The original song of "Kimigayo" is the song for the spring festival of Shikaumi-jinja Shrine of Shikanoshima Island in Fukuoka Prefecture which read "Wagakimiha chiyoni yachiyoni sazareishino iwaotonarite kokenomusmade…(My lord lives for thousands and thousands years until pebbles become a rock and bears moss... ".
「君が代」の元歌は、「わが君は千代に八千代にさざれ石の、いわおとなりてこけのむすまで…」と詠われる福岡県の志賀島の志賀海神社の春の祭礼の歌である。