Toryanse
Encyclopedia
is the name of the traditional Japanese children's tune (warabe uta
Warabe uta
are traditional Japanese songs, similar to nursery rhymes. They are often sung as part of traditional children's games. They are described as a form of min'yo: traditional Japanese songs, usually sung without accompanying instruments....

). It is a common choice for music played by traffic lights in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 when it is safe to cross.

The words to the song are:
Japanese: Romaji: Translation:
通りゃんせ 通りゃんせ Tōryanse, tōryanse Let me pass, let me pass
ここはどこの 細通じゃ Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja? What is this narrow pathway here?
天神さまの 細道じゃ
Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja
It's the narrow pathway of the Tenjin
Tenjin (kami)
In Japanese mythology and folklore, is the Shinto kami of scholarship, the deification of a scholar, poet, and politician named Sugawara no Michizane. Ten means sky and jin means god or deity...

 shrine
ちっと通して 下しゃんせ Chitto tōshite kudashanse Please allow me to pass through
御用のないもの 通しゃせぬ
Goyō no nai mono tōshasenu
Those without good reason shall not pass
この子の七つの お祝いに Kono ko no nanatsu no oiwai ni To celebrate this child's 7th birthday
お札を納めに まいります O-fuda wo osame ni mairimasu I've come to dedicate my offering
行きはよいよい 帰りはこわい
Iki wa yoi yoi, kaeri wa kowai
Going in may be fine, fine, but returning would be scary
こわいながらも Kowai nagara mo It's scary but
通りゃんせ 通りゃんせ Tōryanse, tōryanse Let me pass, let me pass
 
通りゃんせ 通りゃんせ Tōryanse, tōryanse Let me pass, let me pass
ここは冥府の細道じゃ Koko wa meifu no hosomichi ja Here is the underworld's narrow pathway
鬼神様の細道じゃ
Kijin-sama no hosomichi ja
It's the narrow pathway of the demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

's shrine
ちっと通して 下しゃんせ Chitto tōshite kudashanse Please allow me to pass through
贄のないもの通しゃせぬ
Nie no nai mono tōshasenu
Those without sacrifice shall not pass
この子の七つの弔いに Kono ko no nanatsu no tomurai ni To bury this child at age 7
供養を頼みに参ります Kuyō wo tanomi ni mairimasu I've come to offer my services
生きはよいよい 還りはこわい
Iki wa yoi yoi, kaeri wa kowai
Living may be fine, fine, but going back would be scary
こわいながらも Kowai nagara mo It's scary but
通りゃんせ 通りゃんせ Tōryanse, tōryanse Let me pass, let me pass


There are many theories to the origin of the song, but all agree that it is a portrayal of an exchange between a civilian and a guard manning some sort of a checkpoint — at Kawagoe
Kawagoe
Kawagoe may refer to two different locations in Japan:*Kawagoe, Mie, a town in Mie Prefecture*Kawagoe, Saitama, a city in Saitama Prefecture...

 Castle according to one theory. In the old days when infant mortality was high, people celebrated when a child survived to reach the age of 7 (as well as 3 and 5; see Shichi-Go-San
Shichi-Go-San
is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girls and three- and five-year-old boys, held annually on November 15...

), and ordinary people were only allowed to visit the shrine within the castle compound for special occasions.

This particular warabe uta is sung as part of a traditional game where two children facing each other link their hands to form an arch 'checkpoint', and the remaining children walk through underneath in a line (and back round again in circles). The child who happens to be under the arch when the song finishes is then 'caught'.

The tune being played at Japanese pedestrian crossings is an analogy to this game, i.e., it is safe to cross until the music stops.

Popular culture

Tōryanse can be heard in:
  • I´´s, in the OVA (children song)
  • Amatsuki
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    , episode 1, Meeting Yakou (background music)
  • The Animatrix in the short film Beyond
  • Serial Experiments Lain
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  • Lost in Translation
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  • Pom Poko
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  • Nocturnal Illusion
    Nocturnal Illusion
    Nocturnal Illusion is a Japanese bishōjo eroge, developed by Excellents Japan. It was translated into English and released in the United States in 1997...

    , mentioned by the main character
  • Pride
    Pride (TV series)
    - Cast :*Takuya Kimura as Haru Satonaka*Yūko Takeuchi as Aki Murase*Kenji Sakaguchi as Yamato Hotta*Noriko Nakagoshi as Yuri Aizawa*Ryuta Sato as Makoto Shimamura*MEGUMI as Chika Ishikawa*Somegoro Ichikawa as Tomonori Ikegami*Saori Takizawa as Saeko Sonoda...

    (episodes 5 and 8)
  • Boogiepop Phantom
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  • Earth Girl Arjuna
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  • Hand Maid May
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  • Ping Pong Club
  • Ichigo Mashimaro, episode 6
  • Chakushin Ari 2
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    sung by the blind lady named Shu-Mei Gao
  • Bleach
    Bleach (manga)
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  • Paranoia Agent
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  • Magical Pokaan, 10 seconds' worth at 15:11 in episode 12
  • Death Note
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    , episode 30
  • Black Lagoon
    Black Lagoon
    is a manga series written and illustrated by Rei Hiroe, and published in Shogakukan's Sunday GX since 2002. An animated television series based on the manga aired in Japan from April 8, 2006, to June 24, 2006, totaling twelve episodes. A second season, subtitled "The Second Barrage", ran for twelve...

    , episode 7, "The Second Barrage"
  • Dennō Coil
    Denno Coil
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  • Pokémon
    Pokémon
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    , episode 352 (AG076): a version rewritten to be about the Pokémon Baltoy (Yajiron) is sung more than once.
  • Sayonara
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    : The Takarasiennes
    Takarazuka Revue
    The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...

     sing the song as they cross the bridge to their dormitories.
  • Mahō Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora
  • Chaos;Head
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    : The song is frequently used to prank call the protagonist, by switching the song with a loud buzz noise. Later in the game, the song serves as a defense mechanism for an important machine.
  • Karin
    Karin (manga)
    Chibi Vampire, originally released in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuna Kagesaki. The story is about an unusual vampire girl, who instead of drinking blood must inject it into others because she produces too much...

    : In the animation series, episode 9, from 13:02 to 13:15.
  • Shikabane Hime
    Shikabane Hime
    is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiichi Akahito. Premiering in Monthly Shōnen Gangan on April 12, 2005, the series centers around the "Corpse Princess" Makina Hoshimura, an undead girl who is hunting down 108 undead corpses in order to gain entry into heaven with the help of...

    : episode 2, several times
  • Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori: episode 2, from 3:07 to 3:19
  • Shakugan no Shana II: beginning of first episode.
  • Power In Numbers
    Power in Numbers
    Power in Numbers is the third studio album from the alternative hip-hop group Jurassic 5 .It picks up where their previous album, Quality Control left off, with a short double bass sample playing the same riff that the last song on Quality Control, "Swing Set", ended with.The album features a...

    : A sample of children singing the line "Nie no nai mono tōshasenu" is used in the track 'Acetate Prophets'
  • Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
    Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
    , known simply as When They Cry for the North American release of the anime adaptation, is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft sound novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The games are built on the NScripter game engine and are playable on Microsoft Windows PCs...

    , Wheel of Fortune, played at the beginning of the first live action movie, includes lines from Tōryanse.
  • Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
    Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
    is a 2007 Japanese film directed by Joji Matsuoka. The film is adapted from the best selling autobiography of Lili Franky, a Japanese novelist, actor, illustrator, designer, musician and photographer. In a unique bit of casting, the young Eiko is played by Yayako Uchida, who in real life is the...

    , probably from 6:24 to 6:49
  • Afro Samurai (video game)
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    Currently the Metacritic score is 65. GameSpot gave it a 7.0 and IGN gave it a 6.6. Namco Bandai posted on its fiscal year report that the game sold 420,000 copies across all platforms in the US and Europe.-External links:* * at The Internet Movie Database...

    , Battle against Kuma
  • Neo Tokyo (film)
    Neo Tokyo (film)
    , also titled Manie-Manie on its title card, is a 1987 anime science fiction anthology film produced by Project Team Argos and Madhouse. Conceived and produced by Madhouse founders Masao Maruyama and Rintarō, it adapts short stories by Taku Mayumura featured in the 1986 collection of the same...

    from 28:02 to 28:10
  • Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan: The yokai, Tōryanse, is a member of the Hundred Tales Clan.
  • Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
    Ninja Sentai Kakuranger
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    , episode 1
  • Adrift in Tokyo, 31:08 to 31:17

External links

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