Tenjin Preschool Tablet Adds Japanese Nursery Rhyme “Amefuri” to Support Language and Cultural Inheritance for Overseas Japanese Families

Tao Co., Ltd. (Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture; CEO: Yoshiaki Kurosawa), developer of the tablet-based learning material Tenjin, which turns the home into a preschool classroom, added the Japanese nursery rhyme “Amefuri” to the preschool tablet version of Tenjin on May 12, 2026. The addition is intended to help children in overseas families with Japanese roots inherit the Japanese language and culture. As children become more accustomed to local environments, Japanese can gradually disappear from daily life. According to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of Japanese permanent residents overseas increased by about 27% from 2015 to 2024. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology reports that the number of students enrolled in Japanese schools overseas fell by about 22% during the same period. These figures point to a broader social challenge: passing on Japanese language and culture to the next generation growing up abroad is becoming increasingly unstable. In Japan, children naturally hear Japanese at home and in daily life. Overseas, that is not always the case. Language is part of a child’s identity. As global talent becomes increasingly important, more children may lose touch with their roots without realizing it if they grow up without understanding Japanese language and culture. Parents using Tenjin while raising children overseas share a strong desire to expose their children to Japanese. Tenjin is currently used by families in more than 35 countries and regions. As children adapt to local languages and cultures, Japanese can be left behind. This is a pressing concern faced by many parents raising children abroad. Japanese nursery rhymes convey not only words, but also seasonal imagery, rhythm, and emotional nuance unique to the Japanese language. Through singing, children encounter Japanese and absorb elements of Japanese culture. “Amefuri” depicts a rainy-day scene and is filled with Japanese words and rhythms. By singing it repeatedly, children can experience the sounds, intonation, and seasonal sensibility of Japanese, allowing Japanese scenery and language to enter naturally even while living overseas. The onomatopoeic phrase “Pitchi pitchi, chappu chappu, ran ran ran” is a distinctly Japanese expression. Tao believes this song is well suited to conveying the richness of Japanese sounds to children growing up abroad. Efforts to preserve Japanese are already spreading in overseas education settings. Hiyoko Global Kids, a licensed childcare center in Australia that practices bilingual education in Japanese and English, has incorporated Tenjin into its childcare program to create an environment where children can encounter Japanese through play. The results were also presented at the FY2025 EDU-Port Symposium hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Education. Tao’s CEO has experience being stationed in the United States and studying in China and Spain, and is currently raising children with a partner from New Zealand. Through acquaintances around the world engaged in bilingual education, he has repeatedly observed that as the local language grows stronger, the other language can diminish, weakening children’s connection to culture and roots. Drawing on his own experience of the importance and difficulty of early bilingual education overseas, he is also using Tenjin in his own bilingual parenting. Tao states that the words in songs become seeds of knowledge. Through this song, the company hopes those seeds will receive nourishing rain and eventually bloom into a rich sense of language and individuality. The company will continue working to help children around the world develop the abilities they need for the future. Tao Co., Ltd. has a mission to support self-realization and has spent more than 30 years as an EdTech pioneer supporting learning through ICT. It develops the Tenjin preschool tablet version, a digital learning material for children aged 0 to 6, based on the concept of turning the home into a preschool classroom. The product offers learning experiences tailored to each child’s interests and curiosity and is used by families in more than 35 countries and regions.