"Sen'yū" (戦友, Comrades) is a Japanese gunka released in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War.
[1] The melody also served as the basis for "Daigaku no Uta" (大学の歌, Song of the University), which was written by Yukitoki Takigawa and published in Asahi Shimbun.
[2] The song describes the soldier's feelings about his partner who had fallen in battle while in Manchuria.
Following the Mukden Incident in 1931, the song regained popularity as it reminded the Japanese about defending their foothold in Manchuria.
[7] During World War II, the Japanese military banned the song on the grounds that it spread war-weariness.