Chiisana Koi no Uta

Chiisana Koi no Uta (小さな恋のうた) is a song written and performed by the Japanese punk band Mongol800. It is featured on their second studio album Message which was released on September 16, 2001, in Japan. The song is about the love between a boy and a girl who have grown up on a small island.

Despite the song never having been released as a single, "Chiisana Koi no Uta" became one of the group's most well-known tracks and was covered several times. The song was covered by various artists, the most popular being the cover by Amatsuki in 2016. A cover of the song used as the insert song on Kase-san and Morning Glories by Ayane Sakura and was the fifth ending theme for the 2018 anime Teasing Master Takagi-san performed by Rie Takahashi and the 2023 anime The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten performed by Manaka Iwami.

The song is a popular karaoke song in Japan ranking first in DAM karaoke ranking. It is the second song of the 2000s to accumulate 100 million streams after "Hanabi" by Mr. Children.

The song inspired the production of a live-action movie of the same name released on May 2019 by Kodansha.

Background and release
Chiisana Koi no Uta is the third track of the band's second album Message released on September 16, 2001. The album become the first indie album to reach 1 milion sale on Oricon.

Lyrics and composition
The songs' lyrics were written by bassist and vocalist Kiyosaku Uezo while the other band members composed the music. The main key is B major, the time signature is $4⁄4$ and the tempo is 116 Bpm. The song is known for it's simple and repeating chord progression which makes "Chiisana Koi no Uta" easy to learn.

In an interview with Rina Sako from Natalie in 2019, Uezo said that he did not know the song's key when he wrote the song commenting that "Chiisana Koi no Uta" starts with a lower key but with a higher chorus. He also said that he did not use the personal pronouns "Boku" (僕) and Kimi (君) while writing the song's lyrics as Okinawans have a tendency not to use personal language when speaking adding that at that time he thought that "Anata" (あなた) is more fitting.

According to Hasumi Aku from Utaten the song's lyrics are about the love between a boy and a girl who have grown up on a small island and known each other since early childhood until the girl had to leave the island. The song which is written from the boy's view describes their love story and shows his feelings for her which will never change. In an 2019's interview, actor Gordon Maeda who played the role of Shinji Fukumura in the movie told that he initially thought of "Chiisana Koi no Uta" to be a love song but after reading and studying it's lyrics he realized that the song expresses the feelings and connections of the band's members for Okinawa.

Cover versions
The song was covered by Japanese artists several times. The most commercially successful version was recorded in 2009 by Yui Aragaki and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) in the ringtone category. For her cover version, Aragaki invited 3,000 middle and high schoolers to sing along.

Amatsuki's cover of the song released in May 2016 became a popular hit on YouTube accumulating over 100 million views on YouTube making it the first ever cover song to reach 100 million views in Japan. Actress Minami Hamabe covered the song in 2018 and was used in a Line Music campaign. Her cover version charted in the Billboard Japan charts in 2019 when the movie of the same name was released. It peaked at no. 32.

The song was used as an insert song in several episodes of Japanese dorama series Operation Love which was aired on Japanese television in 2007. The song was also covered by Ayane Sakura as an insert song for the 2018 original net animation Kase-san and Morning Glories, by Rie Takahashi as the fifth ending theme for the 2018 anime "Teasing Master Takagi-san", and by Manaka Iwami as the ending theme for the 2023 anime "The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten".

During a special event in the Gunma Prefecture held on June 2, 2024 the song was played simultaneously by 1.000 musicians. The line-up consisted out of 200 vocalists and bassists, 500 guitarists and 100 drummers from all over Japan which were invited to perform the song.

Following is a list of artists who have covered "Chiisana Koi no Uta":


 * 2006: Yurika Ōyama
 * 2007: Hearts Grow
 * 2008: Andrew W.K.
 * 2009: Yui Aragaki (RIAJ: Gold)
 * 2010: Kumi Kōda
 * 2010: Little Turtles
 * 2012: BENI
 * 2012: Kohei Otomo
 * 2012: Masayuki Suzuki
 * 2015: FLiP
 * 2016: Amatsuki
 * 2018: Minami Hamabe
 * 2018: Humbert Humbert
 * 2018: Rie Takahashi
 * 2018: Ayane Sakura & Minami Takahashi
 * 2019: Orange Range
 * 2019: Leona Shishigami and Warabeda Meiji
 * 2020: JUJU
 * 2023: Manaka Iwami
 * 2023: WANIMA

Media usage
The chords of the song were published in a elemantary school book for 3rd graders. "Chiisana Koi no Uta" was used as one of the themes in the second volume of the Sutopi Toraberā Hanami (ストピトラベラー花美), a music novel series written by Rinako Shibano for pre-schoolers. The book was published on December 19, 2023.

Commercial performance
Since its release in 2001, the song has become very popular as a Karaoke song in Japan. In the DAM ranking compiled by Daiichi Kosho Company the song ranked first in the category of the most-sung songs by a male artist as well as ranking second for the most popular karaoke song on DAM Heisei Karaoke Ranking behind "Hanabi" by Mr. Chicken. The song placed in top 30 for Oricon's Year End Karaoke charts for eight years straight. It ranked third in 2013, 7th in 2014, 10th in 2016, 8th in 2017, 4th in 2018, and 9th in 2019 in the Oricon Karaoke Chart.

"Chiisana Koi no Uta" ranked 25th and 38th place in the Oricon Digital Songs and Streaming charts, respectively. According to JASRAC "Chiisana Koi no Uta" generated the fourth highest revenue in ringtone sales in Japan in 2002.

In December 2021, Billboard Japan reported that the song accumulated 100 million streamings and became the second song of the 2000s – after "Hanabi" by Mr. Children – to reach this milestone. According to Oricon, "Chiisana Koi no Uta" was third most-listened song of the 2000s on Spotify in Japan, behind "Zenryoku Shōnen" by Sukima Switch and "Hanabi" by Mr. Children.

Live-action adaptation
In May 2018 it was announced that an eponymous live-action feature film based on the song was in production. The movie premiered on May 24, 2019 in Japanese cinemas. The theme song which is a cover song of "Chiisana Koi no Uta" as well was performed by the Chiisana Koi no Uta Band. The members of Mongol800 received a role in the movie as well. The film was directed by Kojiro Hashimoto, while Kenya Hirata was in charge for the scripts published a novel of the same name for the film, the film was played by Hayato Sano as Ryota Maeshiro. It was published by Kodansha on March 15, 2019. It was distributed by Toei.

The film depicts Okinawan high school students trying to convey their feelings to their friends, family, and loved ones, such as a girl of the same age who lives on a US military base just across the fence, through their band activities.