"Aikoku Kōshinkyoku" (愛国行進曲) - Imperial Japanese March

"Aikoku Kōshinkyoku" (愛国行進曲, Patriotic March) is a Japanese march composed by Tōkichi Setoguchi with lyrics by Yukio Morikawa. It was released in December 1937. At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Cabinet of Japan sponsored several public competitions for lyrics to Aikoku Kōshinkyoku in September 1937. Morikawa's entry was selected as the winner for the lyrics, and Setoguchi's entry for the music. Setoguchi was already a noted composer who had written the Gunkan kōshinkyoku, the official march of the Imperial Navy. A few days after its release, Aikoku Kōshinkyoku sold a hundred thousand copies from six labels. It sold over a million by 1938.