Aogeba totoshi

[Aaron Gerow]

> I've come to think of that song as a common occurrence in Japanese  
> soundtracks, along with the sound of cicadas and fumikiri, but I'm  
> curious whether it actually occurs that often or if it's just my  
> imagination (after watching those particular films so many times).   
> Certainly Tampopo is about the most striking use of it that I can  
> think of.  Here it is, just for fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch? 
> v=hQXKELjmB2Q

To me, it does seem rather de rigeur for graduation scenes. It even  
appears in Masaoka Kenzo's 1939 animated short Benkei and Ushiwaka  
when Ushiwaka "graduates" from his training under the Tengu. That  
film is contained in The Roots of Japanese Anime:

http://zakkafilms.com/

Aaron Gerow