In the center of Hateruma Island, on a small hill overlooking Iriomote Island, stands the "School Children's Memorial Monument." This monument was erected to console the souls of 66 Hateruma Elementary School students who were forcibly evacuated to Minamihazami on Iriomote Island at the end of the Pacific War and lost their lives to malaria (as part of the 90th anniversary project in 1984).
In 1992, Okinawa Prefecture designated Hateruma Elementary School as a peace-promoting school. In response, the staff members, who had been thinking about holding a homemade peace study session for the children, met to discuss the idea and decided to create a song.
Masaaki Toyokawa was chosen to compose the music.
"I was used to writing songs, but I was confused because I had never done this before, writing the music first, then having the children listen to the melody and then having them write the lyrics," he recalls, recalling his feelings at the time.
The song is a requiem in a minor key. The story of Icarus's wings from Greek mythology came to mind. He experimented with adding the sounds of wind and waves to the intro, and after coming up with a good sound, he asked Ueunten to arrange it. Toyokawa says he was impressed by the "wonderful arrangement."
Afterwards, all staff members reviewed the poems written by the children. The title of the song was given by the research director, teacher Hiroko Maeda.
Since its creation, the song has been regularly used at Hateruma Elementary School's peace study group, as well as various peace gatherings and malaria-related events organized by the government and private sector. In 1998, it was also used as the theme song for the "Hoshi no Ko" (Children's Theater Company) (written and directed by Miyara Nagaaki), which performed at a peace exchange event between Ishigaki City and Wakkanai City. Most recently, it was featured in "Ikegami Akira's Special: Thinking About War: The Tragedy of Infectious Diseases" (2020, BS TV Tokyo), which became a hot topic.
This song is about "continuing to sing it so that we will never forget the tragedy of war."
Words and Music by
Ikehara Koichi/Ikehara Koichi
Born in Okawa, Ishigaki City. Folk singer. Influenced by Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue, Kyozo Nishioka, Masaji Otsuka, and Itsuro Shimoda, he continued his musical career in his hometown for over 40 years. 1956-2023 (died at age 67)Atsushi Ishigaki
Born in Tonoshiro, Ishigaki City. He was inspired by Kara Juro's Red Tent "Situation Theatre" and became active in his hometown as a playwright and director. 1950-1999 (died at age 49)
