The song “Ichinensei ni Nattara”
“Ichinensei ni Nattara” (When I Become a First Grader) is a children’s song with words by the poet Mado Michio and music by Yamamoto Naozumi, published in 1966. It cheerfully sings of a child’s excitement at wanting to make 100 friends after starting elementary school. It is still widely sung at kindergarten graduations and elementary school entrance ceremonies.
The dark rumor
The song says that once the child has 100 friends, they all want to do something together. But 100 friends plus the singer should make 101 people, and yet the number in the song stays at 100. From this, dark interpretations spread online: “someone is being left out,” “one person has vanished,” “the singer is no longer in this world.”
What does it really mean?
Of course, the writer did not put any such meaning into it, and it is natural to take “100” as meaning “lots of friends.” It is an urban legend that is almost a word game, born when adults recounted a child-like expression with logic. Other dark rumors about well-known children’s songs include Sacchan and Green Green.
