Roxanne Dixon sent me this wonderful recording of some Japanese schoolchildren singing the well-known song, Donguri Korokoro. Click the link below to hear the recording. Below that you’ll find the Japanese transliteration for singing along, followed by an English translation.

MP3 Recording of Donguri Korokoro – A Rolling Acorn

Donguri Korokoro
(Transliteration)

Donguri korokoro donburiko
O-ike ni hamatte saa taihen
Dojou ga detekite konnichi wa
Botchan issho ni asobimashou

Donguri korokoro yorokonde
Shibaraku issho ni asonda ga
Yappari o-yama ga koishii to
Naite wa dojou wo komaraseta

A Rolling Acorn
(English)

An acorn rolled down and down,
He suddenly fell into a pond.
Then came the loaches*,
Hi boy! Come play with us!

The acorn enjoyed playing with them.
But he soon began to cry,
I want to go back to the mountain.
The loaches didn’t know what to do.

*Loach is the name for various Eurasian and African freshwater fish of the carp family.

Come visit the Donguri Korokoro Song Page for the Japanese text, the sheet music, the tune played on piano and a link for a French translation. Roxanne also sent recordings of Zosan and Yuki. You can click the links to visit those song pages and hear the newest recordings.

Many thanks to Roxanne Dixon for the recording. Roxanne collected the recording and songs 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.

Thanks also to Petter Mæhlum for the transliteration and to Ayako Egawa for the English translation.

Enjoy!

Lisa