Jessica wrote, "The actual name of this song is just 'Yuki - 雪' or 'Snow'. Though commonly it is also known as 'Yuki ya konko - 雪やこんこ'." (Snow Falling Thickly)

Notes

Romaji

Yuki

Yuki ya konko arare ya konko
Futte wa futte wa zunzun tsumoru
Yama mo nohara mo wataboshi kaburi
Kareki nokorazu hana ga saku

Yuki ya konko arare ya konko
Futtemo futtemo mada furiyamanu
Inu wa yorokobi niwa kakemawari
Neko wa kotatsu de maruku naru

***
Here's an alternate translation of the 1st verse by Lisa B…

Snow is falling, kon kon
Hail is falling, kon kon
Falling, falling
Flies up high with hail and snow.
Snow white cotton caps
All the hills and fields are wearing,
On the bare old trees the little
Snow flowers are in bloom.

Comments

Jessica Rains wrote: "As a child, I thought "konkon" was the sound of snow falling too, but in elementary school my teacher corrected me. She said it is 'Konko', it means 'koi koi' which is like 'come here'. She also taught me that 'zunzun' is the actual sound for the falling snow and hail."

You can watch this on YouTube.

Download

Many thanks to Roxanne Dixon for sending the score and the recording of schoolchildren in Japan singing Yuki. Roxanne collected the recording (along with others) on her trip to Japan as part of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Exchange Program, a Program of the Japanese government to foster goodwill and understanding between the US and Japan.

Download MIDI Tune

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Lisa B. for contributing and translating this song (the 2nd translation. Thanks to Jessica Rains (ジェシカ) for the full transliteration and Japanese text. Thanks to Martha Tseng for the first translation of both verses.

Thanks also to Monique Palomares for the midi tune.

Image: Hiroshige, Snow Falling on a Town, c.1833, Ukiyo-e print.
2nd Image: Snow Balls by Bertha Lum, 1912.

Arigato gozaimasu!