Dōyō (童謡) are Japanese children's songs that are well-known across Japan. After Japan was opened to the West in 1867 and following the Meiji Restoration, music teachers were invited from abroad, and some of them adapted Japanese words to simple foreign songs. In time, Japanese composers began writing children’s songs called Shoka, in this new Western style. These songs were mainly sung in compulsory music classes in primary schools around the country. In 1918, a new movement began in which Japan’s top songwriters assembled to consciously create higher quality children’s songs. It was called “The Red Bird Movement”, referring to a progressive magazine, Red Bird (赤い鳥 Akai Tori), which published the songs. The songs were called Dōyō, and they were later introduced in textbooks throughout Japa