"Toshishita no Otokonoko" (年下の男の子; "A Younger Boy") is the fifth single by Japanese music trio Candies. Written by Kazuya Senke and Yūsuke Hoguchi, the single was released on September 1, 1973. It was the first single to feature Ran Itō as the main vocalist.
The song peaked at No. 9 on Oricon's singles chart and spent 19 weeks in that chart. It sold over 260,000 copies, making it the trio's first top-10 hit. The group made their Kōhaku Uta Gassen debut with this song, at the 26th event.
Contents
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Kazuya Senke; all music is written and arranged by Yūsuke Hoguchi.
Star Flower version
The duo Star Flower (すたーふらわー, Sutā Furawā), made up of child actresses Kanon Tani and Seiran Kobayashi, covered the song in August 2012. It peaked at No. 62 on Oricon's singled chart.
Super Girls version
Japanese idol group Super Girls (credited as "Candy Macchiato from Super Girls" (キャンディーマキアート from SUPER☆GiRLS)) released their version of "Toshishita no Otokonoko" on December 4, 2013. The single peaked at No. 11 on Oricon's singles chart.
Other cover versions
The Nolans covered the song in English as "Toy Boy" on their 1991 cover album Tidal Wave (Samishii Nettaigyo).
Speena covered the song as a B-side of her 2005 single "Material Girl".
Janet Kay covered the song in English on her 2012 cover album Idol Kay.
C@n-dols covered the song in 2013.
J-pop group Goose House covered this song in 2014 on their YouTube channel.
Mone Kamishiraishi covered the song on her 2021 cover album Ano Uta.
AKB48 covered this song on their 10th album Nantetatte AKB48.