Sendō Kouta

"Sendō Kouta" (船頭小唄, "Boatman's Ballad") is a Japanese kayōkyoku song originally published as sheet music in 1921 under the common name of "Karesusuki" (枯れすすき, "Withered Pampas"), receiving its current title in 1922.^[1] The lyrics were written by Ujō Noguchi and the melody was composed by Shinpei Nakayama.^[2] It was popular throughout Japan from at least 1921 to 1923.^[3]

In 1922 and 1923, several record companies recorded and released "Sendō Kouta". In the latter year, Yoshinobu Ikeda's low-budget film based on the song was released, adding to the song's popularity.^[4][5] After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the song's popularity spread further throughout Japan to the point that the public blamed the song for the disaster.^[6] The song was recorded by Victor Records in 1928.^[7]

References

1. Saitō, Kei (2017). 1933年を聴く: 戦前日本の音風景 (in Japanese). NTT出版. p. 55. ISBN 9784757143531.
2. Tsuboi, Ken'ichi (2013-12-13). "童謡の作詞作曲家が流行歌も生んだ。「船頭小唄」から「東京行進曲」へ". Diamond Online (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-20.
3. "船頭小唄 (センドウコウタ)" Sendō kouta [Song of the boatman]. Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-19.
4. Minichiello, Sharon (1998). Japan's Competing Modernities: Issues in Culture and Democracy, 1900-1930. University of Hawaii Press. p. 251. ISBN 9780824820800.
5. Yano, Christine Reiko (2003). Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song. Harvard Univ Asia Center. p. 34. ISBN 9780674012769.
6. Miyao, Daisuke (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema. OUP USA. p. 300. ISBN 9780199731664.
7. Patterson, Patrick M. (2018-08-15). Music and Words: Producing Popular Songs in Modern Japan, 1887–1952. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 48. ISBN 9781498550369.