Regarding this song, Ujo stated the following in his own writings:

"This children's song expresses a feeling opposite to that of my earlier work 'Aoi Me no Ningyo' (Blue-Eyed Doll). The meaning of this children's song is, needless to say, that several years have passed since that girl, who always wore shoes and played energetically, was taken by a foreigner to a distant foreign country. By now, she must have become blue-eyed, just like the foreigner. Every time I see red shoes, I cannot help but remember that girl who was taken by a foreigner and departed from Yokohama's pier by ship. And every time I see foreigners, I cannot help but wonder where and how that girl, who wore red shoes and played energetically, is now. This is the feeling the song expresses. I would like to draw your attention to this: while this children's song, on the surface, merely describes a child taken away by a foreigner, I hope you will not overlook the underlying compassion for that girl hidden behind words like 'red shoes' or 'must have become blue-eyed'."

Dowa to Doshin Geijutsu (Fairy Tales and Children's Art), published by Domonkan in Taisho 14 (1925).

This song was written based on a story Ujo heard around Meiji 40 (1907) while working at a newspaper company in Hokkaido: "a colleague's wife had previously given her daughter up for adoption to a foreign missionary couple." Contrary to the song's lyrics, the girl who served as the model never crossed the sea and passed away in Meiji 44 (1911) in Azabu, Tokyo. Statues commemorating the girl have been erected in various places associated with her, but the full story only came to light after the 1970s (Showa 50s).