Ketsuketsu Kaikai Flea Lice September 24, 21:15

Lunch udon of earthworm


populations living quite painful


Ketsuketsu Cai Cai fleas lice



is part of the parody that children were singing during the war.



Experts are paying attention to the fact that "these lyrics show the real image of the war from the perspective of the citizens."



That "intangible battlefield" may soon disappear.



Now, efforts are underway to listen to "war parody" from "children during the war" and leave it for posterity.



(Keiho Izumitani, Director, NHK Osaka)

A parody humming in the harsh "schoolchildren's evacuation"

Yoshihiko Toyama (86), who sang a war parody when he was a child.



In 1945, in order to escape the air raid, school children were evacuated from their home in Osaka city to the suburbs of Kishiwada city.

Mr. Toyama:


"It was cramped. There was bullying with leg tensions, I was hungry, and above all, the pressure of group life was scary. There was a classmate like General Gaki, and I had to listen to what I said. I just wanted to go home. "

It was a harsh group life that awaited the children.



When you wake up, first remove the fleas and lice that are lost in the futon.


In order to survive hunger, it was a daily routine for children to search for locusts as a side dish.


It is said that some children escaped because of stress and violence and bullying.



It was a parody that Mr. Toyama sang with his friends without being taught by anyone.

Parody


Shitaku of rice's half past four's morning


Once you have it waste paper pick up


lunch udon of earthworms


quite group life painful


Ketsuketsu Cai Cai fleas lice

The original song is the military song "Japanese Navy".

It was a song that praised the naval soldiers who worked hard on training all the time.

War song "Japan Navy"


dawn's breath of the tide's morning


inhale Gunto copper (Akagane) color of


pride pervade the youth in the chest


fleet work of a man of the sea 


month Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday gold

The children entrusted their thoughts on a difficult group life to parody songs.

“The truth lies in what is not written”

Professor Yusuke Uno of the Faculty of Letters, Ritsumeikan University is studying "war parody" as an important clue to know the thoughts of children at that time.

Professor Uno


"At the time of the war, when life was always threatened, singing parody was an important way for children to realize that they were alive."

Mr. Uno came across a "war parody" while researching "children's play and old tales that have been handed down by word of mouth from ancient times."



So far, we have collected about 50 songs based on military songs, popular songs, and nursery rhymes.



It is said that he was surprised by the lyrics that sharply expressed his true intentions.

Professor Uno


"It's the things that aren't written that are valuable, or the truth. We have to pass that on to the next generation."

Who made the parody and how did it spread?

Little is known even now.



Mr. Uno speculates as follows.

Professor Uno


"There are songs that I think children made as an extension of word play, but there are parody songs that adults originally sang and were introduced into the world of children, and parody songs that adults let children sing. I think there are many. "

"No escape" Sad feelings Okinawa parody

Now, Mr. Uno is focusing on activities to convey "war parody" to students.

This day, June 23, is Okinawa Memorial Day.

The class featured a parody that was born in Okinawa.

At the end of the war, Okinawa killed more than 200,000 people in a fierce ground battle.


People were trying to survive by hiding in a natural cave called "Gama".


Mr. Uno played a nursery rhyme, which was popular at that time, in the classroom.

Nursery rhyme "I love military personnel"


I love military personnel If you


grow

up

now,


put on a medal, lower


your

sword

, ride a horse

This nursery rhyme sings a longing for military personnel.

In Okinawa, the lyrics have changed to sing a sad feeling with no escape.

Parody


I'm a soldier I hate


it If I get smaller now,

I

'll


be embraced by an old man, drink milk


and disappear

in

Onaka

Students who listened to the two songs with a serious expression.

He expressed his feelings one after another.

Students


"I don't want to die or I don't like war" in the parody


"I felt a repulsion from the things that tightened me from above. I sympathized with it."


"I'm trying to overcome a difficult war by singing. I wondered if it was. "


"

I was

ignoring the pre-construction, I had a straightforward feeling, and I thought it was amazing. "

A parody of "Killed in Action" that I couldn't sing

This time, Mr. Toyama who performed a parody for us.


I confessed that there was a song I couldn't sing.

Due to the worsening war situation, a room called "Eirei Room" was set up at the school that Mr. Toyama attended.


Inside, the remains of the war dead in the school district were displayed.


Killed in action became a familiar topic in the classroom.

Mr. Toyama:


"Who's father died in the war, somewhere's father died in the war, and the teacher praised the death in the war, the death in the war and the death in the war, so I came to think that the death in the war was fine. "

One day, Mr. Toyama was mobilized by a school teacher to "gather at the station."


You can see the bereaved family of the war dead walking with a white wooden box.


At that time, it is said that in Osaka, there was a parody that copied the scene as it was.

Parody


is a child of the octopus that was born yesterday


killed of honor when Tama


When will return the remains of an octopus


can not go back because there is no bone


Mom of octopus Kanashikaro

The original song is a popular song about the sad love of an adult woman.

The children sang as a song about the sadness that the remains of the war dead did not return.



However, Mr. Toyama couldn't sing because he felt like making a fool of "killed in action of honor".



And I looked back on my childhood, which was at the mercy of the war.

Mr. Toyama:


"I swore to my childhood that I had to become a soldier and do my best for the people. Probably because I had received military education. It was dyed in the atmosphere of the times. I think now, but I was a kid at the time, and I couldn't think of that. I think it was an unthinkable society. It's scary. "

The sorrowful cry of children during the war

76 years after the war.

Mr. Uno says that "war parody" sends an important message over time.

Professor Uno


"Even in times when it would have been difficult, by singing parody songs, the children at that time were screaming,'We are alive.' Even in the times when we are alive, we are ourselves. I think the parody teaches us how important it is to express our feelings. "

Children's "war parody" that has hardly been looked after on the front stage of history.



Professor Uno wants to continue to convey the heartbreaking cries of children who were at the mercy of the war so that they will not be forgotten in the future.


Keiho Izumitani,

Director of Osaka-based Broadcasting Station