Japan With Kids - Dango San Kyodai (The Three Brothers Dango)

"Dango San Kyodai" (The Three Brothers Dango) [28 April 1999]
Researched by Cornelia

If you've been hearing snatches of a lilting tune that sounds like a tango, but is being hummed or sung by school children, it is the latest music craze. The animation and song aired recently on the "Okaa-san to Issho" (With Mother) children's television program on the NHK educational channel (#3 in Tokyo from about 8:30 to 9 a.m.). The song is called "Dango san kyodai" and is sung by Mr. Kintaro Hayami & Ms. Ayumi Shigemori, the head couple performing in the program. Kushidango is a Japanese food that involves rice paste balls (mochi) on a skewer. The song sings of the three mochi (dango) brothers. It is very catchy, especially when you see the animation that goes with the song.

The Japanese text of the tune, written by Masumi Uchino and Mr. Yoshiro Horie, can be seen and listened to at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9zNBFMzx0. The animation and lyrics were done by Mr. Masahiko Sato. You can also hear a trombone quintet interpretation!

We've attempted to translate it into Romaji, in case you want to learn the words. Next to the Japanese lyrics, there is a rough translation into English. We've also tried to write the music down for it, which may have a mistake or two, but we think it is in the key of C Minor. You can try to print the page (Ctrl + P for PCs and Command + P for Macs).

You can see a GIF of the sheet music here. (98K)

Lyrics (with rough English translation):

1.	Kushi ni sasate dango dango mitsu narande dango dango shoyu nurarete dango dango dango san kyodai	Sticky rice paste balls Three of them in a row Dipped in a soy based sauce The three brothers Dango
2.	ichiban ue wa chonan chonan ichiban shita wa san-nan san-nan aida ni hasamare jinan jinan dango san kyodai	The top one is the oldest brother, "Chonan" The lowest one is the youngest, "Sannan" In between is the middle brother, "Jinan" The three brothers Dango
3.	ottoto omoi no chonan ni-isan omoi no san-nan jibun ga ichiban jinan jinan dango san kyodai kondo umarete kuru toki mo negai wa sorotte onaji kushi dekireba kondo wa koshian no takusan tuita an dango dango	"Chonan" is anxious for his younger brothers. "Sannan" feels anxious for "Chonan" "I'm the best!" says "Jinan" The three brothers Dango "When we are re-born next time We want to be on the same skewer again. We want to be "koshi-an-dango" (with a bean paste sauce instead of a soy based sauce)"
4.	aruhi kyodai genka kenka kodeme no koto de kenka kenka sukima no aita dango dango demo, sugu ni nakanaori	One day the brothers quarrel about "yakiro" (the grill mark that each has) and they moved apart But soon they reconciled
5.	kyo wa todana de hirune hirune san nin sorotte hirune hirune ukkarine sugoshi asa ga kite kataku narimashita haru ni nattara hanami hanami aki ni nattara tsukimi tsukimi ichinen to shite dango dango dango san kyodai dango dango dango dango dango san kyodai dango san kyodai dango san kyodai dango	Today they nap in the cupboard. Carelessly they oversleep Morning comes and they Are hard and dry. In spring there is blossom viewing In autumn there is moon-viewing But dango can be had all year round. The three brothers Dango.

You can rent or buy the single CD for Dango San Kyodai in music stores. It is also on this 2 CD set of songs from "Okaa-san to Issho" (CD cover pictured at right). Each CD in this 2 CD set has 20 regular songs from the show and 5 songs for karaoke at the end. The lyrics to each song are written in hiragana and katakana in the CD jacket.

Here is a list of the songs on this CD set (translated into romaji).

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This page last updated: 2 June 1999