文部省唱歌

Monbushō Shōka, literally meaning “song(s) of the Ministry of Education”. This is a common term used to refer to purpose-written songs for school music textbooks in the pre-WWII era in Japan. These songs are written by members of a committee commissioned by the education ministry. While the names of the committee members are known, the exact authors of each song are unknown since their copyright were transferred to the ministry.