Itsuki Lullaby (in Itsuki no komoriuta) is a lullaby known widely in Japan, and is a folk song representative of Itsuki Village, Kuma District, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Kyūshū Island.

Lyrics

There are the most common version and the original version of this lullaby, sung in the Itsuki Village dialect.

Most common version

Original version

Origin

The lullaby was rediscovered by a school teacher in 1935, long after the song ceased to be sung. It has long been believed that this song was sung by babysitters from poor families. Itsuki was next to Gokanosho, where the Heike people came to settle after their defeat in the Genji-Heike War in the Heian period and later the Kamakura shogunate sent their Genji samurai families to watch over them, thus creating the rich Genji families and poorer Heike families.