It is a Japanese popular song sung among the Siberian detainees.
A movie with the same title and motif was also filmed and shown in 1949.
As for the song, the lyricist was Koji Masuda. Takao Saeki also participated to
make the final version. The composer was Tadashi Yoshida. Tadashi Yoshida was in
Manchuria (currently Northern China) as a private first-class in 1943. The tune of a
song he wrote to encourage his fellow soldiers to inspire them during that time was
the impetus for this song. It was sung among former soldiers who were interned in
Siberia, and then Koji Masuda, who was also one of the detainees, wrote the lyrics.
The song shows the deep desire for going home. The title of the song was originally
“Today and Yesterday.” Kozo Nakamura, one of the soldiers who made it back from
Siberia sang it on the “NHK Amateur Singers’ Competition,” the long-standing Japanese
Broadcasting TV show, and made the song famous in Japan. Many singers such as
Koichi Miura, Koji Tsuruta, and Hibari Misora have been singing this since then.