I want to talk about the choral song 'Niji' (Rainbow). (With an addendum to Kuu Ariko's article)

This is sudden, but I want to talk about the choral song 'Niji'.

Are you all familiar with this song?
I am embarrassed to say that I was not. It started when my daughter came home from kindergarten humming it.
When I asked, 'What song is that?', my daughter told me, 'It's Niji'.

I looked it up on YouTube and found it immediately. And from that day on, I have been listening to this song morning, noon, and night. Simply put, I am hooked. I've become so obsessed that today I want to share the charm of this song in my own way.

First of all, 'Niji' is a choral song created by lyricist Toshihiko Shinzawa and composer and picture book author Hirotaka Nakagawa.

It was released over 30 years ago. Looking into it, it is loved by various children's choirs, kindergartens, and nursery schools, and in recent years, it has even been used as a commercial song.

As mentioned in the behind-the-scenes story of 'Niji', the arrangement of the musical notes, which resembles a parabola, is also beautiful. When you actually listen to it, it's an uptempo pop song, and as you listen to it repeatedly, you feel a bright sensation, as if your own body is being gently carried away into the world of a rainbow.

That said, to be honest, I don't know anything about music theory, so here I would like to write about the charm of these lyrics.

First, when looking at the lyrics again, they all start from 'very small, concrete objects.' The first verse has a 'garden shovel,' the second has 'laundry,' and the third has 'a friend's field trip.' Moreover, these are not just concrete objects, but universal landscapes of the heart that everyone possesses—things that small children can easily imagine.

For us adults, a single day is just a fleeting moment in our lives. However, for children, it is different.
Even watching my own daughter, she is living in this very moment. It is only adults who think there is a future; children are always living the present to the fullest.

For them, the fact that 'the garden shovel gets wet for a day' is a major incident that could shake their world. I write lyrics myself, but I think it is truly difficult to express this earnest perspective of a child to this extent.

If, when trying to write these lyrics, even a slight bit of an adult's perspective, field of vision, or more specifically, 'the desire to write well' enters, this song would instantly become muddied. I was completely captivated by this opening part.

And the following lyrics express 'acceptance' of the providence that one cannot do anything about on their own.
The rain stops on its own, the wind blows, and the tears shed will dry. However, it is likely that these are not all things that the 'heart' is convinced of.
But in life, there are many things that we must accept and move forward from, even if they are 'things we can do nothing about.'

And from here, the song enters its climax, and everything is bundled into one.

'A single sneeze'

I feel that the true essence of this song lies here. Misfortunes pile up, the heart reacts first, and then the body reacts. In terms of the peaks and valleys in the song, this is a clear valley floor. However, it never makes a big fuss. The beauty of this song is packed into that modesty.

And no matter how deep a despair you may experience, the clouds will always flow, the light will shine through, and a rainbow will arch across the sky you look up at. And it doesn't just arch; it stretches 'toward the sky.'

As if the rainbow is extending from your own feet toward the sky. At the foot of the rainbow bridge, a place of dreams that even children know they can never reach. I think this song is singing exactly about that place.

This song has no interlude and goes straight from the first verse to the third. As the first verse ends and it progresses to the second and third, bad events and good events come alternately. But in the end, a 'rainbow' properly appears, it ends with 'tomorrow will be a nice day,' and it returns to the foothold of reality.

The choral song 'Niji' is like a blanket that gently supports the various events that small children encounter, without ever making a big fuss about them.

I didn't know there was such a gentle song. It is not a sermon, nor is it an imposition. I believe this song has continued to be sung for decades since its birth precisely because it has a gaze of great love that embraces everything.

Please let me know if you have any favorite songs as well.

Addendum:

Following my article, Kuu Ariko wrote a piece in response.
It includes an episode about meeting the two creators of 'Niji' in person, as well as her thoughts from her time working as a childcare provider. It is a wonderful article, so please take a look.
Reading Kuu Ariko's article made me love 'Niji' even more.
Note is the best!!

And please also listen to this song, 'Michikusa' (Walking on the Grass).
(I learned about it from Kuu Ariko.)

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