Was "Yuki Yakonko" composed by Rentaro Taki?

In a previous article,"Yuki Yakonko" was composed by Dvorak...'I received a comment on this for the first time in a while.

The idea is that "it is not an unknown composer, but was composed by Rentaro Taki," and "it was originally composed by Rentaro Taki in 1901, so it may be earlier."

"Huh?!"

I thought so, so I asked Wikipedia, and to my surprise, I found out that it was composed by Rentaro Taki.

However, I didn't think, "Oh, really?" Not because I'm a contrarian, but because the style of the song is completely different from Rentaro Taki's.

Rentaro Taki's "Yuki ya kon kon" and the famous "Yuki ya konko" are different songs.

In fact, Rentaro Taki has a song called "Yuki ya kon kon." It's not "konko" but "kon kon." "Yuki ya kon ko" (the real title is "Yuki") is a song for elementary school students.¹On the other hand, "Yuki ya konkon" is a kindergarten song.²This collection of songs contains 20 songs, including the famous "Oshogatsu" from "Mou Ikutsu Nemu to Oshogatsu."

"It's snowing"　Lyrics: Kumi Higashi Music: Rentaro Taki

Snow and hail
Touch each other more, keep piling up without melting
The snow has piled up, and the daruma dolls and lanterns are
Let's make it, sister

It's a completely different song. This one is definitely in Rentaro Taki's style.
It has something in common with "The mountains of Hakone are...". This seems to be confused with the elementary school song "Snow".

So I fixed Wikipedia as well.

Rentaro Taki's "Snow" is the fourth song in Japan's first song suite, "The Four Seasons."

To make things more confusing, Rentaro Taki also wrote a song called "Snow." It is one of the songs in the group song "Four Seasons," which he released in 1900 (Meiji 33) when he was 21 years old.
It consists of:

1. Flower (Lyrics: Hagoromo Takeshima. Soprano, alto and piano accompaniment)
2. Summer Breeze (Lyrics: Kume Higashi. Solo and piano accompaniment)
3. Moon (Lyrics by Rentaro Taki. Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
4. Snow (Lyrics by Akiko Nakamura. For soprano, alto, tenor, bass, piano and organ)

"Hana" is a very famous song that starts with "Springtime, a Bright Spring Day on the Sumida River." The fourth song is "Snow." I don't think many people have heard of this song.

"Snow"
Lyrics: Akiko Nakamura
Song: Rentaro Taki

Overnight, the fields and mountains
Palaces and thatched huts,
Platinum is the only thing that can be wrapped up in it.
White pearls are the perfect decoration.
Dazzling lights and beautiful scenery
Alas, this is the work of God.
It's the work of God.

This "Four Seasons" is actually a very important piece in the history of Western music in Japan, as it was the first piece of artistic Western music written by a Japanese person. Until then, the only music that could be written was traditional Japanese songs.³However, the sudden release of such a piece by a completely unknown composer was a big surprise to the audience. For details, please see the Modern Psychology Research Association's website.About Rentaro Taki's song "Snow" (from the group song "Four Seasons")I highly recommend you to check it out, as it is very detailed. The songs from this period were very influenced by Western music.⁴To be honest, there are some parts that I think are a bit off, but considering the situation at the time, it's still an amazing song.

Now, please enjoy the group song "Four Seasons."

1. A song textbook for elementary schools compiled by the Ministry of Education between 1911 and 1914. Contains 120 songs in total.
2. "Kindergarten Songs" (Kyoeki Shosha Musical Instruments Store), published in July 1901.
3. When publishing the group song "Four Seasons," Taki himself wrote at the beginning of the book, "Most of the songs are school songs, and are foreign songs with Japanese lyrics fitted in. Many of the lyrics do not match the content of the original song. So this time, I have composed a piece to Japanese lyrics..."
4. "Araiso," written after he returned from studying in Germany and the year before his death, is a fusion of German song and Japanese Joruri, and I think it is very interesting. Unfortunately, it is a very short piece.