[1][2][3] The poem is written in the voice of someone recalling his infancy and being carried on the back of his sister (or nursemaid; the Japanese lyrics are ambiguous).

These lines similarly capture the loss felt when loved ones move away, an increasingly common occurrence in the rapid urbanization of modern Japan in the early twentieth century.

[16] A large wall-sized monument to the song, with memorial plaques, stands in Tatsuno, Hyōgo Prefecture, the hometown of the poet Rofū Miki.

[17] The song is often broadcast via outdoor speakers as part of the "5 o-clock chimes" Goji no chaimu (5時のチャイム), which mark the end of the day in many Japanese cities.

III, Rampal played a longer Yashiro arrangement of the song with Shinichi Yuize [ja], Yasuko Nakashima, and Utae Uno on kotos.

[21] Anne Akiko Meyers, on her 1994 CD Salut d'Amour, played an arrangement for violin and piano by Shigeaki Saegusa.

[22] British flautist William Bennett with Clifford Benson on piano, recorded the song in an arrangement for flute by Teruyuki Noda [ja; nl] on their 1995 CD Melody of Japan.