(Translated by Google) I heard that he was the creator of songs such as Furusato, Oborozukiyo, Autumn Leaves, and Spring Has Arrived, but why is this building in Nozawa Onsen, and does it have any connection to this place? My long-held doubts have now been resolved. I have seen stone monuments in Nakano City, but that is the place where he was born, and Nozawa Onsen is where he moved to in his 50s and lived and loved for about 20 years until his death. Looking at the chronology, at the age of 24 he became a teacher at a normal school, and two years later became in charge of singing at the Ministry of Education, and by the time he was 36 years old, he had created a series of songs that were electrifying to many people.
Since then, he has advocated and put into practice the need for more research into traditional Japanese music in the field of education, which tends to be dominated by Western music, and until his later years he studied Kabuki and other Japanese poetry. I want to say thank you for that. It is said that children no longer sing hometown songs. They say it's because the poems are too old-fashioned to understand, but that's what makes them interested in the past. I felt that the beauty of Japan, which has been cultivated for a long time, was conveyed through beautiful melodies and songs.
(Original)
ふるさと、朧月夜、紅葉、春が来たなどの唱歌を作った人と聞いていたが野沢温泉になんでこの建物があるのか、この場所にゆかりがあるのか?と長らく疑問に思うのが氷解した。中野市でも石碑を見たことがあるが、あちらは生まれた土地で、野沢温泉は50代に移り住み20年ほど亡くなるまで暮らして愛した土地だという。年表を見ると、24で師範学校の教諭から2年後に文部省の唱歌の担当になり、そこから36歳までに次々と多くの人に膾炙する唱歌を生み出した。
当時から洋楽にかぶれがちな教育の現場を、もっと日本古来の音楽を研究していくべきと提唱して実践し、晩年まで歌舞伎など日本の詩歌を研究したという恰幅の良い銅像をギュッと抱きしめてありがとうねと伝えたくなる。いまや子供たちは、ふるさとなどの唱歌を歌わなくなっているという。それは詩が古風すぎて理解できないからというが、それこそ過去に興味を持つきっかけになるのに。美しい調べと歌を通して長らく育んできた日本の美しさが伝わってくることを感じられた。