Teaching Hotaru Koi in a Music Class

Hotaru Koi Musical Score Notation Version 1

Hotaru Koi Musical Score Notation Version 2

Hotaru Koi is a song about the fireflies. In the summer, the Japanese people go to places near the river to see the fireflies. When I was living in Japan, I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the firefly-viewing and it almost brought me to tears. It was a sight right out of a Ghibli film. 

Here are the lyrics. There are actually two versions of the song, as you can see in the music score.

Lyrics

Ho, ho, hotaru koi 

Atchi no mizu wa nigai zo 

Kotchi no mizu wa amai zo

Ho, ho, hotaru koi 

Translation for Hotaru Koi

Come, firefly, come

The water over there is bitter

The water over here is sweet

Come, firefly, come

For music lessons, here are some ideas for how to learn and perform the song as a musical activity.

1. Play it on the recorder

2. Sing it as a canon  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1HKC4cio24)

3. Play it as an ensemble with an ostinato on the A and E note and percussion instruments

Hotaru Koi is a simple song that is easy to learn in the classroom. It's the perfect song to introduce Japanese music to your kids as part of a world music program.

Here's a lesson package I created if you would like to check it out.

Japanese Music (Music of Japan) Lesson Package

Japanese Music (Music of Japan) Lesson Bundle

*Hotaru Koi music notation ©The Musician Cat