Childhood (Tetsuya Takeda song)

"Shōnenki"
First version single cover in 1985
Single by Tetsuya Takeda
from the album Kaze ni Kiita Hanashi
LanguageJapanese
English titleChildhood
B-side"Yume wa Kōya o"
Released1 March 1985
Genre
LabelPolydor Records
ComposerYasuo Sako
LyricistTetsuya Takeda
Tetsuya Takeda singles chronology
"Kisaragi no Kaze no Naka de"
(1985) 		"Shōnenki"
(1985) 		"Cosmos"
(1985)

"Childhood" (少年期, Shōnenki) is a song by Japanese singer-songwriter Tetsuya Takeda from his third album and the theme song of Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars in 1985. It was released on 1 March 1985 by Polydor Records as the lead single from the album. The song was inspired by Takeda's childhood and his perspective on adulthood at the time.

Use of the song

Takeda wrote the theme song for the Doraemon films from Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur in 1980 to Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express in 1996, and "Childhood" was the first song whose main vocalist is Takeda.[note 1]

Beyond serving as the theme song, "Childhood" is also featured in a scene where a character plays it on guitar in Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars. Despite that, there are differences between the VHS and DVD releases and the theatrical release because sound effects were converted into stereophonic sound in the VHS and DVD releases.[note 2] The song's lyrics appeared in a double-page spread in the latter part of the manga. On the page, Doraemon's gang uses a gadget to become invisible while Shizuka and Suneo were operating modified tanks.[2]

An episode "Goodbye to You" (ためしに さようなら, Tameshi ni sayōnara) on 1 October 2004, of Doraemon's 1979 TV series featured "Childhood" as its insert song. It was also used in "The annoyance after 7 years" (7年後のなやみ, 7-Nengo no nayami) on 1 March 1996.

While the song was not used in the movie's modern remake, it was featured in one of the advertisements, alongside with "Universe" by Official Hige Dandism.[3][4] One of its lyrics was also tweeted on 22 November 2021.[5]

Inspiration

Takeda described the song in his commentary as "I believe we all have moments when recalling our childhood, while gradually sinking into a melancholic mood and start losing ourselves for a while; I want to turn these vivid scenes into my song."[note 3][6]

Takeda's difficult childhood inspired the song.[6] He grew up in Hakata, when everything was still poor in post-war times, and his parents "fought about money all the time".[6][7] Their fight reached its peak on his father's payday, when the drunken father fought about money with his mother. Takeda, who cannot do almost everything at the time, can only go to local parks where he doesn't have to listen to all the fights. When seeing incandescent lamps, which were still rare in his childhood, Takeda saw a kaleidoscope-like rainbow from his tears. According to Takeda, it was his way to comfort himself when he was seven years old.[7][6] He also realised that he would become a factory worker like his father during that time, and "felt so anxious" that he "wanted to be a child forever".[7][6] These "personal memories" have therefore formed the song's first part, in addition to express "the intrinsic sorrow well of children". In the second part, he remembered the feeling of waking up to an empty home, and therefore built the part.[7] For the refrain, Takeda commented that:[7]

"Why did we grow up? When did we grow up?" The questions in the lyrics point to the uncertainties we face while growing up. It overlaps with our adolescent wishes – that wanting to grow up while still wanting to remain a child, or even refusing to become an adult. I believe these hesitations align with what Doraemon's world want to convey.[note 4]

Receptions

The song received acclaim from Doraemon fandom. In a survey conducted by Shogakukan on the seventh issue of Boku, Doraemon, the song was ranked 1st in readers' voting of the best Doraemon film's theme songs.[8] Takeda himself expressed that "Childhood" is his favourite theme song among all Doraemon films.[6][9]

According to his interview in the Sports Hochi, Takeda stated that Fujiko F. Fujio, author of Doraemon, was delighted by the song and praised his talent after reading the lyrics. Takeda believed that his compliment could be traced back to his nostalgia for Hokuriku, where he had a rough childhood as well. The Sports Hochi also praised the song as "The best song that rarely appeared in Doraemon's history."[7]

Track listing

"Shōnenki" track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Shōnenki" (少年期)
 
2."Yume wa Kōya o" (夢は荒野を)
  • Tetsuya Takeda
  • Yasuo Sako
  • Toshio Nakamuta
 

Other albums

On Tetsuya Takeda
Kaze ni Kiita Hanashi (風に聞いた話) (1985)
Tōi Gentō (遠い幻燈) (1986)
Takeda Tetsuya Zenkyoku-shū (武田鉄矢全曲集) (1988)
Takeda Tetsuya Best Selection (1990)
On Doraemon
Kumo ga Yuku no wa (雲がゆくのは) (1992)
Doraemon Eiga Shudaika-shū (ドラえもん映画主題歌集) (1995)
Eiga Doraemon 25-shūnen Doraemon Eiga Shudaika-hen (映画ドラえもん25周年 ドラえもん映画主題歌篇) (2004)
Doraemon Eiga Shudaika-shū + Sōnyū Uta (ドラえもん 映画主題歌集+挿入歌) (2010)
Eiga Doraemon Uta no Taizen-shū (映画 ドラえもん うたの大全集) (2020)

Covers

  • Takashi Kondō, listed in A Little Wonder in 2008
  • Haruka Tomatsu, as an insert song of Un-Go in 2011. The full version was later listed on its DVD/Blu-ray Disc in 2012.
  • M.O.E.,[note 5] listed in Oretachi no Uta o Kiku CD (俺たちの歌を聴くCD) in 2011

Notes

  1. ^ While "Kaze no Magical", the theme song of Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld, was written by Reiko Yukawa , it was replaced by "Dakara minna de", the theme song written by Takeda for Doraemon: Nobita and the Haunts of Evil in the VHS and DVD releases for copyright reasons. Most Doraemoon albums omit "Kaze no Magical" as well. The theme songs of Doraemon films from 1980 to 1996 are, therefore, written by Takeda in practice.[1]
  2. ^ For example, in the theatrical release, there is only guitar music at the beginning, and the song is introduced in the middle; but in the VHS/DVD releases, the sound of a flute can be heard while the character is playing the guitar.
  3. ^ Japanese: 子どものときのことをじっとおもいだしているうちにメランコリックな気持ちになり、しばらくの間ひたってしまう時間が誰にでもあると思いますが、そんなときによみがえってくる情景を歌にしたい
  4. ^ Japanese: どうして大人になるのか、いつ頃大人になるのか、という詞は、成長していく自分の得体のしれなさですよね。早く大きくなりたい、と思うんだけど、子供でいたい、大人を拒否したいという二次成長期の願望に重なる思いですよね。そのような何かがドラえもんの世界と重なるんじゃないかな、と思ったんです。[7]
  5. ^ Member: Wataru Hatano and Takuma Terashima

References

  1. ^ 大中華哆啦王 (18 March 2018). "[日本] 《哆啦A夢》電影史上的幻之主題曲 《魔界大冒險》〈風之魔法〉逐步重見天日". 哆啦A夢中文網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  2. ^ 藤子.F.不二雄 (10 December 2004). 大雄與宇宙小戰爭. 哆啦A夢電影大長篇 (in Chinese). Vol. 6. Translated by 唐儀齡. 臺北市: 青文出版社. ISBN 9789861560045.
  3. ^ "Official髭男dism「Universe」＆武田鉄矢「少年期」流れる"映画ドラえもん のび太の宇宙小戦争 2021"スペシャルPV公開". Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  4. ^ 大中華哆啦王 (9 February 2022). "[電影] 靜香洗牛奶浴了！《電影哆啦A夢：大雄的宇宙小戰爭 2021》特別版PV上線". 哆啦A夢中文網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  5. ^ 大中華哆啦王 (23 November 2021). "[日本] 哆啦A夢官方推特活動「給成為大人的你」 連續10天分享《宇宙小戰爭》經典台詞". 哆啦A夢中文網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f 藤子・Ｆ・不二雄; 武田鉄矢 (25 January 2011). "解説Ｆ先生のお気に入りは「少年期」". 大長編ドラえもん ２. 藤子・F・不二雄大全集 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. pp. 643–646. ASIN B09JKFVXYT. ISBN 978-4091434494.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "武田鉄矢、名曲「少年期」を語る…８５年公開映画「ドラえもん　のび太の宇宙小戦争」主題歌". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). 27 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  8. ^ ぼく、ドラえもん (in Japanese). Vol. 第7号. Shogakukan. 5 June 2004. p. 9.
  9. ^ 大中華哆啦王 (27 December 2019). "[日本] 《MUSIC STATION》哆啦A夢電影主題曲特輯請到武田鐵矢老師！最喜歡的電影曲目是《少年期》". 哆啦A夢中文網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 8 August 2025.
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