Since Edo period, temariuta has been sung in yukaku (a red-light district), and so on, however many of them remained today are settled on the subject matters of the Russo-Japanese War or popular literally works during the middle and late Meiji period when it became widespread as children's play.
なお、江戸時代から遊郭などには手毬歌なるものがあったが、日露戦争や、明治中・後期に話題になった文芸作品に題材を取ったものが多く残るのは、子供の遊びとして広く普及してからと思われる。