The original manuscript of South Korea’s first songbook, “Bandal,” or half-moon, has been found recently in Japan by an institute for modern bibliography.

The manuscript had not been seen in Korea after its publication in 1926. Only its cover image had been publicly known prior to the discovery.

The songbook contains ten children’s songs, including “Bandal,” which was written and composed by the late Yoon Geuk-young and depicts his longing for a sister who had died before him.

The other songs were about the sorrow and sadness of people living under the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.