi girl, use this umbrella,”
Pitch pitch, chap chap, run run run!I am all right, don’t worry,
Mother will take me in under her big umbrella,
Pitch pitch, chap chap, run run run!“Pitch pitch, chap chap, run run run” is the sound of rain.
Here’s the Japanese version…
Listen to an MP3 of the Japanese Rainy Day Song.
Many thanks to Ayako Egawa for contributing and translating Rainy Day and to Susan Pomerantz for the piano music.
Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Japan page for more Japanese Kids Songs!
This article was posted on Thursday, October 13th, 2005 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Japan, Japanese, Japanese Kids Songs, Languages, MP3's, Podcasts, Rain, Rainy Day, Recordings of Songs, Songs About the Rain, Songs by Theme, Weather, Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
20 Responses to “A Children’s Song from Japan about a Rainy Day”
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May 19th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Anybody have the japanese transliteration for the Rainy Day song?
thanks
May 20th, 2006 at 9:36 am
I was able to track down a transliteration of the first verse of Amefuri or Rainy Day…
Ame ame furi furi kaasan ga
Janome de omukae ureshiina.
Pitchi pitchi, chappu chappu, ran ran ran!
Rainy day, rainy day, I like it;
My mother will come here with my umbrella,
Pitch pitch, chap chap, ran ran ran!
I welcome corrections and of course the transliteration of the rest of Amefuri!
-Lisa
September 18th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
I learned this song as a boy from my father who was stationed in Japan during the Korean war. Here is the full verse of the song in romaji (roman characters) with divisions to better indicate the rythm. The melody follows a pattern dictated by a very regular and pronounced 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3 cadence:
Ame furi
Ame ame Fure fure Kasan ga
Janome de Omukae Ureshi na
Pichi pichi Chapu chapu Lan lan lan
Kakemasho Kaban wo Kasan no
Atokara Yuko yuko Kane ga naru
Pichi pichi Chapu chapu Lan lan lan
Ara ara Anoko wa Zubunure da
Yanagi no Nekata de Naiteiru
Pichi pichi Chapu chapu Lan lan lan
Kasan Bokuno wo Kashimashoka
Kimi kimi Kono kasa Sashitamae
Pichi pichi Chapu chapu Lan lan lan
Boku nara Iinda Kasan no
Ookina Janome ni Haitteku
Pichi pichi Chapu chapu Lan lan lan
The song is subtle and somewhat melancholy at the begining where the tone is set by the onomatopoeia of the lonely rain drops falling (Pichi pichi Chapu chapu). A young boy is stuck at school waiting to be picked-up. There are other children waiting but he feels all alone. Finally the boy’s mother arrives to collect him, and the sound of the rain becomes joyous. In the last verse the boy gives his beatiful red umbrella to a classmate who is alone and without protection from the rain. It is really a touching lesson in empathy for others.
– Montgomery
November 16th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
What my Japanese mother had translated to me over 40 yrs ago.
Underneath the weeping willow stands a little child no one comes to bring umbrella, rain is falling down, pitter patter, pitter, patter, run, run, run.
April 4th, 2007 at 8:17 am
hello,
Does anyone know where can I find English translation of the Japanese songs:
1. Nanatsunoko
2. Hato
3. Momiji
Thanks a lot,
Tamar
February 27th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
“Ame, ame Fure fure Kasan ga”
Translation:
“Rain, rain falling, falling Mother”
“ga” is very difficult to explain.
“O-Kasan” is polite but doesn’t “mesh” with the tune.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
My brother married his Japanese bride when I was about 3 years old.
He died in 2005 and this year I moved her from Virginia to live within 6 miles of our home. She is 81 now and is teaching me and my grandson some Japanese songs. This is one. The other (so far) is Momo Taro san. They were married over 50 years and our family loves her dearly
May 14th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
My own transliteration:
ame ame fure fure kaasan ga
janome de omukai ureshii na
pichi pichi chapu chapu lan lan lan
kake mashi yo kaban o kaasan no
ato kara iko iko kane ga naru
pichi pichi chapu chapu lan lan lan
ara ara ano ko wa zubumereda
yanagi no nekata de naiteiru
pichi pichi chapu chapu lan lan lan
kaasan boku no o kashimashi yo ka
kimi kimi kono kasa sashita mae
pichi pichi chapu chapu lan lan lan
Boku nara iinda kaasan no
ooki na janome ni haitteku
pichi pichi chapu chapu lan lan lan
August 25th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Does anyone happen to know the chords for this song on guitar?
October 5th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Hi,
We just received the good news that my cousin, who has tried so hard to have a baby, will now adopt a little girl from China. They sent her picture and she is seated in a wicker chair. She is 5 months old. Behind her on the wall is the words Rainy D….and you can’t see the rest of the title. There are also the middle of what I believe is a sentence that reads …..the voice ————indrops is mu – I am guessing that the part behind this beautiful baby is the voice of the raindrops is mu…..
I am searching for the words to this poem or song. My cousin is so elated and said to me about the words that the first time she saw her baby’s picture it was raining and the words Rainy were on the picture. I would love to find this poem and have it framed for the nursery. I love the rain because it is so calming. If anyone could help I would be forever grateful. Gini
January 14th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
It should be pichi pichi chapu chapu ran ran ran. This is not the sound of rain, but the sound of playing in the ran.. skipping through it and jumping in puddles.
April 11th, 2011 at 8:47 am
We sang this song today in my music class. The words go like this:
Ame ame, fure fure, Kaasanga,
Janome de omukai, ureshiina.
Pichi pichi, pachu pachu, ran ran ran!
April 26th, 2012 at 2:36 am
I was born of an American Army Officer and his American wife in Tokyo, Japan, after WW2, in 1948. As a baby, my Japanese mama san would rock me to sleep while singing this song over and over. I have remembered the first line and the chorus all these years and just today discovered the song’s name and lyrics on the internet.
June 24th, 2012 at 8:11 am
I was born in Japan in”54″ my sisters and I would sing this song . We.
Came to the US in “60” and would sing this song to our relatives . It’s been 50+ years since I sang this song. I would occasionally sing the first stanza but forgot the rest.Thank you for the full version,it brought back good memories of my youth
August 28th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
Does anyone have a Mandarin transliteration of this Japanese Rain song?
July 14th, 2015 at 9:08 pm
My mom taught us this song when we were little children. My father was in the Air Force and married her in Japan. Now she is 90 years old and loves to sing the song. She has Alzheimers and it makes her happy to sing. She also likes to sing Moshi Moshi ano ne, which is cute too. My grandchildren have learned the songs from her, and they like to sing them. It makes me happy!
July 14th, 2015 at 9:11 pm
Thanks for sharing Katie! That’s really nice.
September 9th, 2019 at 1:16 pm
At the end of the song, “Picci Picci Chappu Chappu Ran Ran Ran” is either the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground, or, the children playing in the mudpuddle created by the rain, or possibly just the sound of walking on the rain soaked ground.
My mother is Japanese and sang it to me and my siblings when we were young.
That’s how she defined it, when asked at various times.
So when you translate it, it might be more accurate to simply write, “running through the water, splash, splash. splash”.
September 9th, 2019 at 4:44 pm
Thanks for writing Fred. I added your comment in the song notes on the song page for Amefuri.
March 18th, 2024 at 7:34 pm
My dad was in the army and lived three years in Osaka, Japan before being shipped to Korea as the war was beginning. I remembered him singing a song to me that I had remembered as peachy peachy choppy choppy dong dong dong. I think after finding this that this was the song he was sharing. I wish he was still alive for me to share this with him.